S1 Ep231: Bathurst 1000: Australia’s Most Brutal Endurance Race
Over the past several decades, “The Great Race” has become a vital part of the fabric of Australian motorsport, and by extension, Australian culture. How did the Bathurst 1000 change Australian motorsport? How has one event given the racing world everything from V8 Supercars to the R32 GT-R known as “Godzilla?” And what about it has made it a cultural icon? Today on Past Gas, it’s the history o...
47m Apr 15, 2024
47m
S1 Ep230: SAAB Pt II: What Happened?
Despite its affinity for front-wheel drive cars, especially in its legendary 99 and 900 badges, Swedish automaker Saab still managed to sell one of its properly cool cars as a wagon with all-wheel drive. The 9-2X Aero. But here’s the thing: It wasn’t a true Saab, but a mashup of GM DNA mixed with Subaru. And, it was entirely built by Subaru, too. But let’s take a step back and try to get an ide...
58m Apr 08, 2024
58m
S1 Ep229: SAAB Pt I: Air-igins
The story of Saab is one of out-of-the-box thinking. This Swedish brand barely made it past its 70th birthday before it died, but the legacy it built throughout those decades made it something truly special. But what made Saab such a legend in all things detail-oriented and quirky? What were the most legendary and popular models, and what made them so fun-to-drive? And finally, why did the bran...
47m Apr 01, 2024
47m
S1 Ep228: The Bugatti Queen: Sex, Drugs, & Racing in the Roaring 20s
With hands blistered by a red-hot steering wheel and a head still reeling from a long night of sex and champagne, Hellé Nice won the first all-female Grand Prix at Montlhéry. The next day, Bugatti invited her to their showroom to convince Nice to compete under their name. She signed a sponsorship deal with Lucky Strike cigarettes, and with her immaculate profile, Nice bought herself a yacht. No...
42m Mar 25, 2024
42m
S1 Ep227: Mazda Pt IV: The First Japanese (and Rotary!) Car to Win Le Mans
Le Mans, 1991. The Mazdaspeed team has been chasing gold at the legendary endurance race for the better part of a decade, and the team can only watch on anxiously as the clock ticks past midnight. With a looming ban on rotary engines, they know that the rotary-powered 787b is their last chance at victory. And for now, roughly every 3 and a half minutes, the nervous silence is broken as the dist...
56m Mar 18, 2024
56m
S1 Ep226: Mazda Pt III: The RX-7 & Mazdaspeed
1974. For the past six years, Mazda Sports Corner have taken the rotary engine to task against the racing titans of Europe. And back in Japan, Mazda’s high-revving rotaries have captured the attention of the underground racing scene, and can be heard screaming at 9,000rpm down streets and expressways across the country. But how did two tuning companies come to shape Mazda’s image on the track a...
43m Mar 11, 2024
43m
S1 Ep225: Mazda Pt II: The Re-Birth of the Rotary Engine
It’s October 1963, and the 10th Tokyo Motor Show is underway. Toyo Kogyo’s Mazda brand has had some success, but to prove its worth as an independent business to the government, Toyo Kogyo President Tsuneji Matsuda has hedged the company’s future on a new, pistonless engine technology that many considered to be a fantasy. But soon, that fantasy would become a reality. How did Tsuneji Matsuda ta...
53m Mar 04, 2024
53m
S1 Ep224: Mazda Pt 1: The Speed of... Cork
It’s the morning of August 6th, 1945. Jujiro Matsuda is heading back home after visiting his company headquarters in nearby Hiroshima, where his small trucks called Mazdas have become fixtures of the city. And suddenly, behind him, there’s a bright flash. The city that had grown on the backs of the Mazda trucks for more than a decade had vanished in an instant, and it would be Jujiro and the Ma...
