# World's Largest Grouping of Bugatti & Pagani Supercars, Mercedes S 580e Review, Scary Driving Stories

An episode of [Bloomberg Hot Pursuit!](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1710787142), 31 Oct 2025, 32 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/4778f66f-5d19-456a-9820-b08f00dfd567/9d4e7a0b-4d3c-4369-b1fd-b38700d9b567/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=42336c1a-f7c2-4898-885b-b08f00e0bb66

Matt and Hannah discuss the 2025 Mercedes-Benz S 580e 4MATIC Sedan, plus the world's largest grouping of Bugatti and Pagani supercars at the Wynn Concours in Las Vegas. And, for Halloween, Hannah and Matt share their scariest car stories including one about a Toyota truck and "give it more gas!" See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:02] Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News.
[0:09] Speaker 2: I'm Hannah Elliott and I'm Matt Miller. This is Hot
[0:12] Speaker 2: Pursuit coming up on today's podcast.
[0:19] Speaker 1: I have been driving around this week and the Mercedes
[0:22] Speaker 1: S five eighty E saidan, we'll talk about that, and.
[0:27] Speaker 2: In honor of Halloween, we're gonna swap some of our
[0:30] Speaker 2: scariest stories behind the wheel. But before we go there, Hannah,
[0:36] Speaker 2: you are about to hit the road and head to
[0:38] Speaker 2: Las Vegas. What are you doing this weekend?
[0:40] Speaker 1: Yes, I am going to the fourth annual Concre at
[0:43] Speaker 1: the Wind Las Vegas. It's the Las Vegas Concre basically,
[0:48] Speaker 1: and it's going to be like a supercar bonanza. There
[0:53] Speaker 1: are going to be the world's largest gathering of Bugatti
[0:57] Speaker 1: Vey runs are going to be at least forty if
[0:59] Speaker 1: not more. Wow, there are going to be over forty
[1:03] Speaker 1: Paganis all on site as well, which is about a
[1:06] Speaker 1: third of the amount of the Paganis in the entire continent.
[1:09] Speaker 2: That's insane.
[1:10] Speaker 1: I know they're going to be two hundred and fifty
[1:12] Speaker 1: Lamborghinis period, just because that tracks, Yeah, that tracks maybe
[1:19] Speaker 1: its Vegas exactly. I'm actually really excited and it's formulating
[1:24] Speaker 1: a story that I'm working on that I will be
[1:26] Speaker 1: reporting when I'm there about in a sea of supercars,
[1:31] Speaker 1: what makes them special? I mean when you have forty
[1:34] Speaker 1: Bagattis and forty Paganis, they all kind of blur together, right,
[1:40] Speaker 1: So why why are people still so compelled to buy
[1:43] Speaker 1: these things? I'm looking forward to. Also, there's going to
[1:47] Speaker 1: be a broad Arrow auction there. There are going to
[1:50] Speaker 1: be assorted drives and rallies, and I might even go
[1:52] Speaker 1: see the Eagles at this sphere. So there's a lot
[1:55] Speaker 1: going on, Yes.
[1:57] Speaker 2: I feel like so first of all, I say that
[2:00] Speaker 2: I don't hate the Eagles, like the dude I love
[2:04] Speaker 2: the Eagles?
[2:05] Speaker 1: Is that Don Henley?
[2:06] Speaker 2: Yes? I love Don Henley and I love There's a
[2:09] Speaker 2: fantastic two part documentary about the history of the Eagles,
[2:12] Speaker 2: which is amazing. It's one of the best music documentaries
[2:16] Speaker 2: I've ever seen. But I just don't get how they
[2:19] Speaker 2: work with the sphere. I get like the Dead at
[2:21] Speaker 2: the Sphere, I get Fish at the Sphere. Yeah, I
[2:24] Speaker 2: don't need to like be on acid and looking at
[2:27] Speaker 2: crazy you know visuals for the Eagles.
[2:31] Speaker 1: Yeah, you don't want to hear Boys of Summer you know,
[2:33] Speaker 1: I know that's a separate that's not the Eagles, but
[2:35] Speaker 1: it is.
[2:36] Speaker 2: I still love that song. I love that deadhead sticker
[2:39] Speaker 2: on a Cadillac.
[2:40] Speaker 1: I seriously love that song. Yeah, I agree, although I
[2:44] Speaker 1: will say my uncle Pete Lodwick and Dallas, Texas saw
[2:49] Speaker 1: the Eagles there at the Sphere and loved it, absolutely
[2:52] Speaker 1: loved it. Was writing about it and said that no
[2:55] Speaker 1: matter what, you'll like it. He's seen every band ever,
[2:58] Speaker 1: so you know, maybe I'll report back.
[3:01] Speaker 2: I get that, so all right, that'll be sweet. In
[3:05] Speaker 2: terms of the cars, I always wonder about who goes
[3:09] Speaker 2: to these things the Lambos I get, and actually I
[3:12] Speaker 2: did one time. I did a three day driving Lamborghini
[3:15] Speaker 2: driving school in Vegas, Vegas, and it was like perfect.
