Total Car Score

S5E52 - The Quail at Monterey Car Week on the Rolls-Royce Spectre

In this episode we share the experience of driving around in the all-electric 2024 Rolls-Royce Spectre with some of the most influential automotive journalists in the United States on our way to The Quail, the Motorsports Gathering at the Monterey Car Week.

Duration:: 18m
Broadcast on:: 16 Aug 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

Don't just ride the index, seek to outperform it with Fidelity Active ETFs. Learn more at fidelity.com/activeETFs. Before investing in any exchange-traded fund, you should consider its investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. Contact Fidelity for a prospectus, an offering circular, or, if available, a summary prospectus containing this information. Read it carefully. While Active ETFs offer the potential to outperform an index, these products may more significantly trail an index as compared with passive ETFs. Fidelity brokerage services LLC member NYSE SIPC. My Wrangler jeans from Walmart are legit my favorite go-to pants. They got that slim cut that's always fresh for going out. They're durable enough, even for my shift. And stretchy enough for when I want to kick back and chill with the movie. So basically, they can do it all and on my budget. I mean, come on, you really can't beat all that. Shop your Wrangler pants at Walmart. Welcome to the Total Car Score podcast. Bring you the world of cars from inside the car. And now your hosts, Carl Brower, Lauren Vicks, and Javier Motov. So here we are, sitting in the 2024 World's Roy Specter with three of them. Most important journalists in the world, who are you? Wait, so you're not one of the one of the most important journalists. We have two, so which one of us isn't the most important? I'm Nick Miles, and I'm the not most important journalist here. I'm Ken Panton, and I am the most important journalist ever. And I am Jared Rosenholt's Tiktoker extraordinaire. Oh, thank God. So there you go. You figure out who he's who now. But anyway, we're here, sitting in the Rolls Royce. We just drove from the Intercontinental Hotel to the Quail. So thanks to Rolls Royce, BMW, fantastic week. Is this the best week of the year for you? No, it's like the cause of the best week, cause of the year. But the event has probably about 99.9% too many people. Yeah. That's the problem. What do you think? Yeah, I agree with Nick. It would be great if I could enjoy this by myself. And honestly... By yourself, really? You'd think that the best car to have would be like this Rolls Royce Specter. We can cruise in, you know, not hit any traffic. But the best car is actually a bicycle. Yeah. And he might be like that. So anyway, you can. I mean, you cover luxury and like old series now. What is this event about? I'm very, very lucky that I cover the whole world of luxury from fashion to autos and travel. This is a unique event, especially with Quail. You bring all three of those together. You bring the world of fashion, the world of automobiles together, and the world of travel together in style. So for that essence, it's a good week for me, cause it combines my three loves. But now the problem, now my problem is they took away thisclusivity. And I was going to go under. That's what it was. Now, 10 years ago, you had to be somebody, get here, copter and G5 in. Now all you have to do is have $10,000. Yeah. That's all you have to do. You can walk around here and you're a tight Levi's from two seasons ago. And you teach, sharing your fake Rolex and taking your baller. So I think that's my big problem. I think among the four of us, we can come up with $10,000, no? Yeah, well... We can give $9,999. I'm probably the cheapest person here and I wouldn't do it. The one thing I think that's really difficult about this event now, too, is we know, because we know the inside track about the sort of prices that they charge, and the consumers and the automakers, it's so expensive for them to be here, but they have to be here, because this is where their customers are. And so there's millions and millions of millions of dollars exchanging hands. And sometimes it starts to be much more of, if you're not here, you're not one of the cool kids. Yeah, and people notice when you're not here, there's a few brands that were here last year, and I sent out emails asking them what their activations were this year, and they're like, "Oh, no, we don't have a presence." "You don't have a presence?" I was like, "Oh, especially a luxury brand." Yeah, but we're not going to mention a luxury brand's name, but a certain luxury brand should be here if they're true luxury, period ends. And especially if they're trying to make a nickname. Yeah, exactly. You know, Nick did say something, though. It is true that you have to