Nearly Perfect Cars, Best Racing Driver Names & BMW E39 5 Series - The Car Podcast Ep 13

[@Desmond17]

Neil was on absolute fire for this one ! The Jaguar bit, the 992's rising bottom and his geniously "classy" racing driver name. Love it !

[@JohnnyDrizzle]

'Mike Hunt' 🤣. We love you Neil!

[@e39_lemans_m5]

As an E39 M5 owner, I’m afraid the correct answer here is actually a combination of all of those proposed - it is in fact an Alpina B10 3.3 Touring, manual. Why? It’s the most powerful 6-cylinder E39 made, which means you get great performance with a nod to fuel economy and maintenance for your 30k mile a year, and the sweeter steering rack to boot. You also get a manual, which wasn’t an option in the B10 V8 models. Spec is up for debate, but for me it would be Alpina green with gold decals over cinnamon leather ‘active’ comfort seats, glass sunroof, sat nav, double glazing, rear blinds and yuppie car phone. Perfection.

[@_que]

Surprised no mention on the R&P steering on the I6 vs the RB tractor steering the V8s.

[@e39_lemans_m5]

@ tractor is a bit harsh perhaps, but certainly the 6cyl cars do offer a bit more feel, and it feels like they steer quicker too

[@BrendanEvan]

It’s past midnight in Americaland but a new episode of the best podcast ever dropped so I’ll sleep later

[@matthewbarnes936]

Speaking of great car commercials, would be a cool segment: the car commercial that made you want to go out and buy the car?

[@eddy7236]

The Honda accord add with the car in different parts

[@cutdepiefails6596]

Saab 9-5 vector.

[@ydrts_915]

Surely the ‘24 JAAAG commercial… I’d go out and buy ANY OTHER THING on sale:)

[@majik16106]

Has to be the GI Joe/Barbie 300zx commercial

[@paulhudson7191]

Sad answer. But the Ford Probe😂

[@llanelli311]

I firstly had a 528i Sport black on black with a high gloss shadow line and alcantara as my company car and it was just fabulous. I moved company and got a huge promotion and then ended up with an M5, my male friends still talk about that car and how utterly mental it was !!!

[@chrislee1059]

Friend had a 528i was so refined in its time. Followed him in a 96 primera Sri ( flat out ) at 120mph on French motorways on route to Switzerland, pre speed camera days. It was so stable at high speeds😎

[@Gorbyrev]

Primera was a nice car too. Underappreciated.

[@elcasho]

Neil just rocking a RUF cap

[@martijndegroot8727]

"High Snobiety", what a great cap!

[@bluesmartroadster]

I can still remember the day I first saw an e39 M5 in the flesh. It was in Silverstone metallic driving along George St in Edinburgh and told myself there and then that one day I have to own one. 12 years later I did…Carbon Black with Caramel Heritage leather. BMW need another e39 moment.

[@townsjim]

My friend had one in Chiaretto red metallic for a few years and he let me drive it a few times, gorgeous car and thinking about it again is making me crave one for myself.

[@townsjim]

Actually my bad, it was in Imola red, not Chiaretto.

[@benthompson2143]

We need a Neil Clifford garage tour!

[@m3mattywebb]

Best discussion ever regarding E39 choices. My titanium silver M5 is still going strong

[@ADAM-z9c]

Johnny cash singing hurt is the best cover. The guy from nine inch nails that sang it originally even said that it's no longer his song and that it belongs to Mr Cash.

[@ThePedroDB]

Great call 👏

[@doubled1978]

Merch. My dad bought an Audi 80 Sport back in ‘83 ish and the dealer gave him one of the Audi Sport winter jackets, which out in the Forrest at that time made him top tier bobble hat. They didn’t make any child size merch, so my mum knitted me an Audi Sport jumper which on the Scottish rally in 1984 at someone from Audi saw and got me an invitation to meet Hannu Mikkola and sit in his A2 Quattro. Mikkola fan for life..a true gentleman. As a bit of pop trivia, the Slade video for My oh My, one of the band members is wearing an Audi Sport jacket while playing! He was clearly in the know!

[@Dandadadan83]

🎉🎉amazing

[@adrianvanner5757]

Neil is just FANTASTIC, there’s only one man’s choice.

