102. Imola Motorsports, Servicing Supercars and Euros w/ Dani Platteter

Hello, ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Minnoxide podcast. I'm your host, Harris, aka Minnoxide, man of many automotive aspirations. And I'm here with my co-host, Dan, Mr. Gunnigarage.

Yep.

Man of many Mustangs and one McLaren.

Yeah.

Yeah, we're joking about that on the ride over here. Like, wait, what McLaren's he got?

Yeah.

Don't ask, don't worry about it.

I mean, technically, it was built by the same people, right? Kind of.

Yeah.

Partnership thing.

Yeah. I knew I would mess it up eventually. I forgot to ask, how do you pronounce your first and last name before it up? So you just go by Dani, right?

Yeah, I go by Dani, but my last name is Platteter. So that's T's, that's E's.

People try to do that with my last name. I did it again, the last name thing that I said I wouldn't do 20 episodes ago. It's okay. But anyways, today we are at Imola Motorsports, and we're talking all things related to, I guess, Imola. A lot of people locally know you guys for, I guess, your collaborations with Cars and Coffee, and some of the cool cars, your open house, for example, is one of the go-to shows of every year. Where people will see the Koenigseggs, the Bugattis, various cool things. The singer in the background, the GT4RS over here, which is my personal favorite. I'm going to get some flag for that. But we just kind of wanted to come out here and chat with you guys kind of about what you do and kind of everything in between. So tell us a little bit about yourself.

Yeah. So I kind of started off in the industry world. I basically, at 18, I was helping out at my stepdad's body shop, and eventually I started running that and basically doing all the front end stuff. I've done body work on my own car. You don't want that. No one wants that. It's terrible. But I worked there for about three years and then moved back to this side of town. I actually started here as the receptionist and then decided that was just kind of boring. So I was like, all right, what's next? I'll be a service advisor. And now I worked my way up to GM. So I kind of do a little bit of everything. I still do service advising for the clients that I've known. I've been here for about eight years. So the people that I've known since day one, they're still texting me and we're just like weekends. I'm helping out with wheels and stuff like that. So I still do everything.

I know how those conversations go. Like, hold on, I want to talk to the GM over at a sort of deal.

Yeah.

So then what kind of brought you to Imola then over, I guess, anywhere else at the time?

Yeah, actually, I didn't even realize what Imola was. When I applied here, I thought it was a body shop. So I walked in, I was like, wait, this is way cooler. Like, everything's awesome, because our sign used to say body on it. But yeah, I just kind of started here just for giggles and s****. And I wanted to get more away from a family business and more into something that I could just do on my own. And it kind of blossomed into something that I never thought it would be. And it's great. I come to work every day. I love my job and I have fun. And it's great. It's awesome.

What are some of your favorite aspects? Obviously, the cool cars, like the Porsche race car, for example, here too.

Yeah, I mean, there's I don't think there's any other place in Minnesota that I could drive these cars ever. I could never sit in one. Like the access that it gives me just to like see and be around these cool things is so fun. I like planning the car show. That's my favorite and most stressful part of my job. And just, yeah, like the track cars and stuff like that, like specing out those, like picking the roll cage colors and the harnesses and just kind of more of the customization stuff, like oil changes and all that's necessary.

But I like wheels and exhaust and well, I have a great selection of wheels. My personal favorite is the BBS in there. I forgot what it's called, but like it's like the HR or something. It's the black one. Is that what it is? I don't know.

I think they're all black.

They're going bankrupt.

Don't look at the wall. It was when I was in there too.

Well, you have to. And then did you get the wheels for your Jeep here as well?

Yeah, so I got those from Vossen. So that's kind of like Vossen and Antero we sell the most of. So mine I actually got and they had a bronze that was close. It's actually on that Jeep back there. It's like a Tera bronze and I wanted it specifically to match my trim. So I had a powder coating technologies, take them and powder coat them exactly.

What are some of the shops that you kind of collaborate with around here? You guys don't do the cages yourselves, do you?

We actually, so not for the GT4s, for the GT3s we do.

Okay.

