Cars of the Year, Winners and Losers of the Year -- ROAD TESTAMENT

MATT FARAH: This week on Road Testament-- winners of the
year, losers of the year, bike of the year, car of the year,
and the beater of the year.
Is that good?
MIKE MUSTO: That works.
MATT FARAH: Jamie, Mike, Wes, Larry,
Farah on Road Testament.

Follow us on Twitter @drive.
Flip the switch, follow us on Facebook slash drivetv.
You may notice Chris Harris, Leo, Mike Spinelli,
and JF are not here.
They're not team players.
We are here.
So let's get into this.
The winners of 2012, we basically--
well, Spinelli, who is not here because
he's not a team player--
sent out a questionnaire for us to choose our favorite
cars, biggest winners, biggest losers, car of the year,
predictions for 2013.
It was a whole mess of stuff.
So winner--
MIKE MUSTO: Porsche.
MATT FARAH: Mike Musto and JF--
Porsche Boxster.
MIKE MUSTO: Everything, I think, in the forthcoming
Porsche lineup is a winner.
They've just reinvented the whole brand and
I think it's fantastic.
And they don't make a bad car.
MATT FARAH: They don't make bad cars.
That's true.
But their sports cars are kind of polarizing now.
Richard Hammond drove the new 991 and then immediately
bought a 997.
So people don't like the electric steering.
I dig the Boxster though.
MIKE MUSTO: I like the Boxster.
Driven a Boxster yet?
LARRY KOSILLA: No, I haven't.
MATT FARAH: Driven it?
WES SILER: I don't drive cars anymore.
MATT FARAH: You don't drive cars anymore?
WES SILER: Yeah, there's one problem with the Porsche
brand, right?
You look like that guy if you drive one.
MATT FARAH: This guy?
Are you telling me Daniel Baldwin doesn't look good
driving this car?
[LAUGHTER]
MATT FARAH: Still, you can now, I think, be a man and
drive this car.
MIKE MUSTO: For the first time you can be a guy and drive a
Boxster and still feel like you have your junk intact.
MATT FARAH: It's funny, the problem with the Boxster is
they were always kind of cool.
MIKE MUSTO: And they were always good.
MATT FARAH: Fun to drive.
MIKE MUSTO: But now, I think that Porsche updated the looks
enough, so it has that kind of aggression to the front end.
MATT FARAH: That's a man car.
And as voted by several people, including me, SRT
bringing back the Viper-- more power, with traction control,
doesn't want to kill you, looks awesome, especially in
that color, big meaty tires, stick shift, good interior.
What's not to like?
MIKE MUSTO: But didn't they just post that the Zero 1 beat
the Viper around--
MATT FARAH: Yeah, and then Ralph Gilles basically said,
well, Randy Pope isn't a very good driver.
WES SILER: Ralph Gilles is like the baddest ass car
executive ever.
MIKE MUSTO: Well, he has to be.
WES SILER: He makes that car.
MATT FARAH: Yeah.
He makes that car.
And he sent Marco and John to race us at one point.
And those guys were cool.
Next winner--
Ian, hit it up.
Bikes.
WES SILER: CRF250L, right?
MATT FARAH: I don't know anything about this bike.
WES SILER: This thing costs $4,500.
It's a dual sport.
It goes off-road and on.
It can go anywhere any dirt bike can go off road.
It's really fun to ride on road.
And it gets, like, 74 miles per gallon.
$4,500!
MATT FARAH: That's pretty awesome.
MIKE MUSTO: That's pretty good, yeah.
WES SILER: $4,500.
It's awesome.
MATT FARAH: Honda's motorcycle game is
pretty tight these days.
WES SILER: Honda has the tightest motorcycle game there
is right now.
All their new products are cheaper than ever, and better
than ever, and get great fuel economy.
And they're all super versatile and practical.
You can ride all them all day.
CRF250L, CBR250R, NC700X, CB500, CBR500, CB500X--
they're all just epically--
MATT FARAH: Tim, that's my password.
WES SILER: --epically good motorcycles
that are super cheap.
MIKE MUSTO: Would this bike work for, say, a beginner up
to somebody like my size?