go where your customer is, and nowadays with Korea, this is where your customer is. Even though they're spending $10,000, it's not that exclusive, they have the means. Yeah. And if you're in the luxury field, or the style field, you should be here. Yeah. You know, a few years ago, I emceed Rolls-Royce fashion show here, and they had 23 cars that were all specially made for the event, and they sold every single one by the end of the event. On the event. Yeah, at the event. And that just shows you, like, that's probably more cars than they sold in the whole month. And they sold them in the whole United States, and they sold them that. And the other thing is, all these people are taking orders and designs. You go to somewhere like the Lamborghini house, or the Pina Ferina house, and customers are coming in. Or the BMW house yesterday. And they're designing, they're designing their cars, and they're putting in orders for their cars, and they're bespokeing their cars, or they're manufacturing their cars, or whatever it might be. They're doing these special editions of the car. So people are coming in here, they're choosing what they want. And things like, a perfect example, the Targa America from Pina Ferina. Last year, a very famous buyer, who they won't name, came to them and said, "I want something that nobody else has." And so they started designing it last year, and then he takes the delivery of that car this year. So there's that side of it, but then there's this other side. So we've seen everyday commercial brands come here, like here's a great example. Last year, yeah. Here's a big activation last year, and they'll have something big next year as well. And there's a big separation, you've got everyday brands on one end, but the luxury brands are pushing further and further out on one side, but then you've got other brands showing up like here, and the less what we would call it. Premium brands. I have a problem, I'm a big fan of kids, I'll get me wrong. I have a problem with them being here when they did their first launch, and the big activation, because I think it's taken a disconnect from the exclusivity of everything. He has a great brand, he has a great middle brand, and I don't think this was the right spot for them. When I spoke to other people, they're like, "Well, why is this brand here? Why? The people that have the means, we're saying, why is this here? Is it for my clicking? Well, why?" Well, we could all do respect, I think, yes, you cover the luxury industry more than all of us, but people at this level might not look at a Kia for nothing. They might say it here, "Oh, the EV6 GT, that's a cool toy." So, I think that's what the whole industry is going now. I mean, there's some cars like GMC Homer EV, who needs that car? Nobody needs it. The Tesla Cybertruck, who needs that? Nobody. I've seen five of them here. So, people, those are emotional buys? But these people buy emotional things, right? So, I think that's, from your perspective in the luxury industry, this is what the evolution has come to, right? Well, yeah, it's very what they call the H&M of luxury. Yeah. The fast-fashioned luxury, Kia's becoming that in the auto industry. And they're, like, so much new money because of technology and all that kind of thing. Actually, Rolls-Royce, remember, Nick, we were at the event last year when they on Bell, this car in Baba Bali. And they were telling us the average age of the Rolls-Royce buyer is younger than the Mini, which isn't safe. Yeah, and Rolls-Royce is something different. It's the number one luxury brand in the world, right? So, the difficulty with Rolls-Royce is its customers are changing. And in every country, its customers are very different. So, in the United States, its customers tend to be people who own, like, chains of tattoo parlors or chains of-- Yeah, like, tech, Rolls-Royce. Yeah, sort of middle businesses. And then they're very bespoke. Their coach build is a big thing for them. They push for those type of things. But I think, well, you have to also understand something that the customers here are not single car owners. They have collections. Some of them have hundreds of cars. And that was, to my point, to the KIAV EV6 GT. Like, some of these people have never thought about it. It's like, they saw it. They saw the specs. They said, "Oh, what? 600?" Whatever the first power is. And they said, "I want mine in my garage to add to my collection." You know, you brought that up because in his hand, that shield is wonderful cars. There's so many tellurides in the Hamptons. Yeah. And then I talked to somebody. She goes, "Oh, yeah, we have an eventador, but when I'm running around town, I have this." And I was like, I was flabbergasted. And then I went to this bougie restaurant. I saw tellurides. So KIA has made inroads