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The Carmudgeon Show — Automotive
The Carmudgeon Show

Part of the Hagerty Podcast Network, the Carmudgeon Show is a comedic, information-filled conversation with Jason Cammisa and Derek Tam-Scott, two car enthusiasts who are curmudgeonly beyond their years. Proving you don’t have to be old to be grumpy, they spend each episode talking about what’s wrong with various parts of the automotive universe. Despite their best efforts to keep it negative, they usually wind up laughing, happy, and extolling their love for cars. Which just makes them angrier and more bitter.

Jason Cammisa is an automotive journalist, social-media figure, and TV host with over 300 million views on YouTube alone. Jason’s deeply technical understanding, made possible by a lifelong obsession with cars, allows him to fully digest what’s going on within an automobile — and then put it into simple terms for others to understand. Also, a Master’s Degree in Law trained him to be impossible to argue with.

Derek Tam-Scott still tries. He’s a young automotive expert with old-man taste in cars, and a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering — which means he knows how to be civil to Jason. Or at least he tries. With a decade and a half’s experience buying, selling, driving and brokering classic and exotic cars, he’s experienced the world’s most iconic cars. And hated most of them.

Latest Episodes:

Derek Does Pikes Peak — The Carmudgeon Show with Cammisa and Derek from ISSIMI Ep. 59 Jul 11, 2022

Show notes

This week, Jason drives Derek’s Lamborghini Miura- which, as it turns out, is a vehicle that most commonly enjoys flirting with its own death by fire, inclement weather, or just modern day traffic. Jason and Derek discuss the car’s other difficulties, including but not the mystery of non-standardized interior button labels, glowworms for headlights, and windshield wipers which prefer to eject versus function. Conclusion- if anything happens to your Miura, make sure the whole thing burns to the ground- the subsequent restoration won’t be worth the trouble or finished in your children's lifetime.

The main focus of this episode, however, is Derek’s recent trip to Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, a journey not traveled without some difficult weather, 3 AM traffic jams, and many flavors of Porsche 911 Turbo eating up the elevation. Despite some unique challenges in Derek’s adventure, he luckily did not get struck by lightning. This eventually leads to an extended discussion on Mobil 1 oil and some discoveries Derek made while talking to an oil engineer atop Pike’s Peak.

Jason and Derek explore differences in oil weight, detergents, anti-foaming agents, modifiers, and more magic that lubricates our engines. Oil change intervals and oil analysis also come into play- sometimes a scary Blackstone result isn't as worrisome as you might be led to believe.

Jason also revisits his findings on the new Acura Integra and Honda Civic SI, and uncovers why ultimately there is more to the $7,000 price gap than initially meets the eye. Jason and Derek also discuss a recent spin in an original DC2 Acura Integra Type R, a car whose mass alone dictates how much the Integra nameplate has changed in 25 years. All this and more, brought to you by the Hagerty Podcast Network.

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Is The New Integra A Future Classic? — The Carmudgeon Show with Cammisa and Derek from ISSIMI Ep. 58 Jun 27, 2022

Show notes

Every once in a while, a great new car comes along that, despite its overall excellence, still reveals its incapabilities in becoming a sales success.

In this episode of The Carmudgeon Show, Jason remarks on his recent experience with the new Acura Integra, a car which looks better in person despite its snot-inspired launch colors. While Derek initially judges the car based on Legend and not Vigor, he ultimately concludes that maybe there’s more than meets the eye when stacked up against the crop of other new sporting and enthusiast-aimed cars in the segment.

This opens a discussion on the history of Honda and Acura’s image in the 80s and 90s and the types of folks who bought them- some of whom you may have street raced with if you pulled up in a similarly-matched Volkswagen in 1990s Pittsburgh.

Similarly, Jason and Derek discuss the wavering transitions between good and bad in 30 years of Acura product planning, and the importance of thoughtfully relaunching legendary nameplates. Can the current Integra carry the torch and become another future Honda classic? We may need another 30 years to find out.

All this and more, brought to you by the Hagerty Podcast Network.

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How To Be An Automotive Journalist — The Carmudgeon Show with Cammisa and Derek from ISSIMI Ep. 57 Jun 20, 2022

Show notes

In this episode of The Carmudgeon Show, amateur interior designer Jason Cammisa and living encyclopedia Derek “Hyphen” Tam-Scott go back to the basics and recall their respective foundations in their respective automotive ecosystems.

Derek embarks on a trip into his past of Alfa Romeo brake jobs, buying and selling old cars, and building a prolific knowledge of cars and planes through books received since his childhood. In fact, Derek's encyclopedia became certified by age 8 when elaborating on engineering differences between a Porsche 956 and 962 to his family's local mechanic.