[3:18] Speaker 2: You know, big gold chains, self made men with a
[3:22] Speaker 2: lot of hair not on their heads but everywhere else,
[3:27] Speaker 2: and that it kind of fits. But if you have
[3:31] Speaker 2: a PEGANI like, if you bought a car for multiple
[3:35] Speaker 2: million dollars, I figure you're like a really important CEO
[3:41] Speaker 2: or a hedge fund manager who wants to keep a
[3:44] Speaker 2: low profile, and then you're too busy to go to
[3:48] Speaker 2: Las Vegas with your car. And you also don't want
[3:53] Speaker 2: to hang out with a bunch of other people that
[3:55] Speaker 2: have that car.
[3:56] Speaker 1: Right, I think it may actually be different personality types
[4:01] Speaker 1: if you are the one who's buying Bugattis and Pegani's,
[4:04] Speaker 1: I think you actually do want to be out and
[4:06] Speaker 1: about talking with tons of people and showing off your
[4:10] Speaker 1: car and whatever you have. It seems like the when
[4:14] Speaker 1: you get into that price stratosphere, the real commodity is,
[4:19] Speaker 1: of course time, and so when you are super rich
[4:23] Speaker 1: and super wealthy, you figure out a way to create
[4:26] Speaker 1: time for yourself. And the type of person who loves
[4:29] Speaker 1: these cars is also smart enough to create the time
[4:34] Speaker 1: to drive them and travel with them and enjoy them.
[4:36] Speaker 1: This is my working theory.
[4:38] Speaker 2: So and you have a lot of experience with these people.
[4:40] Speaker 2: I mean, like if you go to the meal Amelia,
[4:42] Speaker 2: you're probably the kind of person who can at least
[4:44] Speaker 2: complately completely.
[4:46] Speaker 1: And I do think there are plenty of people who
[4:48] Speaker 1: are wealthy and very successful who are just what you describe,
[4:51] Speaker 1: very discreete, you know, very reserved, very low key. Those
[4:57] Speaker 1: guys I typically find might buy some other type of
[5:00] Speaker 1: expensive car, but not necessarily a Bugatti or Pegani. Again,
[5:05] Speaker 1: this is my working theory.
[5:06] Speaker 2: But I have to think for me, like, I love
[5:10] Speaker 2: Bugattis so much, and I'm eternally grateful that I got
[5:15] Speaker 2: to drive the Chiron on a track in Germany, and
[5:21] Speaker 2: like talking to Mate Remac about his new engine, it's
[5:26] Speaker 2: I probably want to drive that more than anything else
[5:28] Speaker 2: in the whole world. But I feel like Pegani is
[5:30] Speaker 2: a step above Bugatti in terms of a work of
[5:34] Speaker 2: art that's unique to the buyer, in terms of the customization,
[5:38] Speaker 2: in terms of you know, it's more about the art
[5:43] Speaker 2: than it is about the car. You Yes, you feel me?
[5:47] Speaker 1: Yes, I do feel you. I do feel you, Matt.
[5:49] Speaker 1: And I think part of that too goes back to
[5:52] Speaker 1: the person of Horatio Pegani, who has been the person
[5:56] Speaker 1: who's led and directed and owned the company sits since
[5:59] Speaker 1: it's inception. Bugatti, Let's not forget, is a very old
[6:03] Speaker 1: company that is owned by a huge German corporation, and
[6:06] Speaker 1: I think that is evident in the way that the
[6:11] Speaker 1: cars are presented and made. Whereas Pegani, it's Horatio and
[6:16] Speaker 1: Christopher his son who are directing everything. I mean, they
[6:20] Speaker 1: control that company, so it's a lot closer to the
[6:23] Speaker 1: vision of one charismatic person versus Bugatti, who, let's face it,
[6:29] Speaker 1: is owned by Volkswagen.
[6:30] Speaker 2: Group, although it does seem like Remac has a lot
[6:34] Speaker 2: of say in what they do.
[6:36] Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think Mate is a very brilliant person.
[6:41] Speaker 1: We love talking with him. We could talk with him
[6:44] Speaker 1: for hours, and we basically have talked with him for hours.
[6:48] Speaker 1: So yeah, he's probably obviously influencing Bugatti. But still you're right.
[6:52] Speaker 1: I think Pegani is like hand in hand with the
[6:55] Speaker 1: vision of one very unique individual and that is evidenced
[7:00] Speaker 1: in the cars for sure. And there's going to be
[7:02] Speaker 1: a new Hyrus Speedster shown also this weekend at the Concore,
[7:07] Speaker 1: and I won't be talking with Christopher Buggotty about that car.
[7:12] Speaker 2: That's fantastic. I think they're I mean, do you agree
[7:16] Speaker 2: that these are probably the two most special cars one
[7:20] Speaker 2: can buy new? Certainly they're the two most expensive cars
[7:24] Speaker 2: that one can buy new.