in that nature. Yeah. They got a next point. Someone I met last week who has a color then owns skateboarding shops. Yeah. A skateboarding shop kid at 35 years old. He has two cars. He has a Volkswagen that he got from his father. And a color. A color then. So these 35 years old. Yeah, you see the meeks all over the country. I live in Miami knowing that the nicest neighborhood nearby, one of the nicest neighbors. You see, Colina is like parking in the driveway next to other quote unquote regular cars. So that's why how everything is changing. What is happening in Orlando? What do you see in Orlando? Orlando is a huge car scene. Honestly, there's so much wealth. You know, like we, I see La Ferraris. I see there's a guy that comes to my local cars and coffee with a singer. Um, you know, he went to UCF. He did it in UCF color. So it's white with like gold wheels and stuff like that. And Orlando, there's a singer. And Naples is also grown as a car scene in the city because of other people who move, especially during the pandemic. So Florida is catching up with California, I think, in some ways, at least. But I think it's the same almost in every city. Like, I mean, I have a house in Portland, Oregon, where I spend most of my time. And that there you have Intel and you have Nike. Yeah. And so the upper echelon, the Adidas and the upper and tectronics, the upper echelon of those designers, the guys that are the chief engineers, the designers, those guys are buying these cars. Yeah, they're making 10 million a year or more. On the plane, I met a bunch of guys from town who know who I am because I'm in local media. I don't know who they are, but they're coming to this event to either see cars, buy cars, whatever. I have a quick question. What do you guys think about what Lincoln's trying to do to get back in that space that never, that navigated, that Escalite took? I mean, I'm just curious because, but we just saw that new navigator, Lincoln used to be the one. Yes, you don't know. So they have a lot of 50 years ago. Yeah, that's right. So, so now navigator has a big challenge, right? Yes. And a huge challenge. And the challenge is that actually Wagonier took the number two spot. Did Wagonier take us? Yeah, Wagonier took us. Behind the Escalite. Behind the Escalite. Escalite is always been number one. And it's number one by a long way. Yeah. Because of the fleets, let's be honest. Yeah, I mean. A lot of limousines. Yeah, but-- You might be right about that. But when Wagonier hasn't been accepted as a fleet car as much. No. But it's still the number two set. But that's such a tiny drop of the market. So we're going to belong to that number two, making you-- I don't think. I think it's a nice car. Yeah, I do. I think it's all right. Is it that good? No. Yeah, I think Lincoln as a brand has like, you know, when people think of Lincoln, I think they think of old people cars. Yeah. And they think of the car Kennedy was shot in, which was a gorgeous, gorgeous car. The Continental, you know, convertible. And I think they've been trying to claw back. And I think the Nautilus was the first step that I've seen recently of them actually getting back to being like a world-class, you know, like, considerable luxury brand. You know what? I think it doesn't have that glamour, you said. No. But they-- Like glamour? I saw the other day coming, driving around here and the last continental, the one that they made, like, five, 10 years ago. That car still looks good. It looks good. They may stop somehow in it. So if we still have that continental? Yeah. I think that was too expensive, because a lot of-- But it was beautiful this time. Yeah. The coach door one was, like, 130 grand. Yeah. Why was that too expensive? Because I think what-- Continental used to be a car that, you know, you could afford, if you made a very good salary, you were a junior manager, or you were a middle manager, you could afford. And it suddenly-- they pushed themselves into this high-end luxury. And that just didn't work for a lot of people. I think Lincoln made a huge mistake with the previous generation of the navigator. They came out. There was a lot of song and dance. They started to open these boutique stores in shopping centers. Yes, yes. And they just weren't ready for that. So we saw the new one. The new one is nice. But in my opinion, it looked like the Range Rover. Like everybody wants to have a Range Rover. And it's been the trend. And so Range Rover used to be very proud. I appreciate the creativity. Yeah. But it's still-- it needs more. I just miss Glamour. I'm sorry. Maybe-- Here's my honest opinion about a lot of these high-end luxury SUVs. Everybody is trying to be Range Rover. Exactly. That's-- Even-- even Kia and Hyundai. Like the new Santa Fe? It looks a little bit like it. That