WES SILER: Yes.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Honestly, it is a great beginner bike.
Honestly, it really is.
And you can go far with it, in terms of the level as well.
It's not just for beginners.
But it's a great bike to start.
MIKE MUSTO: I like forgiving motorcycles.
That looks like a forgiving motorcycle.
Because I suck at riding.
And that's probably why.
MATT FARAH: Let's hit the next one, Ian.
What have we got?
Oh, yes, motorcycle racing.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Max Biaggi, yeah.
He's been in the World Championship
for many, many years.
Valentino Rossi knocked him off his perch in MotoGP.
Went over to World Superbike.
He's retired now.
He's like 42.
And he just won the World Superbike Championship.
MATT FARAH: And then retired the next day, right?
JAMIE ROBINSON: It was an amazing championship.
MATT FARAH: It's a boss move.
It's super boss.
Of course it is.
JAMIE ROBINSON: The RSV4 Aprilia there is
one hell of a machine.
MATT FARAH: Yeah, Wes knows that bike well,
having dropped one.
WES SILER: Having totalled it.

MATT FARAH: No, to retire at the top of your game--
WES SILER: That's the way to go out.
MATT FARAH: Hopefully he doesn't screw it up and come
back like Schumacher.
WES SILER: He's not.
MATT FARAH: Well, 42 is pretty old to be racing motorcycles.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Yeah, and he's one of the few riders that's
been right up there in the top of the World Championship,
fighting for the World Championship,
year in, year out.
MATT FARAH: Happy retirement, Max.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Good on him.
MATT FARAH: Next winner--
America!
WES SILER: Circuit of the Americas.
MATT FARAH: America's a winner because we have a Formula 1
racetrack now.
MIKE MUSTO: It's awesome.
MATT FARAH: Look at just this picture--
the elevation--
look how far down this is.
MIKE MUSTO: Thaddeus and I drove this track.
MATT FARAH: It's ridiculous, right?
MIKE MUSTO: And it's awesome.
MATT FARAH: The on-board footage
that I've been seeing--
I haven't got to drive it yet.
But it looks amazing.
MIKE MUSTO: It's spectacular.
they're going to start opening this up for track
clubs and what not.
MATT FARAH: Thank god.
MIKE MUSTO: So, I know in March I'll be down there for a
three training session.
MATT FARAH: I will totally go to Austin and drive this track
all day, they get the Vettel GT.
MIKE MUSTO: The biggest thing that they need is the
surrounding areas need to bulk up, as far as hotels and
things like that.
Because if you go down there, there's no place to stay.
MATT FARAH: Well, isn't Austin like 20 miles?
MIKE MUSTO: Well, it's a little farther than that.
Yeah, it's pretty far.
MATT FARAH: Well, I'm sure they'll get it.
This is a bad-ass race track.
MIKE MUSTO: The best is when you drive up on the right hand
side, for anybody who ever goes there, there are two
houses completely full of junk and rednecks.
They just sit out there and watch everybody come up.
WES SILER: That's awesome.
MIKE MUSTO: Yes, it's outstanding.
MATT FARAH: That's brilliant.
WES SILER: MotoGP is here next year.
We're going to be there.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Oh, absolutely.
WES SILER: Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
MATT FARAH: Extremely awesome.
JAMIE ROBINSON: It's going to be a great
motorcycle track as well.
MATT FARAH: So that's our collective bargaining
agreement of winners right there for 2012.
I think we move onto the losers--
Honda.
MIKE MUSTO: Not OK.
MATT FARAH: Honda, they had a rough one.
They had a rough year.
But not only do they have this thing, which sucks, they had
to redesign their Civic after one year.
MIKE MUSTO: They didn't really redesign the Civic when they
said they redesigned it.
MATT FARAH: JF submitted Honda, and I sort
of agree with him.
Remember in 2001, when Hondas were awesome?
WES SILER: That's what they say.
10 years ago, as car journalists, anytime anybody
asks us for a car recommendation, you either
said Honda Civic or Honda Accord.
You just did it.
MATT FARAH: It was just the move.
And now it's Hyundai.
WES SILER: And now it's Hyundai.
Automatically-- what car should I buy?