[@danielshinerock1526]

240 Z and 260 are classics. I have a standard 200Sx S14a. I have owned it for more than 20 years. The planted feel it gives you when you drive it is fantastic.

[@jamalkherry5296]

Please don't ever sell it to a yob who will use it as a "drift missile"

[@danielshinerock1526]

@jamalkherry5296 Thanks! Exactly! All standard with all the rot taken out underneath at the back end and replaced with good metal! Rebuilt engine! Those guys always stop me on the road to buy it. No way!

[@danielshinerock1526]

What is your pride and Joy?

[@Milkydrummer]

Mike Hunt! …Champion ….of the world! 😂😂😂

[@simonpattison8290]

This podcast just makes me smile. It’s just that simple. It makes my life a little better and my life is already good. So thankyou chaps.

[@Carrera-gp9od]

I had an E39 Tourer 525i in dark blue with light tan interior . Wasn’t fast but it rode beautifully and sounded great Kept it five years to 120k . Superb. Car .

[@jem4054]

My father ran the British motor show from 1969 to 1995 so we got a lot of merchandise. My two favourites were both ashtrays. One was a Maserati piston and the other was a large table ashtray ceramic of the British Leyland logo with three deep dish ashtrays between the steering wheel spokes. Still got that one.

[@llanelli311]

Oh god, the memories!! I bought it from Barons of Hindhead. I flew back in on a Friday from N Ireland where I was working and picked it up on the following day. It was parked right in the middle of the car park, I still have the key ring that they gave me with the car.

[@JustAnoth3rHuman]

I brought a cheap 528i e39 years ago, blew up after a month. Silver with green interior. Tip for anyone buying a car, don’t buy from a guy that sparks up a cigarette in the passenger seat whilst going for a test drive & if there’s escort advertisements in the glovebox maybe give it a swerve.

[@jacklucas2123]

Hey guys just wanted to say thankyou for making this podcast. Only started watching recently but it’s quickly become one of my favourites. Keep up the great work 👍

[@FraxinusExelsior]

E39 530d manual, sedan, m-sport, silver. Perfect daily.

[@arkay402]

Our family had a 540i Touring in silver, absolutely lovely car and remains near, or perhaps at, the top of the pantheon of cars that were in our family garage

[@larssonnsx]

I had a e46 328ci manual and was probably the best around engine I’ve owned. It was smooth, fast, sounded good and I got 30mpg. I went to a Jaguar Owner club show in Aberdeenshire during the summer. I felt melancholy for Jaguar because every Jaguar was handsome, big, luxurious and powerful. They were always cheaper than the Germans too. I have owned two Astons but I’ve started looking at Jaguar XK and F-Types recently. I watch Harry’s Garage religiously and out of all the cars I remember was a light blue Project-7 at an Auction. I wish I put a bid in for it.

[@rogerwatt8491]

A professional car photographer back in the 70s and 80s, I was the first British photographer to shoot the BMW M1, accompanying the wonderful and sadly missed Sue Baker of the Observer and early Top Gear. Memories that stand out were getting up to 260 kph on the way from Munich to Oberamerggau and, the point of this comment, getting given a beautiful dark blue BMW MSport jacket. The grey Porsche body warmer with detachable arms which I was given when on assignment to shoot the LeMans winning 956s being prepared at Weissach was pretty damned cool too.

[@jinsoncollins2503]

Great 2CG being a RC offroad racer. My 17yr old son's middle name is "McRae".

[@dalenichols6512]

Strimming in Australia is called Whipper Snippering.

[@jasriyat5740]

Walter Röhrl won the 1982 World Rally Championship in the Opel Ascona 400.

[@claudioschumi87]

Didn't he win with Lancia in 83 as well with the 037 2WD?

[@badrolkane]

I have 2 x e39 one is a 528i manual saloon green over tan and an 528i auto estate with rear air suspension metallic blue over grey. And they are unbelievably good cars. Amazing ride quality. Very quite inside and the manual saloon is an absolute hoon in the rain on cheap tyres. One of the easiest cars I’ve ever drifted. These cars are cheap disposable daily’s now. And a great way to save your pennies to buy a nice weekend car. Instead of having a big finance payment on your daily. So you can buy a 996.2 gt3 for the weekends

[@andystokes1383]

Probably one of the best podcasts to date, the Tamiya based “2 Car Garage” was brilliant, with a nod to great rally cars. Keep up the good work

[@veemacks7255]

My favourite E39 was the one I had in 2000. The 535i V8.

