TMCP #664: Ask Rick’s Thanksgiving Car Challenge—Which Cars Could Pay for Dinner in 2027?
Could your next collector-car purchase pay for next year’s Thanksgiving dinner? Rob Kibbe welcomes Rick Schmidt of National Parts Depot for a Thanksgiving edition of Ask Rick, featuring two car-buying challenges. First, Rick has a $30,000 purchase budget to choose between an early 1965 Mustang project, a 1993 Dodge Viper with a television connection to Pamela Anderson’s V.I.P., and a Beck Speedster replica. Which offers the best chance of turning a year of ownership into turkey money?
Then the budget limit disappears—but restoration work is off the table! A 1959 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, a 1963 Corvette split-window coupe, and a low-mileage 1981 DeLorean compete to fund dinner and dessert. Rick weighs condition, repair costs, buyer appeal, and potential appreciation before making his picks. Rob even throws a used Tesla Cybertruck into the conversation for a bonus round.
Rick also shares the family connection behind his beautifully restored 1960 Pontiac Bonneville and the mechanical rescue of his 1955 Star Chief convertible as he prepares for Pontiac’s centennial celebration at Hilton Head. Along the way, he explains why factory-correct undercarriage details matter and why Mecum Auctions and Bring a Trailer would be among his preferred places to sell a quality classic.
And because it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without a little friendly disagreement, Rob quizzes Rick on the holiday menu—from cranberry sauce to casseroles and the all-important pie selection. Bring your appetite and pick your winner!
K&F Show #382: Halloween Bonus! // Dukes Review – S3E3 “The Hazzardville Horror”
Happy Halloween! Rob, Corndog, and Bernie are digging into the archives for a special audio-only bonus episode featuring our 2024 review of “The Hazzardville Horror.” It’s a little Scooby-Doo, a lot of Hazzard County, and absolutely no reason to let Boss Hogg handle your precious silver.
When Mary Lou Pringle returns to sell her inherited family mansion, a pair of crooks uses spooky sounds and moving furniture to hide a stolen-silver operation. Bo and Luke investigate, Boss and Rosco blame the Dukes, and the General Lee does what it does best: fly!
We revisit the famous pond jump, the General Lee’s tire-track “autograph” photo, guest-star connections to Dirty Harry and Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and a few filming details you might have missed. Add disappearing “Hogglooms,” spectacularly incompetent police work, and Luke struggling to get out of the driver’s seat, and this one earns ten silver bars!
This review originally appeared in K&F episode 311. We’ve added a fresh introduction for this Halloween rerelease. No YouTube episode this week—this bonus is just for your ears!
Help us get a head start on our annual Toys for Tots Christmas drive! Join the K&F Patreon for bonus content and help us make Christmas brighter for kids who need it: https://www.patreon.com/KFSHOW.
TMCP 663: SEMA 2026 Preview with Dan Kahn: Big Trends, Building Connections & Making the Most of the Show
This week, Rob welcomes longtime friend, former podcast co-host, and Kahn Media founder Dan Kahn for a preview of SEMA 2026! Dan attended his first SEMA Show in 1998 as a teenage automotive magazine editor, and this year his agency celebrates its 18th anniversary during the show. He shares what builders and automotive content creators can do to turn a trip to Las Vegas into lasting opportunities.
For up-and-coming builders, Dan explains why exploring the smallest booths can be just as valuable as checking out the biggest reveals. We discuss discovering new products, approaching manufacturers, scheduling meetings, and building relationships before asking for support. Dan also highlights SEMA’s education sessions as an opportunity to learn about running a business and connect with others facing similar challenges.
On the content side, we explore how creators such as Riley’s Rebuilds and Larry Chen have built opportunities by sharing their interests and consistently doing the work. Dan explains why useful information, curiosity, and respect matter—and why creators covering SEMA should arrive prepared while leaving room for unexpected discoveries.
Then it’s time to predict the next big trends! Dan shares why classic Ford trucks could gain more ground, carbon fiber components may reach more builders, and complete chassis packages and crate engines will continue shaping the hobby. He also explains why younger enthusiasts tackling ambitious projects with ’90s and 2000s vehicles give him hope for the future. Plus, we wrap things up with a little Star Trek trivia!