So we actually, we work with Patience Metal Fabrication. So we partnered with them. They make the roadblocks for us, and then we get them painted. We work a lot with powder coating technologies, Midwest Clearbrah, we're like thickest thieves with. We do everything with them. Basically every car that comes in here goes there, too, because they do all of our tint and detailing and Clearbrah. Creative Color does wraps and all of our media stuff. So kind of a lot everywhere. And then we also talked to Ratified a lot. Our owners are pretty close, so it's pretty fun.

Yeah. Yeah, I know Trey was here once upon a time.

He was, he was.

Now he's causing trouble over there at the SLP location, which is where our main studio is. Okay, it's been bothering me for the last 25 minutes. What color is that on the Jeep?

It's Earl Grey.

Okay, gotcha. I just had to get that out of the way because I was going to ask you at some point. Let's just get out of the way now. But yeah, we had the Patience guys on. So we had Brian and Gary on, and that was episode 84. And then we recently had Max Odegaard on. So it's been really fun to work with those guys. Oh yeah. And I think there's something to be said about the level of quality they provide here. Like you guys can trust sending whatever car over there.

Oh yeah. Yeah, I can basically give, like if someone wants something super custom, I can give it to Patience and not be worried that I'm going to lose a customer or they're going to lose a customer. Like I'm like, they're geniuses. They can make anything crazy you can dream up, they can do it if we can't. So it's awesome.

It's ridiculous. Like when we were doing the one with Max, and you're looking closely at like the details, like I've never seen fab work like this in my life.

No, it's definitely a like high-end fab shop. It looks like this place inside of it too. I mean, it's not what you would think for places doing welding and cutting metal and all that stuff would look like.

Actually, that's a good point that you bring that up. It is very organized and clean in here. And it's not like you prepared for me or anything like that because I was here last two weeks ago. And what kind of comes with that, right? Because there's a certain caliber or standard you have to hold yourself to. And I'm sure you're a part of that.

Oh, yeah. I mean, when we were at our old shop, it was huge. And it was very hard to kind of keep clean. Mechanics are mechanics. They're dirty, but they do put away their stuff. But I'm kind of on our we have shop assistants. And basically, their number one job is to keep everything like barefoot every day. I don't want to step on metal. But, yeah, it's just it's just so much better cleaner. And I'm very, very like OCD. I need things to be labeled in their spots. So I think that kind of also helps that I'm here.

So well, I feel like that's a part of for like some mechanics like Dan. I think part of the joy in you working on cars is spending half an hour finding a tool you didn't put away in the right spot.

And if I actually got organized, I could do stuff in half the time. The part of it is I don't have the time to clean up afterwards. I get something done and then it's like out the door. Here we go. We're on our way to an event or a racetrack or something like that. And I'm tossing everything together and out the door. And or I have to go take a kid to soccer or volleyball or whatever it is.

OK, I have to ask, what's your favorite like soccer mom? Because I'm looking at this Bentayga back here, right?

Oh, like a soccer mom car. Oh, gosh, I would probably say like. I mean, the Bentaygas are cool. I'm just I'm just such a Rolls Royce girl. Oh, really?

OK, it's like the Coleman.

Yeah, I would I would do a colonel or like a G 63 AMG. Like the four squares are awesome, but there's like none on the road anymore because they all got recalled, which is a bummer. Yeah. Yeah, we put an exhaust on one and it went back right away. So I don't know what they're doing there. But I would say, yeah, like a colonel or a G 63. Those are pretty, pretty b*****. Range Rover is just to everyone has them.

That's fair.

Yeah.

Yeah. They're a dime a dozen.

Yeah.

I mean, that's the same time, too. Like you got to respect like the long body range rovers.

They're nice, but yeah.

So then what are some of the favorite things that have come through here? Right. Because, like, as you mentioned earlier, you get to kind of drive or check some of these things out. Is there anything that kind of comes to mind that it's like that's your favorite or just while I experience that sort of moment?

I mean, the Bugattis are really cool. I love them. Like the craftsmanship is amazing, but I'm a Porsche girlie to heart. And it's going to be a Porsche. It's going to be a singer. And like that one's the John Player edition. The other one, we've seen two DLSs in here. I think the other one's a Unico. It's like green. I think that was at one of our car shows.

