Even though I’m president of the large dealership group Galpin Motors, I have never looked at cars as just dollar signs. From when I was a child until now, when I look at any car, what I see is its story, and what I love more than anything is to tell it — to customers, to family members, to friends, and to the world. That’s why I co-founded The Autopian four years ago, that’s why I loved hosting Pimp My Ride and Car Kings, and that’s why I find myself in a bit of a predicament: I went overboard and spent over two decades tracking down more than 100 of the world’s most fascinating cars in order to tell their stories. Now I’m doing just that in the form of a new YouTube series called Should I Sell It, and I have to be quick because, in November, some of these machines will star in arguably the most unique car auction ever.
Growing up, Galpin Square was like my own personal amusement park filled with amazing new cars, amazing custom cars, and amazing car-people. Whereas most kids probably played hide-and-seek in yards or houses, I played it in the RVs on our lot; the first “job” I remember having when I was a small kid was handing out refreshments when we had big sales; and after I got my driver’s license I had a chance to drive some seriously cool cars. (I specifically remember my dad letting me drive in a traded-in Ferrari Berlinetta only if our service manager — NASCAR Pacific Coast Stock Car Championship-winning race car driver, Ron Hornaday Sr. — rode with me. Imagine that: a teenager being shown the ropes by a NASCAR champ!). I also will never forget being starstruck by George Barris when I saw him working at a booth across from Galpin’s at a car event. “Come let’s say hi,” my dad said. “George!” my dad said. “Bert!” the custom-car legend replied. Of course they knew each other. My dad knew seemingly everyone in the car world.
Galpin was a dream for a kid like me who was falling in love with cars; I got to see incredible custom machines come to life, as “Galpinizing” has been in our dealership’s DNA since our 1952 Galpin Custom graced the cover of Motor Trend. We’ve built amazing vehicles like Mustangs with rumble seats in the back (built by the legendary ASC founder, Heinz Prechter, whom my dad knew well), surfer vans that jumpstarted the conversion van industry, state-of-the-art RVs, our very own in-house supercar called the GTR-1, tons of wacky cars during our time hosting Pimp My Ride, and so much more.
By the nature of the business, my family became friends with car-loving legends like Lee Iacocca, Carroll Shelby, George Barris, Ed Pink, executives from various automakers (Henry Ford III even worked here!), car journalists, car customizers, and on and on. Being part of the world’s biggest Ford dealership gave me a spectacular view of the auto industry for which I am deeply, deeply grateful.
It also made me completely and hopelessly obsessed with cars.
I Love Finding And Fixing Historically-Significant Cars
I especially love obscure, hard-to-find vehicles. For example, my team managed to track down one of the Rumble Seat Mustangs that sunroof-legend Heinz Prechter built for Galpin back in the 1960s:
We also tracked down the guy who found Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s magnum opus, Orbitron, gathering trash in Mexico outside of a sex shop.
We’ve now fully restored it, thanks to our amazing in-house Hot Rod Hall-of-Famer, Dave Shuten:
When I bought Carroll Shelby’s DeTomaso Pantera, people thought I was nuts spending so much money on an engineless car.
But then, in a junkyard, my crew and I miraculously found the 600+ horsepower turbocharged V8 that Lee Iacocca had gifted Shelby for this project, and that tuning legend Gale Banks had dialed in:
Naturally, we rebuilt that motor, installed it into Carroll Shelby’s DeTomaso, and restored the whole thing:
I live for this stuff.
I live for finding amazing, often obscure cars, bringing them back to life, and telling their stories. Again, that’s why I love The Autopian so much, it’s why I loved making TV shows, and it’s why I created the Galpin Speed Shop, which is filled with some of the most legendary show cars of all time, including icons from Ed “Big Daddy Roth,” Gene Winfield, and George Barris (with the Hirohata Merc being the crown jewel):
Why I’m Auctioning Off My Collection
The Speed Shop is far from my whole collection. Not even close; like I said, I have a problem.
