Episode 1 Transcript: The Gallic Lion Across America
The International Race of Hammpions Episode 1 - The Gallic Lion Across America
Caleb [00:01]: Good evening and welcome to the International race of Hammpions. Coming to you live from where you get your podcast. I’m Caleb and I’m joined tonight with Justin and Geno.
Justin [00:13]: Hey there.
Caleb [00:13]: We’ll be talking about the Gaelic Lion going across America. So,.
Justin [00:24]: Yeah, it’s one way to put it. So, yeah, we are talking about a Peugeot of note. There are many in the world, I’m sure, but this is mine, or was mine. So I guess I’ll just get started with the first. I know, like, I came into contact with it. So this was back in, like, I think, 2017. Ish. My. One of my good friends, he was going to college in North Carolina, and he had a girlfriend who was going to college in California, and he flew out there one summer to be with her for a couple weeks. And like, halfway through the first weekend, they broke up. So. And it was messy, so he had nowhere to stay. And it was going to be very expensive to book a flight back on short notice, so.
Justin [01:41]: And I think he could get a refund on his ticket. So he said, I need to clear my head. What better idea than to buy, like, a $500 car and drive it cross country all the way back? That’ll. That might. And it’ll be cheaper than flying. So he was looking for, like, something reliable but cheap, like a Honda Accord or something. And this is in Southern California. And he posts up on some car Facebook group. I forget which one it was exactly. And somebody that, you know, both me and him have, like, sort of know via the Internet was like, hey, I heard about this Peugeot 505 turbo diesel that this guy is trying to get rid of. This guy has a bunch of Peugos and he’s trying to get rid of it for, like, 500 bucks.
Justin [02:37]: So my friend Chris, and I think I also saw this because Chris, like, commented on it, and I was like, do it. And so he bought the Peugeot and he did end up driving it all the way cross country back from California all the way to North Carolina, but not without some hiccups because it had a head gasket that was hanging on by a thread with some, like, Blue Devil head gasket sealer. It had a starter that you had to hit in order to get it to work. You had to hit it with, like, a broom handle. And it had a alternator that just barely worked at highway speed. Just barely charged, but anything below highway speed and no. Oh. And it had a. It had a mechanical fan. Delete. So it only had an electric fan.
Justin [03:47]: And that electric fan for the radiator, for the cooling system, that electric fan you had to manually turn on or off. And the cooling system obviously didn’t work very well with the blown head, you know, head gasket being blown before and hanging on by a thread. And with the alternator not working unless you’re at highway speed. What times do you end up needing the E fan more than anything when you’re stuck in traffic? What times does the alternator not work when you’re stuck in traffic? So no, he struggled with that on the way back, but it wasn’t too bad because he was out on the open highway in the middle of nowhere. Didn’t really get caught in traffic too much. He strategized and it took him forever. And he like slept in the car and it was wild.
Justin [04:38]: And I met up with him in Nashville, where I was at the time. And I, we met up in the parking lot of Lane Motor Museum, like at night while they were closed. And we, because it’s like this is iconic, has to be here. And yeah, he eventually made it back to, to North Carolina, had it for a while and then eventually he wanted to get rid of it. So I bought it off of him for the. What he paid, which was 500 bucks and basically nothing had changed on it. And what I had found out is in addition to everything else wrong with had like 10 year old dry rotted tires obviously like all the suspension was like pretty much all the shocks and everything were blown. But still ridiculously comfortable. It didn’t matter. It’s, you know, it’s still French.
Caleb [05:34]: It’s a boujee.
Justin [05:34]: Yeah, it’s a Peugeot. Who cares? It, you know, it was leaking all over the place. This, that, the other thing. Yeah, AC obviously didn’t work.
Caleb [05:48]: Who needs AC in Tennessee?
Justin [05:50]: It had an exhaust leak. And that exhaust leak sometimes got into the cabin if you were doing highway speeds with all the windows up, like when the revs were high enough and I guess the speed some sort of vortex, I don’t know. All I know is it almost killed me once, but I’ll get into that. And yeah, I mean just some of it obviously it was just in super rough shape. It was, you know, super faded white paint just thrashed in the California sun. PEUGEOT Was that 82, I think. But it ran, it drove. And it was the most comfortable thing I’ve ever like driven in my entire life, even with the condition it was in. So I had it for a little while, messed with it, kept putting Blue Devil in it. Eventually wanted to take it to the European Experience Car show.