What's the difference between those?

It's just a different. So all the DLSs are like all the exact same. They're just different like color combos, and they all have different names and like references of what they are. I don't know if he actually got to pick anything with the DLSs, but I know he also has like a couple normal singers, but he has like the singer Minnesota. And I think there's two more that I'm not remembering right now. But those are just so like art. Everything is perfect and beautiful, and they're so fun to drive.

What's, I guess, when you say they're fun to drive, is there anything, do you even know what comes in them for like a motor? Are they like really tuned up and fast, or is it just kind of like a cruiser?

I want to say Williams Engineering made that one in partnership with Singer. I want to say it's like a four liter flat six, but I'm not, don't quote me on that.

Are they just, are they like pretty quick though?

Yeah, I think they're quicker than what they originally came with, definitely. But I know, I want to say Top Gear did some review on the other one, and they were ripping and roaring on it. So I know they are fast. I drive the speed limit in all of our cars.

We have to disclose that. Well, no, it's just looks wise, like they look the part. Like, I mean, it is arguably one of the best looking Porsches you can get. Like, and yeah, you have your RWBs and all that stuff. But something about a singer is like, like you mentioned, the craftsmanship. So that's for sure.

Are they like a partnership, a huge stupid Ford guy again? And this be like sending one to Celine or somebody else to get, or does it get a partnership thing? Like, they take a Porsche and then they build it?

I think Porsche allows them to do this. I saw something like not too long ago that there was, they were straying a little bit too far away from like the Porsche look or something because they still have the emblems on them. So they have to kind of keep Porsche happy. But basically, you buy, what is it, a 964 and bring it to Singer. And you have to buy the car first, like with the VIN, everything. You bring it to them, they strip it all down. They completely redo it. So Porsche is aware of it, but I don't think they're like buddies.

OK.

Like thickest. Yeah.

Yeah, it wouldn't be a situation with like...

It would be like a Hennessy type deal.

Yeah, maybe. I think that's it.

I know that's kind of an Ick thing these days.

Well, for me, it is, but don't worry about it. But it's not like, for example, like a Shelby sort of deal.

Yeah.

Right. Like, it's like a club. I don't know. I'm going off my own rail here.

Yeah, you can't go to Porsche and like order a thing.

No, I was thinking more of like... So Celine does it a little bit differently. You can buy a Celine car from him, and then he just pulls one from Ford. They build it, you buy it. It's still full.

I think you can do it both ways. I think you can source your own, and I think they also might be able to source it for you, from what I'm understanding. But it just basically has to be a good frame, good body, because they're taking most of it off anyways.

I might ask a lot of stupid questions like that. You guys are already like numbers and letters and things, car and crap.

We got to get you another Ford episode.

I'm learning more since I started doing this podcast and hanging out in places like this. I'm getting better at it, but I'm still in the dark. I just let you guys nerd out when it comes to that.

At some point, I might reach out to some of the local Porsche experts, because Porsche is beyond me. We were looking at getting one for a little while, but ended up with the AMG. But anyways, you guys do a little bit of Euro in general, though. Because obviously, people know you guys for the Flash for the obvious reasons. But you guys are kind of like a general Euro shop too, right?

Yeah. So our main thing is we specialize in European and exotic. Our old shop, we had a non-compete, so we couldn't touch anything American. But we don't have to live by those guidelines anymore. So we're putting wenches on GMCs and stuff like that still. We're doing Jeep stuff. We're putting running boards on. We can do everything, but our specialty, like if your Porsche or your Audi or your Volkswagen is acting up, bring it here.

That describes Volkswagen very well.

Oh, yeah. If it's being German and temperamental, we can do it.

Yeah, VW acting up, you say?

So some of these cars are known for having high price maintenance. Do you know, like, what's the most expensive car to do an oil change on? Is that something that you?

Oh, God. I mean, probably a Bugatti.

Bugatti, yeah.

I think there's even an article about it.

Probably. I don't even think we've done a Bugatti oil change here. I think they all get serviced. I think we normally do like wheels and tires and stuff like that. And we'll do a little bit of maintenance. But for the most part, we're shipping them back and forth kind of thing if they need something major.