47m Feb 26, 2024
47m
S1 Ep223: Macau GP: “Asia’s Monaco” is a Notoriously Dangerous Street Circuit
Beyond the Macau Grand Prix’s rich history, the event has become a cultural phenomenon, drawing motorsport enthusiasts and fans to the vibrant city to witness the convergence of speed, strategy, and sheer determination on a circuit that combines tradition with cutting edge automotive technology. But for all of its positive influence, the history of the Macau GP is fraught with controversy. How ...
50m Feb 19, 2024
50m
S1 Ep222: F1's Greatest Rivalries: Hamilton vs Rosberg - aka “The Silver War”
August, 2014. Gasoline and burnt rubber linger in the air at Spa-Francorchamps circuit, where the podium celebration for the Belgian Grand Prix is underway. The announcer calls the name of the second place finisher - Nico Rosberg. This should be a moment of celebration. But the crowd below roars with boos. Because the driver who Rosberg has overtaken in the quest for the championship is his chi...
50m Feb 12, 2024
50m
S1 Ep221: The Mustang That Took Down Porsche
The 70’s and early 80’s were practically an arms race of automotive engineering. From fuel injection to turbos to aerodynamics, manufacturers and privateers alike were breaking new ground in the name of ever-faster lap times. It was an age of pioneering that bridged the gap between the legends of the past and the racing we love today. What was Group 5 Special Production? Why were the late 1970’...
59m Feb 05, 2024
59m
S1 Ep220: Cosworth Pt II: WRC Rally & the Ford Escort RS Cosworth
Just one decade into their journey, Cosworth had dominated IndyCar racing and changed the face of Formula 1. But while any other company would be satisfied with that kind of record, Mike and Keith were far from done. Even though Cosworth already had a stack of incredible achievements under its belt, what the company has been able to achieve post-1970 is just as, if not more, revolutionary. But ...
48m Jan 29, 2024
48m
S1 Ep219: Cosworth Pt I: The Most Successful Engine Maker in F1 History
Between 1968 and 1974, every single Constructors Championship in F1 was won by the same Cosworth engine - the DFV - and in 1969 and 1973, every single F1 race was won by a DFV-powered car. This one engine was responsible for F1 wins across four decades - the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. But who the hell is Cosworth? What’s their magic formula? And most importantly, how did two gentlemen engineers in...
1hr 3m Jan 22, 2024
1hr 3m
S1 Ep218: Mark “Captain Nice” Donohue: The Genius Famous for Acid-Dipping his Cars
Mark Donohue never quite fit the look of a race car driver. But regardless of how he looked on the outside, his methodology not only changed the literal rules of racing but also the industry as a whole. So how did this All-American, Ivy League guy end up in a race car? How did he go from being nicknamed “Captain Nice” to “Dark Donohue?” And why did he pull that classic race driver stunt by comi...
41m Jan 15, 2024
41m
S1 Ep217: Renault: The Rise and Fall… and Rise Again?
Like many of the other car companies founded just before the turn of the 20th century, Renault made itself known for its revolutionary innovations — a concept that the company has employed time and again, to varying degrees of success. But how did three French brothers decide they had a shot in the automotive industry? What was it about Renault's innovative approach to business that keeps it ba...
52m Jan 08, 2024
52m
S1 Ep216: Group B's Greatest Rivalry: Audi and Lancia (Replay)
Catch our episode on the historic rivalry between Audi and Lancia on this exclusive episode revisit! Group B. The Golden Age of Rally Racing. It’s safe to say that auto racing will never again be this fast, thrilling, and dangerous. The most iconic battle of Group B was in 1983, when the beefy 4WD Audi Quattro faced off against the stylin’ Italian rear-wheel drive Lancia 037. Who prevailed in w...
46m Jan 01, 2024
46m
S1 Ep215: Santa's Coal Bag: We Did All Your Crummy Ideas, Vol 2
It’s finally that time of year that James, Nolan, and Joe are winding down at the podcast studio, getting ready for a loooooong winter’s nap. So today on Past Gas, they’re gonna learn a little bit about some different listener-submitted stories and a whole lotta big dogs. This is Santa’s Coal Bag: We Did Your Crummy Ideas, volume 2! Thanks to our sponsors: Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month t...
