Tran Girlismo

Hello everyone, and welcome to breaking big two-digit barrier! On this episode, I catch up with my old coworker and fellow (current!) automotive journalist Kevin Williams of InsideEVs! On this episode we reminisce about having a healthy industry... and then break into a discussion about how goddamn cooked America is in the Global Cold War Of EVs. China's kicking our ass, y'all. We then discuss the new average monthly payment, per Edmunds, of $773 for a new car. Which is fucking insane, right????
Sorry about the funky audio on this one, we made a mistake with our recording setup on this guest episode and had to use a backup track to have an episode, so Jordan and I sound like we're calling in from a WWII field telephone. For the proper listening experience on this episode, I recommend blasting this on a '93 CRX HX two-speaker sound system as you sit in traffic on the 610. Because of the audio issues, I will be reading out name-reading tier subscribers next episode, I apologize for the delay!!
Check out Kevin's TikTok for videos from his upcoming China trip, too! You can also follow him on Bluesky!
Also: If you want to get a Tran Girlismo shirt or a bumper sticker, you can here - preorders are open through April 20th!
Referenced Stories:
Pride Month Features @TheDrive
Kevin's i-Miev @TheDrive
Kevin's Coverage Of The Slate Truck @InsideEVs
Bradley Brownell's Nissan Leaf @Jalopnik
Kevin's Review of the BMW i7 @Road&Track
I Went To China And Drove A Dozen Electric Cars. Western Automakers Are Cooked @InsideEVs
Jim Farley: China Can "Put Us All Out Of Business" @Motor1.com
Stellantis Talking With Leapmotor To Build Chinese EVs In Canada @CarAndDriver

Skechers Shape-ups
Kevin's Coverage Of Chinese EVs In Canada @InsideEVs
Kevin's Review of the Xiaomi YU7 @InsideEVs
Kevin's Review of the Volvo EX30 @InsideEVs
Kevin's Reappraisal of the Vinfast VF8 (hint it's still bad) @InsideEVs
Kevin's Review of the Nio Firefly (battery-swapping car, video) @InsideEVs
Kevin's Review of the VW ID.Buzz @InsideEVs
THE ID.BUZZ HAS NO REAR CUPHOLDERS @InsideEVs
Republicans Forward Legislation In Congress To Ban Chinese Cars Forever @Reuters
Bernie Moreno's Blockchain Car Title Company @Cleveland.com
$773 Monthly Payments @Edmunds

Hello, and welcome back to (almost) on-schedule podcasting from Jordan and Victoria! Vicki has returned from her whirlwind tour of Europe and Goes Off for 45 minutes, because she tasted the fruit of the fae of functional transit systems and walkable cities. She got Reverse Paris Syndrome (Stendhal Syndrome???), and now America tastes as ash in her mouth, and she has some thoughts. Sorry you gotta deal with it y'all
Then the girls touch on the new Corvette Grand Sport and discuss Max Verstappen's absolute dominance at the Nurburgring feeder series in preparation for the 24 Hours later this year. Then the girls get into THE AMERICAN CENTURY OF HUMILIATION ROUND ∞: EPISODE HONDA, with the Series 0 and Afeela dying in the final stretch of development in the final months of development. Also, new name for Kodak Portra!
Thank you deeply for your patience while Vicki was out on vacation! With this episode, we hope to return to a normal schedule yet again for the foreseeable future. Shirts coming extremely soon, I am literally working on the website today!
Vicki at the British Film Institute (photograph courtesy of Friend Of The Show @Lucy (From Scotland), host of Be Gay, Solve Crimes)
Referenced stories:
TSA sick-out rate at PHL @AOL [Victoria note: it appears it was closer to 20% sick-out rate vs. 30%, my apologies]
Sexy Coffee Fire Burns Down Glasgow Central Station @BBC
E-3 AWACS Destroyed @CNN
59 Rivoli (the art gallery that Vicki references in Paris) @Wikipedia
1889 Great Seattle Fire Well There's Your Problem Episode @YouTube
Corvette Grand Sport is the Final C8 Vette @Road&Track
Corvette Chief Calls Tremec Six Speed "Not Real" @Hagerty
Brightdrop Dead @InsideEV
Bearman Crash @F1
Max Verstappen Disqualified @AutoWeek
Honda Civic CVCC Retro Review (by Vicki) @TheDrive
Honda Accord Retro Review (also by Vicki) @TheDrive
Honda Series 0 Saloon/SUV Overview @CarAndDriver
Honda Series 0 Saloon Production Version At CES @InsideEVs
Honda Prologue & Acura ZDX Cancelled @AutoEvolution
Honda Prologue Cancellation Fucks Over Suppliers @AutomotiveNews
Honda Prologue Sales Drop 75% YoY @Hagerty
SHM Afeela Dead @TopGear
SHM Afeela Starts At $102,900 @InsideEVs
SHM Afeela Store Opens In California @Afeela PR
AI-integrated Voice Assistant Advertisement For Afeela Sedan???? @Bluesky
Honda Writes Off $15.7 Billion In EV Losses @CNBC
Kevin Baker's Overview Of "AI" In The Iran/Israel-US War (this is a really good one and I really really highly recommend it if you want to be soberingly aware of how bad everything is) @The Guardian
$900 PS5 @CNBC
54% Of Americans Think Burning Down The Minneapolis Third Precinct Was Justified @Newsweek (Monmouth Poll, 2020)
Total Auto Industry Losses Top $65 Billion @Financial Times
Kodak Moves Portra/TMax To Eastman Line @Kosmo Foto

Hello folks, once again it is Jordan here, as our dear Victoria is finishing up her European Goodwill and Cultural Exchange program. So, like a substitute teacher rolling in a TV cart with a big ol' CRT on the top, I am going to be doing the show notes for this week! Also, just a note, Victoria wasn't on her usual setup, because she is obviously not at home right now, so she's gonna sound a lil different.
This week, we talk about many things such as, my wedding to our darling editor Stella, and Victoria's trip to Pittsburgh to join me for said wedding! (Mostly I think she was there to ride the funicular, but like, the wedding was for sure part of it)

Oh also, we have a track map for the Freedom 250! It is so bad
We talk about that, catch up on some news we missed while we were in pre-recorded episode land, and boy howdy minus the smiling friends thing it's all been real dire in ways that aren't funny!