Hyundai.
MIKE MUSTO: Hyundai.
MATT FARAH: Hyundai.
And I just raced the 1999 Honda Civic in LeMons.
And it was awesome.
It was awesome.
It weighed nothing.
I ran at 7,500 RPM, six times a lap, for literally 300 laps.
And it was just no problem.
It was great.
It was really fun, and I really wish they would put an
SI gas engine in this--
MIKE MUSTO: They won't.
MATT FARAH: --and just call it a day.
But they won't.
Fail.
Next.
Uh.

Remember my Mini?
I had a 2006 John Cooper Works Mini, and it was awesome.
It was so fun.
We could fit in it great.
Now, why hasn't Mini added any horsepower to their cars in
the last 10 years?
MIKE MUSTO: I don't think there's any room.
MATT FARAH: Like, the John Cooper Works version of this
thing, is 208 horsepower.
That is such a sorry number.
WES SILER: How much does that car weigh?
MIKE MUSTO: That one is at least, probably, 3,200 pounds.
WES SILER: A 3,200 pound car called a Mini?
LARRY KOSILLA: They just keep getting bigger.
MATT FARAH: They keep getting bigger.
MIKE MUSTO: Well, the problem is, they tap the handling to
be so good and so good.
And you do see a lot of these guys at track days.
MATT FARAH: Not with Countryman.
You've seen a Countryman at a track day?
MIKE MUSTO: Oh yeah, I've seen a couple out there.

They're out there.
And the problem with these cars is that-- it
goes back to the power.
They handle pretty well.
But then as soon as you get on any type of a
straight away, anything--
the only thing that's not killing those is Miyatas.
That's it.
Everything else is just kicking [INAUDIBLE].
MATT FARAH: We had to John Cooper Works coupe one, the
really small--
MIKE MUSTO: That's not bad.
MATT FARAH: --baseball cap one.
And at a straightaway at Auto Club Speedway, the Focus ST
smoked it, and cost $13,000 less.
MIKE MUSTO: The Cooper Mini, the coupe, the baseball hat
one, that's $38,000.
MATT FARAH: It's insane.
WES SILER: Wow.
MIKE MUSTO: That's a big nut for what amounts to a little--
MATT FARAH: I paid $36,000 for my John Cooper Works Mini,
which was a lot.
And I actually thought it was worth it at the time.
And it was.
I got a lot of fun times out of that car.
But they're sort of like what Subaru is doing.
They haven't really gone anywhere.
MIKE MUSTO: They need to reinvent now.
MATT FARAH: They need big bigger engines, or bigger
turbos, whatever it is they do.
So Mini get your horsepower game in check.
'Cause this thing ain't fast enough for what it looks like.
Next.
Harley Davidson.
Jamie, would you like--
JAMIE ROBINSON: I'm just quite disappointed that they don't
come out with a new motorcycle and just change the game up.
Because they can, and they used to.
MATT FARAH: Didn't Harley make a sport bike in the '70s?
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
JAMIE ROBINSON: I know that they're all about
cruisers and stuff.
But all I see is they're just not changing much at all.
And it's such a shame.
There's a huge brand right there.
MATT FARAH: He's really trying hard to not to--
[INTERPOSING VOICES]

WES SILER: A very smart person said to me the other day that
really resonated.
He said the sound of a Harley Davidson is the sound of
America dying.

MATT FARAH: That's sad.
MIKE MUSTO: What, is Buell coming back?

WES SILER: Eric Buell is no longer associated with Harley
in any way.
He has his own brands.
It's very small.
They're based in a garage in East Troy, Wisconsin.
They will never sell volume bikes again.
He makes a very high end race bike.
MATT FARAH: But his bike looks really cool.
WES SILER: It's really great.
MATT FARAH: The most telling thing about Harley Davidson is
that when I was looking for photos for this, I just typed
into Google "2013 Harley Davidson." And then I typed in
"1995 Harley Davidson."
MIKE MUSTO: Exactly the same?
MATT FARAH: And the pictures look exactly the same.
This is a 2013.
What about this says 2013?
MIKE MUSTO: Those lights.
MATT FARAH: Oh, yeah, the little V bulb.
