# Jerry Bruckheimer Talks F1: The Movie & GM Chief Engineer Tony Roma

An episode of [Bloomberg Hot Pursuit!](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1710787142), 27 Jun 2025, 53 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/4778f66f-5d19-456a-9820-b08f00dfd567/2c579f66-a598-4eaa-956f-b309017d3637/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=42336c1a-f7c2-4898-885b-b08f00e0bb66

Jerry Bruckheimer talks F1: The Movie. Plus, GM Chief Engineer Tony Roma hints at the future of a Corvette SUV - and why the Cadillac CTS-V Blackwing may be Matt's most favorite car, ever. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:02] Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news.
[0:08] Speaker 2: I'm Matt Miller and I'm Hannah Elliott, and this is
[0:11] Speaker 2: Hot Pursuit.
[0:17] Speaker 1: All right, we have a double feature for you.
[0:20] Speaker 2: Is there first?
[0:21] Speaker 1: I think it is kind of like last week we
[0:23] Speaker 1: had our Toto Wolf podcast and then the bonus episode.
[0:28] Speaker 1: I don't know if you noticed that we put out
[0:29] Speaker 1: a bonus episode on our trip to France for the
[0:33] Speaker 1: twenty four hours of Lamont. Yes, this week, I didn't
[0:37] Speaker 1: know that. Yeah, we did see. I knew you wouldn't.
[0:39] Speaker 1: That's why I said I knew I wouldn't know.
[0:41] Speaker 2: I was thinking, do I tell him I don't actually
[0:43] Speaker 2: know that we've done that.
[0:44] Speaker 1: I knew it, so I think a lot of our
[0:45] Speaker 1: listeners might have missed it too. But yes, so we
[0:48] Speaker 1: put out a TV special. It's also on YouTube. It's
[0:52] Speaker 1: on Bloomberg dot Com, but it's on wherever you get
[0:54] Speaker 1: your podcasts as well. You can just listen to it today.
[0:58] Speaker 1: We have two pretty incredible guests. One is the producer
[1:05] Speaker 1: of Top Gun as well.
[1:07] Speaker 2: That you're your go to for Bruckheimer. Is that your instant?
[1:10] Speaker 1: I think it's his famous as of thunder.
[1:12] Speaker 2: And not Gone in sixty seconds.
[1:15] Speaker 1: I mean Armageddon. Armageddon is probably my favorite movie that
[1:19] Speaker 1: he's done.
[1:20] Speaker 2: It's unbelievable, yealy thing that he's been a part of.
[1:24] Speaker 2: And he's eighty one and he is sharp. Yes, oh my,
[1:29] Speaker 2: he is dialed in. Yeah, it's pretty incredible.
[1:33] Speaker 1: Yeah, he's pretty cool. So you and I got to
[1:35] Speaker 1: sit down with him on his satellite media tour, so
[1:38] Speaker 1: not with him, but on the same kind of radio
[1:42] Speaker 1: waves and talk about his new movie, F One, the movie.
[1:48] Speaker 1: We actually just sat down with Total Wolf for an
[1:50] Speaker 1: hour as well for our podcast, and he gives you
[1:55] Speaker 1: sends you his best and said he's really impressed by
[1:57] Speaker 1: the realism of the film. Tell us how important that
[2:01] Speaker 1: was to you to get it right from you know,
[2:04] Speaker 1: from a realism aspect.
[2:07] Speaker 3: Well, it's really important. I mean, we did it with
[2:09] Speaker 3: Top Gun Maverick. We want to do it again with
[2:11] Speaker 3: F one. Took It was a four year process to
[2:14] Speaker 3: get this thing off the ground and in the right way.
[2:17] Speaker 3: It took almost a year to make F one comfortable
[2:20] Speaker 3: with what we were doing. That was really part of
[2:24] Speaker 3: our journey to make sure that Stefano. What happened is
[2:28] Speaker 3: Brad myself and Joe Kozinski, who directed the movie, flew
[2:32] Speaker 3: to London and sat down with Stefano and said, here's
[2:35] Speaker 3: the movie we want to make. We want to make
[2:37] Speaker 3: sure that they actually drive the cars, our actors, and
[2:42] Speaker 3: how do we get this done. Fortunately, we had Lewis Hamilton,
[2:45] Speaker 3: who's a partner. He was terrific. He's one of the
[2:47] Speaker 3: producers on the movie. He made sure that we got
[2:50] Speaker 3: it right. But that creates a problem because you have
[2:53] Speaker 3: Lewis Hamilton, who's at the time in Mercedes and they
[2:56] Speaker 3: have this huge rivalry were with Red Bull, so Red
[2:59] Speaker 3: Bull for sure was going to be the villain in
[3:01] Speaker 3: their minds. So it took us almost a year to
[3:03] Speaker 3: get all these teams comfortable and drivers comfortable that we're
[3:06] Speaker 3: going to tell a story about our two drivers and
[3:09] Speaker 3: f one which has ten teams two drivers to each team.
[3:11] Speaker 3: But it's the only sport in the world where your
[3:13] Speaker 3: teammate is also your competitor, so everybody wants to be
[3:17] Speaker 3: the number one driver. So how do we navigate this
[3:20] Speaker 3: with all these teams and make sure the FIA is comfortable.
[3:24] Speaker 3: And it took us a year, but we got there,
[3:26] Speaker 3: and we got unprecedented access access to the tracks, to.
[3:29] Speaker 4: The drivers, we interviewed everybody. Everything.
[3:32] Speaker 3: I don't know if you've seen the movie, but everything
[3:34] Speaker 3: you see in the movie is accurate, happened at one
[3:37] Speaker 3: time during F one over the last seventy five years.
[3:40] Speaker 3: Some of the things the antics that the drivers have pulled,
[3:43] Speaker 3: but the fact that Brad and Damson took four months
[3:46] Speaker 3: off to get in these cars, and we start them
[3:48] Speaker 3: in a road car, put them in an F four car,
[3:50] Speaker 3: put them in a F three car, and finally got
[3:52] Speaker 3: them into our car, which was built and created by Mercedes.
[3:56] Speaker 4: As I said earlier.
[4:00] Speaker 2: Jerry, we've seen Formula one really grow in popularity in
[4:03] Speaker 2: the US, especially in the last few years. What about
[4:06] Speaker 2: motorsport is so compelling to you personally but also to viewers.
[4:13] Speaker 3: Well, I grew up in Detroit, so that's motor city.
[4:15] Speaker 3: So right away I'm interested in cars to be in with.
[4:17] Speaker 3: It's ingrained in my DNA, but that sport is And
[4:22] Speaker 3: I really didn't know much about F one until I
[4:24] Speaker 3: saw Drive to Survive. And it was really Joe Kozinski
[4:27] Speaker 3: who came up with the story and came to me
[4:28] Speaker 3: after we finished F one. He said, we should make
[4:31] Speaker 3: this movie about this extraordinary sport. So I think that.
[4:35] Speaker 3: As I said, the first call we really made was
[4:37] Speaker 3: to Lewis and say, come on in and brother. One
[4:40] Speaker 3: of the prerequisites for the story to get Brad involved,
[4:43] Speaker 3: he said, I have to drive. I'm not going to
[4:45] Speaker 3: make a movie that's going to be greenstream, green screen
[4:48] Speaker 3: and process. So that's they took the energy in time
[4:53] Speaker 3: to spend four months driving these cars.
[4:55] Speaker 5: How much of a problem was his age, you know,
[4:58] Speaker 5: because we're seeing these kids driving Formula one that are
[5:02] Speaker 5: I mean, Kenny's eighteen years old, right, so Brad Pitt
[5:05] Speaker 5: has to be at least as old as me as
[5:07] Speaker 5: in the second half of his century.
[5:10] Speaker 1: How did you overcome that?
[5:12] Speaker 3: Take a look at him. He doesn't look like he
[5:15] Speaker 3: looks amazing. He takes care of himself. He worked out.
[5:19] Speaker 4: Listen.
[5:19] Speaker 3: When he wasn't on the track, he was in the
[5:21] Speaker 3: gym working out to make sure he could handle the
[5:24] Speaker 3: rigors of this sport. It's so difficult to drive these cars,
[5:29] Speaker 3: and you know they're in Singapore. It's over one hundred
[5:31] Speaker 3: degrees most of one hundred and twenty and those cars,
[5:33] Speaker 3: they are exhausted. So Brad and Damson trained off the
[5:39] Speaker 3: track and then they drove, so they were in really
[5:42] Speaker 3: good shape by the time when we started the movie,
[5:44] Speaker 3: so they could handle the brutality of what these cars
[5:46] Speaker 3: throw you through. You're going in five g's in some
[5:49] Speaker 3: of these corners, but you know, Toto and Christian, all
[5:52] Speaker 3: these these team principles really helped us fred Zach to
[5:58] Speaker 3: create a story that accurate, and we interviewed everybody. I
[6:03] Speaker 3: don't know if you've seen the movie, but this whole
[6:06] Speaker 3: thing with the socks where he has two Miss Max
[6:08] Speaker 3: socks that came from Williams who told us that one
[6:11] Speaker 3: of their drivers came to the track and had two
[6:15] Speaker 3: Miss Max socks and the first time he ever won
[6:17] Speaker 3: a race, so he did that. From there on, a
[6:19] Speaker 3: lot of them are superstitious. We use that in the movie.
