March 5, 2022 • 35 mins
Ron starts this hour talking with Mike Flink of Autel Scan Tools about numerous topics, among them, scan tool changes and Chrysler, and talks to Mike Mueller, author of The Complete Book of Ford Mustang.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ron and Anian, I've been doing something new where I
actually keep a written journal at the shop every week.
I've been looking through your journal. Why does it say
all work and no play makes Ron a dull? Boys
over and it looks like a movie the Shining. Well,
you know it's just do hit books. You've got the shot,
you mean shining? Do you want to get suited? The
(00:24):
car Doctor. You're filling it up with cooling water or whatever,
engine off and it comes out the bleeder right, correct,
It does not come out the bleeder for the show.
It should, so why does it not? Are you sure
the bleeder is not clogged? Welcome to the radio home
of Ron and Anian, the Car Doctor. Since this is
where car owners the world overturned to for their definitive
(00:46):
opinion on automotive repair. If your mechanics giving you a
busy signal, pick up the phone and call in the
garage to orders are open, but I am here to
take your calls at eight five five five six and
now running. There is one absolute in order repair, and
it's an absolute that just you can't top it, and
(01:08):
that is that technology is going to continue to evolve
and no pun intended drive the business it's gonna make
it either easy or difficult, depending upon your perspective and
depending upon whether or not you're equipped and ready for it.
I recently heard some rumblings going on regarding Chrysler, for example,
(01:30):
that and it's no secret at this point that you
have to have a secure gateway to get into Chrysler
via scan tool technology, and some of the scan tool
companies are struggling with it. One of the leaders in
this one of the guys, some of a group of guys,
I should say it like that that have sort of
defined this package as it approaches the industry. The guys
(01:50):
over at Autel and UM, we've reached out to them
as always working with them as we do. When we're
talking once again with Michael Flinky, is the director over
there for diagnostic, battery testing and mobilizer and all sorts
of good things that ought to tell on the diagnostics sign.
We're glad to have him back, Mike. Welcome back, sir,
Thank you, I'm glad to be here. UM. There's a
(02:10):
lot right Chrysler started out as about two years ago,
you guys made the formal announcement. I think you were
the first to secure the gateway access for the automotive
aftermarket to allow shops to speak to Chrysler vehicles by
registering their tools and the process so forth. But it's
getting kicked up a notch again, isn't it? Is that
the rumor that I heard? Not really. We were one
(02:32):
of the first three UM to come in with it.
There's quite a few now that are starting to get in. UM,
but it's still it's just the shops, I think, and
the technicians are starting to get used to the idea
and they're starting to run into more and more of
these cars. UM. Chrysler started the gateways with some models,
and so as these vehicles begin to age out of
(02:55):
that manufacturer's warranty, the independent repair shops and the technicians
are now starting to see them and having to deal
with that gateway module, and so we're starting to hear
more and more of them asking the question, UM, but
it's a it's a pretty solid process at this point.
Can you take us back, what what created this? And
is this a Christler only thing or other manufacturers going
(03:17):
to require this to you know? But yeah, and some
others are getting there. What this really stems from? If
anybody remembers back in February, UH sixty minutes had an
article they did UM with a couple of white hat
hackers down in Florida that showed that you could actually
use the connected part of a car, between the bluetooth
(03:37):
and wireless that we're getting into day's cars, to be
able to get into the diagnostics and the computer systems
and actually be able to mess with things like automatic breaking,
UM your power steering. And so from that hack attempt
that was actually successful that they showed UM the car
(03:58):
manufacturers and even the government out into saying, hey, we've
got to find a way to secure these cars. As
we add more technology and safety systems, more of this
connected vehicle, we've got to have a way to protect it.
And so that's what kind of led to this. The
vehicle that was a subject of that article was a Jeep,
so Chrysler was one of the first to jump into
(04:18):
the fray since it was their vehicle that got the
bad publicity, if you will, from the article UM. Since then,
Nissan started in with the Center and Rogue. They're now
working with a gateway module UH, and they actually haven't
come up with their solution unlike what Chrysler has finally
come up with on. There's um Ford's dabbling in it.
(04:40):
Uh in some of the things they've got. Uh they
aren't to a full gateway module of the same style
as these, but they're actually starting to get some. We'll
see more car manufacturers starting to do this as that
concern comes up. I guess, I guess as the car
just you know, if it can become more of a
rolling computer, as it becomes more of a rolling computer,
we've got to have a way to secure it. We've
(05:01):
got to put a way to prevent hackers from taking
control and as that car is self driving, to prevent
it from doing something wrong. The cuckoo could create a problem, right, absolutely, Yeah,
that's it. It's it's it's the ever battle of technology
and convenience that the consumer wants of the car versus
keeping it secure and safe. But Autell, and you know,
(05:24):
I have to bang your drum a little bit because
Autell was I thought you were the first, if not
one of the first. You were the guys that you know,
sort of secured the gateway and showed the industry, Hey,
we're gonna go through. And I believe the name of
the company, Correct me if I'm wrong. Mike is Auto
Off Auto Authority right UM. Auto Auto Off is the
third party for Chrysler that manages the access to these
(05:48):
gateway modules for all of us that build aftermarket scan tools.
AT was actually officially third in line among the car
manufacturers to get there. UM where we got some of
the publicity or the credit it for leading is during there.
From the time Chrysler introduced this until they had the
solution for the automotive aftermarket, there was about a year
(06:08):
and a half gap UM where the industry was kind
of struggling on what do we do? UH, and we
had actually come up with a bypass cable has an
interim measure for technicians to use. Involved a lot of work.
Wasn't a perfect solution, but it was something until the
Auto Off issue came up from Chrysler and became a
method that we could use. Now, if a shop out
(06:31):
there has a tool, and it doesn't matter if it's
an all tell or whatever, but they want to get
into Chrysler, UM, it's a matter of walk us through that.
That's it's a simple process at this point, right it is.
It's kind of a two step process. So, uh, step
one is for the technician, the mechanic to register with
auto off and that's a U T O a U
(06:53):
T H for your folks out there, and it's auto
off dot com is their website, and the registration is
really simple. You're simply giving them your first and last
name and an email address and then creating a password.
Obviously they email you in the whole verification of are
you you? And did you do this? Make sure you're
not some kind of a bot out there on the web.
(07:13):
Once that's done, now the technician has an auto off
i D. Step two is they have to say if
they're acting as an independent repair technician or are they
part of our member of a shop and the shop
or the technician if he's going independent, then has to
create a auto off account and that's where they have
(07:33):
to actually pay UH. And it's relatively an expensive fifty
dollars a year for a shop to have an auto
off account UM. And within that account, then a technician
who's registered UH can say I'm working for this shop.
The shop managing it can have five technicians plus of
course the shop owner whoever was the lead of the account,
(07:54):
so essentially six technicians in their account, and they can
have up to ten different standard is registered. Once the
accounts created that they've paid for and technician assigned, then
the manager for that shop where the owner will then
register the tools by serial number and brand with auto
off and as long as it's an approved model and
(08:14):
brand of scand tool, then that will give him the
access to it. What happens that at that point is
when you go into one of these Chrysler cars, the
tool will ask you to log in with your auto
off I D and password. You do that, the whole
process is done. You do have to be connected the internet.
(08:35):
The car basically gets the access codes from the auto
off website. If it's an approved tool, tells it it's
allowed to go. And once that connection is established, at
that point you don't even have to remain on the internet.