1hr 3m Dec 25, 2023
1hr 3m
S1 Ep214: Pablo Escobar Was a Racing Champion?!
During the 80s and early 90s, Pablo Escobar was the richest, most ruthless cocaine trafficker in the world. But before his life was monopolized by drugs, money, and gang wars, Pablo was a man with a simple dream: to be a race car driver. And for two memorable seasons in the Colombian circuit, Pablo cheated and stole his way onto a championship podium. But how did he do it? What driver did he br...
49m Dec 18, 2023
49m
S1 Ep213: Mint 400: The Chaotic Race Across the Las Vegas Desert
“In some circles, the Mint 400 is a far, far better thing than the Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby and the Lower Oakland Roller Derby Finals all rolled into one. This race attracts a special breed,” wrote Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. But how did a bunch of hospitality industry employees with little-to-no knowledge of motorsports turn a publicity stunt into The Great Amer...
52m Dec 11, 2023
52m
S1 Ep212: Mercedes Pt IV: AMG, the Present, and the Future
In its first two decades, AMG had brought racing and performance prestige to Mercedes. But in 1999, co-founder Hans-Werner Aufrecht was ready to sell a majority stake of AMG to Mercedes, effectively handing over control of the company. Today, on the final episode of Past Gas’s History of Mercedes: How did Aufrecht and co-founder Erhard Melcher form their tuning house? How did Mercedes make a tr...
58m Dec 04, 2023
58m
S1 Ep211: Mercedes Pt III: WWII and the Dawn of the Gullwing
It’s 1952 and the world is still recovering from the brutality of WWII, including Mercedes. So how did Mercedes return to prominence just a decade after the war? How did Rudolph Uhlenahut create the world’s first supercar using only parts from the Mercedes parts bin? And how did he shape Mercedes into the brand we know today? Today on Past Gas, part three of four on our history of Mercedes. Th...
43m Nov 27, 2023
43m
S1 Ep210: Mercedes Pt II: How Mercedes Became Mercedes
June 1926. An era of progress, rapid automotive adoption, and record-breaking feats spurred on by the rivalry between Benz and DMG had given way to a crisis. So how did a conniving aristocrat convince DMG to create the Mercedes brand? How did DMG and Benz usher in the era of the modern automobile? And how did these two competitors find themselves in a position where the only way to ensure their...
45m Nov 20, 2023
45m
S1 Ep209: Mercedes Pt I: The Gritty Beginnings of Daimler, Maybach, and Benz
New Years’ Eve, 1879. 35 year old Karl Benz and his wife Bertha are huddled around a small block of iron. Karl no doubt thinks about the decade’s worth of work and near-financial ruin contained in its small footprint. But even if he can finally get it to run smoothly, it’s only a first step. His end goal is to use it in a horseless carriage, with the hopes of changing the way people move. But h...
44m Nov 13, 2023
44m
S1 Ep208: John Britten & the V1000: The Motorcycle That Inspired An Industry
New Zealand is known for having a small population. Many leave to find opportunity elsewhere, while others build a life in the place they were born. These people can become a big fish in a small pond or, if they’re lucky, an even bigger fish in the international pond. But is it possible to take a dip in both ponds? How do you make a name for yourself by staying in the same place? Where do you f...
1hr 2m Nov 06, 2023
1hr 2m
S1 Ep207: Nelson Piquet: The F1 Driver Who Feuded With Everybody
In 1986, the Williams Formula 1 team should have taken the World Championship, but their drivers Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell decided to turn on each other instead. But how did the son of a Brazilian doctor become one of the most controversial names in Formula 1 history? What was it that catapulted a young Nelson Piquet into the international spotlight so soon after his first-ever go-kart ra...