[6:22] Speaker 3: This was a great experience for meeting because we're so lucky.
[6:26] Speaker 3: We get dropped into a world will never be a
[6:28] Speaker 3: part of and live that life in this instance for
[6:31] Speaker 3: four years, and that's what we do for an audience.
[6:34] Speaker 3: We drop you into a world which is F one,
[6:36] Speaker 3: which is really exciting, and make you feel what it's
[6:39] Speaker 3: really like to be an F one driver and be
[6:42] Speaker 3: part of an F one team, and that takes you
[6:44] Speaker 3: on a journey. This movie is so immersive between the
[6:48] Speaker 3: sound the visuals, but it's always about the emotion. It's
[6:51] Speaker 3: not about all the bells and whistles. And you don't
[6:53] Speaker 3: have to know anything about driving or know anything about
[6:56] Speaker 3: F one to really enjoy this movie. In fact, most
[6:59] Speaker 3: people will come into this film, especially from this country,
[7:04] Speaker 3: know very little about F one, but by the time
[7:06] Speaker 3: they leave, they're interested in the sport. They feel they've
[7:09] Speaker 3: had an amazing ride because we've transported them into another place,
[7:13] Speaker 3: another time, and they feel a part of that experience.
[7:18] Speaker 2: Jerry, Obviously, we've had some other great driving and racing
[7:23] Speaker 2: films in the past.
[7:24] Speaker 6: Of course, Steve McQueen made one or two Ford Versus
[7:27] Speaker 6: Ferrari pretty popular. Were there films that you referred to
[7:33] Speaker 6: either as a do this or don't.
[7:36] Speaker 2: Do that when you were creating this film.
[7:39] Speaker 3: I think, you know, Joe and Brad and everybody looked
[7:41] Speaker 3: at all those movies and they learned from them. And
[7:44] Speaker 3: what's interesting is the technology that they had versus the
[7:47] Speaker 3: technology that we have is so different. I mean, our
[7:51] Speaker 3: cameras are a third the size of what we use
[7:54] Speaker 3: in Top Gun, and we had six of those in
[7:56] Speaker 3: the cockpit now it's even smaller. We had fifteen camera
[7:59] Speaker 3: positions on our car. You only could use four at
[8:02] Speaker 3: a time, and it was even harder for our guys
[8:05] Speaker 3: to drive than the real drivers because they had four
[8:08] Speaker 3: cameras staring at them all the time, so they had
[8:11] Speaker 3: to look around these cameras while they were driving the movie.
[8:14] Speaker 3: We also created a special type of camera that we
[8:16] Speaker 3: didn't have, a top gun, which is a remote control
[8:20] Speaker 3: camera which can pan and move as we're going one
[8:23] Speaker 3: hundred and eighty miles an hour, So we had to
[8:25] Speaker 3: build antennas are all around the track to be able
[8:28] Speaker 3: to use this remote camera. So that adds to the
[8:31] Speaker 3: excitement and the thrill of the movie. What we're trying
[8:33] Speaker 3: to do is be seamless, so you don't realize that
[8:37] Speaker 3: we're actually making the movie, that you're following the story,
[8:39] Speaker 3: you're excited by it, and you're in that F one
[8:42] Speaker 3: car with our characters.
[8:44] Speaker 1: Jerry, I have not gotten a chance to see it yet.
[8:46] Speaker 5: When I do, want to make sure and see it
[8:48] Speaker 5: in a theater because I want that experience of the
[8:51] Speaker 5: big screen. I want the Dolby Atmos playing all around me.
[8:56] Speaker 5: How important is it to you that people see your
[8:58] Speaker 5: films in the theater as as opposed to on streaming
[9:02] Speaker 5: at home on a TV.
[9:04] Speaker 3: Look for this movie. You want to see it on
[9:06] Speaker 3: the biggest screen possible. You want to go to Imax.
[9:08] Speaker 3: You want to hear that Dobe sound that at most
[9:11] Speaker 3: it's just so experiential to be part of it.
[9:14] Speaker 4: It's a thrill.
[9:15] Speaker 3: If you want to go and have a thrill for
[9:17] Speaker 3: a night with your wife or your girlfriend or your friends,
[9:20] Speaker 3: this is the perfect outing. It's something that's a gives
[9:24] Speaker 3: you a lift, makes you feel good, takes you away
[9:27] Speaker 3: from the chaos in the world for over two hours.
[9:30] Speaker 3: And that's what we try to do. Let's forget about everything.
[9:32] Speaker 3: Let's forget about the world, and you get in Brad
[9:35] Speaker 3: Pitt's world and Damson's world and Javar by Damn and
[9:39] Speaker 3: Carrie Conyon, which is a fantastic cast. A lot of
[9:43] Speaker 3: Academy Awards in there and nominations in that group.
[9:47] Speaker 4: So it's they're the best of the best.
[9:49] Speaker 3: And we had Aaron Kruger write the screenplay, who wrote
[9:51] Speaker 3: Top Gun Maverick, So you're gonna get the same kind
[9:54] Speaker 3: of thrills we gave you in that movie.
[9:58] Speaker 2: Jerry, I have to ask, since you've made this film,
[10:01] Speaker 2: are you now a fan a race fan? Are you
[10:03] Speaker 2: a formula fan? And who's your team and who's your driver?
[10:07] Speaker 4: Well, obviously it has to be Lewis.
[10:09] Speaker 3: I mean, it can't be anybody else because he's a
[10:12] Speaker 3: great friend and a phenomenal driver. And Ferrari was terrific,
[10:16] Speaker 3: as was Toto in making this film. In fact, we
[10:20] Speaker 3: have Toto in the movie and Fred from Ferrari and
[10:24] Speaker 3: Zach are actually in the movie as a bunch of
[10:26] Speaker 3: other christian Is and they're all kind of have moments
[10:30] Speaker 3: in the film, as a lot of the drivers do too.
[10:32] Speaker 3: So that was fun just being in their world. And
[10:35] Speaker 3: I love it now. I followed every week.
[10:38] Speaker 1: That was Jerry Brookheimer f one. The movie is one
[10:42] Speaker 1: that you have seen already, Hannah, And I'm going to
[10:44] Speaker 1: this afternoon to catch the matinee in the Imax.
[10:47] Speaker 2: I'm so glad you're going to see it in the Imax.
[10:49] Speaker 2: I think that's the way to go. Yeah, you're gonna
[10:52] Speaker 2: be I want you to let me know what you
[10:53] Speaker 2: think of it. I hope you like it. I really
[10:55] Speaker 2: think you will.
[10:56] Speaker 1: I'm really pumped and I will say that so Jerry
[10:58] Speaker 1: Brookheimer's made all these incredible films. And obviously I love
[11:03] Speaker 1: Top Gun and Days of Thunder and Armageddon. I love
[11:08] Speaker 1: liv Tyler, but.
[11:11] Speaker 2: We all do.
[11:12] Speaker 1: But I don't love those movies that much. Right, What
[11:15] Speaker 1: I really love is Brad pitt movies. Like for me,
[11:18] Speaker 1: he is maybe because of my age, like I think
[11:21] Speaker 1: he might be my favorite Hollywood star.
[11:24] Speaker 2: Then I'm gonna have to say something that I've been
[11:27] Speaker 2: trying to hold back and not say, but I'm gonna
[11:29] Speaker 2: say it to you. I need you to look at
[11:31] Speaker 2: Brad's face in this film, and you'll have a lot
[11:33] Speaker 2: of opportunities to do so. And I want you to
[11:37] Speaker 2: tell me what you think he's done to his face.
[11:41] Speaker 1: Oh, you think he's had some work done.
[11:42] Speaker 2: I think there's some filler action and it's.
[11:45] Speaker 1: That's a huge bummer.
[11:47] Speaker 2: I know, I know. And I didn't want to talk
[11:49] Speaker 2: about this because it's maybe it's superficial or whatever, but
[11:53] Speaker 2: like male movie stars get better when they get older,
[11:57] Speaker 2: and I'm just so surprised. Yeah, he is not being
[12:00] Speaker 2: allowed to a.
[12:02] Speaker 1: Well it's fair enough. Look, people talk about when women
[12:05] Speaker 1: get work done. Obviously we would talk about it if
[12:09] Speaker 1: he ruined his lips you know.
[12:11] Speaker 2: Or Nicole Kidman's whole journey. You know, we've talked about
[12:15] Speaker 2: that for years.
[12:16] Speaker 1: But you're right, Yeah, dudes don't typically do that or
[12:19] Speaker 1: that we know of or that we talk about.
[12:21] Speaker 2: Right, I mean, it's subtle, but his face is different somehow,
[12:24] Speaker 2: and it's I just need you to look at it
[12:26] Speaker 2: and tell me, as a self professed Brad Pitt fan
[12:30] Speaker 2: that you just said because this is not there are
[12:33] Speaker 2: no cheekbones there. That's I just need you to tell
[12:35] Speaker 2: me that's a real bummer after you see it.