WES SILER: Those are heinous.
MATT FARAH: And they look really awful.
All right, enough trash talk.
WES SILER: Get that thing off our screen.
MATT FARAH: Yeah, go.
BMW.
I didn't like--
LARRY KOSILLA: Didn't they pump in the sound?
MIKE MUSTO: Everything is just flat.
MATT FARAH: I didn't really like the new M5.
MIKE MUSTO: Their whole thing is flat.
Their entire model year is flat.
MATT FARAH: Is it me or are BMW and AMG switched?
MIKE MUSTO: A little bit now, yeah.
Totally.
Totally.
MATT FARAH: AMGs are exciting and
loud and fun and involving.
And these are sort of muted.
MIKE MUSTO: Well, if you go back to early '90s up through
mid 2000s, anything with an M badge was fantastic, and a
genuinely fantastic automobile.
MATT FARAH: You had an E39 M5, which was awesome.
MIKE MUSTO: Yeah, it was a great car.
But even the M3s, they were all great.
Now, they're kind of big muted boxes.
MATT FARAH: The exhaust thing really pisses me.
LARRY KOSILLA: The moment I did that, and pumping the
exhaust through the radio--
MATT FARAH: And honestly, when you're driving it, you really
can't tell the difference.
You don't notice.
But just the fact that it's there.
MIKE MUSTO: You don't do that, dude.
Not in a performance car.
MATT FARAH: And it's fast, but they're not particularly
exciting to drive.
LARRY KOSILLA: It's like turn the exhaust up.
MATT FARAH: We have X5M, and I actually thought that was more
fun than the M5.
MIKE MUSTO: Absolutely.
MATT FARAH: Because that thing does things that SUVs
shouldn't be doing.
MIKE MUSTO: Well, physics.
It really defies physics.
MATT FARAH: It defies physics.
Whereas this is like, it just kind is.
MIKE MUSTO: Well, that doesn't look exciting to me.
If I'm going to spend all that money on something with an M
badge that has 500-plus horsepower, I want to pull up
someplace and have people go, that's something different.
That's something unique that is special.
MATT FARAH: Which actually the AMG cars do that.
MIKE MUSTO: They look special.
MATT FARAH: Not so much.
Sorry, BMW.
I like you, but--
OK, now, Ferrari.
This is not a knock against California.
I put this on here.
Ferrari are not losers.
Ferrari customers are losers.
Because Ferrari will sell you one of these with a manual
transmission.
And they sold two of them this year-- a total of two stick
shift cars.
And it's not even Ferarri's fault.
The customers aren't ordering them.
And their customers suck a fat [BLEEP].

WES SILER: There you go.
MIKE MUSTO: Really nothing more can be said about that.
Seriously.
Ferrari customers, [BLEEP].
MATT FARAH: I just this in here, because who would want
to buy this car?
That's really it.
I see very few redeeming qualities about
the Mitsubishi Outlander.
MIKE MUSTO: Brand?
MATT FARAH: The brand as a whole.
Even the Evo, which could be good--
MIKE MUSTO: Is not.
MATT FARAH: --isn't.
MIKE MUSTO: It was good seven years.
MATT FARAH: Just like Honda.
Next.
Forget the Outlander.
Oh, poor Saab.
The problem with Saab is that this car was
really pretty, actually.
You ever see one of these in person?
MIKE MUSTO: It's a nice looking car.
WES SILER: I drove one in Sweden.
And it was actually a really nice car.
MATT FARAH: It was kind of nice, right?
WES SILER: It was fun, yeah.
MATT FARAH: And I feel like if they had just a little more
money and just a little more time, Jason Castriota would
have got his new 9-3 in there.
He said he would send me the drawings for that, by the way,
now that they're out of business.
And I think the world is a better place for
having Saabs in it .
MIKE MUSTO: Well, Saabs were always good cars.
And it was a very niche car.
The owners were always quirky.
You were like a college professor, or like a doctor,
or something like that.
MATT FARAH: Back in the day they were fun
to drive, like those--
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
MIKE MUSTO: I'd like to have a Saab.
I used to have one.
It was a fantastic car.