So a technician can take a car on a test
drive as long as he doesn't disconnect from the car.
Any time you disconnected, Radio Cup, you've got to do
that access process again and start the process all over again. Um.
(09:00):
I cheated Mike, and I went ahead to the autel
dot com website and I have to say, you've got
a very nice you know, you guys did a lot
of good work there. You've laid out a very nice procedure.
You explain it in detail everything you just said in
more um with pictures and explanations. And so if there's
any technicians out there, any shop owners out there that
are trying to register their tools, and hopefully they're hotels right, um,
(09:24):
you know we uh, you've kind of got the process
all laid out. Now. What one of the other things
I just wanted to cover if I could today with
you is I had heard a rumor that some of
the scan tool manufacturers are are looking to do some
things regarding um uh. If subscriptions aren't current, they may
(09:45):
change the way guys approach the Chrysler gateway. And I'll
tell you what. Let's pull over and take a pause.
We'll answer that question when we come back. If maybe
it's a yes, maybe it's a no, but whatever it is,
let's do when we get back. I'm here today with
Michael Flink of autel ron and any in the car
doctorate your service and will be back right after this.
Don't go away, that's right. If you call and we're
(10:13):
not live, you can leave a message and we'll call
you back to get you on the air with RONO
nine zero zero. Speaking of Ron, There he is, and
welcome back. We're here talking with Michael Flink of Autel Diagnostics.
Mike um let me ask the question a different way,
so I've when we left, I was talking about I'd
heard a rumor that the industry is going to require
(10:35):
current subscriptions to maintain a link to things such as
the Christis Secure gateway, and you know, it probably wasn't
a fair comment to say, is that fair or not?
In thinking about it, probably the concern is that everybody
needs to have their scan tool's current because they're missing
out on certain things that might otherwise not let them
and help them fix the car. Right. Well, yeah, that's
(10:58):
absolutely true round and to your point with the UH
Chrysler service and there's other ones, KEYA has an encryption
code piece that we've got built into the autails, but
it requires a connection to the same server that is
where the update subscriptions are done. So you do have
to have that current subscription in order to get that
(11:19):
access through the server and then to Chrysler's auto author
for the KEYA encryption and other car manufactures to it.
But you make a great point with this constant change.
If the software in your tool isn't the latest software.
They really can't allow that access to these sites and
encryptions because they've got to make sure what's accessing the
(11:40):
car is one correct and and changes are happening today
in this software and things that they're doing with things
like aids, the driver assistant systems and that where even
older model cars are having changes as the manufacturers adjust
things for these pieces in this technology where updates are
more important to stay current that they were many years
(12:02):
ago when we had the habit of only updating every
other year because it was just new model your information.
Now it's a whole different world and it's really important
to have that current update and subscription on your tour.
Now you're now you are solving problems on cars we
couldn't get into because the manufacturer changed the software. So
you're making changes to your software to allow us to
(12:23):
get back into that system or to solve a problem,
to fix the car for the customer. So we we
fixed that car and go onto the next one. Uh.
You know, I always used the example. You know, I
recently updated my cell phone and I had to update
my banking app. And right after I did that, my
banking app stopped working. And when I called the bank app,
you know the bank, they said, oh, yeah, the update. Yeah.
(12:45):
I said, okay, well here we're sending out a patch
because here's the software up update to the to the
app update. They're updating it for the new operating system
because from the cell phone manufacturer, you needed this, we
had that. Now you need this to go with that
and that and this. And cars are the same way
in that sense. And if you don't have a current
subscription with autel or whoever your scan to a manufacturer is,
(13:09):
you may not be able to fix that car. Worse,
you may get into the middle of it and be
stuck halfway through a repair process. Yeah. Absolutely. And another
example is I mentioned the AD system, the driver assistance systems.
The car manufacturer may figure out over time that the
way they aimed the radar or the camera, it might spot, ah,
(13:31):
what large side of a bridge of a bridge as
you're going underneath it when you're doing an underpass, and
react to it. So they'll adjust that calibration or the
heightened set up information for it. And if you haven't
kept your scanner up to date, you're doing the adjustment
to that car. To the old information that the manufacturer
figured out didn't work as well, and so you're using
(13:52):
data information and you're not really doing the right job
for your customer either. Do you see the need for
software increasing? I know the answer to this, Mike uh
As as the electric car becomes more and more predominant,
is it just going to become something we absolutely have
to have now to work, we have to be cutting edge,
to work on cutting edge, so to speak. Yeah, absolutely,
(14:13):
we're going to see it, especially getting into some of
the electric vehicles that are leading technology UM. Tesla is
a brand that we all know about. Tesla's had multiple
recalls or things that they've adapted and fixed that they
actually do through what they call an over the air programming,
so you haven't even had to take your car into
the dealership to get the software updated in that car UM.
(14:37):
So that we're going to see more and more of
that kind of technology. A way to think about it
is parts and sensors that we changed ten, twelve, fifteen
years ago on a car to fix a problem. Now
they simply adjust how the computer takes the data from
that sensor, and so they're able to execute a repair
or do a technical service bullet and simply through programming
(14:59):
or adjustments that are made through a stand tool or
diagnostic connection. And they're gonna do that probably while the
car is home charging or you know, not an operation
for X number of time period, and you'll you'll never
be the wiser, although I guess they'll give you some
kind of a notification UM to let you know. Hey,
Mike before I let you go, real quick, I hear
(15:19):
good things about you. Guys have made some changes now
in the area of battery testing. Um. Didn't you just
you just came out with a new battery test tool
that does some really neat things for the industry. Can
you talk about that real quick for a minute? Sure? Absolutely,
round So yeah, ONTIL introduced last year a line of
battery testers, and what we did is similar to what
(15:41):
we've done with the tire pressure monitoring systems and tools. Um.
Of course, we introduced state of the art using what
they call adaptive conductance. So rather than doing the old
load style testing UM that we all were familiar with
the year for years that removed energy from the battery
and doing the test, this conductance testing kind of uses
an algorithm and a signal going through and across the
(16:02):
battery more accurate. It can test a discharge battery. Uh,
it can give more accurate results, adapted to it and
able to be repeatable. So we've used that technology that
has been out there. The adaptive side of it is
that we do change that algorithm based on both the
batteries temperature and state of charge, so it's a much
more accurate test. But today's cars, as we've been talking
(16:24):
about technology, you can't simply just swap a battery anymore.
There are resets to the computers and other things that
have to be done, and the car's computers are actually
controlling the charge from the alternator. So you have to
register the fact that you've installed a new battery so
that that alternator charging pattern changes for a new battery
(16:45):
versus an old one, or your battery life when your
new one will be compromised that might overcharge it. So
the technology of scanduls had to be used along with
a battery tester to do this service. What Autil has
done is combined our knowledge of doing die agnostics computer
resets with our battery test technology so that a single
(17:05):
device or BT six O eight enables the technician to
perform the battery test and a starter alternator test on
voltage and then helps them through the steps of doing
the computer resets and registering the battery. We've put it
all together in a single device for them to give
them a easy solution. We've even put in menus there
(17:25):
that will tell them the location of the battery and
the correct battery size and capacity based on the bc
I Battery Council Internationals recommendations for the model. You guys
are so cutting edge, it just it just amazes me.
And I love that your comment, and I've been preaching
that lately. You just don't throw a battery in a
car anymore. It's the there's so much more involved in
(17:46):
it that um, it's just it's just it's really become
a process, and that's by virtue of the technology, and
there's just no way around it. Micah, was a pleasure, sir.