Justin [06:55]: And I think it was 2018. So. It was. We started in Murfreesboro where I was going to college at the time. My friend. So I have a. I had a few friends that I’ve been going to that car show past couple of years with. I was taking my Volkswagen there. I had a 2015 GTI and I met. I met a few, quite a few new friends there. And, you know, we sort of made it a tradition to keep going. And I want. I had this fricking Peugeot. I’m like, I have to take this fricking Peugeot. So I had another friend that I had known just from the Internet for like since I was like 13 or something, right? Like since like probably 2011 or something. And I had never met him.
Justin [07:52]: He was out in Texas and he also wanted to go to the show. So he was like, yeah. Or. So we made plans and he met up at my place in Murfreesboro and he drove my GTI down and I drove the Peugeot down. He trailed me and it was insane. The leg down was not super eventful. Like I said, everything wrong with the car I had to deal with, but generally it made it all the way down. And this was on those 10 year old tires still, I’m pretty sure. Or did I. Did I get the fresh tires then or did I. I think I might have got the fresh tires after the show. Honestly, I was being real risky, but I was like, they made it this far. And either way I was dealing with everything else wrong with the car.
Justin [08:46]: But made it down to Savannah, Georgia just in time to catch the start of Deadpool 2 where everyone else already had met up and were like booking it. Like, I think I hit like towards like when were. When I saw were running behind on time, like, I had to think the pedals of the floor the whole time thing. Luckily not overheating. And I think I hit 80 once. Downhill with the tailwind. No, actually legit. I think downhill with a tailwind, actually I think it was doing 85 and I think that was topped out the most it’s gonna do ever. And that thing had 80 horsepower when it was fresh and it was not fresh.
Caleb [09:39]: So I guess this was a 505 diesel.
Justin [09:43]: Not turbo diesel.
Caleb [09:44]: Turbo.
Justin [09:45]: No, it wasn’t. It was the turbo diesel. It had like 120 foot pounds of torque or something. It was beefy.
Caleb [09:51]: I mean, it wasn’t the turbo gas model.
Justin [09:54]: No, no, no. She. She’s an oil burner. Yeah, she sounded like a school bus. Like, like not joking.
Caleb [10:10]: Probably blew more smoke than a GTI driver. Vaping.
Justin [10:14]: Yeah, yeah. And then on top of that, I was vaping. So it just was a whole problem. It was just a whole problem. And so, yeah, made it down there. We. We had an Airbnb. We messed with the car a bit, put some like decals and. Or. No, that was until. That wasn’t until we got to the show. Made it to the Airbnb next morning, went to the show. It was hilarious. I think we got on like some ECS tuning Instagram reel or some. We were like bouncing on the car. We found custom decal booths. So we got a banner. I made an Instagram for it. Pujette and freaking had a banner that said that. That put on the windshield and just put a bunch of stickers all over it for the meme.
Justin [11:00]: Like, like BBS wheels, like Brembo, like racing stickers, like contingency stickers basically all over it for the meme. And that was like. First day, had a lot of fun with it. Second day, I think after that we like. I let my friends take it out and they like drifted it around in like the rain because it was very good at breaking the tires loose in the rain and kicking the end out. Even at like 1 mile an hour. It was so controllable since it was great because it only had torque.
Caleb [11:38]: And.
Justin [11:41]: It was so much fun to drive because you just floored the damn thing. You’re just second, third, fourth, fifth, and you’re just. You’re just floored. It’s just. And it’s just a couch. You’re just sitting on grandma’s couch. French, French, grandma’s couch. It’s. It’s fantastic. And then the ashtray is right where your hand is placed when your hands on the shifter for fifth gear, as it should be, so you can tap it.
Caleb [12:16]: This was a very French car.
Justin [12:18]: Very French car. Not as weird as a Citroen, but still very French nonetheless. I think my friends took it to a freaking Toyota dealership and just to like. I don’t know why they were like messing with them or something, I don’t remember, but they got a license plates around from Savannah Toyota. Then they went and got a bunch of baguettes from the grocery store and filled the car with baguettes. And then I think I was having some alternator issues at that point, or some worse alternator issues. I started just smacking on it, messing with it. And Then the third day of the show, I forget if it was the second day or third day. At one point, basically I had one of our friends in our group was really trying to market himself to get into the industry and stuff and he eventually did.