LARRY KOSILLA: --was crazy about Saab.
MIKE MUSTO: Ian's got two of them.
MATT FARAH: Ian and his girlfriend both have Viggens.
I've only seen, like, three of them my whole life.
And they have two of them.
He's corning the market on Viggens.
But I will miss Saab.
I wish they had a little more time and a little more money.
And next biggest loser--
Wes's disgusting arm.
So gross.
MIKE MUSTO: That's crazy Terminator stuff.
Next picture.
WES SILER: Yeah, next picture.
MATT FARAH: Next picture.
Oh, that's disgusting!
WES SILER: That's my left knee.
That hole was two inches deep.
That's my left arm after it was sewn up.
MIKE MUSTO: That looks like something--
LARRY KOSILLA: Scarier part is your feet.
Look at those things.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Yeah, what kind of foot is that?
MIKE MUSTO: What's up with your toes?
What's that toe?
WES SILER: I've got weird toes.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Your middle toe is the longest one.
MATT FARAH: Keep going.
Keep going.
WES SILER: There's more photos here.
MATT FARAH: No!
MIKE MUSTO: No!
WES SILER: That's my butt.
MIKE MUSTO: We're going to get so much hate mail
for showing his ass.
WES SILER: This is how I ride to the emergency room.
I crashed an Aprilia RSV4, which I'm very
sorry about, guys.
And I slid down the road in a pair of jeans.
You should always wear proper motorcycle gear.
I was wearing everything, but I was wearing jeans.
MIKE MUSTO: You had to pick him up?
WES SILER: I suffered some abrasion-related injuries to
my posterior.
MATT FARAH: Wes's entire body qualifies as the
biggest loser of 2012.
Horrible.
That is terrible.
We had some predictions for 2013 that were submitted.
Let's see the first one.
The first one was from JF, and that was that everybody will
want the A45 AMG.
MIKE MUSTO: What the hell is that?
MATT FARAH: It's the new A class.
MIKE MUSTO: It's like a more ugly 1 Series.
MATT FARAH: Yeah, but it's got a turbo in it and all-wheel
drive and it's going to be fast.
And I think it'll be neat.
It'll be cool.
That's really our only prediction.
Continue.
Oh, yeah, and then Mike said that diesel was going to--
MIKE MUSTO: Yeah, I think diesel, little by little, it's
really starting to catch on.
MATT FARAH: I love the diesel.
MIKE MUSTO: And the hybrids--
I think people are finally realizing that hybrids are
just not as good as everybody says they are.
MATT FARAH: They're not.
MIKE MUSTO: And they're realizing that diesel is
actually the smarter, more intelligent way go, if you
want a car with mileage and reliability.
MATT FARAH: Jamie comes from a country where it's
predominantly diesel.
MIKE MUSTO: Diesel.
MATT FARAH: And is it a "grass is greener on the other side"
thing, or you think diesel is the way to go?
JAMIE ROBINSON: Well, honestly, loads of people run
diesel vehicles over in the UK, and there's
no problems at all.
MATT FARAH: But Jeremy Clarkson bitches about them
like they're terrible, but they're really not.
JAMIE ROBINSON: He bitches about everything.
MIKE MUSTO: He's kind of a [BLEEP].
WES SILER: For the way Americans drive, how many
people do we know that aren't car people that are afraid to
floor their throttles--
that's bad for the car--
or afraid to rev their engine because it's bad for the car?
That's what diesel excels at is their small throttle
opening, that low rev, just squeeze it a little bit,
accelerates onto the highway.
JAMIE ROBINSON: More to talk.
MATT FARAH: My mom has a diesel Q7.
And it is fantastic.
Every time I come to New York, instead of getting a press car
or something, I just grab her Q7.
It's awesome.
MIKE MUSTO: Don't go out and buy a Prius.
Go out and buy a Jetta TDI.
You know what I mean?
MATT FARAH: And Audi's basically bringing their
entire lineup--
is going to be diesel.
JAMIE ROBINSON: Which is fantastic.
MIKE MUSTO: BMW is too.
They're bringing a lot of vehicles in,
too, which is good.
JAMIE ROBINSON: The problem is getting diesel here, though.