Pimp My Ride and Car Kings got me hooked on the concept of telling automotive stories in video form, and so for years now, anytime I saw an amazing car — especially one that, to me, seemed like a great deal — I bought it, thinking that someday I’d tell its story on screen. In many cases, telling the story means doing a full restoration with Dave Shuten, who is the world’s finest resurrector of custom cars, rebuilding cars exactly as they would have been created in the first place (in other words, we didn’t fix the original “flaws,” we embraced them) by the Big Daddy Roths and George Barrises of the world.
But you get to a point where there are more cars than you can possibly ever finish, and with very few companies buying TV shows anymore, I now have all these cars sitting around, which was never my intent. I’ve never wanted to have a collection of cars for the sake of it; this was always about telling stories, and though it’s not exactly how I initially wanted to tell the stories, this new YouTube series, Should I Sell It, gives me the satisfaction of doing that before letting the cars go on to owners who hopefully can appreciate them perhaps more than even I can.
When it comes to Holy Grail cars, you’re really only the caretaker for a period of time, either until you perish or until you decide you’re ready to let the next person enjoy them; I’m choosing the latter option.
Some of them are going to be difficult to let go of; I’ve changed my mind so many times, flipping back and forth between “sell” and “keep.” For example, I have always loved Aston Martin Lagondas; the absurd wedge-shaped design, and the fact that they were unloved for so many years, and to now see the world start appreciating them more. It’s why I have seven of them, and it’s why I have trouble parting with any. [Ed Note: I was in Beau’s office when he tried remembering how many Lagondas he has. “There’s the shooting brake, there’s the limo…” Two things were apparent to me: Yes, he may have too many cars. But also: Beau really loves Lagondas. -DT].
My love for Lagondas even led me to buy the Lagonda concept that debuted in Geneva in 2009. It’s a running, driving, V12-powered concept car that was supposed to usher in a new era for the Lagonda name, and I just couldn’t resist:
There are all the Porsches; especially since opening our Porsche dealership, Porsche Santa Clarita, I’ve really gotten into the Porsche thing.
Sure, I have a GT3 RS because of the way it drives, but I also own cars because of their stories. I love the story of how Porsche tried marketing the 356 to Americans by offering not just a model number, but a name: Continental. This led to a dispute with Ford Motor Company (whose Lincoln brand still uses Continental), requiring Porsche to figure out a new badge to put in the pre-punched fenders. It chose “European.”
Because I love this story so much, I always wanted a Continental. Shortly after I found one (which I adore), I happened upon its even rarer sibling, the European.
Then there is the Hirohata Merc, the standard by which all custom cars are measured, is a car that falls into the camp of “When it’s gone, it’s gone.” It’s a privilege to own the custom of all customs, but it’s such a hard vehicle to actually use. Even taking it to car shows requires a whole security detail. It’s also a lot of money to have tied up in something that isn’t easy to really display. But still, it’s the custom; every time I look at it my jaw drops.
Should I Sell It Is My Chance To Finally Tell The Stories Of All These Holy Grails
This auction is going to be really, really tough for me. When we decided to put together Should I Sell It, The Autopian crew seemed to almost enjoy watching me writhe in agony. “This, this right here — you struggling to decide which cars to keep and which to let go — is the show” they said.
So get ready to watch (on YouTube) and read (on The Autopian) unbelievable tales about some of the coolest cars of all time as my team prepares for an amazing auction in November. Which cars will end up in that auction and which will I keep? I’m still struggling with that, as you’ll see when you watch Should I Sell It, which is set to debut on the Galpin Motors YouTube channel on Sunday, July 26.
Great taste, excellent writer, handsome, charismatic, nice bank account–does Beau have any failings?
That is an epic collection and I wish I could get one of those Lagondas. I like them for the same reasons Beau does.
What the fuck am I, chopped liver?
Hey, chopped liver is awesome with onions! As for you, while you’re generally great, I doubt you can be improved with the addition of onions.
Adrian doesn’t need onions to make you cry… 🙂
Oh god I hate chopped liver and onions and I don’t understand why people go crazy for it. it’s very much an east London delicacy also a Jewish traditional dish I think, which makes sense as there is a big jewish community in working class east London.
There is no excuse for chopped liver and onions and I’m Jewish. Just for a moment visualize with me a liver: then reflect on its’ purpose. Never mind the consistency, just that it is an organ should enough to scare you. There is a reason for bagels, cream cheese and smoked salmon. it is appealing and delicious.