[7:25] Speaker 1: Right probably. I mean everybody defined special in a different way,
[7:30] Speaker 1: but if you are talking about the combination of price point, performance,
[7:38] Speaker 1: limited availability, and the amount of time required to wait
[7:44] Speaker 1: until you can get one of these cars, yeah, they're
[7:46] Speaker 1: very capitalists special, They're very capitalisted super.
[7:50] Speaker 2: Who else are you talking to at this win concre.
[7:54] Speaker 1: We will also be talking with the head of Bugatti,
[7:59] Speaker 1: who is not mat Hey Rimc Christophe Piochan, and I
[8:03] Speaker 1: will also be talking with Mkhil Haggarty on Saturday cool
[8:07] Speaker 1: about the market of these cars. Mkhiel, of course, is
[8:12] Speaker 1: of Haggarty fame. Haggardy owns Broad Arrow Auctions, so I'll
[8:16] Speaker 1: be talking with Mkkil specifically about how these cars do
[8:19] Speaker 1: on the auction market, what the aftermarket values are, and
[8:23] Speaker 1: where that market is going in the future. So I'm
[8:26] Speaker 1: really looking forward to that conversation. I hope to come
[8:28] Speaker 1: back with some very good insights for all of us.
[8:30] Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm excited. We'll bring our listeners all that content
[8:34] Speaker 2: on a future episode coming up. The Mercedes S five
[8:38] Speaker 2: eighty that Hannah's been driving around this week. We'll get
[8:41] Speaker 2: her take on the luxury sedan and our scariest stories
[8:45] Speaker 2: for Halloween. I'm Matt Miller with Hannah Elliott and this
[8:53] Speaker 2: is Hot Pursuit from Bloomberg Radio. And Hannah, You've been
[8:56] Speaker 2: driving around in the Mercedes S five e which is
[9:01] Speaker 2: that like a really Los Angeles appropriate car?
[9:04] Speaker 1: Yes, yes, Mad it is. And I have to say
[9:08] Speaker 1: this should not be confused with the Mercedes my Bock
[9:12] Speaker 1: S five eighty, which has a V eight. This is
[9:15] Speaker 1: actually the S five eighty e Formatic And that's way
[9:20] Speaker 1: too long and confusing a name. But that means it's
[9:23] Speaker 1: a six.
[9:24] Speaker 2: What. Yes, it's not what I thought five.
[9:28] Speaker 1: I know, I know, I know. It's a it's a
[9:31] Speaker 1: three leader in line six turbo plug in hybrid.
[9:36] Speaker 2: Oh my god, I.
[9:37] Speaker 1: Know, I really, I know. I just want to tell
[9:40] Speaker 1: you I can just I just felt all of the
[9:43] Speaker 1: air stuck out of the room. This is five hundred
[9:47] Speaker 1: and ten combined horsepower. It is all wheel drive, nine
[9:52] Speaker 1: speed automatic.
[9:54] Speaker 2: But yes, and this is ha Are you sure about this?
[9:58] Speaker 1: Yeah? I am sure. I am looking at the cars Monroney.
[10:02] Speaker 1: That was in the glove compartment of the vehicle. Itsel
[10:06] Speaker 1: I couldn't be more sure.
[10:08] Speaker 2: I don't understand why do car makers keep doing this?
[10:11] Speaker 2: You know? This is a lot like you know the
[10:16] Speaker 2: dB twelve from Aston Marton. It's almost leading.
[10:19] Speaker 1: Because we should talk about Aston.
[10:20] Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, well, well pressing. But the dB twelve has
[10:24] Speaker 2: a V eight and when you when you hear dB twelve,
[10:27] Speaker 2: you think.
[10:27] Speaker 1: Oh cool, it's me nothing words mean nothing when you
[10:30] Speaker 1: hear turbo you think it turbo charge BMW.
[10:34] Speaker 2: You know. I was talking with and Oh, the owner
[10:36] Speaker 2: of an X seven forty, and I was like, you
[10:40] Speaker 2: got an inline six. He's like no, I know, he
[10:42] Speaker 2: says the VA it's a forty. I'm like, no, that's
[10:45] Speaker 2: not how it works anymore. Bro.
[10:46] Speaker 1: No, and now mean nothing.
[10:48] Speaker 2: I mean previously an S five hundred and five point
[10:52] Speaker 2: fifty five eighty, they all had the V eight.
[10:55] Speaker 1: I know. Well, we're in new times now, my friend.
[10:59] Speaker 1: And about that words mean nothing thing. I take it
[11:02] Speaker 1: back to when BMW started referring to some of its
[11:06] Speaker 1: cars Sedan's as sport coops. That to me was the
[11:10] Speaker 1: time when words started meaning nothing, which was probably at
[11:13] Speaker 1: this point twenty years ago. But when they started referring
[11:16] Speaker 1: to Sedans as quote unquote sport coops, that was it.
[11:19] Speaker 1: That just ended it for me. Anyway. That's that's my rant.
[11:24] Speaker 1: Back back to the S five eighty where was I
[11:31] Speaker 1: It's you you.
