Crank Journal

Of course, for lucky number episode #13 of the Crank Journal podcast, there are issues... this wouldn't be Crank Journal if everything went smoothly, now would it? Michael's computer choked almost an hour in, but somehow, he patched it all back together, and his guest, Craig Fitzgerald from BestRide and Car Talk, didn't seem to mind. After Michael tried to figure out how he got someone from Car Talk on the show, Craig talked about how much fun it has been working for Ray and the late Tom Magliozzi, about working in New England automotive media, and about his Corvair project car. Michael, true to form, absolutely insists on talking about an Eagle Premier he found for sale, and as always, the Obscure Cars for Sale Facebook group. 

JAMES IS BACK! Well, at least for one episode. James was able to drop in and join Michael to drop the F bomb many, many, MANY times, probably because Michael blew out James' eardrums at the beginning. They talk about Michael's leaking battery fiasco, the reality of depending on an old, interesting car for daily transportation, and about whether an auto parts store employee knows where Czechoslovakia is.

This episode was almost called "Poo Pooing with Chad Kirchner" but that just sounds wrong. Aaaaaaanyway, Michael has fellow automotive podcaster Chad Kirchner on the show to talk about his own podcast, the type of people who blow up Subarus, EcoBoosted Fords, and people "shushing" their cars by covering up their license plates with their fingers. They also pick their favorite Obscure Cars for Sale posts of the week, which somehow deters into a discussion about hacking.

We've somehow made it to episode 10! Joe Carioti, vice president of ShoutEngine, joins Michael once again to talk about Ferrari F1 transmissions, Nissan S-chassis cars, and Michael's Smart press car, and he makes Michael envious by recounting his drive of a Dinan-tuned BMW M2 with the Hooniverse guys. Michael also talks about meeting famous YouTube urban explorer Adam the Woo at an exotic car show, and he goes on yet another caffeine-fueled, vitriolic rant about his least favorite car in the world: the Mazda RX-8.

Crank Journal is back for a 9th episode, with multiple Michaels this time: Michael the host, and special guest Michael Satterfield who runs TheGentlemanRacer.com and a racing lifestyle clothing line called Morgan's and Philip's. They talk about various car events, ranging from Mike S's visit to Adam Carolla's car collection for a screening of Winning, the documentary of Paul Newman, to stopping at a cars and coffee in Managua in Nicaragua for a flashback to the fastest and most furious era of import cars. They also talk about Mike S's own personal cars, including a Peugeot 405 and a Fiat-based Moretti 124 to a Maserati Biturbo.

Crank Journal is back for an 8th episode! Michael hosts automotive writer and radio personality Jim Cherry, who writes a blog on curbside.tv about the most bizarre and obscure cars ever to turn a wheel. He talks about writing a chapter in the recently released book "King of the Kustomizers," a story about legendary Hollywood car customizer George Barris, as well as being a test driver for Ford and chasing down wayward Lincoln LSs. Michael, of course, decides to talk about lead poisoning and about a time when cars drove on railroad tracks to get to Key West.

Want to spend 2 hours learning all the various chassis codes of Subaru Legacies? Well, if, for some strange reason, you do, the 7th episode of Crank Journal is for you! Michael has Dave Clements, the creator of legacycentral.org, on the show to talk ad nauseam about their experiences with Subaru Legacies and running one of the oldest Subaru forums on the Internet. We also talk about some obscure cars like the Geo Storm and a Suzuki Every Turbo van, and why diesel passenger cars need to go away. It's true. Fight us.

Crank Journal is back for a 6th episode! While James is getting a very early start on his Halloween costume, Michael talks with former Nissan designer Bryan Thompson about his work on cars like the NV, the Armada, and the Quest, and about his splendid car collection which includes a restored 1978 Subaru DL and a 49k-mile 1988 Nissan Van survivor (yes, the ones that all got recalled by Nissan). They both name their favorite Obscure Cars for Sale posts of the week, and oh... you'll also never use the shifter in a Titan truck the same way again once you finish this episode.

Crank Journal is back for its 5th episode! James is still out, but comedy improv star and managing director of the Packard Museum in Dayton, OH, Dan Badger, joins Michael and makes him wonder what he's doing with his life. Dan talks about what it's like to start a 1917 Packard Model 48 Runabout, and Michael spills the beans about how he nearly set a million-dollar antique Ferrari on fire trying to start it. They both name their Obscure Cars for Sale picks of the week and then Michael inexplicably decides to talk about Daewoo exhausts, even though Dan really doesn't want him to.

The 4th episode of Crank Journal is all about crashes: esteemed guest Adam Barrera's training for his new job as an EMT and first responder to crash sites, trying to save this episode after Michael's computer crashed, and Michael's crashing and burning as he does a dreadful job of using another meme to try to explain James' absence. Adam talks about his Isuzu Impulse RS, both talk about Mitsubishis and their favorite Obscure Cars for Sale picks of the week, and there's some stuff about die-cast models in there, too.

Crank Journal is back, and so is James! Yet that doesn't mean we got our shit together. Yes, even though we took the entire holiday season off. Quiet. We mention our favorite Obscure Cars for Sale posts of the week, we talk about Michael's car's unfortunate encounters with ornery critters (two of them!), James gets excited about his new job as a Mitsubishi mechanic, and we talk about the automotive brand everyone loves to hate: Honda. There may have been something about jumping up and down on a ratchet wrench too.

The second episode of Crank Journal has infec... I mean, reached the Internet! James is in mourning over the literal death of a meme, so he couldn't make it. But Joe Carioti of ShoutEngine was happy to fill in for him and babble incoherently with me about our Obscure Cars for Sale picks of the week, the show Family Matters, and rebadged cars. Give it a listen! What are you gonna do... listen to a better automotive podcast? Oh, um, yeah, that's pretty much all of them. Please listen. I'll give you a cookie.

Having emerged from the crushed and incinerated chassis of the Top Dead Centered podcast, hosts James and Michael venture off on their own to launch a new automotive podcast called Crank Journal, with the assistance of Cam VanDerHorst from the Cammed and Tubbed podcast. They talk about turbo Dodge K-cars, the joys of being admins of the Facebook group Obscure Cars for Sale, and trigger warnings for puppies. Hey... it's a start.