[@danielshinerock1526]

Opel Ascona 400! Beautiful! Chris Harris. His 2023 book is worth a read. These model cars are part of the book.

[@dse7647]

It's definitely a better dynamic with just 4 of you. As ever, bravo 👏

[@AllSpeed]

for racing names, you gotta mention Scott Speed. The Subaru Rally-Cross driver.

[@Michael_Schaap]

Just the perfect podcast! Different personalities each very entertaining. Big Chris Harris fan. Since following the podcast also a big fan of his friends now. Looking forward to it every friday. Keep it up! Love this show!! Greetings from The Netherlands.

[@Jo3man96]

When Chris Cooper mentioned seats being too high, I audibly went “hmmm” in agreement. My Dad has his seat quite high because of his back, and I have to immediately lower the seat if I’m borrowing his car, even if I’m just popping to the shop.

[@MWPompert]

Martini Porsche retro leather jacket for me, a bit over th etop maybe, but damn it looked ace. I fitted it in person once when after having driven to the Nordschleife to try a lap in my 1999 Mini Cooper S, it basically was a day full of fog around the track, so bad you couldn't see from one side of the track to the other side so really the best thing to do. But it left me with a day of trying other things and in the shops at the track there was a merch store that had this stuff....never before was so tempted to spend like 700 euro on a jacket, partially fuelled by the disappointment of not being able to drive the track :)

[@Penguinracer]

Good call Chris, the Glen Campbell cover of Green Day's "Good Riddance" is something very special.

[@paulclark147]

You guys are all so brilliant on this podcast ! Everyone brings something different to the game.. Absolutely wonderful stuff.. I was very happy to see the emergency episode regarding the new Jaguar rebrand and marketing 😅

[@AlistairBaxendale]

Brilliant as always gents! The Ascona 400 was 2door Walter won the world championship in 82 in one . The works drivers in the ‘rothmans’ were amazingly Henri toivonen, ari vatanen, Walter Röhrl & jimmy McRae! Pentti arrikala also drove one but not a works rothmans car.

[@_que]

BMW E39 LCi 530i M sport in manual was the best sedan I have ever (12 yrs of ownership pre-owned experience). Agree on reflection, that when I had the 16" rims on for the winters, it did offer more similes per mile.

[@FreshdriveGeoff]

I adored my 528i m sport back in the day. I drove the absolute piss out of it. I think it's time for another E39, M5 or bust this time.

[@Jimmy_Bee]

Lotus at the Elise launch gave out the extruded aluminium throttle pedal as an ornament.

[@chrisgilbert7877]

i so look forward to this every Friday night

[@dj_zioneer5853]

I love this podcast so much. Happy weekend fellas

[@urbanstrencan]

Guys another great podcast episode, what Jaguar is doing is just crazy, even Geely owned Lotus said won't go fully electric 😂😊. Jaguar should reborn as niche manufacturer making just 2 models: First - 2 seater V8 powered coupe, Second - 5 series completitor sports luxury saloon and estate ❤❤🤟🤟 and maybe just after that slowly working towards going electric ⚡

[@petergilbert3201]

A late good morning all from Berlin. What a good episode today i must now listen to all there music choices.

[@matthewbarnes936]

"Land Speed" was the name of the commercial. The last of a long run of BMW commercials made by TBWA Hunt Lascaris; "Mercury", "Mouse", "Bullet Train" and finally, this one.

[@ACW2850]

Excellent podcast chaps 👏👏

[@TheXeroid]

Haynes of Maidstone's showroom in the late 70's, early 80's was my idea of heaven. As Chris said, not only did they have the family boxes and executive cars but they always had a fantastic array of RS models. I recall the flat fronted RS2000 and the RS1800. I spent a lot of money in their parts dept transforming my bog standard Mk1 Escort into something a bit tastier. Happy days.

[@RoccoMacloud]

I still miss my E39 sport .