Speaking of things that aren't really funny Bahrain/Saudi GP cancelled!
The news that we're losing a month of F1 due to American misadventures leads us to talking about how F1 has started this year, Jordan's thoughts as a long time fan, and whether it's interesting in the right ways. Spoilers: You're probably falling for the Chud Agenda if you don't like it.

To cap it all off, I lead Victoria through the very dumb lifecycle of money spending and corporate partnerships that has lead to Aston Martin selling a track car derived from a race car derived from a track car derived from a road car

It's a great episode, and it was honestly so nice to record again after a few weeks off due to wedding, power outages, and travel. We should be back to normal, but in the mean time, make sure you are subscribed to our $4 and up tier here on Patreon to get access to our second bonus, which was a feature length commentary track for the very first Fast and Furious movie.

Hello! In this episode we invite our old friend, author, and fellow podcaster Kevin McCauley! We catch up a bit on what we've all been up to in the past five years since the girls left Texas, and offer a lengthy digression about what Porsche calls their early fuel injection systems. (Hint: It's CIS.) Then we dive into a discussion of what Porsche Influencer Magnus Walker is up to on the heels of his newest Sotheby's hypebeast starter kit auction.
Check out Kevin's absolutely incredible book, Waiting For The Sun To Come Down at Carrera Media! And if you want more Kevin you can listen to him (biannually) on New For '96! He also has a fantastic YouTube channel for automotive photographers called Capturing The Machine!
Referenced Stories:
Listen to Be Gay, Solve Crimes [and give them money also on Patreon]
The video Kevin and I made together on the roof of the parking garage in Houston on his YT channel
The Iraqi Burn Pit scandal @The VA
The LC500 video Kevin and I made together in Galveston (also on his YT channel)
The Nine Foot Tall Energia-Buran Model That Kevin Referenced That Blew Up Victoria's Entire Life [more photos on Flickr]
The story Victoria mentioned being a specific press trip she would not name @This Patreon
The story Victoria mentioned about rally cars in Vermont that no one read @Motor1
Kevin's "Intercontinental Ballistic Missile" Porsche 911 flight/road trip @Autoweek
Ferdinand Porsche's Elefant Tank Destroyer
Victoria's photos from Modern Aircooled in Houston @Flickr
Victoria's review of Kevin's 911 @The Drive
[I will probably finish updating these notes sometime tomorrow, 3/12! - Victoria]
Our intro music as always is off stella spazzatura's album Horse Tranquilizer Simulator, which you can find on Bandcamp!

Hello! In this episode, Jordan starts us off with genuinely one of the funniest jokes Victoria's ever heard in her podcasting career during a discussion of how we like to fly. We then discuss the fact that Volkswagen is almost certainly going to whiff on launching Scout (remember Scout?) because The Vibes Are Off. Then we give the fans what they DEMAND and deep-dive into the train wreck of STELLANTIS on the heels of them losing Twenty Six Billion Dollars. Then Jordan gives me the scoop on a BDS-compliant Forza Horizon, aka "TDU: Solar Crown", and how we miss when car games were still fun.
Also sorry about the little bit of background noise from me, Victoria, I absolutely had to run the dishwasher because I had run out of clean forks and we record right before I eat dinner. I promise I will be better about doing my silverware.
Editor's Note: P.J. O'Rourke is dead.
Referenced Stories:
Volkswagen Delaying Scout??? @TheDrive
The Microbus concept Victoria had a Barbiemobile @eBay
Original Plan for Scout Validation Vehicles In 2026 @Car And Driver
S. Korean Former PM Sent To Jail Forever @BBC
Amtrak Cancels Plans To Replace Bilevel Cars (Superliners) @Trains
VW Still Selling Tons Of EVs In Europe @ArsTechnica
Edmunds Loves The Model Y??? @Edmunds
VW Changes ID.4 To ID.Tiguan @AutomotiveNews
Tim Walz Has a Scout. Too Bad He Sucks @LA Times
Tim Walz Pulled Over Drunk Driving His Miata @Time (NOTE: He was doing 96 MPH, not 103 MPH, at the time of his arrest. This publication regrets the error.)
Stellantis Lose $26.3 Billion Dollars @Freep
New Pacifica @MotorTrend
RAM REV cancelled @Car And Driver
Stellantis PHEVs Cancelled @AutomotiveNews
Edmunds "Sick Of" Their Charger EV @InsideEVs
Fiat Struggles @Club Alfa
Fiat Struggles (Europe Edition) @ara
MORE HEMI, SAYS FILOSA @AutomotiveNews
European Diesels Coming Back @Forbes
Dodge Challenger: America's Id @Jalopnik
The Aston Martin V12 Vantage Top Gear Segment
Francis Fukuyama's Instagram
BDS Movement Target Microsoft
The Giant Bomb TDU2 Video