You have to go into a truck stop and stuff.
WES SILER: No, you don't.
MIKE MUSTO: No, no.
WES SILER: It's at every gas station now.
MIKE MUSTO: It's not bad anymore.
MATT FARAH: People say that, but 80% of
stations sell diesel.
MIKE MUSTO: It's not that bad.
MATT FARAH: It's really not bad.
JAMIE ROBINSON: I take that back then.
MATT FARAH: It's not bad.
I think diesel's going to be good.
What do you have next on my list?
I believe next--
ah, the motorcycle of the year, which will be
presented--
WES SILER: Take that one, Jamie.
JAMIE ROBINSON: The Panigale--
it is amazing.
Not only stunning to look at, but it's an awesome ride.
It really is.
I actually thought it wasn't going to be as good as it was.
MATT FARAH: Why did you think it was not going to be good?
WES SILER: Too much hype.
JAMIE ROBINSON: It just looked too perfect.
So I was like, well, there's got to be some flaws with it.
And then I rode it, and I was just amazed.
MATT FARAH: Does it make that awesome clutch noise that
Ducatis make?
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
WES SILER: It has a wet clutch, so no more tambourine.
[TAMBOURINE NOISE]
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
JAMIE ROBINSON: Ducati motorcycle, the engine noise
is just phenomenal as well.
And that thing is a bullet.
It's so quick.
MATT FARAH: What does it weigh?
JAMIE ROBINSON: Not a lot.
MATT FARAH: Like nothing, right?
MIKE MUSTO: Less than you and I put together.
MATT FARAH: And what do they cost?
What's a Panigale cost?
WES SILER: It starts about--
JAMIE ROBINSON: Around $25,000.
WES SILER: It's about $20,000, then you go up to $25,000 if
you want Olen suspension on it.
MATT FARAH: Oh, you can get Olens on it?
That's cool.
I like that.
JAMIE ROBINSON: I mean, honestly. it comes with
top-notch components.
MATT FARAH: And it smoked Chris Harris, who was driving
[INAUDIBLE].
JAMIE ROBINSON: Brembo brakes all that.
WES SILER: The entire concept that a car can ever be faster
than a motorcycle is just retarded.
MIKE MUSTO: Well, it used to be though.
It used to be, back in the '80s, I mean--
WES SILER: Motorcycles--
it's just math.
It's power to weight.
MATT FARAH: Just power to weight.
It's tough to beat a motorcycle.
JAMIE ROBINSON: And imagine how big the roads are for us.
You get in one of these big modern cars, and you're going
around a corner, and you have to be careful to
stay in your lane.
And we're like, we got that much space.
MATT FARAH: It's a bad-ass bike.
I'm afraid of it.
I don't want to ride it.
I don't want to be part of that bike.
WES SILER: Well, you're going to ride in the
back, aren't you?
MATT FARAH: Big surprise.
Big surprise.
JAMIE ROBINSON: He wouldn't get on the back.
No way, that seat's too small.
MATT FARAH: We're going to do it.
We're going to get on back.
I'm going to wear a thong.
It's going to be amazing.
We're going to look just like a rap video.
It has to be like a 2001 GSXR 750, wooden suspension.
WES SILER: Would you get your ass waxed first?
MATT FARAH: Yes.
It'll be delicious.
It'll look just like your ass after [INAUDIBLE].
Big surprise, we voted unanimously, pretty much-- the
FRS BRZ, car of the year.
It's the most boring car of the year.
MIKE MUSTO: But it makes sense.
MATT FARAH: Of course it makes sense.
It's so obvious.
MIKE MUSTO: It's the first car that I think brings people
back to the soul of driving.
It's like a 240Z, when they first came out.
Front engine, rear-wheel drive, fun enough to go out
and learn how to drive quicker, makes
you a better driver.
MATT FARAH: And drifting, which is probably the hardest
and most rewarding thing you can do in a car--
this is a great car to learn that.
Not only because it's light and it's fun and easy to
drift, but because you can drift for multiple days on one
set of tires.
MIKE MUSTO: On Prius tires?
MATT FARAH: On Prius tires.
They're cheap to replace.