[12:37] Speaker 1: I mean, I don't love Brad Pitt because I'm in
[12:40] Speaker 1: love with Brad Pitt.
[12:41] Speaker 2: No, well I didn't think you were.
[12:43] Speaker 1: I love his especially his like the bit roles he does,
[12:46] Speaker 1: like True Romance or burn after reading.
[12:51] Speaker 2: He's funny, Yeah, funny he is.
[12:53] Speaker 1: He is very funny, and it's it catches you kind
[12:56] Speaker 1: of unaware because he looks like this sort of know
[13:00] Speaker 1: Thelma and Louise, Yes, handsome honk. That's kind of brainless,
[13:04] Speaker 1: you know, But no, he's but he actually has some
[13:08] Speaker 1: wit and intelligence that is disarming as well.
[13:13] Speaker 2: Anyway, Wait, I just I'm sorry, I have to keep
[13:15] Speaker 2: on this. What's your favorite Brad Pitt film because mine's
[13:18] Speaker 2: Fight Club.
[13:21] Speaker 1: I would say Fury probably, and I also love Inglorious
[13:28] Speaker 1: Bastard's Okay, but Fury, I tend. I tend to like
[13:32] Speaker 1: the sort of spy and war movies.
[13:36] Speaker 2: And did you watch Wolves?
[13:38] Speaker 1: Yes? Did not think it.
[13:40] Speaker 2: I didn't even finish it. No, And apparently this is
[13:44] Speaker 2: a F one tie in. Apparently Apple had considered putting
[13:49] Speaker 2: Wolves in theaters and decided not to because I didn't
[13:52] Speaker 2: want to risk a poor box office with that film,
[13:55] Speaker 2: which I thought was interesting. And of course Apple originals
[13:58] Speaker 2: created F one, the movie they did decide to put
[14:01] Speaker 2: in theaters. I just think that that whole thing is
[14:03] Speaker 2: very interesting.
[14:04] Speaker 1: That is, I mean, I think Brad Pitt is one
[14:07] Speaker 1: of those like Tom Cruise, where I think he almost
[14:11] Speaker 1: hasn't done a bad movie. There are you could say
[14:16] Speaker 1: cool Runnings, you know, was not great, but Wolves wasn't good.
[14:21] Speaker 2: I didn't even know there was no there was not compelling.
[14:25] Speaker 2: I was shocked, complete sleeper.
[14:28] Speaker 1: But you know, the main thing I love about Brad
[14:30] Speaker 1: Pitt probably isn't his movies, but his love of motorcycles
[14:33] Speaker 1: and you know, his extracurricular hobbies like that. So but
[14:39] Speaker 1: what do I know?
[14:39] Speaker 2: I don't, you know plenty, I don't.
[14:41] Speaker 4: Yeah.
[14:42] Speaker 1: What I do love and what I have been talking
[14:45] Speaker 1: about a lot lately is this Cadillac CT five V
[14:48] Speaker 1: Black Wing. I finally got to drive it. It's pretty
[14:51] Speaker 1: amazing and it's pretty shocking that nobody else, no other
[14:57] Speaker 1: automaker in the world, is a to produce a big
[15:02] Speaker 1: V eight in a four door sedan with a stick shift.
[15:06] Speaker 1: Only only General Motors can do this.
[15:09] Speaker 2: Yeah, and I couldn't believe that. Tony actually told us
[15:14] Speaker 2: how many they make and told us the take rate
[15:16] Speaker 2: on that stick shift and explained why they can't put
[15:21] Speaker 2: one in a Corvette.
[15:23] Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean he was.
[15:24] Speaker 2: He was relatively forthcoming, I thought, actually true.
[15:27] Speaker 1: So spoiler alert, we're going to talk to Tony Roma,
[15:30] Speaker 1: who made the CT five V Black Wing with the team.
[15:34] Speaker 1: I'm sure he would be quick to say he made
[15:37] Speaker 1: the Cadillac Celestique. Is that how you say it?
[15:40] Speaker 2: I say celestic? Yeah, you know, like stars celestic.
[15:43] Speaker 1: But you, I guess, were there with him at the launch.
[15:45] Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, nice guy.
[15:47] Speaker 1: And now he's taken over from Tad Juchter as the
[15:50] Speaker 1: head of Corvette and he breaks some news with us
[15:53] Speaker 1: on Corvette too, which I think is the biggest headline.
[15:55] Speaker 2: That's a big deal.
[15:57] Speaker 1: So I'm driving this ram truck today. He just went
[15:59] Speaker 1: and picked it up in New Jersey and it's got
[16:02] Speaker 1: the Hurricane five to ten, which is an in line six,
[16:07] Speaker 1: and it's a fine motor. I guess. It's definitely putting
[16:11] Speaker 1: out better numbers, higher horsepower, more torque, it's turbocharged, but
[16:19] Speaker 1: it just doesn't feel as good to drive. And the
[16:22] Speaker 1: same thing happened when Ford replaced the six point two
[16:25] Speaker 1: liters V eight in the Raptor with a three and
[16:28] Speaker 1: a half liter turbocharged V six. Like it had higher
[16:33] Speaker 1: horse power, it fasters zero to sixty, you know, quicker acceleration,
[16:38] Speaker 1: but it just doesn't feel as rewarding.
[16:41] Speaker 2: See I honestly, Matt, I don't get that, because, like,
[16:44] Speaker 2: if you're saying all of the numbers are improved, what
[16:48] Speaker 2: are you not getting other than some sort of just
[16:51] Speaker 2: X factor that's in your brain because you know the engine.
[16:55] Speaker 1: No, it's it's not just that I know it like
[16:58] Speaker 1: subconsciously and hear it. I can feel it. Yeah, it
[17:03] Speaker 1: just it's not as doesn't have the kind of warmth
[17:07] Speaker 1: or fullness of a V eight.
[17:11] Speaker 2: Just but see, now we're getting not that I disagree,
[17:16] Speaker 2: I'm I'm just saying like, this is an interesting thing
[17:20] Speaker 2: because now we're getting into sort of qualitative assessments about
[17:24] Speaker 2: that car. You know, it's the difference between Yeah, all
[17:27] Speaker 2: the numbers are better, and all the numbers check out,
[17:30] Speaker 2: but somehow and then you start to sound a little
[17:32] Speaker 2: woo woo when you talk about it. But you're talking
[17:34] Speaker 2: about like warmth and all of these things that are
[17:38] Speaker 2: impossible to quantify, but they are real.
[17:41] Speaker 1: You're right, No, you're right. There is one thing that
[17:47] Speaker 1: you could probably quantify, which is there's definitely a lag
[17:51] Speaker 1: both in the Eco Boost and in the Hurricane five
[17:55] Speaker 1: to ten. Now, maybe there's a lag in the V
[17:59] Speaker 1: eight that I just don't notice as much because it
[18:02] Speaker 1: instantly makes more sound and vibrations. But I I just
[18:10] Speaker 1: to me, it doesn't matter if it goes zero to
[18:12] Speaker 1: sixty in three and a half seconds or zero sixty
[18:16] Speaker 1: in four and a half seconds. And you know, at
[18:22] Speaker 1: some point the numbers get so high that it just, yeah,
[18:25] Speaker 1: isn't useful.
[18:26] Speaker 6: You know.
[18:27] Speaker 2: This is what I struggle with when I'm reviewing cars,
[18:30] Speaker 2: because when you're writing things down and you're literally showing
[18:34] Speaker 2: the numbers, but then it says one thing, But then
[18:38] Speaker 2: when you get in the car and drive it, you
[18:39] Speaker 2: feel something different, as something that might imply numbers aren't everything.
[18:45] Speaker 2: It's hard to convince people because until you've driven it,
[18:49] Speaker 2: you know. It's like, for instance, with McLaren's. McLaren's are
[18:52] Speaker 2: kind of perfect cars on paper, yep, and you know
[18:56] Speaker 2: they're they're extreme. They're like the tech engineer type of
[19:00] Speaker 2: car that that that that type of brain loves. But
[19:04] Speaker 2: for whatever reason, I think McLaren has struggled creating a
[19:07] Speaker 2: visceral emotional connection to some of their cars. And I
[19:12] Speaker 2: don't know why, I'm not an engineer.
[19:15] Speaker 1: Well, I think it's even happening. So I drove the
[19:19] Speaker 1: Carrera GTS, you know, the new nine to eleven that
[19:22] Speaker 1: you drove last year in Spain. I find it's the hybrid, yes, so,
[19:26] Speaker 1: and it's so good, especially the transmission is so good
[19:32] Speaker 1: that you just don't feel anything. You know, of course
[19:37] Speaker 1: it's way faster or you know, we are gonna hear
[19:43] Speaker 1: from Tony Roma, who makes makes the CT five V
[19:46] Speaker 1: black Wing for Cadillac, or he did and now he's
[19:49] Speaker 1: at Corvette. I When I think of the competitors to
[19:53] Speaker 1: that car, I think of the BMW X five M
[19:55] Speaker 1: five that I just recently drove. The M five is fast,
[20:00] Speaker 1: and Tony will say, uh, yeah, the numbers are you know,
[20:05] Speaker 1: with with the automatic transmission and the hybrid system are
[20:09] Speaker 1: a little bit better, But you don't have the same
[20:12] Speaker 1: kind of engagement obviously that you have with a manual transmission,
[20:16] Speaker 1: which the Cadillac kept. And I'm willing to trade a
[20:19] Speaker 1: few tenths every day of the week for more engagement
[20:23] Speaker 1: with the vehicle.
