Van Fire, Slayer, and an Alfa 33: A California Street Burnout Saga

Jon Summers is The Motoring Historian. He was a company car thrashing, technology sales rep that turned into a fairly inept sports bike rider. Hailing from California, he collects cars and bikes built with plenty of cheap and fast, and not much reliable. On his show, he gets together with various co-hosts to talk about new and old cars, driving, motorbikes, motor racing, and motoring travel.

John, along with his school friends Mark and Dinsmore Greep, discuss their experiences driving various vehicles, mainly focusing on van stories from their past. They cover topics such as driving long-wheelbase Mercedes Sprinters, the challenges of navigating narrow streets, unexpected mechanical failures, and humorous incidents involving vans catching fire or navigating tight spaces. The conversation also touches on their favorite and least favorite vans, electric vehicles, and other intriguing automotive memories.

• Special Guest Dinsmore Greep!
• c.2010 Mercedes Sprinter 2.2 litre turbo diesel, 5 speed manual
• In praise of Mercedes cruise control - stalk
• C.2015 Mercedes Sprinter Supermarket refrigerated delivery van, automatic
• M beats the governor with a neutral drop
• Sprinter vs. VW Crafter 
• A fiery Sprinter and a ten mile tail back on the A38
• A fiery Ford Orion
• A Fiat Ducato, a lost crabstick and a Cornish dry stone wall 
• Slayer - Die By The Sword
• Dukes of Hazzard in a Citroen C35
• Driving 7.5 ton trucks on a car license in England; U-haul rentals in the US
• Mercedes 308
• The white/work van “get out of the way” effect
• 2010 Fiat Ducato
• 2010 Renault Master
• VW Crafter, “shat nav”, and narrow Devon lanes
• “Floor it and get throught, that’ll be the answer”
• “At Dagenham and Dartford”
• A can of beer in a Ford Transit
• J’s brown ‘93 Ford Econoline
• An unintentional burnout on California Street, San Francisco
• Judas Priest and Steel Panther in San Jose
• J’s bespoke fitting of a velour driver seat from the Econoline Chateaux
• A bachelor party LDV duallie taking up 8 parking places
• A Ginster’s pasty
• Early noughties Ford Transits - fast!
• Gated communities of Cornwall
• Slayer - Spirit In Black
• Turning in Driveways
• Memories of a Rental House in Reading; an Alfa 33 on the lawn; strimming the lawn  
• Greep’s Corsa VXR
• 125mph Mitsubishi
• M’s BMW M2, Nissan 350Z and Honda CBR600RR: fettling required
• A sidebar on Slayer
• Vauxhall Cavalier SRi
• Peugeot 309
• Gixxer and potholes
• M’s Fiesta ST Broken Throttle body
• Dio at the Hammersmith Odeon and Pee in the Radiator of a Ford Sierra
• Fixing Overheating by running the Heater
• Mad Max Falcon
• Ronin Audi S8
• Sux 6000 (Robocop) 
• Toyota Yaris and Corolla GR
• Greep experiences a Tesla
• BMW CE04 electric moped
• Revel (who have since left San Francisco)
• J needs 50mph, not 30mph from his e moped

Music sampled on this episode: 

• Slayer - Altar of Sacrifice
• Slayer - The AntiChrist
• Slayer - Behind the Crooked Cross
• Slayer - South of Heaven
• Slayer - I Don’t Want To Hear It

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Copyright Jon Summers, The Motoring Historian. This content is also available via jonsummers.net. This episode is part of the Motoring Podcast Network and has been republished with permission.