[11:33] Speaker 2: Were going to tell me it's still good even though
[11:35] Speaker 2: it doesn't have a view.
[11:36] Speaker 1: Okay, so yes, this is what I was going to say.
[11:39] Speaker 1: There are very few cars where in the middle of
[11:42] Speaker 1: my day when I'm driving and I'm sitting in the
[11:44] Speaker 1: driver's seat, all of a sudden, I just think, wow,
[11:47] Speaker 1: I really like this car, like out of nowhere, not
[11:50] Speaker 1: doing anything in particular, just it just kind of comes
[11:53] Speaker 1: to me that I'm having a really nice time in
[11:55] Speaker 1: the car at that moment in time, and that did
[11:58] Speaker 1: happen with this vehicle. It is wonderful for a commuting sedan.
[12:07] Speaker 1: It's it's so comfortable as you would expect. I actually
[12:12] Speaker 1: loved the weird livery speck on it. It was this
[12:17] Speaker 1: weird silver metallic color on the outside and a paint
[12:22] Speaker 1: job that costs ten thousand dollars extra wow and right,
[12:26] Speaker 1: and the silver almost had a drop of green in it.
[12:29] Speaker 1: And then inside was this green Napa leather diamond quilted
[12:35] Speaker 1: stitched inside like this race and green that looked like
[12:39] Speaker 1: something Bentley would have. And it had pillows in the
[12:42] Speaker 1: back for your head and for your legs. It kind
[12:45] Speaker 1: of looked like a Bentley in the back, which was
[12:48] Speaker 1: odd and also cost almost twelve grand additional, but I
[12:54] Speaker 1: weirdly really liked it. And then the dashboard and the
[12:57] Speaker 1: door doors had this black piano lacquer would trim that
[13:02] Speaker 1: costs almost two grand. Extra. So this is an expensive vehicle,
[13:07] Speaker 1: but it's somehow all worked. Now what I'm getting away
[13:10] Speaker 1: from is telling you that it drives amazing, and I
[13:13] Speaker 1: would not say this car drives amazing. This is not
[13:15] Speaker 1: a sports car, this is not even an AMG. This
[13:19] Speaker 1: is a inline six hybrid stand so it wasn't exactly thrilling.
[13:24] Speaker 1: In fact, I thought it was rather soft. But that's
[13:28] Speaker 1: not why you buy this car, so I don't actually
[13:30] Speaker 1: fault it for that. You buy this car for comfort
[13:34] Speaker 1: and for prestige and for an enjoyable drive when you're
[13:39] Speaker 1: driving around every day in LA And to that end,
[13:43] Speaker 1: it really won won me over.
[13:45] Speaker 2: Interesting. So get this Google Gemini, which is the AI
[13:52] Speaker 2: platform of alphabet And by the way, not that car
[13:55] Speaker 2: lovers care that much, but Gemini's usage has increased by
[13:59] Speaker 2: forty four percent the past three months we learned today,
[14:01] Speaker 2: so more and more people are using Gemini. The momentum
[14:04] Speaker 2: is faster than chat ChiPT But Gemini I Digress says
[14:08] Speaker 2: that this is a point of confusion in that Mercedes
[14:11] Speaker 2: has an S five eighty Formatic which still uses the
[14:14] Speaker 2: four leader twin turbo V eight with the mild hybrid
[14:17] Speaker 2: drive system. The s five eighty E formatic plugin hybrid,
[14:22] Speaker 2: which is the one that you have as the three
[14:24] Speaker 2: leader in line six. Obviously I believed you. I just
[14:27] Speaker 2: wanted to see what the deal is verify. The only
[14:31] Speaker 2: difference is the lowercase E. I know it takes away
[14:36] Speaker 2: two cylinders and one leader of displacement. However, what I
[14:40] Speaker 2: also find fascinating is so the V eight has horsepower
[14:44] Speaker 2: four ninety six and torque of five sixteen does zero
[14:48] Speaker 2: sixty and four point three seconds. The lower case E
[14:52] Speaker 2: has a combined output of five hundred and three horse power.
[14:56] Speaker 2: I don't know how they're measuring that. It could be
[14:57] Speaker 2: a little more or less, but five hundre fifty three
[15:00] Speaker 2: pound feet of torque, so it seems like it's stronger.
[15:03] Speaker 2: The hybrid is the plug in hybrid version is than
[15:07] Speaker 2: the straight V eight, but it's slower zero to sixty
[15:10] Speaker 2: at least according to Gemini at four point eight seconds,
[15:13] Speaker 2: which is weird.
[15:14] Speaker 1: Yeah. Again, everything is befuddled these days, and just because
[15:22] Speaker 1: you have a certain amount of cylinders in the engine
[15:25] Speaker 1: doesn't mean that you're also getting more horsepower, like you
[15:29] Speaker 1: just established. Now, Gemini says a little the mmony for
[15:33] Speaker 1: the car itself says five hundred and ten horsepower, so
[15:35] Speaker 1: somewhere over five hundred, it's still more than the V eight.