I went through eight sets of tires in a
day drifting a Corvette.
Whereas all day on this--
same tires, drove home, no problem.
It's pretty awesome.
LARRY KOSILLA: The fact that two companies came together,
that's pretty nice.
MIKE MUSTO: Well, it's a good car, too.
It really is.
MATT FARAH: It is a good car.
And when the turbo ones come out--
MIKE MUSTO: It'll be better.
MATT FARAH: --it'll be better.
I just drove a turbo one for Tuned.
Tuned, coming soon.
And we're going to finish this off before we get out of here
and go to important meetings and things.
Mike and I, in 2012, purchased beaters.
MIKE MUSTO: We did.
MATT FARAH: And so we're going to let you guys decide the
Beater of the Year, or the Beat Off, as it were.
Who bought the better beater?
So up first in the beater challenge, the battle wagon.
MIKE MUSTO: Yes, this is the 1992 Chevrolet Caprice,
powered by a L05 V8 that makes a whopping 180 horsepower.
MATT FARAH: That's 5.7 liters.
MIKE MUSTO: 5.7 liters.
MATT FARAH: 180 horsepower.
MIKE MUSTO: But it does have a 323 gearing in the rear, and
an awesome tail gunner seat that we use for filming.
So when the back falls down, Big Thad's in the back with
the camera doing our thing.
And it's got the suspension, which is about equivalent to
an ocean liner.
MATT FARAH: It is very wafty.
MIKE MUSTO: It is.
But we put 8,000 miles on that car in five months, and that
thing has never missed a beat.
MATT FARAH: Well, it was a total grandma car.
MIKE MUSTO: It was literally a grandma car.
And the thing has never missed a beat.
It gets 400 mile range out of a tank.
It's rock star status.
MATT FARAH: It's rock star.
It's so awesome that when Chris Harris came on the
podcast, he went home going, I'm buying one.
He's literally trying to buy a Caprice wagon in
the UK right now.
WES SILER: My god.
MATT FARAH: I don't know if it's right-
or left-hand drive.
MIKE MUSTO: Ensign, those are all left-hand.
MATT FARAH: Well, we don't know, because he's not here
because he's not a team player.
MIKE MUSTO: That's true.
MATT FARAH: And of course, my beater.
Boom!

1993 Mercedes S600.
MIKE MUSTO: Is the bumper hanging off there?
MATT FARAH: No.
No, it's chrome.
There's a chrome piece there.
It's an optical illusion.
MIKE MUSTO: Ah, all right.
MATT FARAH: It looks like the bumpers coming off.
It's not.
There's chrome there.
MIKE MUSTO: OK.
MATT FARAH: S600, V12, armor-plated, bulletproof.
It's bulletproof.

Because I spent, on Road Testament, like a month ago
with Alex Roy, saying, don't ever buy one of these.
And now I have one.
Original MSRP was $140,000-plus.
I paid $2,500 for it.
It has 192,000 miles on it, 6 liter V12, 385 horsepower, and
it has an option that I have only ever seen in this car,
which is a power-operated center mirror.
MIKE MUSTO: We need to run a series of challenges.
MATT FARAH: We will have a series of challenges.
MIKE MUSTO: Between the battle wagon and the Benz.
MATT FARAH: Suffice to say, there is a reason I went for
the bulletproof one.
It was owned by a rapper before me, who goes by Big
Bird Mafia.
I swear to god.
I swear to god.
And actually, other than a couple little things, it's
actually in really good shape.
So leave a comment.
Who bought the better beater, Musto or I?
You buy a beater this year?
LARRY KOSILLA: Nope.
MATT FARAH: I wish we had a picture of your car.
MIKE MUSTO: Larry, beater bike?
LARRY KOSILLA: 103,000 miles on it.
MATT FARAH: Larry's Impala SS.
MIKE MUSTO: If you want the Caprice space, give me a call.
MATT FARAH: So that's Road Testament.
Let's thank everyone who's here and shame
everyone who's not here.
I was here first, waiting for all you [BLEEP].
MIKE MUSTO: No, we were at Cassie's Deli eating pastrami.
MATT FARAH: I hate you all.
See you guys in 2013.
We out.