Jason similarly recalls his beginnings watching and memorizing his parents’ movements driving manual transmissions as a child. As a prize for his attentiveness at age 14, he wins an unrealized $50 bet after successfully not stalling his father’s FJ60 Toyota Land Cruiser, a journey filled with risky hill-starts and rev-match downshifts.

Amidst a discussion of calibrating driving styles and learning how to drive old cars properly, Jason discusses a recent drive in a friend’s Ferrari Mondial T after doing some throttle tinkering. As it turns out, the more broken a car is, the better you become as a driver by circumventing the brokenness. And anyway, who’s really broken- you or the car?

Throughout the episode, Jason and Derek engage in a conversation about the importance of being objective in the world of automotive storytelling. Jason identifies the rewards that come with experiential curiosity and the art of purposeful ambiguity- perhaps, at the cost of being fooled by a PR department behind an Audi RS3 or a similarly FWD-feeling Dodge Neon. Maybe- just maybe- we can all learn to understand a hateful vehicle.

All this and more- brought to you by the Hagerty Podcast Network.

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The World's Best Sports Sedan is a Cadillac? — The Carmudgeon Show with Cammisa and Hyphen — Ep. 56 Jun 13, 2022

Show notes

In this episode of the Carmudgeon Show, 95-year-old Derek Tam-Scott and ex-Yinzer Jason Cammisa discuss their enjoyment of the Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing. They cautiously approach the startling conclusion that the Blacking is the world's best current sports sedan — but not without a seaworthy exploration of Cadillac’s post-landyacht identity crisis. While unpacking the good, the bad, and the Malaise, Derek realizes that maybe there’s more to our perception of a 120-year-old brand than meets the eye.

Naturally, this discussion is not without mention of past performance sedan greats — including the Chevrolet SS, E39 BMW M5, and Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. And the ATS-V with the pushrod, small-block V-8 — which totally should have existed.

Jason’s ten cars become nine as he bids farewell to Rose Gold, his Cashmere-Beige BMW E30 325i, but not without sending it off with a bumper-to-tailpipe warranty and a deep investigation of a tacho-metric truth. He also celebrates 25 years and 100,000 miles with his 1987 Volkswagen Scirocco 16V and the newly-realized vulnerabilities that come with long-term ownership.

All that and more, brought to you by the Hagerty Podcast Network.

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Driving an XL1 in the USA — The Carmudgeon Show featuring Jason Cammisa and Derek from ISSIMI Ep. 55 Jun 06, 2022

Show notes

In this episode of the Carmudgeon show, part-time ambulance chaser Jason Cammisa befriends some forbidden freeway fruit in form of the Volkswagen XL1 — a car that hardly exists at all, let alone on a California freeway at 11 PM. Jason recounts his seat time in the mirrorless, peak-Piëch Bugatti Veyron of MPG and how its small-footprint journey across the US makes for a large-footprint cause — more on that below. Side effects may include a string of broken-necked Bolt drivers and/or a stay in your local hospital.

Derek and Jason make some other low-drag comparisons, such as the ill-fated GM EV-1 and original Honda Insight.

Jason recounts vivid childhood memories of a 1975 Chevy Impala wagon and a GM hotline that served solely to feed his growing curiosity of facts and figures.

This somehow leads to a discussion (and confession) of the different terrible and elaborate ways that rental vehicle customers can cause havoc. Have you ever pulled a 6-liter Vortec out of a U-Haul and returned it with a lowly 4.8? Perhaps you’ve rented a Toyota Tercel and returned it within an inch of its life.

We won’t judge you. Maybe.

A special shout-out to Jim Magill (@thealso) who drove the XL-1 cross country to raise money for Alzheimer Research. Click the link here to donate to the cause: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/thecarofthefuturepast

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Driving rally legends- — The Carmudgeon Show featuring Jason Cammisa and Derek from ISSIMI — Ep. 54 May 30, 2022

Show notes

In this episode of the Carmudgeon Show, Derek Tam-Scott helps Jason Cammisa make a not entirely welcome discovery about the past of his recently-acquired Honda Beat, which somehow transitions seamlessly to a discussion about homologation cars and how they are both strange and cool. Included among these are Derek’s recently-acquired Mercedes-Benz W201 190E 2.3-16 Cosworth.

The main focus, however, is the homologation cars Derek drove on his recent trip to Europe, including the Lancia Fulvia HF Fanalone, the Lancia Stratos HF (which necessitates discussion of the Ferrari 246 Dino, of course) , the Group B-dominating Peugeot 205 Turbo 16, and Kimera Automobili’s spectacular Lancia 037 redux, the EVO37. These become the vehicles to discuss the differences between Group 4, Group 5, and Group 6, and their evolution into Group A, Group B, and Group C. No Carmudgeon Show episode is complete without a discussion of BMWs, in this case the E46 M3 CSL, which Derek drove in Switzerland.