Jason made me one exactly like that at Goodwood last year and let me tell you it was spectacular.
You are making me homesick for Russ and Daughters and Katz’s Deli (NYC) while I am in California.
I know it from a totally different background: I’m Brazilian, so we take it chopped, fried with onions and spices, white rice, black beans and chips/crisps/fries (forgot which is which, but they all fit). We arrange it in nice portions on the plate, and some olive oil on top ties it all together 🙂
Ok that sounds mildly palatable.
There, there, dear. Our love is large enough for both of you.
Well… Beau has his large/interesting collection.
And you?
You have a Ferrari Mondial.
LOL
Had. Now a Ford Capri
Which is definitely chopped liver compared to what Beau has… LOL
You will always be #1
How many Lagondas do you have?
I sat next to a very rich guy when he bought one once.
Close enough. You’re back to the top 3.
And this right here is the reason I love this site. The delightful repartee, the self deprecating tire slashing all in name of entertaining a group of hopless car lovers (save Mercedes where there are trains, blimps, airplanes, motorcycles, scooters and Im waiting for a gas powered skateboard video with her terrorizing a bicycle path somewhere in Red America).
So Planes, Trains and Automobiles? (etc etc etc)
I wonder if Mercedes has ever run into anyone who sells shower curtain rings? Ha ha
I know someone with a turbine powered scooter.
I think few car people are hopless.
I want that Berkeley.
My dad likes to tell the story of when he bought his first car. It was a tossup between a Berkeley and a Fiat 600. He bought the Fiat, but has always questioned that decision. Imagine if I pulled up to his house driving a Berekley.
Holy shit, this guys a rockstar.
When I went to the first Autopian meet at Galpin and saw the row of Lagondas inside, I knew this site was in good hands of true enthusiasts. I’ll definitely be watching this series.
Getting the chance to walk around the Speed Shop and see your hot rod collection back in 2022 is one of the absolute highlights of my car-guy life. I’m embarrassed by how much I geeked out when I saw the Ed Roth cars; they’ve always been my favorites. Not to mention all the other cars I had Hot Wheels and model kits of as a kid (who am I kidding? I still have some). It’s too much cool in one place for anyone to handle, so it’s probably for the best if you spread it out a little.
I just hope you don’t sell the Uncertain-T before I get a chance to come back to California and see it in person…
That car is amazing along with the story
This seems like a good moment to say thanks, Beau, for all the enjoyment we get spending time at The Autopian. And Mark, I still get a thrill looking at Beatnik Bandit. Yeah, I had the model, duh, of course. And do I see the Orbitron has the requisite mirror to show off the fully chromed undercarriage? Oh, yeah!
Blessed is the man that finds joy in his work.
It will become his life’s greatest pleasure.
Blessed is the man who inherits a successful business that he loves
I’m still dining out (well telling anyone who will listen) the story of us gatecrashing the Bonham auction at the 2023 Goodwood Revival. Then they realised who you were, we got ushered down the front getting the side-eye from all the snooty blue-bloods in there, and me sitting next to you doing pounds-to-dollar conversions on the fly as you bid on that two door Lagonda.
We put some noses out of joint that afternoon and it was GLORIOUS.
Was there an article here about that story that I somehow missed?!
I don’t we ever wrote it up, but pre-auction the two door Lagonda was covered here I think.
“I don’t we ever wrote it up,”
Well mister, you have some work to do!!!
thats a pretty great war story
I had to explain to Beau what a tax disc was and how that meant the car was legal to be driven on UK roads.
Is that like an MOT? YOU British take being quirky to an extra level. I think the Pound has more variations and uses and nicknames then the US Dollar
It’s separate from the MoT; We have to pay a tax on our cars annually, which mostly depends on how polluting it is (it’s way more complicated than that). Up until about ten years ago, when you paid your tax you got a little coloured disc of paper, the ‘tax disc’, which you had to display in the corner of your windscreen so police etc. could easily see who’d paid up.
These days it’s all done online, so tax discs don’t exist any more.
(I think other countries do similar things, but the sticker is on the license plate, or even that you have to get a new plate every time you pay the tax)
Aren’t they sometimes replaced with a beer bottle label?