54m Oct 30, 2023
54m
S1 Ep206: Dodge Charger Daytona: The Car That Was Too Fast for NASCAR
Talladega was a prime testing facility because it was the fastest circle track on the planet, and Chrysler was there to set a record. The day was overcast and cool as NASCAR legend Buddy Baker shifted into gear and pulled onto the track. It didn’t take long for the driver to smash the 200 mph record. What was this top secret car that Chrysler hired NASCAR royalty to test? How did they shatter o...
53m Oct 23, 2023
53m
S1 Ep205: Dan Wheldon: The Perfect Storm that Reformed Indycar
Dan Wheldon was a talented and charming driver who left an indelible mark on the world of motorsport. But how did this unflappable Englishman break through to IndyCar stardom? Why did he turn down the offer to race in Formula One? And how did his tragic death shape the future of IndyCar? Today on Past Gas, we explore the legacy of IndyCar champion, Dan Wheldon. Thanks to our sponsors: Go to h...
49m Oct 16, 2023
49m
S1 Ep204: RWB & Akira Nakai: Coke, Cigarettes, and Widebody Porsches
RWB is legendary to car enthusiasts world-wise. But how did a drift kid from Japan redefine the Porsche? How did some carbon fiber fenders take over the desires of gamers drooling over air-cooled 911s? How can a leather arm chair, a carton of smokes, and some Mexican Cokes get you one step closer to owning your own outlaw Porsche? Today on Past Gas, we dive into the origins of the most controve...
49m Oct 09, 2023
49m
S1 Ep203: Robert E Peterson: The Most Interesting Car Guy in the World
June 11, 1994. It’s the opening night of The Petersen Automotive Museum, and Hollywood is out in full force. But it’s not the celebrities we usually think of - it’s the cars they drive. None of this would have been possible without the charity and automotive passion of the museum’s namesake: Robert E. Petersen. How did he turn his passion for hot rodding into the modern car show? How did he, wi...
46m Oct 02, 2023
46m
S1 Ep202: How Chevrolet Was Kicked Out of Chevrolet
Chevrolet isn’t just a company, it’s an American institution. Today on Past Gas, the story of a world-conquering company that almost wasn’t. How did the men who made Chevy lose it so quickly? How did the company nearly get shut down by its own board, then come back to overtake Ford in sales only 7 years later? How did an up-and-coming lawyer flip Chevy’s attitude about safety even quicker than ...
55m Sep 25, 2023
55m
S1 Ep201: Kei Cars: How a WWII Loophole Created Japan's Tiny Cars
After the end of WWII, the world was eager to get back to work, and more specifically, back to makin’ cars. Japan was particularly ready to rebuild their economy, but were missing some crucial materials: steel, gasoline, and money. And as it turns out, the lack of those resources crafted the perfect storm for the creation of the Kei car. Often misunderstood, underappreciated, and forgotten, the...
56m Sep 18, 2023
56m
S1 Ep197: Burt Munro: How a 70 Year-Old Built a Landspeed Record Bike in His Shed
Anyone who’s ever been to Speed Week at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah knows the incomparable feeling of standing on this hallowed ground. Some dream, work, scrimp, and save their entire lives to get a chance to make a pass at breaking a land speed record here. The story is as old as time, but perhaps none have embodied it better than Kiwi motorcycle legend Burt Munro and his 1920 Indian Scout. ...
56m Sep 11, 2023
56m
S1 Ep199: Why We Think Lotus’s Founder Faked His Own Death
Colin Chapman’s Formula 1 trophy case is an impressive one, with seven Constructors’ Championships and six Drivers’ Championships since 1963. Beyond his championship seasons, Chapman’s imprint on the sport is hard to comprehend – some suggest that Chapman might have more to do with the basic design of today’s mid-engine, open-wheeled racing cars than any other single builder. Would Formula 1 be...
1hr Sep 04, 2023
1hr
S1 Ep198: Spoon & Mugen: The Kings of Honda Tuning
In the world of engine tuning, two names (strange as they may be) are often at the top of the list. These companies upended the racing world with their attention to detail and refusal to accept anything but the best in terms of power, precision, and yes, speed. Today on Past Gas, we take a look at Spoon and Mugen. How did these companies start? How have they evolved over the years to stay on to...