It was an absolute pleasure to have you. If the
listeners are looking for more information, can you tell us
the website if it's www dot show a u g
el dot com. Cool beans. We look forward to good
things from you guys to continue and as always, it's
(18:09):
been a pleasure. Michaell talk again. Real soon you have
a good rest of the day. You bet you two,
and thank you Ron. You're very welcome, sir. I'm running
any in the Car Doctor. I'll be back right after this.
Don't go away, welcome back when name of the Car Doctor.
(18:54):
You know, I know the digital age is upon us,
or has been upon us for quite some time. And
we're talking about technology today as always, and you know
it's you'll find all your answers online or in the
Google machine, is we like to say sometimes, But you
know what, there is something really nice about sitting down
and curling up and cuddling up with a nice hardcover
book about cars, and it might be your favorite. And uh,
(19:16):
this one might be your favorite because it's the complete
book of Ford Mustang. And here to talk to us
about it is Mike Muller. Mike's no no, no stranger
to this show. We've had Mike gone before and I'm
glad to have him back. Mike. How are you today? Oh? Fantastic,
glad to be back. Um, you know you've been doing this.
Let me give you some some of your credits out here.
You're a lifetime car enthusiast. You've been doing this since
ninety one. As far as being an automotive photojournalist. Um,
(19:39):
and you've written so many books and so many different
topics about the automotive industry, the classics and so forth.
What inspired you to write a book about Mustang? Because
was there a Mustang in Mike Muller's history somewhere? It
has to be. I was gonna say, you know, I
know the this is about the Mustang book. But I've
(20:01):
always loved all cars, and even in my career of ownership,
I never really have picked on any one brand, although
I have owned a lot of Fords. That that that's
just the luck of the draw. But but let's see
how my my sister was a year older me, and
her first car was a sixty five Mustang. My brother
(20:22):
had a sixty seven that he gave to me that
I drove through college. And of course they were just
so plentiful, I mean they were they were good used
cars back then. Ums. It's hard to believe they were
so plentiful at one point, right, Um No, Well, gosh,
they nineteen sixty six. They spit out six hundred thousand
of them, you know, So if you just followed along
(20:45):
that that it was, it's understandable they were building, they
were selling a lot of them back then. Yeah, and
they showed up The Mustang started sixty four and a half, correct,
it was. It was a big deal at the World's
Fair in New York. Into the book and um, the
way you've documented the history. If you're a Mustang guy,
this is the book to have or Mustang Gal, Mustang
(21:07):
Sally right. Um, you know it's it's when when when
you when you put together a book like this, you
know what's the because I can look at it in
the color pictures, in the way everything is laid out,
and it's so chronological, and there's just so many little
tidbits packed in there, things that you just couldn't possibly know.
The average person couldn't possibly know. Where do you find
all this information? And how do you come up with
(21:28):
all these stories? Well, um, part of it is is,
like you said, I've had a lot of experience at
this and actually my career goes back to my college days.
Is when I became a freelancer. My graduated University of
Illinois and eighty three with a journalism degree, and I
was selling magazine pieces to our car pieces to car magazines. Then, um,
(21:52):
I found out that God, life could be easy. I
didn't know that people would buy that stuff. But no, always,
my you know, my only my everyone and my family
were car guys. My dad taught us mechanics and and um,
so you know, I started learning about cars right away.
And then of course, once I uh, you know, I
I fell in love with cards I saw on the street.
(22:13):
I pardon me for saying this, but my earliest memory
before the age of five is when I saw the
first nineteen six Corvette Stingray. And I don't remember anything else,
but I remember seeing that car as a four year
old kid. But yeah, must thing's just one of them.
I loved doll cars and so got My brothers were
(22:34):
car guys, and they started learning about them, and we
started learning about them before we were old enough to
learn anything else. How long did it take you to
write the book? Oh, gosh, well this this book was
originally put together for oh seven, Um, and I can't recall.
I've done so many books. I can't recall. It's a
(22:55):
couple of months of work. But but again, I had
been writing for a Lost Thing monthly magazine. I worked
there when I was young. Um, I had written so
much stuff over the years that once the time came to,
uh do this book, it's just pulling things together and
refining and digging some more. Um, I had the groundwork laid.
Let's put it that way, right, because this is the
(23:17):
updated book. You this book originally came out a while ago,
and now this is the updated version of Right. You've
you've got additions and fresh fresh info, French fresh pictures. Uh.
You know, it's it's it's just basically another book in
a sense. It's it's an add on to it, um
to to what you originally had. And I think that's great.
You know what, just keep the information flowing because, as
(23:40):
I said, there's nothing better than sitting down with a
book on a rainy day and a cup of coffee
and just looking at pictures. There's something, you know, very
settling about that. There's something romantic almost, there's a mystique
to it. Uh to get to know the book and
see what's out there. Um, you know it makes a
great doorstop. Yeah, if it ever it gets or I
could hit Tom in the head with it. Um if
(24:01):
the board, Um, you know, wake up tom My producer.
But you know he does fall asleep on the show.
But that's only because I'm so boring to listen to,
so I know how that goes. Um, you know when
you were talking to Ford, you know Ford, I'm sure
it was very cooperative because of your name and what
you're what you're writing about. Um, did you see some
(24:23):
things or learn some things about the Mustang that that
surprised you that you weren't aware of at the time. Well,
over the years, like to say, the different de renditions
of this, yeah, I've I've had the opportunity, um, back
when I was younger and still really heavily involved in
in in the automotive journalism where I'm kind of retired
now so I'm not in the loop like I used
(24:43):
to be. But they used to let me. I used
to have friends up there, and uh, you know, I
could tell you some stories, but then I'd have to
kill you. Well, oh, tell us anybody come on, Mike. Oh,
I mean I got to see some of the cars
before release. I remember when the g T five hundred,
I had friends at Ford Special Vehicle Team and it
was under development and I was up there to photograph
(25:06):
something else. I forget an engine, and they had to
take me into the into the deep dark laboratory, and
they made me promise not to use my camera and
be not speak to anyone I knew, And of course
a lot of times you did have to sign things. Yeah,
And I used to get cars to drive. The one
(25:28):
year I got a ninety six I think it was
a ninety Cobra convertible, the only one in existence. It
was a pre production model. And um, I was driving
across country and I actually stopped at a gas station
out in Texas, West Texas, and some Department of Interior
cop pulled over and he actually knew what it was.
(25:48):
He says, you can't be driving, that it's not out yet.
You know. I was kind of impressed that he knew
enough about cars to recognize this was a brand new model.
Was it? Was it? What what made him ployee over
the lack of life? Oh? No, I was sitting at
a gas station. The funny thing was we were the
only two guys alive out in West Texas. There were
no one else, and I was sitting a gas station.
(26:10):
He had seen me on the interstate and he just
pulled in behind me because he wanted to chat about it.
You know, So what do you what do you drive today? Mike, Um,
I've got a couple of Mustangs today. My girlfriend drives
UT convertible anniversary car that she she ran out and
bought that car new. Looking over my shoulder during the
(26:31):
last update of this book, I had it up on
the screen and she fell in love with it and
went out to the dealership the next day and came
home with a GT convertible fiftieth anniversary car. And I've
got an I've got an OH seven convertible that was
my dad's. It was his retirement kift. He uh. We
lost him last year and he gave me the car
a couple of years ago to keep it in warmer
(26:53):
climbs and and believe it or not, don't laugh out
there in the garage that the vehicle that I drive
to death is an OH four cop car, a Crown
vic Lex Sport that I bought new eighteen years ago
and it's still going strong and again I use it
like a truck. And I just I just can't bear
(27:15):
the thought of not living with a rear drive V eight,
big comfortable car. So listen, I get that, you know what.