[20:25] Speaker 2: Yeah, I know that's true, and it's not a it's
[20:27] Speaker 2: not a knock on the GTS to say it's too
[20:30] Speaker 2: good like that. It's that's not a problem. It's just
[20:33] Speaker 2: an observation that for whatever reason, for what you're.
[20:36] Speaker 1: Right, No, I think it's a problem. I think it's
[20:40] Speaker 1: a problem.
[20:41] Speaker 2: Honestly, you think being too I don't think too good
[20:43] Speaker 2: is a problem.
[20:44] Speaker 1: But you're saying that's not what I want in a vehicle, like, Okay,
[20:47] Speaker 1: it's an amazing car. Would I like to have the
[20:50] Speaker 1: nine to eleven career GTS? Yes I would. But so,
[20:55] Speaker 1: for example, the you're going to go to Portugal to
[20:59] Speaker 1: drive a new landin right. Yes, first of all, I'm jealous.
[21:03] Speaker 1: But a long time ago, I went to Spain to
[21:07] Speaker 1: drive the eventa door and it had this automatic transmission
[21:13] Speaker 1: with paddles that wasn't a dual clutch, and everybody said,
[21:17] Speaker 1: the car's great, but the transmission's horrible. You know. It
[21:20] Speaker 1: was like clunk, clunk, clunk, and it moved you in
[21:23] Speaker 1: your seat. I loved that. Yeah, I loved that. When
[21:27] Speaker 1: I'm driving the new Career GTS and I'm changing gears
[21:30] Speaker 1: of the paddle, I feel nothing. It doesn't move me
[21:33] Speaker 1: in my seat, it doesn't make a different sound. It's
[21:36] Speaker 1: just instantaneous and seamless. Yeah, that's what the engineer's shooting for,
[21:41] Speaker 1: but that's not what I'm going to pay one hundred
[21:44] Speaker 1: and ninety thousand dollars for.
[21:46] Speaker 2: You know, Well, this is getting into the realm. Two
[21:50] Speaker 2: of It becomes a little tricky when an automaker starts
[21:55] Speaker 2: to make a lot of variants that are all really
[21:57] Speaker 2: good and there's kind of for edible. And I don't
[22:01] Speaker 2: want to say the GTS is forgettable, but in the
[22:04] Speaker 2: scheme of things it might be. I mean, I have
[22:06] Speaker 2: to keep telling myself, oh, yeah, that's the hybrid. Okay, yeah,
[22:08] Speaker 2: I got it, got it, got it. It's different than
[22:10] Speaker 2: the ST. And I know I always come back to
[22:12] Speaker 2: the ST, and you always come back to a T. Yes,
[22:15] Speaker 2: like we have our favorites and for some reason they
[22:18] Speaker 2: stick out in our memory, which is tough to do
[22:21] Speaker 2: when there are twenty plus variants of the nine to
[22:24] Speaker 2: eleven available.
[22:25] Speaker 1: You know why the Kara ta is probably my favorite
[22:29] Speaker 1: in the lineup? Why because I have never driven the ST.
[22:35] Speaker 2: That that's going to change. We need to get this
[22:37] Speaker 2: to happen.
[22:38] Speaker 1: Well's one to have a friend who has one. I
[22:41] Speaker 1: do have a friend who has one, and he's offered
[22:43] Speaker 1: to let me drive his, and I'm going to take
[22:45] Speaker 1: him up on that. But there is one other point
[22:48] Speaker 1: with the T versus the ST that I've been thinking
[22:51] Speaker 1: about a lot more lately, and that is usable power.
[22:55] Speaker 7: You know.
[22:56] Speaker 1: The the Kara Tea, I think it's a sweet spot.
[23:00] Speaker 1: It's like a little under four hundred horsepower, you know,
[23:03] Speaker 1: almost there. They did some lightweighting to it. It's got
[23:07] Speaker 1: the short throw shifter. It's so engaging, and I can
[23:11] Speaker 1: make it a ton of fun on the Bronx River Parkway.
[23:15] Speaker 1: I can take it to Bear Mountain and have an
[23:17] Speaker 1: amazing time ringing it out. You know, obviously I'm not
[23:20] Speaker 1: doing nine tenths, but I'm you know, I'm revving it
[23:24] Speaker 1: up and in the ST I don't I would love
[23:27] Speaker 1: to hear your take, but I know Magnus told me
[23:30] Speaker 1: driving down Angeli's Crest like it's just so fast you
[23:34] Speaker 1: can't get there on a US road.
[23:37] Speaker 2: I'm thinking, did I don't know if Magnus was talking
[23:40] Speaker 2: about the ST because we haven't had that in the crest.
[23:43] Speaker 2: Did he tell you?
[23:44] Speaker 6: Maybe he was?
[23:44] Speaker 1: Maybe I'm mistaken, But what do you think about that?
[23:48] Speaker 1: I mean, the idea is that these cars are too
[23:50] Speaker 1: fast to really have fun unless you're on a track.
[23:53] Speaker 2: Okay, I had the ST up in like Napa Valley
[23:57] Speaker 2: close to San Francisco, winding around up there, both on
[24:02] Speaker 2: very curvy roads and on some open highway and in general,
[24:08] Speaker 2: I'm not a professional driver, so I'm not getting one
[24:10] Speaker 2: hundred percent out of any car. That's that's the truth.
[24:12] Speaker 2: I am not Sonny Hayes and Joshua Pears from F
[24:17] Speaker 2: one driving.
[24:18] Speaker 1: I'm not a good driver.
[24:21] Speaker 2: The thing about the ST is it made me feel
[24:23] Speaker 2: like I was. It made me feel like I was
[24:27] Speaker 2: an exceptional driver, and it made me feel like I
[24:29] Speaker 2: was ringing it out and it was so fun. It
[24:34] Speaker 2: did make me feel like I was getting all of
[24:36] Speaker 2: the car. I know I wasn't, but I felt like
[24:39] Speaker 2: I was. I. Yes, that's different than something like, you know,
[24:45] Speaker 2: some of the upper level Ferraris or Lamborghinis or anything
[24:48] Speaker 2: else you might want to throw in there that Yeah,
[24:50] Speaker 2: I know I'm not getting. I'm getting like half of
[24:53] Speaker 2: what the car's offering, you know. So I would say
[24:57] Speaker 2: I I felt like I got all of the s
[25:00] Speaker 2: I got what I wanted.
[25:01] Speaker 1: That's what you want, that's what you want.
[25:03] Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I mean I know I didn't, but it
[25:05] Speaker 2: made me feel like I was. It's it's great you
[25:08] Speaker 2: got to drive it.
[25:09] Speaker 1: I would love to drive it. I want to get
[25:19] Speaker 1: to Tony Roma because I did spend last week driving
[25:22] Speaker 1: in the CT five V Black Wing, and I feel
[25:25] Speaker 1: a little bit guilty about being so effusive about how
[25:28] Speaker 1: much I loved it.
[25:28] Speaker 2: And so why do you feel guilty in that?
[25:32] Speaker 1: I don't. I don't know, because I want to be
[25:34] Speaker 1: more skeptical and you're so good at that and become
[25:37] Speaker 1: skeptical and the end, you know, when I'm talking to him,
[25:40] Speaker 1: I'm just like fanboy. I can't believe I'm finally getting
[25:45] Speaker 1: to drive this car that I've been reading about and
[25:47] Speaker 1: lusting after for so long, and it was a truly
[25:52] Speaker 1: amazing experience. I was trying to think of negatives before
[25:56] Speaker 1: we go into the interview that I could point out.
[25:59] Speaker 1: I really can't. The one thing I get stuck on
[26:03] Speaker 1: is he talks about the precision, and this car did
[26:07] Speaker 1: have the extra twenty thousand dollars precision package, and to me,
[26:10] Speaker 1: the exciting thing about it is that it didn't have
[26:13] Speaker 1: the precision of the M five. You know, it gets
[26:16] Speaker 1: a little bit squirrely when you try and put down
[26:18] Speaker 1: all the power to the two rear wheels, right, but
[26:22] Speaker 1: a little bit yeah, I mean it's a conversation. I
[26:25] Speaker 1: will say again that I'm not a very good driver,
[26:28] Speaker 1: so for me, yes.
[26:29] Speaker 2: Most people are. Most people aren't good.
[26:31] Speaker 1: And I loved that, like I get a little bit
[26:35] Speaker 1: scared when I was really pushing it in this.
[26:37] Speaker 2: Car, making you work a little bit exactly.
[26:39] Speaker 1: Yes, that that was just the most fun. The other well,
[26:43] Speaker 1: there wasn't really anything else I didn't love about it,
[26:46] Speaker 1: except for when you're changing lanes and you put on
[26:49] Speaker 1: a turn signal, it has the yellow thing in the mirror,
[26:53] Speaker 1: you know that shows a blinking turn signal. I like that,
[26:57] Speaker 1: but the problem is if there's a car in your
[27:00] Speaker 1: blind spot, it puts up another yellow sign right next
[27:04] Speaker 1: to the yellow thing that shows your turn signals on.