K&F Show #381: Boss Hogg Moves In & Bernie Turns 66! // Dukes Review S2E9 “Witness for the Persecution”
Welcome back to Hazzard County—and happy 66th birthday to Producer Bernie McPartland! It’s the perfect automotive birthday for a guy whose favorite Chevelle is a ’66. We celebrate with repurposed birthday decorations, questionable snack cakes, embarrassing pictures, and birthday messages from friends including Clay Millican and Mike Finnegan. Bernie even gets a trivia game built around himself. Surely he can win that one!
This week we’re reviewing The Dukes of Hazzard Season 2, Episode 9, “Witness for the Persecution.” Boss Hogg is scheduled to testify against a notorious racketeer, and hitmen are determined to keep him quiet. Naturally, the FBI decides the safest place for him is the Duke farm. Uncle Jesse agrees to help, while Bo and Luke discover that protecting Boss might be easier than living with him. He takes Daisy’s bed, brings his own menus, and expects the full hospitality package!
The big automotive highlight is an iconic General Lee jump—the same airborne Charger shot used in the classic “The Dukes of Hazzard will continue” commercial break bumper. Corndog points out the skid plate, full roll cage, and helmeted stuntmen, along with differences between the cars used for takeoff and the airborne footage. We also try an AI-assisted look at the jumps, although its distance estimates give us plenty to question. The General isn’t the only car getting airtime, either: the bad guys’ ’67 Mercury Cougar puts on a show of its own!
Corndog revisits his original notes from our 2017 review, uncovering changing engine bays, disappearing and reappearing hubcaps, and other production details we love. There’s a sideways entrance into Cooter’s garage that might feature John Schneider behind the wheel, Cooter enjoying donuts and moonshine for breakfast, and Boss Hogg eating with sound effects nobody needed to hear quite that clearly. Uncle Jesse delivers a good lesson about helping people who have wronged you, while Bernie appreciates Luke’s ability to pick up Boss and stuff him through a vehicle window. Rob gives it 7.5 ducking dogs; Birthday Bernie goes higher at 8.75!
Before the review, Rob shares how a perfect weekend with his cars ended with the General blowing a heater hose—just as he was filming it. We also preview our SEMA plans, Bernie brings the weather and news, and Holley’s classic 650 CFM Double Pumper gets the birthday pricing treatment. We finish by letting Bernie choose the closing joke. It’s his birthday, so we have to let him!
TMCP 662: The Holley MoParty 2026 Spectacular! Live From Bowling Green
The Muscle Car Place returns to Holley MoParty in Bowling Green, Kentucky! Kirk Hansen, Jimmy Morrison, and Nathan Warren bring home five interviews with the creators, builders, and enthusiasts behind some of the event’s most memorable cars and stories.
Derek Bieri of Vice Grip Garage discusses rescuing forgotten cars, keeping his videos authentic, and his plans to turn a historic Chevrolet dealership into an automotive museum. Tommy Boshers shares his new chapter on YouTube, building a Chevy C10 with his son Hammer, and the heartfelt story behind a ’67 Plymouth GTX restored to honor its late owner’s wishes.
Dylan McCool introduces his ’65 Dodge Monaco, which combines classic styling with modern Hemi power and Chrysler 300 comforts, plus his old-school “Cornbread” Coronet. Greg Huizenga explains the surprising combination behind his 720-wheel-horsepower turbo Cherokee, while Jennifer Harrington of The Gearhead Girl shares her automotive journalism background, family Mopar roots, and eclectic collection of project cars.
From father-and-son builds to unconventional race vehicles, this episode celebrates the people who keep our hobby moving forward. Our first YouTube video features Derek and Tommy, with more MoParty interviews coming soon! Find photos, guest links, and the full episode write-up at,
https://themusclecarplace.com/podcasts/the-muscle-car-place-podcast/
K&F Show #380: General Lee vs. The Slammer! // Dukes Review S2E8 “Hazzard Connection”
Welcome back to Hazzard County! This week we’re reviewing The Dukes of Hazzard Season 2, Episode 8, “Hazzard Connection,” and this one is exactly why I love Season 2. Real driving, hard hits, wonderfully sloppy production details, and a plot where stolen racing engines are apparently the criminal currency of choice. What more could you want?