[15:39] Speaker 1: And to your point, yes, you can't assume that because
[15:42] Speaker 1: you're getting a bigger engine or more cylinders, you're getting
[15:46] Speaker 1: a faster, more powerful car that just doesn't hold anymore.
[15:49] Speaker 1: There are so many different variables, and so maybe this
[15:56] Speaker 1: will help your case with your wife at some point
[15:59] Speaker 1: trying to get a car you actually want, because again,
[16:02] Speaker 1: there's no like heart and fast rule anymore about what
[16:05] Speaker 1: you can expect to get. I do think one of
[16:07] Speaker 1: the problems that Mercedes has is their names are so confusing,
[16:11] Speaker 1: and all of the cars tend to blend together, so
[16:15] Speaker 1: it really does take a lot of time and attention
[16:17] Speaker 1: to figure out which is which. Which seems like a problem.
[16:21] Speaker 2: Yeah, that does seem like a market.
[16:22] Speaker 1: It's really confusing, right, And I should say that this
[16:25] Speaker 1: car that I drove ended up being almost one hundred
[16:28] Speaker 1: and seventy six thousand dollars, so it's not cheap. It's
[16:34] Speaker 1: cheaper than other sedans we've driven. It's cheaper than the
[16:37] Speaker 1: my box version of the same thing, which has a
[16:39] Speaker 1: V eight.
[16:40] Speaker 2: And probably more tasteful, right, yes.
[16:43] Speaker 1: Yes, yes, yes, which and that had my box version
[16:48] Speaker 1: has the same It's that four liter V eight that
[16:51] Speaker 1: gets just under five hundred horsepower. So again argument for
[16:55] Speaker 1: this car if you just care about straight numbers, but
[16:58] Speaker 1: that is that this hybrid has more power. But at
[17:01] Speaker 1: the end of the day, can you tell the difference
[17:03] Speaker 1: between four hundred and ninety six and no you cannot.
[17:06] Speaker 2: You can't. Frankly, most people won't know the difference between
[17:09] Speaker 2: four point three seconds and four point eight seconds, not
[17:11] Speaker 2: on the highway any care tims. You're the sixty times
[17:14] Speaker 2: even with a roll on. You're right, I agree. And
[17:17] Speaker 2: the Mercedes I haven't been in this one, but they
[17:19] Speaker 2: tend to I think excel, even beating all the competition
[17:25] Speaker 2: in terms of it being a nice place to sit.
[17:27] Speaker 1: Yes, you know so, honestly, so nice, just so easy
[17:33] Speaker 1: to and seamless to control everything from the dashboard. Everything
[17:40] Speaker 1: flows very seamlessly. The interface is good, the ambient lighting
[17:46] Speaker 1: is good. It just is a very nice environment. The
[17:50] Speaker 1: doors close very softly. It just is a really nice environment.
[17:54] Speaker 2: I'm sure that's what you want. Yeah, I will say
[17:57] Speaker 2: In regards to the numbers versus displacement or numbers versus cylinders.
[18:02] Speaker 2: I hate to harp on this. I always go back
[18:03] Speaker 2: to it the heartbreak I felt when Mark Fields unveiled
[18:08] Speaker 2: the second generation of the Ford F one to fifty
[18:11] Speaker 2: Raptor with its three and a half liter Eco Boost
[18:15] Speaker 2: V six, and I was like, but wait, I thought
[18:19] Speaker 2: we had a six point two liters V eight in this,
[18:21] Speaker 2: and he was like, yeah, but this one has more
[18:23] Speaker 2: horse power and torque. Because it's a turbocharged that doesn't
[18:28] Speaker 2: always make things better. I would have rather had and
[18:31] Speaker 2: I did rather have the first gen with only four
[18:35] Speaker 2: hundred and twenty horse power in the big V eight
[18:38] Speaker 2: than the second gen with four hundred and fifty horse
[18:40] Speaker 2: power and the turbocharge V six. It's just I can't
[18:43] Speaker 2: say it often enough. The driving feel is more important
[18:48] Speaker 2: to me than the numbers on paper.
[18:51] Speaker 1: I get that, and I hear that, and I'm hoping
[18:54] Speaker 1: we can start a support group for people like you
[18:57] Speaker 1: who were similarly affected by this. I do think it's true.
[19:02] Speaker 1: It goes for me. It goes back to the saying
[19:04] Speaker 1: it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than
[19:07] Speaker 1: a fast car slow.
[19:08] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[19:08] Speaker 1: And at the end of the day, like we were
[19:11] Speaker 1: chatting about before, offline cars are emotional and it's just
[19:15] Speaker 1: about whatever more emotions get kicked up in you in
[19:18] Speaker 1: any particular car. That's I mean, you can argue with
[19:22] Speaker 1: someone with facts and figures all day and at the
[19:25] Speaker 1: end of the day, they're gonna go with the car
[19:27] Speaker 1: that they like the feel of and that evokes some
[19:31] Speaker 1: memory or emotion for them. Yeah, and I think and
[19:34] Speaker 1: I believe you when you say that you can feel
[19:37] Speaker 1: a difference in a vehicle that has a VA and
[19:42] Speaker 1: maybe that's a placebo effect, but it's still valid.