[27:07] Speaker 1: And I found it hard to differentiate between the two
[27:10] Speaker 1: exact same color yellow lights. So every time I'm changing lanes.
[27:14] Speaker 2: It freaks you out.
[27:15] Speaker 1: Yeah, always to hit is something in my blind spot
[27:17] Speaker 1: because it's yellow.
[27:18] Speaker 2: And yeah, this seems to be a thing with GM,
[27:21] Speaker 2: because this week I've got the Optic, the Cadillac Optic,
[27:25] Speaker 2: and it has the same issue. And it's interesting that
[27:28] Speaker 2: you point that out because I've noticed it, but I
[27:30] Speaker 2: haven't really articulated it to myself. But you're right. It
[27:34] Speaker 2: is a little bit disconcerting because it's exactly like you say,
[27:38] Speaker 2: you could be making a completely fine pass or just
[27:42] Speaker 2: laane change, but it makes you think you're about to
[27:45] Speaker 2: hit someone that's in your blind spot, when that may
[27:47] Speaker 2: not be the case, or it might.
[27:49] Speaker 1: Be right exactly. So every time I was a little
[27:52] Speaker 1: bit hesitant, Yes, and that does take the fun out
[27:55] Speaker 1: of it.
[27:55] Speaker 2: I did find myself physically turning my head and looking
[27:58] Speaker 2: over my shoulder, you know, old school, to make sure
[28:03] Speaker 2: there was nobody back there. Because I started to not
[28:05] Speaker 2: trust the little indicator because it's like the Boy who
[28:08] Speaker 2: Cried Wolf. There were so many times that it was yellow.
[28:11] Speaker 2: I just stopped trusting it and physically looking, which you
[28:14] Speaker 2: should probably do anyway you should. But but the thing is,
[28:18] Speaker 2: if you're already tracking who's on the road in your
[28:21] Speaker 2: side mirrors, in your rear view mirror, you have a
[28:23] Speaker 2: pretty good idea of who's there.
[28:25] Speaker 7: Trust at the time.
[28:26] Speaker 1: Well, with that out of the way, let's get to
[28:30] Speaker 1: our interview with General Motors Engineer Corvette Boss Tony Roma. Tony,
[28:39] Speaker 1: I am just moved by this Cadillac CT five V
[28:45] Speaker 1: black Wing. I mean, it's it's a visceral experience in
[28:50] Speaker 1: a in a very different way than like a BMW
[28:53] Speaker 1: M five for a sedan. It's just amazing. And the
[28:57] Speaker 1: fact that you've been able to keep a manual transmission
[28:59] Speaker 1: in this car. I believe it's the only V eight
[29:03] Speaker 1: sedan in the world with a manual transmission. I think
[29:06] Speaker 1: it's the fastest car in the world that has a
[29:10] Speaker 1: manual transmission. How is it? How is it possible? How
[29:14] Speaker 1: did you do it?
[29:14] Speaker 7: Yeah? Boy, I appreciate all the accolades. That's the way
[29:17] Speaker 7: we talk about the car. So it's good that you
[29:19] Speaker 7: are picking up on what we're doing. I'd say a
[29:22] Speaker 7: long time ago we stopped, to be honest, benchmarking a
[29:25] Speaker 7: lot of our competitors. It was really when we started
[29:28] Speaker 7: on the CT five, during the generation where we had
[29:33] Speaker 7: the last gen of the CTSV out, everybody was going all, well, drive,
[29:37] Speaker 7: they were making their cars a little bigger, a little heavier,
[29:40] Speaker 7: and we really said, hey, that's not the character we want.
[29:43] Speaker 7: We want that precise, nimble, more driver engaged feel, and
[29:48] Speaker 7: the manual trends is such a big part of that.
[29:51] Speaker 7: Even though it doesn't make the car absolutely faster, as
[29:54] Speaker 7: you know, there's just no replacement for that connection that
[29:58] Speaker 7: the your whole body and to drive the car. So
[30:02] Speaker 7: it's really we are building cars that we want to drive.
[30:05] Speaker 7: And I think, you know, you kind of reference that
[30:07] Speaker 7: a lot of our competitors have gone away and they
[30:09] Speaker 7: build certainly super fast cars, but I prefer what we drive,
[30:15] Speaker 7: and I think it really is more comparable to maybe
[30:17] Speaker 7: a couple of generations ago from some of our competitors, So.
[30:21] Speaker 2: What's the waiting list, Like, I mean, are you seeing
[30:24] Speaker 2: high demand?
[30:25] Speaker 7: We see very high demand, and we especially see demand
[30:28] Speaker 7: for the higher optioned cars. The cars are coming in
[30:31] Speaker 7: very very well equipped. Pretty much if you want one,
[30:34] Speaker 7: you can get one. We've got We sell out very
[30:37] Speaker 7: quickly with our special additions. Last year we did a
[30:40] Speaker 7: special addition that had like blue carbon and was gorgeous
[30:42] Speaker 7: and we use this really cool metal forming technology to
[30:45] Speaker 7: put a graphic in the door, really really making a
[30:48] Speaker 7: special piece. We made a run last year and we're
[30:52] Speaker 7: getting ready to potentially do it again where we let
[30:55] Speaker 7: you choose the color of your car and customize a
[30:57] Speaker 7: couple of things in the interior. Our customers just eating
[31:00] Speaker 7: that up. So really it's a paradigm shift for us.
[31:05] Speaker 7: How high up the price ladder our customers really want
[31:09] Speaker 7: to go in. Like the third gen Rain, it was
[31:13] Speaker 7: a little more budget minded. Now everybody wants every car
[31:16] Speaker 7: dripping with carbon and just completely decked out, which is awesome,
[31:20] Speaker 7: and we want to build them that way. So but
[31:22] Speaker 7: if you really wanted to set five, you can. You
[31:25] Speaker 7: could probably find one out there somewhere.
[31:27] Speaker 1: And now you have the one. I'm driving now has
[31:29] Speaker 1: this Precision package. So I think it's an eighteen thousand
[31:33] Speaker 1: dollars option which changes the suspension dials. It in more
[31:36] Speaker 1: for I supposed track use, but I'm using it on
[31:39] Speaker 1: you know, the bronx Ord Parkway, and you've got the
[31:42] Speaker 1: car carbon ceramic brakes, which are incredible. I don't know
[31:45] Speaker 1: if it's necessary for a street car, but how do
[31:49] Speaker 1: you think about the evolution of this You know, was
[31:54] Speaker 1: once less than one hundred thousand dollars, now it's one
[31:56] Speaker 1: twenty with that package, and it climbs.
[32:00] Speaker 5: Yeah.
[32:00] Speaker 7: Well, that's a great example of what I just talked about,
[32:03] Speaker 7: how the appetite for our customers for more. You know,
[32:06] Speaker 7: those were things in the tuning and the cup tires.
[32:09] Speaker 7: We're all part of the g Is that really what
[32:11] Speaker 7: our customers want? And can we demand that much price?
[32:14] Speaker 7: And it's been a resounding yes, And that really the
[32:17] Speaker 7: whole project. The Precision package came from the idea that
[32:21] Speaker 7: we love the precision of the CT four, but we
[32:25] Speaker 7: love the isolation from the CT five Black Wing, and
[32:29] Speaker 7: you know, kind of internally we always said, boy, wouldn't
[32:31] Speaker 7: it be cool if we can make a CT five
[32:33] Speaker 7: Black Wing as precise and nimble as the CT four
[32:36] Speaker 7: Black Wing. So we set our super talented vehicle integration
[32:40] Speaker 7: and vehicle dynamics crew to work, and they rose to
[32:43] Speaker 7: the challenge. I think you would agree pretty well. The
[32:47] Speaker 7: car is amazing. It's so sharp, it's so precise, it
[32:50] Speaker 7: doesn't beat you up. It's it's incredible, and yes it's
[32:53] Speaker 7: kind of overkill on the street, but some people like overkill.
[32:56] Speaker 1: I mean, I have to say what you want Tony
[32:58] Speaker 1: to me, it's of course it's blisteringly fast and you
[33:05] Speaker 1: put it wherever you want it, but it also has
[33:07] Speaker 1: there's a little bit of pucker factor, you know, like
[33:10] Speaker 1: there's just because it's rear wheel drive and it's throwing
[33:13] Speaker 1: almost seven hundred horsepower those wheels. You have to be
[33:16] Speaker 1: paying attention to drive this car. It's not something that
[33:19] Speaker 1: you necessarily want to put on autopilot, although you do
[33:22] Speaker 1: have like an autopilot function available, And that's what makes
[33:27] Speaker 1: me really fall in love with it. And it's become
[33:30] Speaker 1: not just the I mean, the interior is amazing to me.