To you, it's just an old car. It's it's it's
you know, I'll tell you what. Mike, Sit tight. Let's
let me pull over and take a pause, and we'll
come back and continue our conversation. I'm Ron any of
the Car Doctor. I'm here right now with Mike Muller.
He's written a book, The Complete Book of Ford Mustang.
We'll both return right after this. Don't go away, then,
(27:47):
welcome back. Why name the card doctor? Sitting here chatting
with Mike Muller's always a good conversation. Mike's most recent
book is an update to his book, The Complete Book
of Ford Mustang. Mike, Um, you know there's a there's
a halt following to the Mustang. Fair statement. Yeah has been, Yeah,
(28:07):
always has been. You know, what do you think? And
I don't know this is a fair question to ask,
but you know, Mustang, Camaro, Corvette. Some cars just click
and some cars don't. What is it? What? What is
it that makes a car click? What makes what makes
a Mustang a Mustang? Why does everybody want one? That
(28:30):
wants one? Well, that's that's kind of a tough question
now because you're talking about such aging legacies. Uh um.
You know, the the world is changing, The car world
is changing. Uh Um? God, Like, what we just talked
about when I was a kid, you could love a
car and you could actually go out and buy one
as a kid and work on it. And that's not
(28:52):
the case today. Um. I don't know if we could
replicate what happened when Mustang came out sixty four and
Camaro came out in sixty seven. Times are completely different.
I think what you're talking about is there's the legacy
is still running strong, the memories are still there. How quickly, um,
(29:13):
all the cult followers are dying off? That remains to
be the question. Um. I mean, obviously, you know, internal combustion.
The days are numbered. We're going to be running from
got to figure out something new sometime here soon. Um. Yeah.
So I put it this way, and people will always
take it wrong when I say it, But I'm just
glad that at my age that I'm going to be
(29:34):
gone before things change anymore. Yeah, I can understand that,
Uh you know, but will well, when when this generation goes,
when the generation that loves this Mustang goes, well, the
next generation pick it up, you think, or do they
just see it as something It's just to them, it's
just an overpriced old car. It was dad's car. It
doesn't mean anything to him. Yeah, that's a very good question.
(29:55):
And that's why I consider myself being tooled for this world. U.
I haven't gone out and talked to enough young people. Now.
Most of the young guys I see, I've got a
couple here on my street. The cars they play with
are mostly four cylinders. You know, of course those are
the cars they can afford. Um, you can hot rod
four cylinders and there's there's there's nothing wrong with that
(30:17):
that there's something he said, it's still playing. Yeah, but
that's the cars. That's the Mustangs of today. Um you know, um,
like I said, I had a Mustang when I was
in college when I when I sold it, I sold
it for fifty bucks you know. Yeah, it was a
used up, used car back then. Now, my friend, um My,
one of one of my dearest friends, Jimmy's got an
(30:40):
original sixty six Shelby GT. Three fifty that in nineteen
sixty nine, he was pumping gas at a local service
station and this fellow check that owned it came in
and as Jimmy, hey, do you want to buy this?
And Jimmy said, it was like somebody telling me. My
sisters Raquel Welsh and she needs a date, he said,
I just the new I just I just knew I
(31:01):
had to have the car. I think, without telling tales,
I think Jimmy paid like for it in sixty nine.
And you know, it's just you can't imagine what it's
worth today. It's still an original car. It's all there.
It's um, I get to see it all the time,
I get to drive it. I get to you know,
and I it's so different than the newer performance cars.
(31:25):
You know, a news Shelby from Ford or new Mustang
from four. You know, you can do excess of a
hundred miles an hour, one finger on the wheel, air
conditioning on radio blasting. And you know, back then those
cars you were hanging on for dear life and white
knuckle ride all the way you know to the other end. Um,
very very different, very very different. Still a lot of
(31:48):
money in nine. Yeah, but yeah, it is funny to
consider the relative scales of things. But um, there's they're
all dying off now. But so I mentors, the guys
who guided me when I was young, Um, so many
of them. I had the stories of those very same
stories of buying these collector cars when they were still
(32:09):
it's just kind of old cars and a couple of
them that had hung onto them forever up until they died,
and they had original had a friend who had an original,
um a c Cobra um uh Shelby Cobra Ford powered
thing and it was untouched original And I don't know
where that car went. Of course once he died, undoubtedly
(32:30):
went for a fortune. And maybe that's maybe that's what
puts it out of the reach of the kids today
that um, you know, they're just they don't have that
half a million dollars. Hey, Mike the clock. We're up
against the clock. I gotta go. Where can the listeners
go get if they want to purchase the complete history
of the Ford Mustang? Where can they get the book?
And uh, where's it available? Amazon? Well, like any like
(32:51):
anything anything Amazon, But if you want to buy it
from a yeah, Amazon is the best thing. Yeah. If
they stick with that, Okay, we'll leave it there. Um
as always, sir, you're always you're always welcome back and
we appreciate your time. Come on back, Let's do another interview,
write another book and uh, we'll talk about it all right, kiddo.
If I live long enough now you'll live long enough.
Come on, stop thinking like that. I want to see
(33:12):
what the next book is. So all right, you'd be well, Mike.
You'll take good care. Always a pleasure, sir. I'm on
naming the car Doctor. Will be back right after this.
Welcome back, Ron and Nady in the Car Doctor. I
want to say thank you to Mike Mueller regarding his
conversation with us about Mustang, and also to Michael Flink
(33:35):
from autell Um. Two very good conversations that we had today, Uh,
talking about cars and technology and how things have evolved
and changed. Tom, do you remember your um? Do you
remember ever seeing a Mustang as a kid? I mean,
what was your impression? Do you have any memories that
far back? Oh? Yeah, I love that car. Um. Matter
of fact, guy, I used to own a radio station.
(33:57):
We worked for had several old ones, and uh, when
I was six, not sixteen, seventeen years old, I was
working at one of the stations in Hartford and Uh,
he showed up on a real hot day. I was outside.
He tosses me the keys to this convertible classic Mustang
and says, go get a soda. It's like, seriously, Mustang
(34:19):
was gorgeous and there there was just there was something,
you know, and about it. I remember my father's best friend,
and I'm so now I'm going back, right my dad,
Uh he was Harry, and my father had a friend Seymour,
and they were these two were like they were sort
of like Fred and Barney or Ralph and Norton, all right,
(34:39):
a couple of Brooklyn boys. And uh, they were mechanics
out at LaGuardia Airport. Idlewhile I'm sorry, idlewhile idle, while
I don't want to Leoguardia. I'm trying to remember now.
I think it was LaGuardia actually, um during the war
and later on they were airline mechanics, and I mean,
wherever these two went, mischief sort of went with it.
And one day one A Seymour showed up at the
(35:01):
house with a brand spanking new sixty eight Mustang convertibly
yellow brown boot, brown gut right bucket seats and took
me off for a ride. We're driving down the highway
and all he's doing is slowing down and putting his
foot through the floor, yelling Getty up, Getty up, Getty up.
Because it's a Mustang. I just want an impression on
a young kid. And here I am talking about cars
(35:21):
and fixing them until the next time I'm running any
in the car doctor looking up saying I gotta go.