54m Aug 28, 2023
54m
S1 Ep200: 200th EPISODE!: Fun Stories, 20lb Dogs, & Fan-Fiction
IT’S THE 200TH EPISODE OF PAST GAS!! To celebrate, Nolan, Joe, and James learn a little bit about three different listener-submitted suggestions, then look at (and judge) pictures of your 20 pound dogs. Y’all have a lot of 20 pound dogs, btw. Then the gang brings Donut host Jeremiah on for a very special reading. Thank you SO MUCH for listening to the pod - we could have never made it to 200 wi...
54m Aug 21, 2023
54m
S1 Ep196: Travis Pastrana: The Human Action Figure
It’s the 2006 X Games in Los Angeles, California. The Staples Center is abuzz, ready to watch competitors face off in a festival favorite event: the Moto X Best Trick. X-Games favorite 23 year-old Travis Pastrana gets himself ready to run his first trick… the “superflip” – a backflip with a Superman (for good measure). How did Travis Pastrana become the modern day Evel Knievel? What did he do t...
54m Aug 14, 2023
54m
S1 Ep195: Miracle at the Nurburgring: The Story of the 1969 Argentinian Torinos
In 1969, Argentina was a different place than it is today. Only three years after a violent military coup, it was a time of deep political unrest. And yet, amidst widespread protests and government crackdowns, the attention of the nation was stolen by an unlikely event at the Nürburgring. For three straight days, radios across the country buzzed with live coverage of a scrappy team of racers as...
46m Aug 07, 2023
46m
S1 Ep194: The Ascaris: Parallel Deaths of Ferrari’s Father-Son Superstars
By the time he had reached the starting line at the inaugural Belgian Grand Prix in 1925, Antonio Ascari was a living legend. He was to “slow down” by race officials at Monza, and even won the first Belgium Grand Prix by a whopping 22 minutes. But how did Antonio Ascari come to be one of the most respected drivers of his era? How did his son Alberto not only live up to his father’s legacy, but ...
52m Jul 31, 2023
52m
S1 Ep193: Paris-Dakar Rally: The History of the Race Across the Sahara Desert
After rally racer Thierry Sabine got stuck in the Sahara Desert for three days, his rescue team airlifted out a changed man. On Thierry’s return trip to France, an idea began to crystalize in his mind: one rally to rule them all. How did Thierry Sabine’s near-death experience lead to the most infamous off-road race in the world? What about the endurance rally’s extreme risk attracted drivers, a...
57m Jul 24, 2023
57m
S1 Ep192: Jochen Rindt: The Driver Who Won an F1 Championship Posthumously
August 2nd, 1970, Hockenheim, Germany. 28-year-old Jochen Rindt stands atop the winner’s podium, holding the German Grand Prix championship trophy. His wife and young daughter stand proudly at his side. He looks across the crowd of cheering Germans and thinks back to the 1961 German Grand Prix - when he was one of them. A schoolboy watching his first ever F1 race, realizing for the first time t...
46m Jul 17, 2023
46m
S1 Ep191: Holden vs Ford: The Birth of Australia’s V8 Supercars
In December of 2001, Aussies across the continent were hit with earth shattering news – Holden Racing Team’s golden boy, Craig Lowndes, was joining Ford’s Blue Oval. Shockwaves rippled through the legions of loyal V8 Supercar racing fans – it was known that you were either team Holden or team Ford, and there was no switching sides. A rivalry deeper than the Hatfield and McCoys, and more bitter ...
50m Jul 10, 2023
50m
S1 Ep190: Six Small Stories About Big Automotive Heroes
We spend a lot of time talking about the most famous heroes in auto racing: names like Enzo Ferrari, Michael Schumacher, or Lightning McQueen. But today on Past Gas, we’re skipping past the Greatest Hits album and getting into the DEEP CUTS. Who was the first person responsible for timekeeping Formula One races? How did Sabine Schmitz become queen of the Nurburgring? And who was the first femal...