OK, because I think I've even heard like some of them motors have to come out in order for.

Yeah, I think some of the Ferraris to like a basic service is an engine out. And like, why would you buy it?

Right. Exactly.

That makes me so nervous.

So you kind of brought up shipping there, right? I think we kind of chatted about that last time. So you do a little bit of coordinating for that, too, right?

Yep. So basically, like we have customers that have like multiple houses and they get away for the Minnesota winters and stuff like that. So we'll ship their cars down, kind of coordinate all of that. We have a shipping company that we use that they're amazing. The only thing we can't ship is a Bugatti just because of the insurance coverage, but everything else we can ship back and forth. And that's always fun, just like coordinating and figuring out, like, oh, they bought a car in Miami and they want it up here. I'm like, well, what is it? Like, let me know and send me pictures. And so it's always fun to see that. And then like some of our customers, that they order cars like straight from the dealership, they get them delivered here and we take delivery for a few people. So that's always fun to see something like fresh off the truck that no one's touched yet.

That is a cool feeling. Like, I remember, like back in my early days of photography, I would go to, like, Maury's and they'd have some delivered. And it's like, that's great. They're getting a delivery of whatever's in there or somebody would be like, oh, there's a Pagani in the back of that truck over there. It's like whatever it was. But is there any difficulties to that then? Or is it pretty easy with like the one carrier you work with?

Yeah, it's pretty easy, because we only deal with one company, and they're all very competent. We've never had a car damaged, which thank god, because I would never want to deal with that. But yeah, they're super easy to work with, and they're texting you updates every couple of hours on where a car is. So it's nice.

God, that sounds so much better than when I was working on freight. You would never get updates for a weekend. It's like, where's my freight? It's kind of got to be like Christmas, right? When you guys see something really cool roll through down here, especially when it's something that's brand new, like the first, because you guys probably have a lot of like fresh to market stuff, like this GT4RS, right? Like, at some point, nobody's ever seen one.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I think he just got that literally a couple of weeks ago and took it to Midwest, had them do everything, brought it over to us, and then he's going to drive it a little bit longer and then track it. So it's really fun to see all the cars with like literally the stickers on them. And I'm like, I want to open the presents. And I just have to leave it there. But yeah, it's really fun to see all the cool new stuff. We have a Lamborghini. I think it's a Ravolto that's coming in. We were just in Vegas down, taking a look over it and everything. So I think that's coming down. And then I think maybe another Sturado. So they're shipping those up here. So it's always fun to just like they toss you the keys. You get to drive a brand new car in the shop. So that's fun.

Have you driven any? You kind of alluded to this, but is there anything fun that you've driven or gotten to open up within the speed limit?

I think, oh gosh, I mean, the Singers, I'm just, we used to do restorations at the old shop I used to work at. So I love a classic car and like that is just the perfect little blend for me. But I would probably say either a Singer or I think it's one of the Bugattis. It's like a, I drove the world record edition for like a short period of time, but there was another one here last year. I'm blanking on the model right now.

But which color was it?

It was orange and black, orange and black.

So is it the the older like the Veyron Supersport or was it?

No, that was the one that we just had here.

The Sheeran Supersport maybe. I'm not even tripping.

I think it was like something like a 300 plus. They all have such crazy names.

Yeah, I'm blanking on a name.

I know what it is.

Somebody's screaming at the windshield right now. It's like, I know it's like the long tail version, right? Yeah, I know what you're talking about. Yeah. No. Okay. That's pretty cool.

Yeah, those are I mean, that was just fun just because like I'm obviously I'm following my boss and we're both bringing cars back and like you just barely touch the pedal. You're like, okay, like this is awesome.

Well, there's got to be I mean, we're probably talking seven figure cars now, right? Yeah. So there's got to be a little bit of nervousness to that even.

Oh, I'm terrified.

If they toss you, he's in like go nuts. You'd still have to be like, okay.

Yeah.

I got to dial it back.

Some restraint.

Yeah.

Yeah. It's fun. I mean, like it's nice to be able to like get in the car and drive it. But I trust myself completely. Like, I know I'm not going to do anything silly or stupid. It's the people that are hanging out of their cars.