Good mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless. See you
Ron and Anian, I've been doing something new where I
actually keep a written journal at the shop every week.
I've been looking through your journal. Why does it say
all work and no play makes Ron a dull? Boys
over and it looks like a movie the Shining. Well,
you know it's just do hit books. You've got the shot,
you mean shining? Do you want to get suited? The
(00:24):
car Doctor. You're filling it up with cooling water or whatever,
engine off and it comes out the bleeder right, correct,
It does not come out the bleeder for the show.
It should, so why does it not? Are you sure
the bleeder is not clogged? Welcome to the radio home
of Ron and Anian, the Car Doctor. Since this is
where car owners the world overturned to for their definitive
(00:46):
opinion on automotive repair. If your mechanics giving you a
busy signal, pick up the phone and call in the
garage to orders are open, but I am here to
take your calls at eight five five five six and
now running. There is one absolute in order repair, and
it's an absolute that just you can't top it, and
(01:08):
that is that technology is going to continue to evolve
and no pun intended drive the business it's gonna make
it either easy or difficult, depending upon your perspective and
depending upon whether or not you're equipped and ready for it.
I recently heard some rumblings going on regarding Chrysler, for example,
(01:30):
that and it's no secret at this point that you
have to have a secure gateway to get into Chrysler
via scan tool technology, and some of the scan tool
companies are struggling with it. One of the leaders in
this one of the guys, some of a group of guys,
I should say it like that that have sort of
defined this package as it approaches the industry. The guys
(01:50):
over at Autel and UM, we've reached out to them
as always working with them as we do. When we're
talking once again with Michael Flinky, is the director over
there for diagnostic, battery testing and mobilizer and all sorts
of good things that ought to tell on the diagnostics sign.
We're glad to have him back, Mike. Welcome back, sir,
Thank you, I'm glad to be here. UM. There's a
(02:10):
lot right Chrysler started out as about two years ago,
you guys made the formal announcement. I think you were
the first to secure the gateway access for the automotive
aftermarket to allow shops to speak to Chrysler vehicles by
registering their tools and the process so forth. But it's
getting kicked up a notch again, isn't it? Is that
the rumor that I heard? Not really. We were one
(02:32):
of the first three UM to come in with it.
There's quite a few now that are starting to get in. UM,
but it's still it's just the shops, I think, and
the technicians are starting to get used to the idea
and they're starting to run into more and more of
these cars. UM. Chrysler started the gateways with some models,
and so as these vehicles begin to age out of
(02:55):
that manufacturer's warranty, the independent repair shops and the technicians
are now starting to see them and having to deal
with that gateway module, and so we're starting to hear
more and more of them asking the question, UM, but
it's a it's a pretty solid process at this point.
Can you take us back, what what created this? And
is this a Christler only thing or other manufacturers going
(03:17):
to require this to you know? But yeah, and some
others are getting there. What this really stems from? If
anybody remembers back in February, UH sixty minutes had an
article they did UM with a couple of white hat
hackers down in Florida that showed that you could actually
use the connected part of a car, between the bluetooth
(03:37):
and wireless that we're getting into day's cars, to be
able to get into the diagnostics and the computer systems
and actually be able to mess with things like automatic breaking,
UM your power steering. And so from that hack attempt
that was actually successful that they showed UM the car
(03:58):
manufacturers and even the government out into saying, hey, we've
got to find a way to secure these cars. As
we add more technology and safety systems, more of this
connected vehicle, we've got to have a way to protect it.
And so that's what kind of led to this. The
vehicle that was a subject of that article was a Jeep,
so Chrysler was one of the first to jump into
(04:18):
the fray since it was their vehicle that got the
bad publicity, if you will, from the article UM. Since then,
Nissan started in with the Center and Rogue. They're now
working with a gateway module UH, and they actually haven't
come up with their solution unlike what Chrysler has finally
come up with on. There's um Ford's dabbling in it.
(04:40):
Uh in some of the things they've got. Uh they
aren't to a full gateway module of the same style
as these, but they're actually starting to get some. We'll
see more car manufacturers starting to do this as that
concern comes up. I guess, I guess as the car
just you know, if it can become more of a
rolling computer, as it becomes more of a rolling computer,
we've got to have a way to secure it. We've
(05:01):
got to put a way to prevent hackers from taking
control and as that car is self driving, to prevent
it from doing something wrong. The cuckoo could create a problem, right, absolutely, Yeah,
that's it. It's it's it's the ever battle of technology
and convenience that the consumer wants of the car versus
keeping it secure and safe. But Autell, and you know,
(05:24):
I have to bang your drum a little bit because
Autell was I thought you were the first, if not
one of the first. You were the guys that you know,
sort of secured the gateway and showed the industry, Hey,
we're gonna go through. And I believe the name of
the company, Correct me if I'm wrong. Mike is Auto
Off Auto Authority right UM. Auto Auto Off is the
third party for Chrysler that manages the access to these
(05:48):
gateway modules for all of us that build aftermarket scan tools.
AT was actually officially third in line among the car
manufacturers to get there. UM where we got some of
the publicity or the credit it for leading is during there.
From the time Chrysler introduced this until they had the
solution for the automotive aftermarket, there was about a year
(06:08):
and a half gap UM where the industry was kind
of struggling on what do we do? UH, and we
had actually come up with a bypass cable has an
interim measure for technicians to use. Involved a lot of work.
Wasn't a perfect solution, but it was something until the
Auto Off issue came up from Chrysler and became a
method that we could use. Now, if a shop out
(06:31):
there has a tool, and it doesn't matter if it's
an all tell or whatever, but they want to get
into Chrysler, UM, it's a matter of walk us through that.
That's it's a simple process at this point, right it is.
It's kind of a two step process. So, uh, step
one is for the technician, the mechanic to register with
auto off and that's a U T O a U
(06:53):
T H for your folks out there, and it's auto
off dot com is their website, and the registration is
really simple. You're simply giving them your first and last
name and an email address and then creating a password.
Obviously they email you in the whole verification of are
you you? And did you do this? Make sure you're
not some kind of a bot out there on the web.
(07:13):
Once that's done, now the technician has an auto off
i D. Step two is they have to say if
they're acting as an independent repair technician or are they
part of our member of a shop and the shop
or the technician if he's going independent, then has to
create a auto off account and that's where they have
(07:33):
to actually pay UH. And it's relatively an expensive fifty
dollars a year for a shop to have an auto
off account UM. And within that account, then a technician
who's registered UH can say I'm working for this shop.
The shop managing it can have five technicians plus of
course the shop owner whoever was the lead of the account,
(07:54):
so essentially six technicians in their account, and they can
have up to ten different standard is registered. Once the
accounts created that they've paid for and technician assigned, then
the manager for that shop where the owner will then
register the tools by serial number and brand with auto
off and as long as it's an approved model and
(08:14):
brand of scand tool, then that will give him the
access to it. What happens that at that point is
when you go into one of these Chrysler cars, the
tool will ask you to log in with your auto
off I D and password. You do that, the whole
process is done. You do have to be connected the internet.
(08:35):
The car basically gets the access codes from the auto
off website. If it's an approved tool, tells it it's
allowed to go. And once that connection is established, at
that point you don't even have to remain on the internet.
So a technician can take a car on a test
drive as long as he doesn't disconnect from the car.
Any time you disconnected, Radio Cup, you've got to do
that access process again and start the process all over again. Um.