[33:33] Speaker 1: It's so elegant. There's nothing more than what you need,
[33:37] Speaker 1: but everything that you do need. And now I'm starting
[33:39] Speaker 1: to fall in love with the design, which I hadn't
[33:41] Speaker 1: been convinced on before. Like the exterior now is starting
[33:44] Speaker 1: to get me. I sit in my driveway and just
[33:46] Speaker 1: look at it. So I think you've just nailed it
[33:50] Speaker 1: on every conceivable level with that car. And I'm just
[33:54] Speaker 1: surprised that more people don't talk about it, and that
[33:57] Speaker 1: you don't have like years long waiting lists. And there
[34:01] Speaker 1: is there some kind of cap on the production because
[34:04] Speaker 1: of the emissions. It's a super charge six point two
[34:07] Speaker 1: liters v eight right.
[34:10] Speaker 7: Yeah, without going too deep in the weeds, you know,
[34:12] Speaker 7: we would be capped if we really tried to make
[34:15] Speaker 7: kind of as many as we wanted, But we're running
[34:18] Speaker 7: at about what we think customer demand is. I wouldn't
[34:20] Speaker 7: say that we're artificially lowering things very much, but we
[34:24] Speaker 7: would if we got a huge surgeon demand, you know,
[34:27] Speaker 7: five times as many people walked in and wanted them,
[34:30] Speaker 7: we'd have to start making decisions on portfolio level. But
[34:34] Speaker 7: that's not where we're at right now. And everything you
[34:37] Speaker 7: said about the car is just spot on. It's that
[34:40] Speaker 7: bi modal character the car has. It's comfortable and quiet
[34:44] Speaker 7: when you want to use supercrews and just just go
[34:46] Speaker 7: to work and just chill, and then as soon as
[34:48] Speaker 7: you're on some kind of road that can take it
[34:50] Speaker 7: and you want to twist a little bit or put
[34:52] Speaker 7: that power down. It does it with confidence. But I
[34:55] Speaker 7: agree with your comment. It's not the kind of car
[34:57] Speaker 7: you just mail it in and just get ham fisted
[35:00] Speaker 7: stand on it. It's and that's that's part of it.
[35:03] Speaker 7: That's part of what we like about it. It's a
[35:04] Speaker 7: it's a driver's car, Tony.
[35:06] Speaker 2: I have to ask, if you know, we're talking about
[35:09] Speaker 2: how amazing this black Wing is take rate as fifty
[35:14] Speaker 2: to fifty manual, which is like wildly high, why can't
[35:20] Speaker 2: put a manual in a Corvette? I mean, if it's
[35:22] Speaker 2: that popular and that great, why not just transition it
[35:27] Speaker 2: over into the real beauty of the lineup?
[35:32] Speaker 7: Yeah that I've obviously gotten that question before, and so
[35:35] Speaker 7: did tedg and Josh Holder before me.
[35:38] Speaker 1: We asked Mark Royales version.
[35:40] Speaker 7: Yeah, okay, Mark, Yeah, I'm sure a lot of people
[35:42] Speaker 7: get this question, and so I'll give you my version
[35:45] Speaker 7: of the answer. As you guys both know that we
[35:47] Speaker 7: work in a very capital intensive industry, and you know
[35:51] Speaker 7: when you work on these rearbeel drive cars, or even
[35:54] Speaker 7: when we had the transmission in the rear like C seven.
[35:57] Speaker 7: We've got that tremic, beautiful tremic to sixty sixty transmission
[36:01] Speaker 7: that's been around for a long time and slowly developed
[36:03] Speaker 7: into the beautiful thing that it is. There's no way
[36:07] Speaker 7: to adapt anything like that to the back of a
[36:09] Speaker 7: C eight. The dimensions of that car are very much
[36:13] Speaker 7: set up by the rear face of case to the
[36:15] Speaker 7: half shaft dimension of our DCT. And I mean making
[36:21] Speaker 7: a brand new you we'd have to make a brand
[36:23] Speaker 7: new transmission from scratch, and that would easily be one
[36:26] Speaker 7: hundred million dollar project. And everybody says they want the
[36:29] Speaker 7: manual transmission, and yes, it's fifty to fifty penetration on
[36:33] Speaker 7: a you know, two thousand a year CT five black Wing,
[36:36] Speaker 7: but it wouldn't be anywhere near fifty percent on a
[36:39] Speaker 7: forty thousand a year of Corvette. And the business case
[36:42] Speaker 7: just frankly doesn't make sense. So the team decided on
[36:45] Speaker 7: the right path and we made a fantastic dual clutch
[36:49] Speaker 7: transmission that tames, you know, the beast of one thousand
[36:52] Speaker 7: and sixty four horse power, and I'm proud of it,
[36:55] Speaker 7: and I think we made the right choice, and so
[36:57] Speaker 7: I am a card carrying manual trans Driver's painful for
[37:00] Speaker 7: me to give you this answer, just like it's painful
[37:02] Speaker 7: for you to hear. But that's that's the truth.
[37:05] Speaker 1: It's actually to me, it's not as bad. And that's
[37:08] Speaker 1: weird because I'm also such a purist normally in terms
[37:13] Speaker 1: of I want a manual transmission. I want to be
[37:16] Speaker 1: I want to be really involved in driving the car,
[37:19] Speaker 1: but for some reason I don't need it in the Corvette.
[37:23] Speaker 1: I have a blast in the Stingray. I love the
[37:26] Speaker 1: E Ray especially for some reason. The Z six is
[37:32] Speaker 1: like mind blowing just the engine alone. I haven't driven
[37:35] Speaker 1: the z R one, but obviously it's gonna be a
[37:39] Speaker 1: cruise missile we need to. But the thing is, what
[37:42] Speaker 1: is your favorite of the Corvettes, because you have those
[37:44] Speaker 1: four different offerings now, And also I wonder what is
[37:50] Speaker 1: your take, as I guess sort of an automotive purist
[37:54] Speaker 1: as well, on the E Ray because I think it's
[37:56] Speaker 1: the most underrated of them and it's just so cool
[38:02] Speaker 1: to feel that acceleration with the electric motor on the
[38:04] Speaker 1: front axle.
[38:07] Speaker 7: Yeah, there's like three solid questions in there, so answer right,
[38:11] Speaker 7: So that's okay, No, no, I'll give you the patent
[38:14] Speaker 7: answer that my mentor, John Heinerzy always used to say
[38:17] Speaker 7: his favorite Corvette is the next one he's working on.
[38:20] Speaker 7: So that's that's sort of where my head is, you know,
[38:22] Speaker 7: that's my politically correct answer.
[38:24] Speaker 1: Wait, what is the next one you're working on?
[38:27] Speaker 7: Uh huh yeah, we'll talk about that Sunday, I promise.
[38:31] Speaker 6: So.
[38:32] Speaker 1: Uh.
[38:33] Speaker 7: My My answer is I think the Z six is
[38:37] Speaker 7: the spiritual center of the Corvette portfolio. That is the
[38:41] Speaker 7: most here essence of Corvette. The Z one is just fantastic.
[38:46] Speaker 7: It's it's so so fast, and now the zero one
[38:50] Speaker 7: acts that folks haven't really had a chance as sample
[38:52] Speaker 7: does things that just it takes everything you love about
[38:56] Speaker 7: the era, all the things you were talking about about
[38:58] Speaker 7: the E ray, which to that point point I agree,
[39:00] Speaker 7: is kind of like the best kept secret in the
[39:02] Speaker 7: auto industry right now, that the eray. We talk to
[39:05] Speaker 7: a lot of folks that are sort of negative on
[39:07] Speaker 7: all this electrification stuff, and we have to convince them.
[39:09] Speaker 7: I don't know, I promise we didn't. It's not gimmicky.
[39:12] Speaker 7: We didn't just do this to do it, go drive
[39:14] Speaker 7: it it's fantastic, and then they usually come back and go,
[39:16] Speaker 7: oh my god, it's great. So I love the way
[39:20] Speaker 7: we used electrification on the Eray and now on the
[39:23] Speaker 7: zero one X, and I think when you guys get
[39:25] Speaker 7: a chance to sample that, it's so fast, it's just incredible.
[39:30] Speaker 7: But to me, this is I'm going to go out
[39:32] Speaker 7: and enjoy driving the car abscribe. Sorry memory, I'm.
[39:36] Speaker 4: Just going to say.
[39:36] Speaker 2: This is VR one. It's like over a thousand horsepower,
[39:39] Speaker 2: more than eight hundred pounds of torque, just for our listeners.
[39:43] Speaker 7: So yeah, the Zerru is the top zero is one thousand,
[39:46] Speaker 7: sixty four horse power, Yeah, exactly. And then and then
[39:49] Speaker 7: the zero one X is the one we just introduced.
[39:51] Speaker 7: It's twelve hundred and fifty horse power. We upgraded the RES,
[39:56] Speaker 7: the state of charge on the RES and the front
[39:57] Speaker 7: axle to get a little more than the rated power
[40:01] Speaker 7: on the e Ray. So everybody was expecting the straight
[40:04] Speaker 7: math edition of the Eray front axle with twenty sixty four,
[40:07] Speaker 7: and we kind of delayed and surprised and overachieved a
[40:11] Speaker 7: little bit. So twelve hundred and fifty horsepower with all
[40:13] Speaker 7: that front grip, it's just incredible. I mean, it's under
[40:17] Speaker 7: nine seconds in the quarter mile in a street legal
[40:19] Speaker 7: car with a warranty is something honestly never thought I'd
[40:22] Speaker 7: see in my lifetime. It's mind bending, it's I mean,
[40:25] Speaker 7: we had to get special permission to go to a
[40:27] Speaker 7: drag strip to certify the numbers, to run at a
[40:30] Speaker 7: trick strip. We had to get a special insurance writer
[40:32] Speaker 7: and other stuff. So just to do it, because none
[40:34] Speaker 7: of our customers are gonna be able to do it
[40:36] Speaker 7: anything over one hundred and fifty miles an hour. Everybody's
[40:38] Speaker 7: insurance will required you to have a parachute and all
[40:40] Speaker 7: that other stuff. So it's pretty nuts, Tony.