Justin [13:17]: He works for O34 Motorsports, but at the time, I forget if he worked for them yet, but either way I think he might have. And he was trying to like or you know, can’t think of the word. He’s trying to talk to other businesses and stuff and like, yeah, market the company and whatnot. But nonetheless he got freaking Kerma TDI to put the Peugeot up front with all their diesel Volkswagens. So I put the. So I had the Peugeot like in the show part, like the actual show part of the show and got to meet like a couple of like famous Volkswagen scene people. Like people like Paul at Deutsche Auto Parts and freaking. The humble mechanic and some like people big in the tuning world and stuff. So that was really cool. The humble mechanic and Paul posed on my Peugeot with baguettes.
Justin [14:32]: It was, it was a beautiful moment. And yeah, so the Peugeot did great getting down to the show. It was getting back. That was the real issue. Oh, and a little side, little aside real quick. While were at, while were at this Airbnb, there was a random ass 90s geotracker in the backyard that looked like it been sitting there for 20 years covered in like moss. And we got nefarious and decided were going to get it started. And we tried very hard but we could not get it started. And we offered the owner of the Airbnb. We were like, can we buy it? And they were like, yeah, three grand. And were like, this is like 2017. It was worth like 500 bucks. What are you smoking? It doesn’t run. But anyway, the drive back was the real shit show with the Peugeot.
Justin [15:30]: It was hilarious at the show. It was a lot of fun. But making it back first leg of the trip wasn’t too bad. Oh, I forgot to mention the windshield wiper didn’t work. It’s singular windshield wiper. It did not. It had supposed to have two, it did not have two. And the singular one it had did not work. I thought it was just stripped or something because like the motor I seemed to work. But. And that’s what Chris told me. So I just kind of went with it. But on the way back I, I think I, I’m skipping an entire part of the story. I can’t believe I forgot. I took it down to Florida afterwards. And it was even worse with the lack of windshield wiper in the rain in Florida.
Justin [16:25]: And I, I, I think I fixed it when I was down in Florida, which it just had a loose bolt. Like it just needed a loose bolt tight. And when we was down in Florida we put another thing, a head gasket. Made it all the way down to frickin Orlando. Put another thing of head gasket, Blue Devil head gasket repair in it. Ridiculous. But didn’t do too much with it in Florida other than like wash it, do that. Then taking it back all the way from Orlando to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, which is outside of Nashville. That was a hell of a journey. Left at probably 8 in the morning or whatever. Florida part of the journey wasn’t too bad. It was a little bit of a slog.
Justin [17:12]: Especially once like just getting up to Jacksonville was just a lot but made it into Georgia, South Georgia, not too much of a problem through Georgia. Once we got to north Georgia it was dark at that point and it was starting to get cold and the AC didn’t work when I was down in the hot climate. And I, my super tired delusional ass forgot that the heat worked. So I just put the windows up and put like a blanket on or like put a coat on and I was like, you know, it’s freaking cold and I didn’t turn the heat on and yeah, the exhaust got me at that point and I started to completely feel woozy and I was like, okay, we have a problem. This, this is a problem. I think I know what’s happening.
Justin [18:06]: I was like, I need to pull over right now. So luckily there was a gas station. I pulled over and I laid on the ground at the gas station for a while. Didn’t die. That’s the thing that matters. Somehow I recognized enough what was happening that could have been very bad. But after that I was like, oh yeah, I have a heater, the heater works. I was like, huh, interesting. This is a good development. The rest of the trip was like rainy and shitty and cold and the windshield wiper just barely worked even though it did finally, you know, work and still sucked on these old ass 10 year old tires in the rain on. You know, once you get north Georgia start getting to middle Tennessee on the highway, it starts getting real twisty out there and it was getting a little sketchy.
Justin [19:02]: Almost got pulled over a couple times. I mean cops like trailed us for a while and we’re just, it was, they were on our ass for a while. It was clearly deliberate, like them saying, like, watch it or whatever the hell, like, stop driving that sketchy around here. It’s mostly Georgia State Patrol because, you know, they have a reputation.
Caleb [19:24]: It’s Georgia.
Justin [19:25]: Yeah. Nonetheless, yeah, got into Tennessee eventually through just the last couple hours were just a complete trudge. When I got back at like 4am, but I made it back, or we made it back and it was quite insane. And then after that, Peugeot lived on for a little while longer. I didn’t do another head gasket thing. I forgot to. I let it rest. That winter, took it out for the car show season that next spring took two first Nashville cars and coffee. It blew up on the way back home. And that was the end of the Peugeot. And I sold it for $100 back to Chris, who then sold it to some dudes who swapped the motor for a new one and started taking it. Lemons rallying. Nice. That was the last I heard of it.