44m Jul 03, 2023
44m
S1 Ep189: Rat Fink: The Real Story Behind That Weird Hot Rod Art
Rat Fink was artist Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s biggest envelope-pushing creation that drove teenagers to car shows and parents up the wall. But how did a young man with no automotive engineer training, who almost flunked out of high school, make such an impact on American car design? How did he stand out in Southern California during the height of kustom kar madness? And what type of legacy can a fe...
46m Jun 26, 2023
46m
S1 Ep188: This Guy Won Le Mans DRUNK (Replay)
Catch our episode on Duncan Hamilton yet again, on this exclusive episode revisit! Today we’re looking into the bonkers life of Duncan Hamilton, the only man to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans drunk behind the wheel. This guy might have the nuttiest story so far on this podcast: from building his own car as a teenager, too surviving back to back sinking ships in World War Two, and surviving multip...
57m Jun 19, 2023
57m
S1 Ep187: JGTC: Every Car You Like Came from This Japanese Racing Series
A dreary rain set in over the Fuji Speedway during the 1998 All-Japan Grand Touring Championship. A thick wall of fog and relentless, heavy rain blanketed the racetrack in almost unmanageable conditions. Then, an accident between a Porsche and Ferrari changed the course of Japanese racing forever. How did racing in Japan go from boring to world-wide phenomenon? How did punishing drivers that wo...
46m Jun 12, 2023
46m
S1 Ep186: The Unsers: How One Family Kept Winning the Indy 500
By the last race in the 1985 Indy Car Series, the drivers’ championship had come down to a single point – between Al Unser and his son, Al Unser Jr. Al Unser Sr was already an accomplished racer, with 3 Indy 500’s and two National Championship wins under his belt, whereas his son’s career was just beginning, and a championship win would cement his place in the world of IndyCar racing. Al was fa...
1hr 4m Jun 05, 2023
1hr 4m
S1 Ep185: Shelby Daytona Coupe: How Three Guys Beat Ferrari...Again
The story of the Shelby Daytona Coupe is well-told, and filmed, but the part played by its designer, Peter Brock, has been long overshadowed. Who was the designer of Shelby’s iconoclastic Daytona Coupe? How did he get such an important assignment at 27 years old? What did he do after the historic events that followed? All that and more, on Past Gas, about the Other Peter Brock and the Shelby Da...
48m May 29, 2023
48m
S1 Ep184: Willy T. Ribbs: The First Black Driver to Test a F1 Car
After blowing three engines, Willy T Ribbs was about to give up on his dream of running in the Indy 500. With only hours left to get into the race, his team disassembled the engine, assessed the situation, and tried for a fourth time. They succeeded. That was the day Willy became a part of racing - and more importantly - American history. But why did it take so long for Willy to get the start h...
1hr 3m May 22, 2023
1hr 3m
S1 Ep183: Phil Hill Pt. II: The Ferrari Curse Was Broken by an American
This is the second part of our two-parter on Phil Hill and the 1961 Formula One season, where the guys (and guest host Elizabeth Blackstock) ask – why was it a death sentence to drive for Ferrari? Aside from Phil Hill, who were some of these tragic figures? And why didn’t Enzo Ferrari go to the funerals of his drivers? Today on Past Gas, the story of how the Ferrari Curse was broken by an Ameri...
58m May 15, 2023
58m
S1 Ep182: Phil Hill Pt. I: The Only American-Born F1 Champion
This is Part 1 of our 2-part series on Phil Hill! Phil Hill spent his youth dreaming of driving foreign cars. He would read British race publications front to back. He grew to idolize the racers like Juan Manuel Fangio and Alberto Ascari and cars like Maseratis, Ferraris, and Triumphs. But for much of his life, it was just a dream. So how did the nervous son of a Postmaster and hymn composer be...
57m May 08, 2023
57m