[40:43] Speaker 1: What's it like to be a part of building that
[40:46] Speaker 1: kind of beast? You know? I always think of the
[40:51] Speaker 1: people that build these these iconic vehicles, right, It's it's
[40:56] Speaker 1: like the guy who was the architect on the Empire
[40:59] Speaker 1: State Building, except for you have to go and visit that,
[41:01] Speaker 1: and this can drive around. You could see it roll
[41:04] Speaker 1: by you. How amazing is it to be a part
[41:10] Speaker 1: of this whole this whole thing.
[41:13] Speaker 7: Yeah, it's just it's amazing amazing.
[41:17] Speaker 1: How did you get here? Maybe is a better question, Tony?
[41:19] Speaker 1: What did you do? Like, where did you go to school?
[41:22] Speaker 1: What cars are you like when you were a kid,
[41:24] Speaker 1: What drove you to this place?
[41:25] Speaker 2: Oh?
[41:26] Speaker 7: Okay, sure, I can give you the quick version of this.
[41:28] Speaker 7: So I fell in love with cars a long, long
[41:29] Speaker 7: time ago. Everybody's got a quick Corvette story. Mine was
[41:32] Speaker 7: my uncle's nineteen seventy one big block convertible used to
[41:36] Speaker 7: cruise around over by Jamestown, New York. You know, rural
[41:39] Speaker 7: back roads, and the sound of a big block with
[41:42] Speaker 7: the top down is just you know, if that doesn't
[41:44] Speaker 7: fuel your soul, you're in the wrong business, right. I
[41:47] Speaker 7: went to engineering school in Detroit at Lawrence Tech, got
[41:51] Speaker 7: a master's degree Purdue. I started basically on the Corvette
[41:55] Speaker 7: group at at GM, working on automatic transmissions back in
[41:58] Speaker 7: nineteen ninety three, and over time worked my way into
[42:02] Speaker 7: engine development and then got some advice from my mentors
[42:05] Speaker 7: to say, look, you need to go round out your
[42:07] Speaker 7: background if you want to come back and be a
[42:08] Speaker 7: part of the leadership team on Corvette. And so that's
[42:10] Speaker 7: what I did. I jumped over when a great opportune
[42:14] Speaker 7: time when we started on V series to tie these
[42:17] Speaker 7: two discussions together. So I worked on the first generation
[42:20] Speaker 7: CTSV I worked on it before we called it V.
[42:23] Speaker 7: We didn't know what we were going to call it.
[42:24] Speaker 7: We just knew we were doing a hot rid version
[42:26] Speaker 7: of the first end CTS. And I worked with the
[42:29] Speaker 7: race team back then because we raced the car that
[42:31] Speaker 7: we were making as we were developing it. And yeah,
[42:34] Speaker 7: through a couple of other moves, I got promoted to
[42:36] Speaker 7: be the chief on Alpha, which is the architecture of
[42:39] Speaker 7: the CT five and CT four come off of. That
[42:42] Speaker 7: was a little over ten years ago, and then just
[42:44] Speaker 7: last year when Tad's retired, through an interview process, I
[42:50] Speaker 7: kind of won the lottery and I get to come
[42:52] Speaker 7: home and like you said, I look at it exactly
[42:55] Speaker 7: like you said it, Like, how fortunate am I to
[42:57] Speaker 7: be part of this team that makes the mind bending cars?
[43:01] Speaker 7: And it's truly the a team, not just a GM,
[43:03] Speaker 7: but in the industry. If you look at all of
[43:05] Speaker 7: our development engineers, the vehicle architects, the safety folks, just everybody,
[43:09] Speaker 7: the folks in Bowling Green to build the car, we
[43:12] Speaker 7: work with the best people around and their attitude is,
[43:15] Speaker 7: you know, how can we do this? And that's what
[43:17] Speaker 7: it takes to make cars like this.
[43:18] Speaker 1: It's awesome By the way, did you So? There's a
[43:22] Speaker 1: movie by Dak Shepherd that I always reference called Hit
[43:25] Speaker 1: and Run. Bradley Cooper's in it as well. He drives
[43:29] Speaker 1: a CTSV. There's a I think the bad guy has
[43:32] Speaker 1: a C six Corvette. There's like a Pontiac in it
[43:37] Speaker 1: as well. Did you work with those guys to make
[43:40] Speaker 1: that happen? I always wonder how you know car makers
[43:44] Speaker 1: get their vehicles in productions, and this one seems particularly
[43:48] Speaker 1: GM heavy.
[43:51] Speaker 7: Yeah, I didn't back then. That's a good question. We
[43:53] Speaker 7: have a group of folks that work with producers and
[43:56] Speaker 7: folks in the movie industry, and our marketing team kind
[43:59] Speaker 7: of decides where would be good product placements, and so
[44:02] Speaker 7: sometimes we do get the call, Hey, they want a
[44:04] Speaker 7: car to do X, Y or Z. But in that
[44:05] Speaker 7: case I had nothing to do with that.
[44:08] Speaker 1: All right, one more on. I just have one more
[44:10] Speaker 1: in Corvette because I know you want to get to
[44:11] Speaker 1: Celestique and we don't have a ton of time. But
[44:15] Speaker 1: I have a buddy Tony who has C six and
[44:18] Speaker 1: he has a black Wing and the family car is
[44:22] Speaker 1: like a Tahoe. He desperately wants a Corvette SUV. Can
[44:29] Speaker 1: you give us any news on the potential of that.
[44:32] Speaker 1: And I also said, like, wouldn't that just be a
[44:34] Speaker 1: rebodied Acadia and he was like, no, they're going to
[44:36] Speaker 1: do something completely different. It's going to be totally Corvette.
[44:39] Speaker 7: I'm not going to give you any news. My answer
[44:41] Speaker 7: will disappoint you wholeheartedly, but I will tell you we
[44:45] Speaker 7: continue to look at the market and opportunities white space
[44:49] Speaker 7: on the board, if you will, Where could we place
[44:51] Speaker 7: a product that wouldn't cannibalize other things in our portfolio
[44:55] Speaker 7: And if we can do a vehicle that would have
[44:58] Speaker 7: the right credibility to put some cross flow on it,
[45:01] Speaker 7: and and the time is right, we we I would
[45:05] Speaker 7: never say never, but right now, never, not not now?
[45:08] Speaker 7: How about that?
[45:09] Speaker 1: That's good, that's I mean, it's a bummer. Yeah, yeah, Well, I.
[45:16] Speaker 2: Do want to ask about Celastic because obviously this whole conversation,
[45:20] Speaker 2: we've spoken about cars that are really known for, you know,
[45:23] Speaker 2: engaging driving, and Celastic is a completely different animal.
[45:28] Speaker 7: You know.
[45:29] Speaker 2: When you and I spoke, and I don't know if
[45:31] Speaker 2: I told you this at the time, but I thought
[45:33] Speaker 2: it drove amazing, especially considering its weight and dimensions.
[45:38] Speaker 7: It's length, especially.
[45:40] Speaker 2: Can you just tell us what it was like to
[45:43] Speaker 2: go from developing these very you know, driver centric cars
[45:48] Speaker 2: to a luxury EV that I don't want to say
[45:53] Speaker 2: it's not driver centric because I actually thought it drove great,
[45:55] Speaker 2: but it's a different animal.
[45:59] Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean your I appreciate your comments. That's what
[46:02] Speaker 7: we were going for. We want a car that is surprising.
[46:06] Speaker 7: And I was explaining to another journalist, we want a
[46:09] Speaker 7: car that's good at everything you ask it to do.
[46:11] Speaker 7: So if you want a cruise to work and just
[46:13] Speaker 7: be quiet, it's an EV it's going to be quiet.
[46:15] Speaker 7: Turn on the Dolby utmost chill, maybe do a phone call, whatever.
[46:19] Speaker 7: All the road noise cancelation, all the insulated glass, all
[46:22] Speaker 7: that stuff kind of shines. Like we sent you folks
[46:26] Speaker 7: on that ride, you know, if you want to go.
[46:28] Speaker 7: And I remember talking to you, You're like, I just
[46:29] Speaker 7: drove Angela's Crest like two days ago in a portie.