Caleb [20:26]: Nice.
Justin [20:29]: So it was a lot of fun. But that’s the legend of the Peugeot.
Caleb [20:36]: So the real question is, would you own another one?
Justin [20:40]: Absolutely, in a heartbeat. Especially if it was in good condition. And I was gonna say a turbo V6, but like, honestly, a diesel one would be awesome too. Just like the exact car I had, but just in good shape would have been so great because all of the torque from that diesel, it feels like you’re riding a couch, a magic carpet. It just waft, it just wafts you along like a hand is just pushing you, just gently. It’s beautiful.
Caleb [21:10]: So you mean to tell me that you would not become a pervert and get a prv?
Justin [21:16]: See, like I said, it’s an option. Because I wouldn’t be against getting a turbo prv. I, I, I would not be against that. Those ones are sick. Especially the ones with the slight, like, body kits on them. I forget which trim that is. But nonetheless, I, I would, I think if in a perfect world I’d have a turbo diesel and a turbo prv, both manual, of course. Gotta have a man inside of you. There are two Peugeot 505s. Dr. About that, I feel like that’s the kind of car you also need to be just chain smoking unfiltered cigarettes while you’re driving. Yes, yes, a thousand percent. Yeah. I think, I think I specifically did pick up a pack of cigarettes for the car show, just as a prop. It was a beautiful day. I miss that car.
Justin [22:25]: The show, of course, sponsored by Lucky Strike. Yes. Yeah. Brought to you by the Tobacco industry. We couldn’t do it without you. Keeps the French car industry alive, which keeps Chrysler alive in America.
Caleb [22:48]: I mean, I have driven a couple of modern Peugeots and because I live in a land where we get them and they are cromulent vehicles.
Justin [23:03]: Yeah, I’m sure they’re fine, but I think they’ve lost a lot of their luster.
Caleb [23:07]: They really have. I would say the. I say. I would say Renault as they continue some.
Justin [23:18]: They’re about the only French car manufacturer that still feels French.
Caleb [23:24]: So I’ve driven a quid more than once. I’ve had more than one as a rental and a Sandiano. Good news.
Justin [23:37]: Yes, very good news.
Caleb [23:40]: Also as Orano. But, yeah, probably my one real interesting French car story, which, because it took place in the Americas, still fits with our theme, French cars in the Americas, but this is a little bit shorter story. So my wife has cousins up in northeastern Brazil and, you know, we flew out there last year to visit them and all. And I had raining else up compact class. And we give a rental counter and, you know, walk up to rental counter. You know, I’m tired, she’s tired, we’re all tired. And they’re like, yeah, we got a rental quid. Yeah, sure, whatever. I’m good with it. Would you like. Would you like the car wash? It’s 30 hash, which is vehicles on like six bucks. And I’m about to go, no, absolutely no.
Caleb [24:42]: I’m not going to pay for that scam, you know, the prepaid wash from a car rental company. And my wife looks at me and goes, when are you going to wash for a rental car? It’s like, well, I’ve never had him. I’ve never had him say, it’s dirty when I brought it back. So I wasn’t going to worry about it. She’s like, pay the 30. Hey, I shouldn’t get the rental. Get the. Get them to pay to wash the car. Get the prepaid wash. All right, fine. And I’m foreshadowing a little bit with this. So, you know, we’re in Sergio, which is, as I said, it’s northeastern Brazil. It’s basically Brazilian from Mississippi. And anyway. And, you know, we’re in Aracasia, which is the state capital, and the roads are probably better. Roads are a little bit better in Mississippi, I’ll say that.
Caleb [25:41]: And anyway, we’re like. And you know, we’re like, yeah, let’s, you know, we’ll go. It’s like my wife’s great uncle lives out in the country, so you know, we go out there, you know, this little small town and you know about, you know, 5, 600 people. Like when I say small town, I mean small town. You know, we get out there and you know, one of our cousins comes out, you know tuberon, which is Portuguese for shark. That’s his nickname. Everyone calls him Shark. An old Shark drives a four wheel drive, S10, which us got some of Colorado, it’s a second gen Colorado. He’s like, hey, let’s go out the river. All right, fine, let’s go out river. You know, how’s the roads get out there?