Sounds awesome! I’m setting my VCR or something like that.
And I’m looking forward to reading his future tales on my Videotex terminal!
Maybe at the same time you can set the clock that’s been blinking 12:00 since you bought it back in the 90s
I have been wanting more stories from Beau since the start of this site,especially about the collection and the greater Galpin Inc. Looking forwards to this. Also,it would be much easier if you spelled it Bo instead,for us non-English.
Forget the auction. You should list these on Facebook Marketplace. Now that would be a series worth watching! Be sure to include in your listing “No lowball offers, I know what I got”
Then you get hundreds of idiotic, identical messages:
“Hi, is this available?”
Beau, thank you for sharing the stories of these cars. I know of many of them, have seen almost none in 1:1 scale. I’ve been a car nut since I was a kid and my dad was explaining what a Duesenberg was. I mostly love the oddball cars and ones with interesting trivia or features. Living in Maine, I’ll likely never get to visit Galpin’s speed shop. But thank you for starting the Autopian, putting stuff here on the Autopian and also on YouTube.
I have an idea. Beau has a lot of Lagondas. Do you think he’d notice if one of them went missing?
I bet you need to find one with an automatic transmission. LOL JK
Back when I was barely old enough to get a learner’s permit, KFRC, THE rock and roll radio station in San Francisco, was giving away Mick Jagger’s Morgan Plus-8 Roadster. To win, all you had to do was guess where they were going to present it. I casually told my friend “Oh, that’s easy. London Bridge, Lake Havasu Arizona.” I didn’t bother to send in my entry on a postcard. Sure enough, a couple of weeks later, they announced the winner and the location. It’s ok. My parents didn’t even have a car port where I could have parked it. Most expensive postage stamp I didn’t buy.
Anyone who owns a Sunbeam-Mabley is way too into weird cars. We could hang out.
Beau, I’m late reading this, but your path in life is the fantasy of ever gearhead kid of a certain age, hell, of any age. Jealous? Yes, but love seeing and reading about it.
Thank you for starting and supporting the Autopian. This site has renewed my interest in autos and auto culture. I don’t and never will have the funds to own the vehicles that thrill me, but I don’t hold anything against the ones that do. I love reading and watching about all of it, even if it’s just living it through someone else.
Thanks again and looking forward to the future adventures.
Dope! I shall watch!
Looking forward to the series in both video and written form. Best of luck with the decision-making process and with the auction!
As the proud owner of a collection of hand-built cars that I’m running out of room for, I can sympathize. I’m currently in the middle of building a Countach and already have an E-Type lined up as my next project. Of course, they’re all Lego, but still…
Lego does an E-type?
Holy fudge balls they do, it’s coming out 8/1/26 or 1/8/26
kit # 11381 it’s in BRG or close enough to it as well.
Thanks I’ll be getting that.
Coming soon:
https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/jaguar-e-type-11381
I need more space to put all the Lego kits…
I have the white Countach. If white bricks are your thing, then the Concorde is an awesome build and display model it’s not small though, at 42 inches by 17 inches.
So, um, do paying Autopian members get a discount? 😛
LOL
Yeah when you have more cars than you can handle and you’ve already told the story and if you have duplicates of the given model, letting go of some and turning it into a show is a great idea.
I’ll definitely be watching.
Personally I’d love to collect some cars. But the main barriers to me is a lack of space and the time needed to take care of the given car.
Might be something I do when I’m retired or semi retired.
I have loved Aston since the 80s of my youth, especially the Vantage Volante, and was fortunate enough to live near an “Aston blue” Vantage but the magnificent and grand Lagonda was the white whale/holy grail to spot, especially in the States. While living in Britain in my teens, I was walking down the street with my parents in London and suddenly…she was upon me- a glorious WHITE Lagonda! At first, I could not believe my eyes and froze with a big shiteating grin on my face Then, my parents thought I had lost my mind due to my reaction. I just kept saying, “this is an Aston Martin Lagonda! One of the coolest and rarest cars in the world!” It was the first of many great spots of cool cars over the next four-plus decades but it is still the greatest I ever had. Second was finally seeing a BRG Morgan parked in the wild. Perhaps I’m due for a trip to the West Coast to see a fleet of my white whales. Beau, you have great taste, no matter what they said about the stately Lagonda on TG. Tossers!:-)
The colors on those Porsche 356s are fantastic! They make me think of Fiestaware (or maybe Le Creuset, to be fancier).