said, yeah, but for the money, though. I know. It's the best car. Yeah. Oh, sorry about it. Oh, they're calling you. Yeah, they're buying you one. Yeah. It's the best podcast faux pas. Hey. So anyway, we came with BMW. And we saw the new M5 and the new M5 touring. So opinion on that, because that's a car that we always have to generally think, like, they're calling you again. Yeah. It's awesome, but they're going to sell five of them. Yeah. Because nobody-- Oh, that's not true. If you do not include the Subaru Outback, there were fewer than 5,000 wagons purchased in the US in all of 2023. Yeah. Fewer than 5,000. So-- The BMW is a bit different. It's a bit different. Exactly. Let me-- Not though, AM3. Hang a second. Let's come-- let me come back with something. And this is it. BMW has the best business case that they've ever had. That company is doing better than they ever have. Their larger grills are selling more than they ever have. The car company is off the hook, and their cars are better than they've ever been. They are not making mistakes. And I think they must know what they're doing. I wish I knew the secret. Yeah. But I can-- I'm really-- I agree with Nick. Especially in the touring. They're so on the money and design and style and something. Exactly. I was going to say about the design. Like, remember when the big grills came up and everybody was, like, pretty sizing? And now we're looking to see, like, everybody accepted it. And they like the analogy. Your second look, it was that car. So the big grills-- The line of that car was wonderful. In BMW's big grills, the big grills outsell the small grills. Yeah. And every BMW. So-- I was just-- I was just-- when I came on the lawn, I just said, are you kidding me? Because it just blew my mind. Beautiful. In that green color, it was beautiful. Yeah. As far as the M5 goes, I know all the auto media says, as heavy as that is that. Most of the customers, the people I know, look at the style first, and then they see the substance. So, Jerry, you said, like, 5,000 tall station wagons in the US last year? Fewer than 5,000. If you don't include the super wrap-back, which I don't, it's an SUV. So how many do they have to sell the M5 touring to be successful? 1,500? 500? I wouldn't know BMW's metrics on there. Why do you think they probably-- Well, I say so. So first of all, you're forgetting to consider the fact that this is an upscale wagon that's on sale in Europe anyway. So the development of this, it's just got the performance parts on it. But they're selling the wagons. They design the wagons. So all they're doing is crash-testing the wagon. Yeah. That's the only difference. And that will cost them a million. Once it's done, it's done. Yep. They're margins on that car going to be incredible. But look at the success of the V-Wagon from Cadillac back in the day. Didn't sell. That's why I think our own, man. No success, design-wise. Yes, but it didn't sell. It didn't sell. It's the least common out of the three cities. Right now. It's the one-- right now, try and find one. Because they didn't sell-- No, no, no, no, no. [LAUGHTER] Oh, yes. You think it's such a collectible car? Exactly. It's collectible because there have been a order of a new one. Regardless of volume, it's a collectible stylish car. Yes. OK. We're going in circles, I think. Now, I know we-- I think the quail doors are opening soon. I'm still in flight with Jared on the whole day. Yeah, we're going to go to the quail. So, Jared, where can we find you? @Carbuzz and @CarsNBites at unnamedproject.com. Your destination for all things lifestyle. Anneek, I think we've tested miles.com. Well, thank you very much for your time for spending a few minutes in the Rolls Royce Specter. I mean, it was a nice ride. Shout out to Rolls Royce Specter. Yeah, exactly, I'm BMW. And let's go and we can come up with $10,000 to get in. Let's just buy a car. Yeah, let's do it. Bye, thank you. Thank you for listening. For more, check us out online at TotalCarScore.com. Hey, fidelity. How can I remember to invest every month? With the Fidelity app, you can choose a schedule and set up recurring investments in stocks and ETFs. Oh, that sounds easier than I thought. You got this. Yeah, I do. Now, where did I put my keys? You will find them, where you left them. Investing involves risk, including risk of loss. Fidelity brokerage services, LLC, member NYSE SIPC. My cure and brewer from Walmart always comes in super clutch. I got it so I can keep grinding on my paper. You know I'm hitting that deadline. I also got it so I could stay up late to do some exam cramming. And of course, you know I'll be ready to stroll into my morning class, sipping in style. I guess you could say it's a literal lifesaver. Cheers to that. Shop your coffee fuel needs at Walmart. [BLANK_AUDIO]