Bo and Luke need to make some money, so they take jobs hauling wrecked cars for demolition derby operator Augie Detweiler. Unfortunately, those cars are carrying stolen racing engines. Boss and Rosco are already watching the operation, and the Duke boys have landed themselves right in the middle of it. Clearing their names means getting closer to Augie—and risking the General Lee against his supposedly unbeatable derby car, the Slammer!
Then there’s Tom Wopat climbing around a moving semi-trailer. That’s actually him out there! Luke also backs the Slammer off the moving trailer, years before Knight Rider made that sort of thing a regular attraction. We couldn’t help making the connection, especially with Jack Gill’s involvement in both shows.
Daisy’s Plymouth takes a genuinely painful hit from Rosco’s patrol car, a Camaro makes a fantastic jump, and Bo and Luke drive a Mustang into a pond after its brakes fail. Naturally, they drive it home afterward. Apparently, pond water fixes brakes in Hazzard County!
Corndog brings the details we love: cars reused from earlier episodes, familiar California filming locations, painted-over ’68 Charger side markers, and a General Lee with an unfinished blue interior. There’s also a cigarette pack sitting right on the dashboard during the stakeout. And when Luke is supposed to be driving the Slammer, one close-up puts him inside the General instead. Perfectly imperfect.
Before the review, we catch up on my Volkswagen tinkering, Corndog’s preparations for Cruisin’ the Coast, Cody Young’s work with Avenge Industries, and what makes a great automotive television show. Bernie brings the weather and news, we play October Automotive Celebrity Birthday Trivia, and Holley’s Dominator carburetor gives us a fitting lead-in to all those stolen race engines.
TMCP #661: ASK RICK – The ROI of Going to the SEMA Show and Fun Before Halloween Car Flips – Corvette vs GNX vs Zephyr!
It’s October, and Rick Schmidt of National Parts Depot is back for a Halloween edition of Ask Rick! This month, we tackle the business case for SEMA, explore the automotive career Rick would choose if NPD didn’t exist, and put his collector-car knowledge to work with two Halloween buying challenges.
First, is SEMA worth the trip? Rick and Rob discuss the expense, preparation, and potential return of exhibiting, along with the value of introducing new products, generating media coverage, and maintaining industry relationships. Rick also compares SEMA to the Hershey swap meet: business increasingly happens online, but there’s still value in connecting face to face.
For our first Rick on Cars challenge, the mission is simple: spend no more than $10,000 buying a vehicle, clean it up, and sell it within three weeks to fund a Halloween bash. The candidates are a 2001 Mustang Bullitt, a 1988 Chevrolet K2500 diesel 4×4, and a 1967 Mustang Coupe. Rick weighs repair needs, negotiating opportunities, and the size of the potential buyer pool.
For round two, the budget disappears, the timeline stretches to a year, and every car must be black! Would Rick choose a dual-quad 1957 Corvette, a V12-powered 1941 Lincoln Zephyr Coupe, or a 1987 Buick GNX with only 30 miles?
The Corvette raises questions about authenticity, the Lincoln offers distinctive styling and usable enjoyment, and the GNX presents the dilemma of owning a valuable car you can barely drive. A bonus 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood Castilian wagon adds one final temptation—even though it doesn’t qualify for the all-black challenge!
Post-recording auction updates: the ’67 Mustang ultimately sold for $20,000, while the 30-mile GNX brought an incredible $427,000. Those results add plenty to the discussion about buying well and leaving room for a future profit.
Which would you choose—and would you actually drive it?
K&F Show #379: Cale Yarborough Comes to Hazzard—and Three General Lees Hit the Road!
Welcome back to Hazzard County! This week, we start with Cale Yarborough’s famous fight after the 1979 Daytona 500 and a more recent NASCAR confrontation. That leads us into a conversation about racing, the headlines it makes, and how a new generation of drivers builds an audience through video.