Even though Beau’s collection is so far removed in vehicle type and value from anything my family has ever owned, I love that he feels something for these cars, just like I do with my little fleet. Having genuine car people like Beau backing The Autopian has made it a really special, amazing place.
That early E-Type roadster with the factory hardtop is calling my name.
Thanks for taking the time to express the true car love that bonds all enthusiasts together. You may have had privileged car life, but you still understand that each car has its story, and that beaters and pebble beach lawn cars all deserve love and appreciation. I look forward to your new series.
I’m feeling Beau’s pain on a far smaller scale: we’re escaping the USA for the Netherlands and must pare down. First to go was our immaculate ’63 Beetle, traded to a contractor (and now friend) for his work on our house so it can also be sold. Our perfect ’93 300zx went to a colossally disappointing guy on FB Marketplace who managed to smash one of the t-tops while ‘inspecting’ it. Our ’89 Pao is slated to sell to a dear friend who promises to love it as much as we do. Then there’s the daily drivers: the ’13 Fiat Abarth and the trusty ’05 Sierra.
The prospect of a new mid-life adventure in Europe is both exciting and frightening, but letting go of vehicles we love and know inside and out has been depressing.
Have fun. The Netherlands has its own share of right wing extremism. And its got basically… zero diversity, almost entirely lilly white people. Anyway, I’ll sit back and enjoy California and wait till’ the midterms when the current asshole and his party get their asses handed to them. This will end and when it does…. will be curious about you folks who moved off to these places…
At least he knows popular culture.
Winning bigly. /s
Pinky Herman!
Hell, if I could get out of here I’d be in New Zealand right now, and never coming back.
I love how it’s like…. ” I’m.gonna run away to a one of those places white people like to dream of running away to”
Except the same shit happens there too. There’s serious racism there and the natives, just like here, are treated like garbage.
My dad has cancer. So obviously I can’t leave if I wanted to. But you know what? Fuck that anyway. This is our country and its worth saving. Screw the asshole trying to fuck us over. In a few months he and his party are getting their asses handed to them. Then it’ll be time to start throwing asses in court rooms. Every single race has the GOP getting stomped.
So I’m staying. And when this is over? And trust me.. it will end… There’s gonna be a lot of Americans who will have in many cases made drastic, compromising decisions based on a temporary problem, living in some freezing ass, sterile, super white place that bears zero resemblance to the likely way more diverse place they moved from.
We will get through this.
I am so sorry your father has cancer. I understand the stress that goes with it, I’ve seen it and had it. My apologies if I riled you.
It IS our country, but there are places in the world and societies I’ve been around whose approach to life fits more closely to my own ideas. Does New Zealand have it’s problems, of course it does. But some of the nicest people I’ve ever met live there.
I’m not giving up on this country, I couldn’t if I wanted to. Where we are now has been going on for a looong time. I’ve done my part over decades, and now if I could go to a peaceful place without all the constant political drama, I would. I haven’t given up on this country, I’m just old and tired of watching this drama go on.
Or you could just do like me and live in California. Seriously. It is literally like its own country, the government here wants nothing to do with this bullshit, and we control so much of the economic development of this country that they cannot really fuck with us that much.
I was fortunate that I was already here because I moved here decades ago. But, this is where I’m staying for the probably the rest of my life. Contrast with where I grew up which is in the rural South. And when I come back here, again might as well be a different planet.
I promise we are going to get through this. The other side wants you to give up. I’m not. I call Representatives every single day of the week including this morning.
All indicators suggest a massive blowout during the midterms. And don’t worry, Trump is such a dumbass. He already gave away his plan so everyone’s already aware of the fact that he’s probably going to try to pull some shit except he’s not going to get away with it
I hear you. You know what, I had to laugh, because I’ve done basically the same thing as you. I live on the CA central coast, have for almost 30 years. Good possibility I’ll spend the rest of my life here. Moved here from Houston, but my early years were in the south. So when I say I hear you, I really do. I was so thrilled to finally get a job on the left coast, and really do love CA. It’s expensive, but the living is good.
