Small Car

The hosts welcome Rob Howard, CEO of Kindred Motorworks to the podcast. Kindred restores classic cars, some of which become battery powered in the process. Rob talks about the restoration process, and the level of engineering that is invested in each new model the company adds to its lineup.

Production of the F-150 Lightning was paused back in October, presumably to allow supplies of the truck to level off relative to demand. That pause became permanent this month, with Ford’s formal announcement of the vehicle’s demise.

Though a curiosity today, the Nash Metropolitan was taken seriously in its day. As suggested in the ad seen here, the little Nash likely served families well as a low-cost second car, though may have proven less popular with traveling sales folk—especially those spending much time on the highway.

Jill and Tom welcome Chicago Auto Show Communications Director Jim OBrill to the show. Jim talks about the changing nature of the major auto shows, and what’s on tap for this year’s Chicago event. 

Rolled out in 2024, the Wagoneer S brought Americans their first electric Jeep. Roughly the same size as the maker’s Grand Cherokee, the Wagoneer S also served a similar mission, that of premium midsize crossover. Note that the 2-row electric crossover was not the first Jeep EV. European consumers have had access the compact Jeep Avenger EV since 2023, though that model, not offered with AWD, was not considered for U.S.-market Jeep customers.