[@adnansalim2187]

Ah. I spot a Blancpain Swatch on Chris Harris! 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 best color combo btw 💪👍🏼

[@Dandadadan83]

Nice spot.

[@ThePedroDB]

The Strato's Tamiya kit is one that I fondly remember. Manish's choice was the one to go for, as the extended bodywork Lancia Strato's Turbo was a bit of a disaster..

[@79blustone]

This is evolving into something awesome 🎉

[@plamenkostov1301]

Thank you guys, keep it up

[@martijndegroot8727]

So many cool covers out there but London Grammar did an astonishing version of Chris Isaak's Wicked Game. And an equally astonishing version of INXS's Devil Inside.

[@plew1000]

Hmmm, song covers, some good ones there Gents. First one that popped into my head was The White Stripes version of Jolene live in Blackpool. Love that.

[@jamalkherry5296]

Niel I have a story about "Mike" Hun that you have just reminded of. At uni with my fellow motorsport engineer we were enjoying a Friday night as you do and I said "go fast eat a** are my words to live by". My friend who was a little too far gone by that point suddenly came to life eyes wide and said "You're Mike Hunt!" at me and my other friend repeated while we just look at each other and back at him and burst into a fit of laughter. We definitely didn't hear it as Mike Hunt. He went on his phone looking confused at to why we were laughing and he sheepishly corrected himself, James Hunt.

[@jamesthomas5347]

I’m currently on holiday in Japan and I stumbled upon Volkswagen merch in collaboration with Peanuts and it’s incredible. Almost bought the entire line. Made in Okinawa , epic quality, adorable and subtle. Worth a look.

[@georgeshamtani6987]

This episode is utterly brilliant, thank you so much.😂

[@jasontonge8627]

CAR MECH - Alan Partridge and his Castrol GTX bomber jacket at the funnel. The End.

[@OllieC100]

That was a good listen, gents. Another great cover is Placebo covering Kate Bush, Running Up That Hill. 👍🏼

[@mp4f1]

TAMIYA!!!! Props to them supporting our lifelong hobbies and affections!

[@martingreenaway8748]

14:39 "There is no such thing as good automotive [merch]", Neil says, whilst wearing his RUF hat.

[@jamalkherry5296]

I'm not sure if it counts as merchandise or falls under the promotion catagory but do you remember when shell were giving out those Ferrari pull back toys? I had an F50 as a child and my cousins had the rest of the collection. Vividly remember that. The tyres were removable so you could have them doing burnouts. Very cool.

[@llanelli311]

It’s a great episode for me this week! Normally I’m a million miles from their lives but I happen to know Jody and have actually sat in his title winning car!

[@HowToSpec]

I have a lovely OEM knitted Renault 5 electric sweater from the French Renault originals store, probably my favourite car merch

[@ianstravels]

Hello chaps. Another brilliant pod. Love the content. Mike Hunt :) :) Any views on the Lotus Emira 8 ???

[@claudioschumi87]

I have suggestion for the two car garage if I may. You're a middle-aged Italian businessman, working in one of many major cities of Italy. You live on the outskirts of the city where the chaos is almost non-existent but has amazing views, and the roads are not too bad as well. You just found out you're about to get a lovely Christmas bonus from your boss at the end of the year. You treat yourself to two Italian cars. One has to be a family car as you have two children. It has to be an estate or sedan, enough power under bonnet to carry all that extra weight along with passengers, and it has to be your daily car. The other car has to be an exciting sports car just for you and the missus on a lovely Sunday drive, taking advantage of that amazing view and roads. The budget unlimited, but the only catch, if possible, is to try not to pick a Ferrari for your second choice and go for something that will surprise your friends and listeners on the podcast. P.s We've been gifted with two podcast episodes in one week. It's official. I'm addicted to this podcast. I love it! After watching it on KZbin, I'm already counting the days for the new episode.😂 I can't wait!

[@ryanjenkinson1321]

Great podcast!

[@SpontaneousEvolution]

Maybe do an episode introducing who you guys are. We know Chris but one or two others have been racing drivers, would love to hear more.