When I said I would move to NZ if I could, it wasn’t just to get away from the insanity that is US politics, but I’ve been there multiple times and just love the country and the people. Also some of my best friends live there.
People who dump on California have most likely never been here. There are some bad areas, but there are many beautiful places and you can choose from a couple of dozen or more microclimates. People are mostly tolerant, although there is a large number of right-wingers, especially in the north and the rural areas. We don’t have hurricanes, fire ants, or need to scrape ice off the windows during the winter, just an infrequent earthquake or two to keep us on our toes.
Whenever I travel, I’m always glad to be back here. As imperfect as the state is, it’s an amazing place to live.
Now, if we could only get the Bureau of Automotive Repair to carve out an exception for legally imported cars…
Thank you. I love your post and completely agree. I’m in my 7th decade and I am still optimistic we can make this the country it should be.
Most everyone we know says some version of “nowhere’s perfect” to us, as if we’re new to this planet.
But I can assure you this: the Dutch society can’t hold a candle to ours in regards to masked Gestapo agents violently disappearing innocent people off the streets. Similarly, they don’t have a government run by pedofriendly oligarchs with ties to Putin.
I could go on about school shootings and a disappearing middle class, but I’m sure you’re picking up what I’m putting down.
The midterms will be stolen, mark my words, and 2028 will be apocalyptic. Bookmark this comment.
Nah… You’ve just built that narrative above to assure yourself you “made the right decision”. Like I said, I live in California. A lot of people from other places move and live here including enough people from Norway, including one of my buds at the obscure museum I volunteer at. Enough to hear about the right wing bullshit that is very much present there. But that’s besides the point.
.Enjoy living in a almost entirely un-diverse , almost entirely Caucasian country. Yay.. out where I live my next door neighbor is Thai. One next to them, Philippines. One across from me, Chinese, the ones kitty corner, also Chinese, people to the right, white, family 2-3 houses down- black. And so on. That’s the way I like it. It’s a true expression of who we are as a country. And I would never trade that to go live in mini culture with hardly any of that.
I’m staying and will join the rest of my neighbors in defeating this.
Anyway, enjoy running away. You can always come back once those of us who stayed and voted these assholes out. It’ll happen, this will end, and one day we will all be so happy we got through it like all of the other crap we’ve gotten through.
This is our country..we intend to keep it.
So much to debunk:
None of it’s a “narrative”.
School shootings aren’t a “narrative”.
ICE disappearing and murdering people is not a “narrative”.
Our failing health care system is not a “narrative”.
Our hijacked news media is not a “narrative”.
Oligarchs owning everything and the rest of getting scraps is not a “narrative”.
White supremacists marching unopposed in DC is not a “narrative”.
Having a pedofriendly president is not a “narrative”.
Also, for the record, I’ve lived in Japan and traveled extensively and love how the Dutch and Scandinavians comport themselves. You’re not telling me anything new about who lives where.
Good luck “fighting” unless your name is Rambo. My version of “fighting” is monthly checks to SPLC, the ACLU and politicians I believe in – and that’s just not moving the needle.
Regarding voting, we can vote from abroad. It’s called “the mail”.
Point being, America is fundamentally broken. Even if we could put this awful far-right populist genie back in the bottle and return this nation to what it was under Biden – that’s not enough. I’ve got ONE life to live, and I’m going to live it somewhere known for its happiness. You can call that ‘running’ but in reality it’s just a frog upset that the pot is getting really unbearably hot.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty/academic-freedom/2025/03/26/fascism-scholars-trump-critics-leave-yale-canada
Like I said, continue building that narrative so you can tell yourself it’s okay to leave, making a really drastic decision when in reality the problem is absolutely going to resolve and solve itself.