[19:45] Speaker 2: Yes, well, I'm highly susceptible to placebo, uh, to placebo effects.
[19:51] Speaker 2: All Right, we're gonna take a break. We come back.
[19:53] Speaker 2: We're gonna talk about our scariest stories behind the wheel
[19:57] Speaker 2: and you know, since we brought it up. Speaking of
[20:01] Speaker 2: terrifying stories, we'll talk about Aston Martin also putting its
[20:04] Speaker 2: future model plans under review as US tariffs hit. This
[20:10] Speaker 2: is Bloomberg. I'm Matt Miller with Hannah Elliott and this
[20:21] Speaker 2: is Hot Pursuit from Bloomberg Radio. It's Halloween or maybe
[20:24] Speaker 2: a little after, depending on when you downloaded this podcast.
[20:27] Speaker 2: But Hannah, what are you dressing up as this year?
[20:32] Speaker 1: I'm dressing up as a roving reporter on assignment in
[20:36] Speaker 1: Las Vegas. No costume night, No, I don't think so.
[20:41] Speaker 1: I don't think so, But I don't know. I might
[20:43] Speaker 1: go a little western because I did also hear that
[20:47] Speaker 1: zz Top is playing on Halloween night in Vegas and
[20:50] Speaker 1: like an off the strip sort of low end heat
[20:54] Speaker 1: down in the dumps place, which might be actually kind
[20:57] Speaker 1: of funny.
[20:57] Speaker 2: That's perfect. So I might there's a mechanic.
[21:00] Speaker 1: There might be something like that, and I might wear
[21:03] Speaker 1: the truckle you know who knows, might bring it up
[21:05] Speaker 1: for the for the concert.
[21:06] Speaker 2: What was your what is your scariest story from behind
[21:10] Speaker 2: the wheel? I actually don't know. I've never heard, uh
[21:15] Speaker 2: you tell a story of any car accidents for example.
[21:17] Speaker 1: No, Honestly, I will say thanks, thank god and knock
[21:22] Speaker 1: on wood. I have not been involved in anything like that.
[21:27] Speaker 1: One time when I was, you know, in high school,
[21:29] Speaker 1: I think it might have reared it someone because I
[21:31] Speaker 1: was following too close. But that taught me that lesson
[21:34] Speaker 1: that was that was no, thank god. I haven't been
[21:38] Speaker 1: involved in anything serious. I would say my most terrifying
[21:42] Speaker 1: moments in electric in cars. I was gonna say electric
[21:46] Speaker 1: cars are when the battery is running low that shelter,
[21:49] Speaker 1: I get major anxiety. I also have had two times
[21:53] Speaker 1: when a press vehicle was towed. Both times were terrifying.
[21:58] Speaker 1: One was a Tesla and I literally got a phone
[22:00] Speaker 1: call from Tesla before the vehicle had even been deposited
[22:05] Speaker 1: at the toepound because they were monitoring the car and
[22:08] Speaker 1: they could tell that, yeah, that was interesting. And then
[22:12] Speaker 1: the other time was this little Fiat five hundred E
[22:15] Speaker 1: that was towed from being charged in a downtown La park.
[22:21] Speaker 1: It was towed from the charger because apparently they didn't
[22:25] Speaker 1: allow outside cars to charge there anyway. That was towed
[22:28] Speaker 1: to the sketchiest most shakedown type of towpound with like
[22:34] Speaker 1: junkyard dogs and junkies and tents and very very sketchy
[22:39] Speaker 1: people in very near skid row la and the guy
[22:43] Speaker 1: just wanted cash to give me back the car. It
[22:46] Speaker 1: was sketch, so those, I would say. And then you know,
[22:51] Speaker 1: it's not great when your rolls Royce just suddenly stops
[22:55] Speaker 1: having power when you're on the one oh one. But
[22:57] Speaker 1: you know, I'm kind of used to that.
[23:00] Speaker 2: But all but the real scary stuff for you happens
[23:03] Speaker 2: in evs.
[23:04] Speaker 1: Actually, yes, I guess that's the moral of that story. Yes,
[23:09] Speaker 1: what about you, Matt, Well.
[23:10] Speaker 2: You know what, I'll tell you something I don't. I've
[23:12] Speaker 2: never told this story publicly, and I don't think I've
[23:16] Speaker 2: ever told you. But it has to be about ten
[23:18] Speaker 2: years ago, maybe longer. I was up at Monticello, which
[23:23] Speaker 2: is the you know racetrack club, yes, here in New York,
[23:27] Speaker 2: and they have an off road course, and I was
[23:30] Speaker 2: with some guys from Toyota testing out there at the
[23:33] Speaker 2: time new Tundra, which it was and is a fantastic truck,
[23:37] Speaker 2: but we were driving it around off road on a
[23:42] Speaker 2: kind of an off road race course, so higher speeds,
[23:45] Speaker 2: and each one of us had a driving instructor in
[23:47] Speaker 2: the truck. And as I was going around a muddy bend,
[23:51] Speaker 2: the driving instructor said, you could give it more gas there,
[23:55] Speaker 2: and I thought he meant, now you could give it
[23:59] Speaker 2: more gas, rather than you could have given it more gas.