[46:32] Speaker 7: You sure you want me to do this? And I
[46:34] Speaker 7: said yes, I'm sure, and you're going to shave you
[46:36] Speaker 7: the side look like okay, And you came back and said, wow,
[46:41] Speaker 7: that was kind of cool, And that's exactly what Yeah,
[46:44] Speaker 7: that's exactly what we're looking for it, and I look,
[46:46] Speaker 7: Selastick's never going to be your first choice to go
[46:48] Speaker 7: drive a road like that on a beautiful Saturday day,
[46:51] Speaker 7: but you know it'll do it. And that was part
[46:54] Speaker 7: of the mission statement from the beginning. It had to
[46:56] Speaker 7: kind of do everything well and have that bimodal character,
[46:59] Speaker 7: and the technology that we chose really just enabled all
[47:02] Speaker 7: of that. The active role, control of the rear steer,
[47:05] Speaker 7: the Mr Dampers, air springs, all of that kind of
[47:08] Speaker 7: comes together to make that car drive so much lighter
[47:11] Speaker 7: and more nimble and athletic than you would ever dream
[47:15] Speaker 7: that a car that big and those proportions. But I
[47:18] Speaker 7: think that's part of to me what makes the Celestic
[47:20] Speaker 7: special is because when you look at the car with
[47:22] Speaker 7: how low and how crazy the proportions are, man, you
[47:25] Speaker 7: kind of wish that it would back that up, and
[47:27] Speaker 7: then it does and you go, wow, Okay, it's not
[47:29] Speaker 7: just a pretty face. It's it's got some moves. And
[47:34] Speaker 7: at the very beginning of Celestic, the discussion with Mark
[47:37] Speaker 7: Royce was essentially, hey, we don't want a gimmicky EV
[47:42] Speaker 7: at the top of the lineup. We want a great
[47:44] Speaker 7: car that happens to be propelled by electricity, and so
[47:47] Speaker 7: that was our that was our guiding light and I
[47:49] Speaker 7: think I think we did it. And so it's a
[47:51] Speaker 7: beautiful car that happens to be an EV that drives fantastic.
[47:56] Speaker 2: What was the biggest fight you had with the design
[48:00] Speaker 2: because I always since that the engineers and the designers.
[48:05] Speaker 1: Have a special relationship.
[48:08] Speaker 2: Can you give us some insight about about what you
[48:11] Speaker 2: bought over?
[48:13] Speaker 7: Yeah, Celestic is unique in anybody's career in the industry
[48:19] Speaker 7: that the designers really from minute one, the goal was
[48:23] Speaker 7: make the show card, and we talked about that with
[48:25] Speaker 7: you guys at the press show. And so we started
[48:28] Speaker 7: with a sketch that represented the design language and the proportions.
[48:32] Speaker 7: We scaled it up to be big enough to fit people.
[48:35] Speaker 7: We built a show card that was basically the design
[48:38] Speaker 7: folks telling us what they wanted with very loose kind
[48:40] Speaker 7: of guidelines. They I'll use the word cheated. They cheated
[48:43] Speaker 7: up a couple of the you know guidelines. And then
[48:46] Speaker 7: the answer was, okay, how can we do that? And
[48:49] Speaker 7: so that was our challenge and really, I'll tell you
[48:53] Speaker 7: we had a lot of really passionate discussion and Celestic,
[48:56] Speaker 7: I'm not gonna lie both sides. Most of it, honestly
[48:59] Speaker 7: was is we just can't do that. It wasn't. We
[49:03] Speaker 7: don't want to do that, we can't afford to do that.
[49:06] Speaker 7: We'd rather not do that. It wasn't. You know, So
[49:09] Speaker 7: that makes Celestic a little different most programs you work on.
[49:12] Speaker 7: It's well, yeah, I know the blah blah blah, really
[49:15] Speaker 7: expensive car does this crazy little thing here, but there's
[49:18] Speaker 7: no way we can afford that. Look at how much
[49:20] Speaker 7: it costs. On Celestic. It was like, Okay, we'll go
[49:23] Speaker 7: find out what those people are doing and call the suppliers.
[49:25] Speaker 7: And we reached out to everybody all over the world
[49:28] Speaker 7: and came up with I think it's somewhere in the
[49:31] Speaker 7: neighborhood of two hundred patents on our own. Some of
[49:34] Speaker 7: the stuff we loaned our intellectual property to others to
[49:37] Speaker 7: make the actual parts. Some of the software and things
[49:39] Speaker 7: we did ourselves. So I don't I can't remember any
[49:42] Speaker 7: big like, oh my gosh. You know, that argument was
[49:45] Speaker 7: defining for the car, But there was certainly a lot
[49:47] Speaker 7: of passion on both sides, and I think you saw
[49:49] Speaker 7: the relationship that Aaron and Michael Simco and I still
[49:52] Speaker 7: have to this day, and I honestly feel that that's
[49:55] Speaker 7: a testament to as a team. You know, the fact
[49:57] Speaker 7: that we still go and hang out and you know,
[50:00] Speaker 7: have drink and enjoy what we created together. I think
[50:04] Speaker 7: it speaks volumes and that's not just me, it's the
[50:07] Speaker 7: whole engineering team. But I'm the one there at the
[50:09] Speaker 7: press show.
[50:10] Speaker 1: Right, Tony, So much gratitude from my side for your time.
[50:16] Speaker 1: I really appreciate you making this work because I know
[50:19] Speaker 1: you're traveling, you're busy, You've got a lot going on,
[50:22] Speaker 1: So thank you.
[50:23] Speaker 7: Okay, no problem, good talking to you.
[50:26] Speaker 1: I can't believe Corvette there's not going to be a
[50:29] Speaker 1: Corvette SUV like anytime soon. I find Well, this was
[50:33] Speaker 1: something they were working on.
[50:34] Speaker 2: And like you, you've been talking about it and sort
[50:36] Speaker 2: of asking about it for a long time because it's
[50:39] Speaker 2: been in the ether.
[50:40] Speaker 1: Yeah, well I was. I'm kind of I obviously have
[50:46] Speaker 1: a crush on, you know, the black Wing and the Corvettes,
[50:51] Speaker 1: and I just feel like General Motors is doing everything
[50:54] Speaker 1: right and I was excited to have a Corvette like Cayenne,
[51:00] Speaker 1: you know, because it's been such a huge money spinner
[51:02] Speaker 1: for Portia.
[51:03] Speaker 2: I know, I mean, the thing that I always sort
[51:06] Speaker 2: of gave me pause though, was what Ford did with Mustang.
[51:10] Speaker 2: How they turn that into.
[51:11] Speaker 1: But that's not even an SUV. That's like a little
[51:14] Speaker 1: hatchback the Mustard that isn't what the e the mock
[51:18] Speaker 1: e Mustang.
[51:18] Speaker 2: Yeah, that's not a little hatchback. That is that is
[51:21] Speaker 2: an su that is not small. I was following one
[51:25] Speaker 2: the other.
[51:26] Speaker 1: Day and well, when I sit in one with my
[51:30] Speaker 1: six three, two hundred and ten pound frame, it does
[51:33] Speaker 1: not feel like a big SUV.
[51:35] Speaker 2: It's a small it's a compact SUI. Yeah, all that
[51:38] Speaker 2: to say, I don't think it looks good. I don't
[51:40] Speaker 2: think it's interesting. So why would you ruin the Mustang name? Yeah,
[51:45] Speaker 2: I'm slapping it on that.
[51:46] Speaker 1: I tend to agree with you. Although Jim Farley when
[51:50] Speaker 1: he was talking with Jay Leno, well, I guess Jay
[51:53] Speaker 1: Leno when he was talking with Jim Farley was defending it,
[51:56] Speaker 1: saying that they make the mock e so that they
[51:59] Speaker 1: can still put a stick shift in a Mustang with
[52:03] Speaker 1: a V eight.
[52:04] Speaker 2: Sure, but then why not make it good. That's gonna
[52:07] Speaker 2: make it.
[52:08] Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good point. Maybe they'll come out with
[52:11] Speaker 1: another one. Like two point zero version. That's better.
[52:14] Speaker 2: We've heard this from We've heard this from portion other
[52:17] Speaker 2: automakers we make X, so we can give you why.
[52:21] Speaker 2: You know, this is a common.
[52:22] Speaker 1: Thing, but some people love it. Matt Farah had a
[52:25] Speaker 1: macke for like three years and loved it. Right or
[52:29] Speaker 1: is he paid to say that?
[52:31] Speaker 2: You'll have to ask Matt.
[52:32] Speaker 1: I don't know. Yeah, we should. I would love to
[52:34] Speaker 1: have Matt on here, and he would just have them on.
[52:37] Speaker 1: He would have to keep the profanity to a minimum.
[52:39] Speaker 6: Yeah.
[52:40] Speaker 1: Right, Well, I'm gonna go see this movie right now, Hannah.
[52:43] Speaker 2: I can't wait to hear what you think.
[52:44] Speaker 1: And I appreciate you. Likewise, We've done a lot of
[52:49] Speaker 1: really great work together lately. I know.
[52:51] Speaker 2: I'm so proud of it, and it's been honestly a
[52:54] Speaker 2: true joy.
[52:55] Speaker 1: It has been. Thank you so much, and thank you
[52:57] Speaker 1: to everyone who listens. If you want to write in
[52:59] Speaker 1: a mail addresses hot Pursuit at Bloomberg dot net. I'm
[53:03] Speaker 1: Matt Miller and
[53:04] Speaker 2: I'm Hannah Elliott, and this is Bloomberg

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