(09:00):
I cheated Mike, and I went ahead to the autel
dot com website and I have to say, you've got
a very nice you know, you guys did a lot
of good work there. You've laid out a very nice procedure.
You explain it in detail everything you just said in
more um with pictures and explanations. And so if there's
any technicians out there, any shop owners out there that
are trying to register their tools, and hopefully they're hotels right, um,
(09:24):
you know we uh, you've kind of got the process
all laid out. Now. What one of the other things
I just wanted to cover if I could today with
you is I had heard a rumor that some of
the scan tool manufacturers are are looking to do some
things regarding um uh. If subscriptions aren't current, they may
(09:45):
change the way guys approach the Chrysler gateway. And I'll
tell you what. Let's pull over and take a pause.
We'll answer that question when we come back. If maybe
it's a yes, maybe it's a no, but whatever it is,
let's do when we get back. I'm here today with
Michael Flink of autel ron and any in the car
doctorate your service and will be back right after this.
Don't go away, that's right. If you call and we're
(10:13):
not live, you can leave a message and we'll call
you back to get you on the air with RONO
nine zero zero. Speaking of Ron, There he is, and
welcome back. We're here talking with Michael Flink of Autel Diagnostics.
Mike um let me ask the question a different way,
so I've when we left, I was talking about I'd
heard a rumor that the industry is going to require
(10:35):
current subscriptions to maintain a link to things such as
the Christis Secure gateway, and you know, it probably wasn't
a fair comment to say, is that fair or not?
In thinking about it, probably the concern is that everybody
needs to have their scan tool's current because they're missing
out on certain things that might otherwise not let them
and help them fix the car. Right. Well, yeah, that's
(10:58):
absolutely true round and to your point with the UH
Chrysler service and there's other ones, KEYA has an encryption
code piece that we've got built into the autails, but
it requires a connection to the same server that is
where the update subscriptions are done. So you do have
to have that current subscription in order to get that
(11:19):
access through the server and then to Chrysler's auto author
for the KEYA encryption and other car manufactures to it.
But you make a great point with this constant change.
If the software in your tool isn't the latest software.
They really can't allow that access to these sites and
encryptions because they've got to make sure what's accessing the
(11:40):
car is one correct and and changes are happening today
in this software and things that they're doing with things
like aids, the driver assistant systems and that where even
older model cars are having changes as the manufacturers adjust
things for these pieces in this technology where updates are
more important to stay current that they were many years
(12:02):
ago when we had the habit of only updating every
other year because it was just new model your information.
Now it's a whole different world and it's really important
to have that current update and subscription on your tour.
Now you're now you are solving problems on cars we
couldn't get into because the manufacturer changed the software. So
you're making changes to your software to allow us to
(12:23):
get back into that system or to solve a problem,
to fix the car for the customer. So we we
fixed that car and go onto the next one. Uh.
You know, I always used the example. You know, I
recently updated my cell phone and I had to update
my banking app. And right after I did that, my
banking app stopped working. And when I called the bank app,
you know the bank, they said, oh, yeah, the update. Yeah.
(12:45):
I said, okay, well here we're sending out a patch
because here's the software up update to the to the
app update. They're updating it for the new operating system
because from the cell phone manufacturer, you needed this, we
had that. Now you need this to go with that
and that and this. And cars are the same way
in that sense. And if you don't have a current
subscription with autel or whoever your scan to a manufacturer is,
(13:09):
you may not be able to fix that car. Worse,
you may get into the middle of it and be
stuck halfway through a repair process. Yeah. Absolutely. And another
example is I mentioned the AD system, the driver assistance systems.
The car manufacturer may figure out over time that the
way they aimed the radar or the camera, it might spot, ah,
(13:31):
what large side of a bridge of a bridge as
you're going underneath it when you're doing an underpass, and
react to it. So they'll adjust that calibration or the
heightened set up information for it. And if you haven't
kept your scanner up to date, you're doing the adjustment
to that car. To the old information that the manufacturer
figured out didn't work as well, and so you're using
(13:52):
data information and you're not really doing the right job
for your customer either. Do you see the need for
software increasing? I know the answer to this, Mike uh
As as the electric car becomes more and more predominant,
is it just going to become something we absolutely have
to have now to work, we have to be cutting edge,
to work on cutting edge, so to speak. Yeah, absolutely,
(14:13):
we're going to see it, especially getting into some of
the electric vehicles that are leading technology UM. Tesla is
a brand that we all know about. Tesla's had multiple
recalls or things that they've adapted and fixed that they
actually do through what they call an over the air programming,
so you haven't even had to take your car into
the dealership to get the software updated in that car UM.
(14:37):
So that we're going to see more and more of
that kind of technology. A way to think about it
is parts and sensors that we changed ten, twelve, fifteen
years ago on a car to fix a problem. Now
they simply adjust how the computer takes the data from
that sensor, and so they're able to execute a repair
or do a technical service bullet and simply through programming
(14:59):
or adjustments that are made through a stand tool or
diagnostic connection. And they're gonna do that probably while the
car is home charging or you know, not an operation
for X number of time period, and you'll you'll never
be the wiser, although I guess they'll give you some
kind of a notification UM to let you know. Hey,
Mike before I let you go, real quick, I hear
(15:19):
good things about you. Guys have made some changes now
in the area of battery testing. Um. Didn't you just
you just came out with a new battery test tool
that does some really neat things for the industry. Can
you talk about that real quick for a minute? Sure? Absolutely,
round So yeah, ONTIL introduced last year a line of
battery testers, and what we did is similar to what
(15:41):
we've done with the tire pressure monitoring systems and tools. Um.
Of course, we introduced state of the art using what
they call adaptive conductance. So rather than doing the old
load style testing UM that we all were familiar with
the year for years that removed energy from the battery
and doing the test, this conductance testing kind of uses
an algorithm and a signal going through and across the
(16:02):
battery more accurate. It can test a discharge battery. Uh,
it can give more accurate results, adapted to it and
able to be repeatable. So we've used that technology that
has been out there. The adaptive side of it is
that we do change that algorithm based on both the
batteries temperature and state of charge, so it's a much
more accurate test. But today's cars, as we've been talking
(16:24):
about technology, you can't simply just swap a battery anymore.
There are resets to the computers and other things that
have to be done, and the car's computers are actually
controlling the charge from the alternator. So you have to
register the fact that you've installed a new battery so
that that alternator charging pattern changes for a new battery
(16:45):
versus an old one, or your battery life when your
new one will be compromised that might overcharge it. So
the technology of scanduls had to be used along with
a battery tester to do this service. What Autil has
done is combined our knowledge of doing die agnostics computer
resets with our battery test technology so that a single
(17:05):
device or BT six O eight enables the technician to
perform the battery test and a starter alternator test on
voltage and then helps them through the steps of doing
the computer resets and registering the battery. We've put it
all together in a single device for them to give
them a easy solution. We've even put in menus there
(17:25):
that will tell them the location of the battery and
the correct battery size and capacity based on the bc
I Battery Council Internationals recommendations for the model. You guys
are so cutting edge, it just it just amazes me.
And I love that your comment, and I've been preaching
that lately. You just don't throw a battery in a
car anymore. It's the there's so much more involved in
(17:46):
it that um, it's just it's just it's really become
a process, and that's by virtue of the technology, and
there's just no way around it. Micah, was a pleasure, sir.