[24:03] Speaker 2: So I put the pedal all the way down and
[24:06] Speaker 2: the back wheels just started spinning as we came around
[24:09] Speaker 2: the corner. As soon as I got grip again, I
[24:13] Speaker 2: was pointed the wrong direction and I hit a tree
[24:16] Speaker 2: so hard that we needed to get another truck with
[24:21] Speaker 2: chains to pull my truck off of the tree. Actually
[24:26] Speaker 2: nothing happened, like in terms of injury.
[24:30] Speaker 1: Did the air bag deploy We.
[24:31] Speaker 2: Had turned off the air bags because perfect, Yeah, because
[24:36] Speaker 2: we were off road. So that was I mean, it
[24:40] Speaker 2: wasn't really scary in terms of like danger. Afterward, everybody
[24:45] Speaker 2: was just slack jawed and couldn't believe what had happened.
[24:50] Speaker 2: But it was like whoa, you know, like kind of crazy.
[24:53] Speaker 1: It was scary.
[24:54] Speaker 2: It was scary in terms of I'd never like wrecked
[24:57] Speaker 2: a press car and I was filming for, you know,
[25:01] Speaker 2: a piece for Bloomberg Television and.
[25:04] Speaker 1: I sat on camera was that, yeah, everything was on car.
[25:07] Speaker 2: I was worried, like, was my boss gonna say? You know? So,
[25:11] Speaker 2: from that perspective, it was scary. Is Toyota gonna hate me?
[25:16] Speaker 2: From that perspective, it was a little scary, But I
[25:21] Speaker 2: think more it was It's just more interesting because of
[25:26] Speaker 2: the misunderstanding that I had with the driving coach. He
[25:29] Speaker 2: was like, you could give it more gas, and he
[25:31] Speaker 2: meant you could have given it more gas, but I
[25:34] Speaker 2: was thinking like, now, okay go and yeah.
[25:38] Speaker 1: That's just and it's not a good feeling at all.
[25:40] Speaker 1: Was the driving coach American?
[25:42] Speaker 2: He was, Yeah, he.
[25:43] Speaker 1: Was, because if he was German, maybe there was a
[25:46] Speaker 1: you know, a lost in translation moment or Japanese. Yeah,
[25:49] Speaker 1: that would totally happen, because a lot of those guys
[25:52] Speaker 1: are you know, European or Japanese or whatever. But I man,
[25:57] Speaker 1: I feel for you. That is the worst feeling. And
[25:59] Speaker 1: you know what the oh, I've seen that type of
[26:02] Speaker 1: thing happen so much on press drives, and maybe that's
[26:05] Speaker 1: a little known secret among the press pool of the
[26:08] Speaker 1: folks who go on a lot of these press drives,
[26:11] Speaker 1: a lot of a lot of things happen.
[26:14] Speaker 2: A lot of journalists wreck cars. I had actually seen
[26:17] Speaker 2: a couple as well, previous to this experience, in which
[26:22] Speaker 2: the company got very angry, i know, at the journalist.
[26:26] Speaker 2: So that's why I thought it was. That's why I
[26:30] Speaker 2: was scared. But to their credit, Toyota was incredibly kind
[26:36] Speaker 2: and you know, more concerned for my safety. Yeah, so
[26:41] Speaker 2: that was interesting. I can't believe you've never been in
[26:44] Speaker 2: any kind of because you've driven fast cars yes I imagine
[26:49] Speaker 2: high speeds.
[26:50] Speaker 1: Yes, yeah I have. But also I am not reckless,
[26:54] Speaker 1: and I also don't outjudge my own driving ability. I
[26:59] Speaker 1: have never thought I'm a expert driver or a professional
[27:04] Speaker 1: because I am not. I am a writer, so I
[27:07] Speaker 1: think it seems to me and I really I say
[27:10] Speaker 1: this really humbly, because things happen, for sure, and you know,
[27:14] Speaker 1: obviously I've spun a car on a track, but everybody
[27:17] Speaker 1: does that. That's just testing your edge. I think sometimes
[27:21] Speaker 1: like the worst problems happen when you think you're a better.
[27:25] Speaker 2: Driver than you are, and a lot of journalists do.
[27:28] Speaker 1: Yeah, and I would. I'm sure I'm accused of being
[27:32] Speaker 1: a slow driver or whatever, but I'm careful and I
[27:35] Speaker 1: do not believe that I am a professional driver.
[27:38] Speaker 2: I feel the same way. I don't. I don't overestimate
[27:41] Speaker 2: my ability, and yet I'll go on especially motorcycle launches.
