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Rick Schmidt – Ask Rick:
It is the beginning of the New Year and 2025 is here! It is also time for another Ask Rick segment where I ask him the tough questions! January also signifies another year of The Muscle Car Place being sponsored by National Parts Depot! Thank you to Rick and all of the great people at NPD for believing in TMCP and making it possible to bring great automotive content to our listeners.
Rick’s Take On Setting Goals For Your Business:
January is a time for self reflection and many like to set goals for the rest of the year. In business it is sometimes easy to fall into the mindset that bigger is better and you always need to grow to be profitable. Rick warns us about forgetting the core customer that made the business what it is on the chance of gaining new sales. It is easy to chase new customers and new products but to do so and forget what got you there in the first place is a slippery slope. National Parts Depot has specifically focused on quality integrity speed and efficiency at which they serve the core deliverables. Growth is a luxury you can only afford if you are successful with your core business. Rick says to take care of the core deliverables first.
Rick’s Take On The Future In 2025:
2025 marks a new year and a new, and yet old, President. President Donald Trump served recently enough that people can remember his administration and the results of his policies. Heading into his administration yet again it seems many people are upset and concerned about looming tariffs that have been promised. Rick thinks this may be an instance of “sabre rattling” to gain an advantage in negotiations with other countries that seem to have more tariffs against us than we have against them. Car buyers have also been through a lot and have been holding on to older vehicles instead of buying new ones. This seems like it is about to end and they will have to start buying again in light of an ageing used vehicle market. Dealerships are also going to have start cutting lease prices and making it affordable for buyers to take home new cars in order to start moving cars that have been on the lots too long.
Tim Kuniskis retired in May 2024, after reawakening the Charger and Challenger platforms with fun stuff like fender flares, big tires, and insane amounts of horsepower. These reinvigorated the platform but eventually the infrastructure of the vehicles was just too old to hang on to and he knew to go out on top of the game. At the end of 2024, Tim un-retired and came back as the Ram brand chief executive officer with all the hopes and dreams of reinvigorating the truck market as well. Rick says that RAM trucks have always been great vehicles but somehow fall down to third place in sales. He thinks that RAM does not really need saving but this could be great move for RAM step up.
Rick’s Take On Cars To Drive All Summer Then Show At MCACN:
It’s January and we’re going shopping at the Mecum Kissimmee Auction. We have just 11 months to find the car that’ll be the highlight (i.e. the winner) of MCACN 2025! Our purchase price cannot exceed $75K…..and we’re going make a profit when we sell it at MCACN to a collector who has found their dream car. We don’t want to LOSE money, we do DO want to have fun with the car, and our goal is to be the COOLEST kid in Chicago this November! Will ANY of these fit the bill?
Car #1:
https://www.mecum.com/lots/
One quick look at the specs and track record of this Firebird makes it appear to be a great example of a high end show car. It is a special car being the number 5 vin that rolled off that year it probably was used as a show car from the factory. Rick believes that this car will probably generously blow away the $75k limit but still be a deal to a lucky buyer. It will be crossing the block on Friday, January 17th.
Rick thinks this is the one to watch as it is a one off car and a piece of Pontiac history. He thinks this would be one to show off at MCACN.
Car #2:
https://www.mecum.com/lots/
This Pontiac Catalina says it left the factory with lightweight body panels and go fast parts that would have made this a great racer back in the day. With the options and looks Rick believes this super duty will cross into the six figure range. This car will cross the block as Lot S213.1 on Saturday, January 18th.
Car #3:
https://www.mecum.com/lots/
This vehicle has been pulled from the website for an unknown reason.
Check out this non W-30 version (with a white interior) which will cross the block on Friday, January 10th.
https://www.mecum.com/lots/1134732/1970-oldsmobile-442-convertible
BONUS CARS Rick May Like!
Rick just found a Christmas stocking stuffed under the couch full of $10K in cash and a smashed bag of Oreos! He can buy a car to bomb around Ocala without a thought in the world of where he’ll park it or who door dings it. Do either of these two door Lincoln’s find Rick as a new owner? No ROI needed – just fun!
Bonus #1:
https://bringatrailer.com/
Bonus #2:
https://bringatrailer.com/
This interview sponsored by our pals at National Parts Depot – your premier source for muscle car restoration parts!
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