It was an absolute pleasure to have you. If the
listeners are looking for more information, can you tell us
the website if it's www dot show a u g
el dot com. Cool beans. We look forward to good
things from you guys to continue and as always, it's
(18:09):
been a pleasure. Michaell talk again. Real soon you have
a good rest of the day. You bet you two,
and thank you Ron. You're very welcome, sir. I'm running
any in the Car Doctor. I'll be back right after this.
Don't go away, welcome back when name of the Car Doctor.
(18:54):
You know, I know the digital age is upon us,
or has been upon us for quite some time. And
we're talking about technology today as always, and you know
it's you'll find all your answers online or in the
Google machine, is we like to say sometimes, But you
know what, there is something really nice about sitting down
and curling up and cuddling up with a nice hardcover
book about cars, and it might be your favorite. And uh,
(19:16):
this one might be your favorite because it's the complete
book of Ford Mustang. And here to talk to us
about it is Mike Muller. Mike's no no, no stranger
to this show. We've had Mike gone before and I'm
glad to have him back. Mike. How are you today? Oh? Fantastic,
glad to be back. Um, you know you've been doing this.
Let me give you some some of your credits out here.
You're a lifetime car enthusiast. You've been doing this since
ninety one. As far as being an automotive photojournalist. Um,
(19:39):
and you've written so many books and so many different
topics about the automotive industry, the classics and so forth.
What inspired you to write a book about Mustang? Because
was there a Mustang in Mike Muller's history somewhere? It
has to be. I was gonna say, you know, I
know the this is about the Mustang book. But I've
(20:01):
always loved all cars, and even in my career of ownership,
I never really have picked on any one brand, although
I have owned a lot of Fords. That that that's
just the luck of the draw. But but let's see
how my my sister was a year older me, and
her first car was a sixty five Mustang. My brother
(20:22):
had a sixty seven that he gave to me that
I drove through college. And of course they were just
so plentiful, I mean they were they were good used
cars back then. Ums. It's hard to believe they were
so plentiful at one point, right, Um No, Well, gosh,
they nineteen sixty six. They spit out six hundred thousand
of them, you know, So if you just followed along
(20:45):
that that it was, it's understandable they were building, they
were selling a lot of them back then. Yeah, and
they showed up The Mustang started sixty four and a half, correct,
it was. It was a big deal at the World's
Fair in New York. Into the book and um, the
way you've documented the history. If you're a Mustang guy,
this is the book to have or Mustang Gal, Mustang
(21:07):
Sally right. Um, you know it's it's when when when
you when you put together a book like this, you
know what's the because I can look at it in
the color pictures, in the way everything is laid out,
and it's so chronological, and there's just so many little
tidbits packed in there, things that you just couldn't possibly know.
The average person couldn't possibly know. Where do you find
all this information? And how do you come up with
(21:28):
all these stories? Well, um, part of it is is,
like you said, I've had a lot of experience at
this and actually my career goes back to my college days.
Is when I became a freelancer. My graduated University of
Illinois and eighty three with a journalism degree, and I
was selling magazine pieces to our car pieces to car magazines. Then, um,
(21:52):
I found out that God, life could be easy. I
didn't know that people would buy that stuff. But no, always,
my you know, my only my everyone and my family
were car guys. My dad taught us mechanics and and um,
so you know, I started learning about cars right away.
And then of course, once I uh, you know, I
I fell in love with cards I saw on the street.
(22:13):
I pardon me for saying this, but my earliest memory
before the age of five is when I saw the
first nineteen six Corvette Stingray. And I don't remember anything else,
but I remember seeing that car as a four year
old kid. But yeah, must thing's just one of them.
I loved doll cars and so got My brothers were
(22:34):
car guys, and they started learning about them, and we
started learning about them before we were old enough to
learn anything else. How long did it take you to
write the book? Oh, gosh, well this this book was
originally put together for oh seven, Um, and I can't recall.
I've done so many books. I can't recall. It's a
(22:55):
couple of months of work. But but again, I had
been writing for a Lost Thing monthly magazine. I worked
there when I was young. Um, I had written so
much stuff over the years that once the time came to,
uh do this book, it's just pulling things together and
refining and digging some more. Um, I had the groundwork laid.
Let's put it that way, right, because this is the
(23:17):
updated book. You this book originally came out a while ago,
and now this is the updated version of Right. You've
you've got additions and fresh fresh info, French fresh pictures. Uh.
You know, it's it's it's just basically another book in
a sense. It's it's an add on to it, um
to to what you originally had. And I think that's great.
You know what, just keep the information flowing because, as
(23:40):
I said, there's nothing better than sitting down with a
book on a rainy day and a cup of coffee
and just looking at pictures. There's something, you know, very
settling about that. There's something romantic almost, there's a mystique
to it. Uh to get to know the book and
see what's out there. Um, you know it makes a
great doorstop. Yeah, if it ever it gets or I
could hit Tom in the head with it. Um if
(24:01):
the board, Um, you know, wake up tom My producer.
But you know he does fall asleep on the show.
But that's only because I'm so boring to listen to,
so I know how that goes. Um, you know when
you were talking to Ford, you know Ford, I'm sure
it was very cooperative because of your name and what
you're what you're writing about. Um, did you see some
(24:23):
things or learn some things about the Mustang that that
surprised you that you weren't aware of at the time. Well,
over the years, like to say, the different de renditions
of this, yeah, I've I've had the opportunity, um, back
when I was younger and still really heavily involved in
in in the automotive journalism where I'm kind of retired
now so I'm not in the loop like I used
(24:43):
to be. But they used to let me. I used
to have friends up there, and uh, you know, I
could tell you some stories, but then I'd have to
kill you. Well, oh, tell us anybody come on, Mike. Oh,
I mean I got to see some of the cars
before release. I remember when the g T five hundred,
I had friends at Ford Special Vehicle Team and it
was under development and I was up there to photograph
(25:06):
something else. I forget an engine, and they had to
take me into the into the deep dark laboratory, and
they made me promise not to use my camera and
be not speak to anyone I knew, And of course
a lot of times you did have to sign things. Yeah,
And I used to get cars to drive. The one
(25:28):
year I got a ninety six I think it was
a ninety Cobra convertible, the only one in existence. It
was a pre production model. And um, I was driving
across country and I actually stopped at a gas station
out in Texas, West Texas, and some Department of Interior
cop pulled over and he actually knew what it was.
(25:48):
He says, you can't be driving, that it's not out yet.
You know. I was kind of impressed that he knew
enough about cars to recognize this was a brand new model.
Was it? Was it? What what made him ployee over
the lack of life? Oh? No, I was sitting at
a gas station. The funny thing was we were the
only two guys alive out in West Texas. There were
no one else, and I was sitting a gas station.
(26:10):
He had seen me on the interstate and he just
pulled in behind me because he wanted to chat about it.
You know, So what do you what do you drive today? Mike, Um,
I've got a couple of Mustangs today. My girlfriend drives
UT convertible anniversary car that she she ran out and
bought that car new. Looking over my shoulder during the
(26:31):
last update of this book, I had it up on
the screen and she fell in love with it and
went out to the dealership the next day and came
home with a GT convertible fiftieth anniversary car. And I've
got an I've got an OH seven convertible that was
my dad's. It was his retirement kift. He uh. We
lost him last year and he gave me the car
a couple of years ago to keep it in warmer
(26:53):
climbs and and believe it or not, don't laugh out
there in the garage that the vehicle that I drive
to death is an OH four cop car, a Crown
vic Lex Sport that I bought new eighteen years ago
and it's still going strong and again I use it
like a truck. And I just I just can't bear
(27:15):
the thought of not living with a rear drive V eight,
big comfortable car. So listen, I get that, you know what.