Caleb [26:36]: Because, you know, I know we’re out kind of in the sticks and I know river bottoms because I grew up on a river. Oh, road’s fine, nothing to worry about. Buddy’s got a four wheel drive pickup. I’m driving a Renault subcompact. You know that I could fit two of them in my office here. I mean we’re talking. This thing fits inside the wheelbase of my daily driver that I had before leaving the US put in the bed of the truck. I mean, this thing could fit in the back of my old Roadmaster wagon. And you know, so we, you know, we start heading out toward the river and you know, it’s me, my wife, my mother in law and my mother in law’s cousin all in a car.
Caleb [27:34]: And so we got four of us and it starts raining just as the roads start turning to red clay. And we all know what happens on red clay. So that’s some sticky stuff.
Justin [27:51]: Good old red clay.
Caleb [27:53]: Anyway, you know, old sharks up ahead, you know, he’s just, you know, having time of his life, but you know, he’s on four wheel drive. I’m in a subcompact with 67 horsepower on alcohol because remember, we got flex fuel. So 67 horses on E, 165 on gas.
Justin [28:14]: You know what else runs on ethanol? Me. I was gonna say top fuel dragsters. But you know what? That was better. That was way better. And I think they might run a methanol. I don’t even know. Yeah, either way. Yeah.
Caleb [28:40]: So I adopted a little bit of a strategy. And you know how like you used to skip rocks across the pond when you were a kid? You know, skip them, Skip rocks across the lake.
Justin [28:51]: Yeah.
Caleb [28:52]: Well. Well, I decided I was going to skip this subcompact across these mud holes. So I’d let old shark get, you know, little ways ahead of me. And I drop her down second gear. I’d go wide open throttle. Man, I just like, you know, I, you know, I was doing my best Colin McRae impression out there. I’m telling you what. And you know, we get out river and you know, cousins all come up. I was like, man, you’re like a rally driver out there. And yeah, you know, I was like a rally driver. My wife gets out of the car, she takes one look at it and she says, aren’t you glad I told you I spent the $6 to get it washed.
Justin [29:43]: Yeah, that’s. She had some clairvoyance.
Caleb [29:48]: She did, she did. And sure enough took it back. And you know, of course, you know, we took it back and this thing’s covering mud. I got mud on the roof of this damn thing. Like there’s not a panel on this car that did not have mud on it. And of course we had a few days, so mud dried off a little bit. We take it back to a rental counter, you know, I’m getting ready to fly home and of course drop you off, full tank fuel, all that mess. And old bay, you know, check in counter, you know, takes a little ride, walks around a couple spots, you know, rubs it. Dirt comes off real easy because it dried a few, it had a few days dry out. He’s like, yeah, you’re good. So.
Caleb [30:41]: Because if it, you know, took too much effort to come off, he would have given an upcharge for vx extra clean. Yeah, yeah. No, I’ve had a couple of good French car stories.
Justin [30:59]: I need another French car. Not, not. And I don’t mean a Chrysler product unless it literally is just a Peugeot with badge engineered.
Caleb [31:10]: I mean, I am in search of a twango.
Justin [31:16]: Twingo would be pretty cool. Oh, I can’t lie. Oh, that’d be a lot of fun to have.
Caleb [31:22]: I mean, I am in search of Twingo.
Justin [31:25]: Always in search of Twingo.
Caleb [31:28]: I have found one in town, but it’s a little rich for my blood because I don’t like spending money on cars, which, as our listeners will come to know, I do not spend money on cars.
Justin [31:48]: So.
Caleb [31:51]: But, and on that point I’d say, I say we’re probably a pretty good stopping point here. So we have next time we will talk about my great white whale, a 1990 Volvo 740 Turbo that I drove all through university. And Justin has had experience with this car too. So, yep, he remembers this thing.
Justin [32:24]: It was a good one.
Caleb [32:25]: It was a good one. And I have many stories of many dumb decisions made with that car. So until next time.
Justin [32:41]: Oh, was I supposed to say something all right, signing off.
Caleb [32:50]: Don’t forget to check your. All, folks. It’s probably low.
Justin [32:53]: Yes. Yes. I forgot what I was gonna. I forgot my own. That’s right. I have a slogan. Yes, well, Caleb said. I’ll say it next time.
Caleb [33:05]: All right, y’ all take care. Signing out for now.
Justin [33:10]: Bye.