The Carmudgeon Show

On this episode - a Rhode Island man in a bowtie is found in the studio - who flew more than 3000 miles just to talk about strange Italian cars and the people that drive them.

If by that description you were thinking of anyone BUT Donald Osborne - we’d be shocked. But today, he’s here with us!

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In case you’re not familiar - Donald Osborne is a renowned classic car historian, author, media personality, and professional appraiser. He’s also the Consulting Director for the Audrain Group, having been heavily involved with the Audrain Automobile Museum over the last seven years. You’ve also may have seen him as a regular contributor and co-host on Jay Leno’s Garage.

Most recently, he’s become the North American Representative for FIVA - short for Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens - a worldwide organization seeking to protect the historic and cultural interest of vehicles around the world 30 years old or older. Conveniently - nearly all of Jason and Derek’s cars are this old - Jason’s second newest car being his VR6-powered 1996 Volkswagen Cabrio.

Donald, Derek, and Jason discuss what it means to be an enthusiast of historic vehicles in 2026 - and how the US celebrates classics a little differently than the rest of the world. But perhaps that could change.

They also discuss Donald’s current fleet - both in the US and Italy - including but not limited to his Mercedes-Benz SLK230 5 Speed, Alfa Romeo SZ, Lancia Appia, Fiat Panda, Moretta Cinquecento Sport, Lancia Epsilon, and many more that have come and gone…

And if you'd like to learn more about FIVA in the USA, don't forget to email [email protected]!

All this and more on this episode of The Carmudgeon Show.
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It’s a transmission episode!

Inspired by Jason’s recent roadside spotting of a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia with the rare Automatic Stickshift, the Carmudgeons go for a trip into the origins of abandoning the clutch pedal in manual and automatic transmissions. How has human driving behavior changed or stayed the same throughout history regarding the operation of any transmission?

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Visit http://JasonSentMe.com to get a Hagerty Guaranteed Value (TM) collector-car insurance quote!
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Jason and Derek begin by discussing the recent repairs on Jason’s (and once Derek’s) Ferrari 308 GT4 - perhaps the only car discussed on today’s episode with a traditional manual transmission. The 308 GT4 just returned from a trip to Aaron Shepherd - one of the most respected auto body specialists in the San Francisco Bay Area - where it received some wonderfully executed rust repair and paintwork.

The majority of this episode discusses semi-automatic transmissions throughout history, which begs the question - are any of them any good? Wilson and Cotal Preselector transmissions of the 1930s paved the way for clutchless driving and synchromesh - eventually evolving into applications like Citroen’s Citromatic found in the DS21 and Volkswagen’s Auto Stickshift found in the Beetle and Karmann Ghia. Even after torque converter automatics, clutchless manuals still found their way into road cars - like Mercedes-Benz’s Hydrak Transmission and Ferrari’s Valeo Transmission used in late Mondials.

Moving into the 2000s, Jason and Derek remark on how troubled many semi-automatic manuals were at the time - including Ferrari’s F1 gearbox, Maserati DuoSelect, BMW SMG, Toyota SMT, and others which didn’t mind letting a user light a clutch on fire. Luckily - this era was reasonably short-lived, replaced by ZF torque converter automatics and dual clutch transmissions like VW’s DSG and NOT Ford’s horrid SelectShift found in the 2010s Ford Focus, Fiesta, and Escape.

All this and much much more on this episode of The Carmudgeon Show.
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Every year, manufactures launch new features that we usually don’t know that we want. Sometimes, these features are so effective and popular, they disrupt an industry and become government-mandated. Other times, they become quickly forgotten and unwanted by society. Until recent years, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class was the purveyor of new automotive technology - we’d see something in an S Class that we know we might get 15 years later on a Nissan Versa. But even the S-Class had some misses - debuting technology that quickly went away after the next generation.

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Nowadays, more than ever - we notice manufactures cutting corners in areas where they have no business doing so. No one-touch windows (Subaru Crosstrek), CarPlay being a $4,000+ option (Ferrari, until 2023), non-amber turn signals (BMW), and lacking spare tires on cars we know need them (Volkswagen e-Golf).

This got us thinking - what are the best and worst features in history that have ever been invented? What features seemed like they’d be popular, but flunked? What features seemed dumb and first, but are now on every car sold? Jason and Derek do a deep dive on this episode - tune in to find out.
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This week, Derek and Jason both drive the BMW Z1 - the often-forgotten two-seat roadster that established BMW's Z brand in the late 1980s. Sharing the same chassis and drivetrain with the E30 325i, it's often been overlooked by many as just an E30 convertible with cool doors.

But is there more than meets the eye? As it turns out, yes - much more...

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Historically, the "Z" in BMW nomenclature stands for "Zukunft", or "future" in German. While the Z brand became associated with roadsters only, the Z1 debuted far more than just two seats and a folding soft top. The belt-driven doors were only one feature of the Z1 that made it ahead of it's time - multi-link rear suspension, removable body panels, and a host of other forward-thinking innovations made it far more advanced for its time than most give it credit for.

This week's subject of Carmudgeonation brings some very interesting foresight on BMW's history and collectability as a brand - tying in the 507, Z8, and even the i3 into discussion. Don't skip this one!
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Sometimes, the milestones hit all at once! On this episode, Jason celebrates 300,000 miles in “OP” (other people’s) cars - 3,000 to be exact - and 20 years doing so!

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Visit http://JasonSentMe.com to get a Hagerty Guaranteed Value (TM) collector-car insurance quote!
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Rather than random number generator reviews, Derek hits Jason with a barrage of key words and phrases to jog his memory and keep him on his toes. Also covered on this episode are the results of the Amelia Island auctions, updates on Jasons’ Rover SD1 and Volkswagen Cabrio VR6 swap, and much more.
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