To you, it's just an old car. It's it's it's
you know, I'll tell you what. Mike, Sit tight. Let's
let me pull over and take a pause, and we'll
come back and continue our conversation. I'm Ron any of
the Car Doctor. I'm here right now with Mike Muller.
He's written a book, The Complete Book of Ford Mustang.
We'll both return right after this. Don't go away, then,
(27:47):
welcome back. Why name the card doctor? Sitting here chatting
with Mike Muller's always a good conversation. Mike's most recent
book is an update to his book, The Complete Book
of Ford Mustang. Mike, Um, you know there's a there's
a halt following to the Mustang. Fair statement. Yeah has been, Yeah,
(28:07):
always has been. You know, what do you think? And
I don't know this is a fair question to ask,
but you know, Mustang, Camaro, Corvette. Some cars just click
and some cars don't. What is it? What? What is
it that makes a car click? What makes what makes
a Mustang a Mustang? Why does everybody want one? That
(28:30):
wants one? Well, that's that's kind of a tough question
now because you're talking about such aging legacies. Uh um.
You know, the the world is changing, The car world
is changing. Uh Um? God, Like, what we just talked
about when I was a kid, you could love a
car and you could actually go out and buy one
as a kid and work on it. And that's not
(28:52):
the case today. Um. I don't know if we could
replicate what happened when Mustang came out sixty four and
Camaro came out in sixty seven. Times are completely different.
I think what you're talking about is there's the legacy
is still running strong, the memories are still there. How quickly, um,
(29:13):
all the cult followers are dying off? That remains to
be the question. Um. I mean, obviously, you know, internal combustion.
The days are numbered. We're going to be running from
got to figure out something new sometime here soon. Um. Yeah.
So I put it this way, and people will always
take it wrong when I say it, But I'm just
glad that at my age that I'm going to be
(29:34):
gone before things change anymore. Yeah, I can understand that,
Uh you know, but will well, when when this generation goes,
when the generation that loves this Mustang goes, well, the
next generation pick it up, you think, or do they
just see it as something It's just to them, it's
just an overpriced old car. It was dad's car. It
doesn't mean anything to him. Yeah, that's a very good question.
(29:55):
And that's why I consider myself being tooled for this world. U.
I haven't gone out and talked to enough young people. Now.
Most of the young guys I see, I've got a
couple here on my street. The cars they play with
are mostly four cylinders. You know, of course those are
the cars they can afford. Um, you can hot rod
four cylinders and there's there's there's nothing wrong with that
(30:17):
that there's something he said, it's still playing. Yeah, but
that's the cars. That's the Mustangs of today. Um you know, um,
like I said, I had a Mustang when I was
in college when I when I sold it, I sold
it for fifty bucks you know. Yeah, it was a
used up, used car back then. Now, my friend, um My,
one of one of my dearest friends, Jimmy's got an
(30:40):
original sixty six Shelby GT. Three fifty that in nineteen
sixty nine, he was pumping gas at a local service
station and this fellow check that owned it came in
and as Jimmy, hey, do you want to buy this?
And Jimmy said, it was like somebody telling me. My
sisters Raquel Welsh and she needs a date, he said,
I just the new I just I just knew I
(31:01):
had to have the car. I think, without telling tales,
I think Jimmy paid like for it in sixty nine.
And you know, it's just you can't imagine what it's
worth today. It's still an original car. It's all there.
It's um, I get to see it all the time,
I get to drive it. I get to you know,
and I it's so different than the newer performance cars.
(31:25):
You know, a news Shelby from Ford or new Mustang
from four. You know, you can do excess of a
hundred miles an hour, one finger on the wheel, air
conditioning on radio blasting. And you know, back then those
cars you were hanging on for dear life and white
knuckle ride all the way you know to the other end. Um,
very very different, very very different. Still a lot of
(31:48):
money in nine. Yeah, but yeah, it is funny to
consider the relative scales of things. But um, there's they're
all dying off now. But so I mentors, the guys
who guided me when I was young, Um, so many
of them. I had the stories of those very same
stories of buying these collector cars when they were still
(32:09):
it's just kind of old cars and a couple of
them that had hung onto them forever up until they died,
and they had original had a friend who had an original,
um a c Cobra um uh Shelby Cobra Ford powered
thing and it was untouched original And I don't know
where that car went. Of course once he died, undoubtedly
(32:30):
went for a fortune. And maybe that's maybe that's what
puts it out of the reach of the kids today
that um, you know, they're just they don't have that
half a million dollars. Hey, Mike the clock. We're up
against the clock. I gotta go. Where can the listeners
go get if they want to purchase the complete history
of the Ford Mustang? Where can they get the book?
And uh, where's it available? Amazon? Well, like any like
(32:51):
anything anything Amazon, But if you want to buy it
from a yeah, Amazon is the best thing. Yeah. If
they stick with that, Okay, we'll leave it there. Um
as always, sir, you're always you're always welcome back and
we appreciate your time. Come on back, Let's do another interview,
write another book and uh, we'll talk about it all right, kiddo.
If I live long enough now you'll live long enough.
Come on, stop thinking like that. I want to see
(33:12):
what the next book is. So all right, you'd be well, Mike.
You'll take good care. Always a pleasure, sir. I'm on
naming the car Doctor. Will be back right after this.
Welcome back, Ron and Nady in the Car Doctor. I
want to say thank you to Mike Mueller regarding his
conversation with us about Mustang, and also to Michael Flink
(33:35):
from autell Um. Two very good conversations that we had today, Uh,
talking about cars and technology and how things have evolved
and changed. Tom, do you remember your um? Do you
remember ever seeing a Mustang as a kid? I mean,
what was your impression? Do you have any memories that
far back? Oh? Yeah, I love that car. Um. Matter
of fact, guy, I used to own a radio station.
(33:57):
We worked for had several old ones, and uh, when
I was six, not sixteen, seventeen years old, I was
working at one of the stations in Hartford and Uh,
he showed up on a real hot day. I was outside.
He tosses me the keys to this convertible classic Mustang
and says, go get a soda. It's like, seriously, Mustang
(34:19):
was gorgeous and there there was just there was something,
you know, and about it. I remember my father's best friend,
and I'm so now I'm going back, right my dad,
Uh he was Harry, and my father had a friend Seymour,
and they were these two were like they were sort
of like Fred and Barney or Ralph and Norton, all right,
(34:39):
a couple of Brooklyn boys. And uh, they were mechanics
out at LaGuardia Airport. Idlewhile I'm sorry, idlewhile idle, while
I don't want to Leoguardia. I'm trying to remember now.
I think it was LaGuardia actually, um during the war
and later on they were airline mechanics, and I mean,
wherever these two went, mischief sort of went with it.
And one day one A Seymour showed up at the
(35:01):
house with a brand spanking new sixty eight Mustang convertibly
yellow brown boot, brown gut right bucket seats and took
me off for a ride. We're driving down the highway
and all he's doing is slowing down and putting his
foot through the floor, yelling Getty up, Getty up, Getty up.
Because it's a Mustang. I just want an impression on
a young kid. And here I am talking about cars
(35:21):
and fixing them until the next time I'm running any
in the car doctor looking up saying I gotta go.
Good mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless. See you
Host
Ron Ananian
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