I mean I can’t leave anyway because my father has cancer. But I wouldn’t leave anyway because like I said, this is our fucking country. I’m not going to run, I’m going to stick around because the country is worth saving. And I’m not about to pick up and move off to some country that other white people think is is their new “Paradise” either
That last part is pretty ironic, isn’t it? Yeah. Way to show us…. Yeah… You hate all the racism in America and your solution is to move to a place that basically has zero racial diversity? Pray tell me what’s so wonderful about that
Anyway when this is over and you get tired of paying out the ass for everything, and freezing your ass off and being around a place that basically has no ethnic diversity… You can always come back. And we promise we’ll tell you all about how we defeated the regime.
But yeah. Probably behoove you to at least partially pay attention to what I just said because like I said, this shit will end, and so people like you really need to ask yourselves, would you really want to move to a cold ass Nordic country? If things were okay back in the USA? I bet not.
You do you, boo.
It’s going to be ok. Trust me.
Splc?
Wow!
I don’t live in California (amazingly a beautiful progressive town near Clearwater FL), and my husband and I have traveled on road trips through 41 states since we retired 12 years ago. Without exception we’ve met marvelous people at all stops, and the fact that we’re an interracial gay couple has been irrelevant. This country has the right people to fix where we are.
We live in Tampa- the bay area is the best FL region, notwithstanding the mediocrity of Disney. We’re straight, yet still attend the pride and drag events in St Pete, with Pussy Riot a few years ago being historic.
The thing is, I grew up in Winter Haven amidst the worst sort of John Birch Society sh*theads, and know firsthand what lurks out there. Polling indicates 30% of America are in that camp, and I’d bet another 50% are apathetic. By that logic, 20% of us have a tough hill to climb.
We’re up against the combined force of Silicon Valley, the richest tech-bros, Putin’s dark money troll farms, a compromised news media, ICE and all three branches of government: it’s going to get hairy. Your confidence is misplaced.
@Buddybear’s weird stance that we can’t go live a happier life in another country speaks volumes about who he is. Anyway, we’ll continue to fund the resistance here no matter our locale.
Nice to ‘meet’ you.
B^)
https://davesanborn.blogspot.com/2026/02/shrugging-towards-fascism.html
Perhaps it’s better to call it hope than confidence. I’m perennially optimistic.
Nice to meet you too and thanks for being an ally.
I take it that one’s probably a keeper, then?
https://www.theautopian.com/welcome-to-the-autopian-the-ultimate-car-website-for-the-people/
Yeah, and I still can’t believe how many comments are on that article…1277! Yup, occasionally I’ll go back and read some of the earlier articles since they have a special vibe to them
Looking forward to hearing how TF you found the engine for that pantera, that is NUTS!
I can’t wait to watch this. It’s like the grown-up version of DT selling off his cars to appease the local government.
All I can say is… I cannot wait to see this series!! Personally, the storytelling is what I love about The Autopian, and why I keep re-upping my membership! Having having heard Beau on the podcast, I have no doubt we are all in for an automotive history treat!
How about a series of articles where David Tracy and Jason Torchinsky both get a Lagonda and have to use it as their daily driver for a month?
It’s good Beau has eight of them. They just might make it through the month with one still working properly
That’s where the fun begins–both of them would have to make any needed repairs themselves in their driveways (once they get towed home). After all those rusty old Jeeps and a 2CV how hard could it be to keep a 45 year old hand built British car going?
Quite possibly the first Lagonda to ever sport handwritten “Farm Use” tags.
California dealer plate.
*Dos Equis Meme*
I don’t always watch YouTube series, but when I do, they’re made by true enthusiasts about some of the most interesting cars to ever exist.
So a follow-up show to this one could be “Win Beau’s Aeautos!” where contestants compete against each other to win one of the cars that Boeckmann is getting rid of. Obscure automotive trivia mixed in with some zany antics.
Selling each of your beloved cars is a really hard thing to deal with. I sympathize. That’s why I propose an Autopian-Member specific “Adopt One of Beau’s Cars” campaign wherein each Autopian member is given custody of one of these treasures provided there is garage space and an adequate supply of chamois.
Everybody’s a winner.
I love Beau articles so much, the passion is tangible and evident in every single vehicle and the words said about them. Words cannot describe how charming and joyful the collection is, not another Ferrari filled internet clout chasing list of the same old super cars. No, this is the definition of “for the love of the game,” not for money or status, but the good of all gearheads. Keep it up, and I can’t wait for this series to start!