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Discussing the Nissan Z — The Carmudgeon Show featuring Jason Cammisa and Derek from ISSIMI — Ep. 53 May 23, 2022

Show notes

There’s a new Z in town and Jason has driven it!

In this episode of the Carmudgeon Show, award-winning automotive journalist Jason Cammisa and award-deserving automotive encyclopedia Derek Tam-Scott discuss the 2023 Nissan Z. And the Jaguar E-Type. And Bridgestone S007 tires. And Aston Martin Vantages — V8 Vantages with blown engines. And Gordon Murray T.50s.

Derek takes a turn for the nerdy by pointing out that British tax-horsepower regulations encouraged the tractor-like long-stroke engines that sapped some of the fun out of the 1960s sports cars.

But not the Fairlady Z432, which Jason thinks might be the best-sounding six-cylinder engine of all time — up there with the Mercedes 300SL “Gullwing.”

Mostly, though, this episode discusses Z — from the new one back to the original S30 240Z and Fairlady. Including the VR30DDTT engine that originally debuted in the Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400 — though it’s derived from the port-injected R35 Nissan GT-R.

And what episode would be complete without a highly legal street drag race between two BMW E30 325is? Certainly not this one.

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Road Rage in slow cars — The Carmudgeon Show featuring Jason Cammisa and Derek from ISSIMI — Ep. 52 May 16, 2022

Show notes

If Eight is Enough, Ten is too many: Jason just bought his tenth car, and it’s a problem. It’s also slow. Japanese Kei cars are limited to 660 cc and 64 horsepower — but the Honda Beat is an 8500-rpm 3-cylinder with ITBs and sounds like a Porsche 911’s flat-six. Just without any chance of a speeding ticket.

Jason also just drove an Autozam AZ-1, which has Gullwing doors and is surprisingly fast — so the boys wonder if a Suzuki Cappuccino is just as good?

This leads a discussion of slow cars, which invariably means diesels. And a Fiat Cinquecento. Its 2-cylinder, 11-hp just gave Derek some anxiety this past weekend. More so than the underpowered Land Rover Defender 110 diesel that actually managed 70 mph — after miles of full-throttle motoring.

Jason once had a W123 300TD Turbo wagon that started, but didn’t run. How is that possible? Starting fluid. But the OM617 diesel’s loping idle is among the best sounds in the world. And some later Mercedes diesels — like the W124 1995 E300 diesel and OM606 24-valve straight-six. Which is smooth, but slow.

Somehow the conversation then turned to Derek’s hatred of the Ferrari F355 and 550 Maranello. It’s always fun to see Derek miserable, at least for Jason.

We suspect the same will be true for you.

The Carmudgeon Show is part of the Hagerty Podcast Network.

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How can Miata always be the answer when there are multiple Miatas and an E30?— Carmudgeon Show Ep 51 May 09, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, Jason Cammisa and Derek ("Hyphen") Tam-Scott discuss having to choose between the Miata NC and ND, specially NC3 and ND2, after driving them back to back on a rally.

Of course, the meandering conversation starts with BMW E90 and E90 LCIs, the term Life-Cycle Impulse, and the hideousness of E60 and the E65 BMWs.

NB, Hyphen says, is not the right answer.

But NC2 and NC3 might be.

ND Miata proved the entire industry wrong — it's possible to drop weight and gain performance.

But it didn't come alive until the ND2's higher-revving engine.

But is it better than the NC2 Miata?

And is even that better than an E30 BMW 325i?

It takes an entire episode to find out, but the Carmudgeons are clear on this decision. And to discuss whether we're in a bubble of old-car values?

== The Carmudgeon Show is part of the Hagerty Podcast Network. It consists of multiple award-winning automotive journalist Jason Cammisa and automotive expert and Derek Tam-Scott of ISSIMI.

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Track Day? Nah, we'd rather do a Hyphen Rally: mountain roads with friends — Carmudgeon Show Ep 50 May 02, 2022

Show notes

In this celebratory 50th episode of The Carmudgeon Show, Jason Cammisa and Derek Tam-Scott regale us with tales of their 624-mile weekend old-car road rally.

Derek brought his 964-chassis Porsche 911, Jason brought "Beatrice," his beater E30-chassis BMW 325i. Two friends bought Miatas: an NC3 and an ND2. More on the Mazdas in a future episode, we promise.

Derek picked a route of the twistiest back roads Northern California can offer and the boys grabbed a couple hotels.

Several things occurred to them:

1. California's passing laws suck because they put the onus of pulling over on the slower, weaker driver.

2. We've found our people: they use turn signals.

3. Track days are great, but we prefer back roads.

4. Tight and twisty back roads are more fun than track - it trades repetition for adventure.

5. This is the cheapest way of enjoying a weekend.

6. Poor Beatrice.

7. Focus on the driver mod!

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