Oh, yeah.

There's like someone hanging out their minivan, like trying to film you. They're swerving all over. That's probably the most terrifying part about driving any of these things is just the people that freak out about it. And then they don't like they're not paying attention at all.

So I'm one of those idiots, by the way. So I remember I took the AMG or whatever one to one of the caffeine and octanes. And then I brought my camera that day. I was going to do some photos. I was kind of one of the last times I brought a camera to a show. And I was trying to do rollers while driving. And then there's the 4GT next to me. And I misunderestimated how wide it was. So it got close.

Yeah.

But point being is like, I want those guys that will reach across the passenger seat or a one once upon a time. You got to show them.

I think people hang out of cars without harnesses. They're just they're going for it. They want that shot.

So harnesses, you say. I did the harness thing one time. I shot some motorcycles last month and I was like, this is weird. Yeah, you're actually strapped in. But yeah, there's people that get wild with that. So what comes down to that then? I'm sure you guys have to worry about security here too, as well, time to time.

Especially during the car show, I always have a pretty strong police presence. So we have someone that literally just sits outside and guards the building.

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I've seen plenty of, we've all seen the videos and pictures of people just randomly going up, laying on the hood, posing with cars that aren't theirs, acting like...

I'm the pitbull at the car shows. I'm yelling at people, get your backpack, get your studded jeans, get away from here, this is a beautiful car. Don't do this. But yeah, it's definitely hard, so...

Well, it's like none of it's like... Well, especially if it's like a large show, right? It's like if somebody scratches it with their bedazzled jeans, like it's a... you can't track down who did it.

Yeah, not at all. Actually, most of these are clear abroad, but...

Yeah, that helps. I liked the year you guys had the tent and you were letting a few people in at a time.

Yeah.

That was pretty cool. Like, I know some people are like, oh, it's taking forever. But like, I didn't manage to make it in last year, but you guys had them in here last year, right?

Last year was insane. I don't know what happened. I think everyone told everyone and everyone showed up. And it was crazy. I know we're going to have it again inside the shop this year, but we'll probably have it like just a little bit less crowded so people can actually get back, take a photo, and it's not you're not bumping into someone or knocking something over.

Well, that's right. Did you guys have there was like that one EV one, the crazy hyper.

Oh, the oh, gosh.

And then you wasn't the golden era here too or no?

The golden era didn't make it down because he just got it, and I think he was just like too new. But we had this sent to you. I'm going to butcher the pronunciation, but it's the sentio DG that blue one with the library on it. There's like 10 in the world. Yeah, that was super, super fun to have.

Dude, some of those names are so like, it depends who you ask to write. There's still people to call Gallardos, Gala rados and stuff. And it's like, nobody will ever be happy.

No, and I'm like, I do little itty bitty car videos, and I'm looking up the pronunciation. I'm like, there's no way. There's no way it's pronounced like that. And then I say it and then someone's like, you did it wrong. I can't fup.

You'll never win with a comment section.

No.

You can't keep anybody happy.

No.

It's already bad enough with Porsche and Porsche, right? Yes. Yeah.

Or Audi and Audi. Yeah. That one actually irks me. When people do Audi, I don't know why. I know.

I make it personal, so I get it. Yeah. No. Do you attend any track days yourself? Or do you like the customers or anything like that?

Yeah. I wish I want to eventually. I mean, my ideal in the perfect world, I would get a racing simulator, I would get out on the track and I'd mess around. But I've just been so busy here that I never have time. We've tried to do some of the PCA events, but it just doesn't line up with our schedules ever. So the only ones that we do with them is when we're here, not at the track. We used to have a huge semi, we used to do track support and everything, and that ended like two months before I started. And I was like, no.

Like started like however many years ago?

Yeah, like eight years ago. So yeah, and then we got rid of the semi. It was just, it's really hard to get a bunch of people to work on the weekend. So yeah, doesn't work out.

That's fair. And track support is just a different animal in itself. Like I have a few friends that do it, and it's their entire life for that weekend. So that makes sense. Where did your passion for cars come from? Like obviously you mentioned the body shop earlier on. Did you, I guess, what did you grow up loving?