Bernie takes us to Pennsylvania for the story of an early automotive tire and inner tube patent. Then Rob puts Bernie and Corndog through Automotive Celebrity Birthday Trivia, with clues from the 2005 Dukes of Hazzard movie, Ford v Ferrari, Days of Thunder, and Christmas Vacation. In the news, Bernie covers the 2026 Automotive Hall of Fame inductees, a newly announced GM diesel engine, and electrified vehicle sales in Europe. We also talk drive-by-wire pedals and swap brackets available through Holley.
Then it’s time for The Dukes of Hazzard Season 2, Episode 7, “Dukes Meet Cale Yarborough.” Cale is secretly testing a turbocharger when the Jethro brothers set out to steal it, with Boss Hogg eager to help. Bo, Luke, and Cooter step in, leading to Cale’s white Charger, a whole lot of car chases, and three General Lees on the road at once. Corndog points out the different Chargers used in filming and identifies the unlikely part passed off as the turbocharger. Rob loves every wonderfully imperfect minute of it!
TMCP #660: Nathan Warren’s Crown Vic General Lee – Building a Full-Function Drift Car
What if I told you this drifting General Lee didn’t begin life as a Dodge Charger?
This week, I’m joined by Nathan Warren of Warren Customs to discuss one of the wildest General Lee builds we’ve ever featured. Created for professional stunt performer Kevin Waterman, this purpose-built drift car started as a former police-package Ford Crown Victoria.
Nathan removed nearly the entire Crown Vic body, leaving behind its frame, floor, firewall, and key structural components. They then assembled a 1969 Dodge Charger body around it using reproduction sheet metal, custom supports, fiberglass doors, and plenty of creative fabrication.
This wasn’t built to be a disposable stunt-car shell. The doors open and close, the hood and trunk function, and the hideaway headlights, taillights, and interior controls all work. Nathan even retained the Crown Victoria’s interior hood release—and discovered that its trunk hinges lined up remarkably well with the Charger trunk lid.
The project later received an LS3, six-speed transmission, certified roll cage, rear passenger seating, digital gauges, custom wheels, and additional suspension work. The result is a convincing General Lee that Kevin can drift, drive hard, and use to give passengers full-throttle thrill rides.
Nathan also shares why the finished car remained hidden for nearly two years, how its original Formula Drift plans changed, and what happened when the “General Drift” finally debuted at the NOPI Nationals Motorsports Supershow in Atlanta.
From the grandstands, almost no one could tell that it wasn’t a real Dodge Charger. They simply saw the General Lee sliding around the course in a massive cloud of tire smoke!
You can learn more about Nathan and his work through Warren Customs.
K&F Show #378: Don Johnson’s Lost “Six Pack” TV Pilot – Was That a General Lee?
Mike Finnegan sent us something that none of us had ever seen—or even heard of—before: a forgotten 1983 television adaptation of Six Pack. Intended as a pilot for a weekly series based on the Kenny Rogers movie, it starred a pre-Miami Vice Don Johnson as race car driver Brewster Baker. Markie Post, Jennifer Runyon, Billy Warlock, and a very young Joaquin Phoenix rounded out a surprisingly recognizable cast.
The real reason it landed on our radar was an orange 1969 Dodge Charger with a roll cage. Was it an actual General Lee left over from The Dukes of Hazzard, a stock car constructed by the same Georgia crew, or simply a very obvious tribute? Corndog examines the Charger’s dashboard, bodywork, roll cage, and suspicious Dukes connections before delivering his official diagnosis.
We also discuss Markie Post’s tunnel-rammed 1968 Camaro, the pilot’s six-kid pit crew, its strange mixture of family television and stock-car racing, and the final event featuring one of the most unlikely collections of race cars ever assembled. The orange Charger eventually meets its end in a spectacularly terrible “decapitation” stunt that may be worth watching the entire production to see.
Before the review, we prepare for Holley MoParty 2026, preview Nathan Warren’s incredible LS-powered Crown Victoria General Lee drift car, and help one of Dallas Kibbe’s friends determine whether a modified 2003 Mustang GT is a smart first performance-car purchase. Bernie also brings us the Celebrity Automotive Birthday Game and the award-winning news you need to know.