[@OldSkoolUncleChris]

The Moustache gives the Bentley dude RAF officer vibes.. I get that dude now

[@jep1912]

I like my Jags prancy, fancy and dancy. 🤣

[@grahamforbes3243]

The Harrington jacket, originally called the Baracuta G9 jacket, was so called after a character called Rodney Harrington played by Ryan O’Neal who wore it a lot in the 1960s drama/soap TV series Peyton Place.

[@lea2666]

Was getting a bit anxious not seeing the pod available 😂

[@davidfuters7152]

Iv got a Jag XK 8 2005myr and am a member of my local XK Jag club, about half of us have XK 100 (XK8 ) and the other half have the XK150 (XK 2006 - 2014 myr ) . We were having a chat as to why we chose what we did a few months back , everyone of us that had the XK100 said the same . We really wanted an E-Type but could not afford one and ours looks the closest The XK150 owners wanted the more modern tech and less rust problems , which they have , sort of , the tech is now out of date and the Ali / steal components still rust anyway , so at the end of the day , we decided it was down to which we preferred the look of 😅😅

[@rogerwatt8491]

Showing my age guys, two of the greatest ever cover versions were of Bob Dylan songs . . . Mr Tambourine Man by the Byrds and All Along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix.

[@Mazoox500]

One of the very best covers is Willie & Luke Nelson’s version of Just Breathe by Pearl Jam.

[@ydrts_915]

51:28 yes! As a ‘first name sake’, I fully support this racing driver’s name:)

[@chrisgilbert7877]

I think that this is the best cover ever and sung by Brits Green Day Crowd Singing Bohemian Rhapsody [Live in Hyde Park 2017]

[@Fozzymandeus]

1:39 528i manual

[@EdgeRowing]

Epic Porsche 992 chat! so so funny guys!

[@Steve-ko3st]

Had an L plate Corrado VR6 back in the day, loved that car

[@ZondaF355]

My weed trimming apparel consists of a well worn gray t shirt with three green little letters across the chest. R U F. Great hat Neil!

[@Harry_Halsey]

Week 13 and I just updated the "The Car Podcast with Chris Harris and Friends- MUSIC" I made on the famous music streaming site beginning with a S. I will continue to update this each week with the awesome song choices for the soundtrack of our drives.

[@brettwalker8695]

For future podcasts Neil Clifford should be now known as Mike Hunt 🤣

[@LCOF]

The guest is the lead singer from acclaimed band and Cooper favourite, Nickelback.

[@writeStevie]

B10 3.3 all the way, can’t stand the V8 steering. BTW my daily is a stick 99 528i with cloth and a quaife on 16, does that fit your description? PS Brera was on 159/Vectra platform, not GTV.

[@pistonburner6448]

Yes, that Alfa platform mistake was pretty bad: the platform origin of it is a key thing about it, I would've thought an expert should know that first and foremost about it.

[@wizardsportsandclassics9937]

Lamborghini sold a murcialago gearstick and gate on a plinth.. That was beautiful.

[@jamalkherry5296]

Another great episode of the ALPINA SHOW! 🤣 Wouldn't be CHAF without a mention

[@danmarsh6519]

44:29 for when I'm feeling low and need to hear Neil swear very clearly and see Chris Harris' reaction.

[@danielshinerock1526]

Unimog would be a good choice in a zombie apocalypse or the truck from Mad max Fury Road.

[@Littlegreenlightweight]

The one piece of OEM merchandise that isn't rubbish and plenty of had a go are mountain bikes. Most aren't very good however Ducati made an E-mountain bike and it's actually really rather good.

[@jimmyquinn9639]

Brilliant and funny show lads 🚗🚙🚘👍👍👍👍👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@MW-uy3np]

A new credit card to pay for the insurance !!! Great stuff

[@lloydgovender6323]

Talking abt covers songs…. “Slave to love” by Kidburn👌🏽….. original version was by Bryan Ferry…. The modern remake sounds more 80’s than the original. Brilliant

[@jep1912]

Chris.....when are you going to buy a see-through lace vest like Santino Pietrosanti...?

[@wparslow]

Look at the rake of the windscreen on that new Jag - it’s Supercar level. I’m not sure we’re going to be unimpressed when this is actually revealed, at least I hope we’re not.

[@Dandadadan83]

My son has 2 middle names. One is Aston and our surname is Martin 🎉