[27:45] Speaker 2: For some reason, motorcycle journalists try and drive as fast
[27:50] Speaker 2: as they possibly can, so I'm always the last in
[27:53] Speaker 2: the bunch. Obviously I did have a bad motorcycle accent,
[27:56] Speaker 2: but it wasn't talk about. Well, you probably know that
[28:00] Speaker 2: I was driving a Ducatti Panagali at you know, not
[28:06] Speaker 2: super legal speeds and a Ford F one fifty crossed
[28:10] Speaker 2: over the double yellow line and hit me head on,
[28:12] Speaker 2: which I couldn't have avoided and it hospitalized me for
[28:16] Speaker 2: quite a while.
[28:17] Speaker 1: But that's terrifying.
[28:19] Speaker 2: Yeah, but I had a pretty good time in the hospital.
[28:21] Speaker 2: Everyone was so nice to me, you know, and yeah,
[28:27] Speaker 2: they were all worried about me. So all right, that's
[28:30] Speaker 2: enough of that Halloween. So oh wait, Aston Martin, Yeah,
[28:33] Speaker 2: I got to I'm you know. For those who haven't
[28:36] Speaker 2: read on the Bloomberg terminal, Aston Martin this week said
[28:40] Speaker 2: it's reviewing plans for upcoming models because it has to
[28:44] Speaker 2: lower costs and the shares just got absolutely clobbered. The
[28:47] Speaker 2: shares have performed so badly anyway, but I guess us
[28:50] Speaker 2: tariffs have really hurt the iconic British car maker, so
[28:56] Speaker 2: it's targeting a reduction in capital spending, which is never
[28:59] Speaker 2: good when you're favorite manufacturer does that by almost half
[29:04] Speaker 2: a billion dollars this year.
[29:06] Speaker 1: That is really it's heartbreaking for people who love the brand.
[29:11] Speaker 1: And obviously we know that Aston Martin has really been
[29:16] Speaker 1: trying to do a big turnaround since Lawrence Stroll bought
[29:19] Speaker 1: it in twenty twenty. They brought in Bentley boss Adrian Hallmark,
[29:23] Speaker 1: who's very well liked and respected, especially for handling crisis crises.
[29:30] Speaker 1: But this isn't great for people who love Aston Martin cars,
[29:34] Speaker 1: and it's not great for the company because the worst
[29:36] Speaker 1: thing is to have no new product.
[29:39] Speaker 2: Well, and to me, it's just exactly the wrong time
[29:43] Speaker 2: because they have I think turned the corner. You know
[29:46] Speaker 2: how much I love that Aston Martin Vanquish. I think
[29:49] Speaker 2: it's the best Aston Martin that I've ever driven. Yes,
[29:53] Speaker 2: and it's definitely the best since the Vantage.
[29:56] Speaker 1: For sure.
[29:57] Speaker 2: Yes, I mean it's it's it seemed to me like
[30:00] Speaker 2: they had figured everything out and that car, aside from
[30:05] Speaker 2: being incredibly expensive, I think is almost perfect in every
[30:10] Speaker 2: other way.
[30:11] Speaker 1: So yeah, it's sad. I wonder if this is going
[30:14] Speaker 1: to be the first of other companies. I mean, it's
[30:18] Speaker 1: bad that they had to say it. You know, obviously
[30:22] Speaker 1: tariffs are affecting everybody, and each automaker has to figure
[30:25] Speaker 1: out what makes the most sense for them as they
[30:29] Speaker 1: try to navigate all of this. It's too bad ass
[30:33] Speaker 1: and Martin had to say it, And I wonder if
[30:36] Speaker 1: there will be others who join.
[30:39] Speaker 2: I just hope they're able to produce as many of
[30:42] Speaker 2: those Vanquish Volantes and also the hard tops as possible,
[30:47] Speaker 2: and maybe one day I'll drive it again. That does
[30:50] Speaker 2: it for this week's show. Remember to follow and subscribe
[30:53] Speaker 2: to Hot Pursuit on Apple, Spotify or anywhere else you listen.
[30:57] Speaker 2: And it's really key to search Bloomberg Hot Pursuit because
[31:01] Speaker 2: if you just search Hot Pursuit on any of these
[31:03] Speaker 2: podcast platforms, you're gonna get something about like Middle Eastern
[31:07] Speaker 2: politics for some reason, it's not about cars. So Bloomberg
[31:11] Speaker 2: Hot Pursuit and you can email us at any time.
[31:15] Speaker 2: Drop us a line at Hot Pursuit at Bloomberg dot.
[31:17] Speaker 1: Net, and you can check out my columns and stories
[31:20] Speaker 1: on Bloomberg dot com and on the Bloomberg Business app.
[31:23] Speaker 1: You can go there for car reviews, events and stories
[31:26] Speaker 1: that you won't find anywhere else. Find it all at
[31:29] Speaker 1: Bloomberg dot com, slash Pursuits, slash Autos. I'm Hannah Elliott
[31:34] Speaker 2: And I'm Matt Miller will be back in your podcast
[31:36] Speaker 2: feed again next week

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