Yeah. I mean, my whole family is car people. Like my stepdad, he's at a body shop. He used to, I think he used to be on a race team or something and build roll cages. He's done basically everything under the sun. My mom was one of the top service advisors for Audi, Minneapolis, back when it was like Carousel. Yeah. So like growing up, we had a new car. Yeah. I forgot the new name of it. But growing up, we had a new car, like a new Audi, new something every six months. So I was always just fascinated with that world and everything. And then my grandpa used to basically buy junk cars and chop one end of it off and chop the other end, put them together and make a car.

Well, he actually got them back together.

That's fair.

Yeah, but I actually asked Dan, and we won't necessarily disclose it on the podcast. I'm like, how many cars do you have? And in how many counties? Right?

Oh, yeah.

Just scattered everywhere.

I have one less random house with cars at it now. I just cleared out four cars I had sitting over there.

It's an easy problem to have. You have the space, you can put a car there. I used to have a six car garage and I had four cars at one point. I was like, what am I doing? Yeah, this is this is insane.

Well, I have a big 40 by 50 pull shed with three, four post lifts. That's full. And then I have cars outside that are parts cars.

China shipping containers.

China shipping containers full of parts. That was all part of like, I'm going to do all of this. And then life got ahead of me. And now I have four kids and they're getting to the age now where they're all getting into sports. So I'm running all around doing that. Hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have collected so much stuff, but we'll see. There'll be time for...

You'll need that part someday.

That's what I keep telling myself, right? Because I won't be able to get it again. So yeah, we're getting there.

Yeah, I basically grew up thinking everyone just built their own cars. It was just a crazy concept to me that you can just like go to the store and get one because every time I'm at my grandparents' house, they're building another car. So it's kind of fun. I like it.

At this point, I'm hoping that my kids get into it now. So we're getting close. My oldest is 14. She went to Texas 2K with us. She loves doing all this kind of stuff. She goes to car shows. We take her on cruises. She's been to the track with me before. So as they get older, maybe I get some more time. We'll be able to build some cars together, do some of that. I have four kids, so I have a whole army. So I should be able to like, I could start my own shop labor. Yeah, that's what I say.

Yeah.

So we'll get there. What don't you work on here? Is there anything that somebody comes in and be like, I have a Toyota Camry and you're like, eh.

I mean, we'll still do it. We can throw brakes, we can throw tires, we can do the oil change. That is all fine and dandy. If it's misfiring, we have a general code scanner, and we can try to figure it out. But for anything that's not European, that needs specialty diagnostic or heavy engine work, we just don't deal with it. Otherwise, really, really old classic stuff isn't too much our forte.

As we're underneath the Chevy that's been around by the way?

Yeah, they keep making their way here. Yeah, we have that Bonneville that we've done some work on, and then we also have... Yeah, the donks just keep finding their way here. I don't know how. I've put now two sets of gold, like 24-karat gold Dayton's on a car. I don't know. That was never in my life plan, but it's fun. It spices it up a little bit. But yeah, like the old carbureted engines and stuff like that, we don't really work on them enough, so we don't know what to do with them. We can do basic stuff.

What I've seen most common amongst like high-end shops where they work on supercars and stuff is this usually like... So I have this collection of cool cars, but I also have this Prius that I daily drive. Would you do this? Is that kind of typically...

That is how we get roped into it.

Yeah, that's kind of what I figured.

Because I'm like, oh, you're such a good person. You're such a good customer. We love dealing with you. And then they're like, here's my problem child. And I'm like, oh. But we try. So we'll still try it. But we just kind of let people know what isn't our specialty.

Right, okay.

Have you ever run across a situation where somebody has such a crazy supercar hypercar and they have just the most oddball daily? For example, one of my friends had a 458 Italia, whatever it is. And his favorite daily ever, it was this $5,000 Prius. I almost bought it off of him at the time, just because I was like, it's amazing. He's like, dude, you could dent it, dang it, doesn't matter. Does anybody have anything crazy like that big of a difference or not really?

We had one customer, he had like an old classic Lamborghini Diablo, and he had like a couple of Ariel Adams and like this crazy Hummer. And he just drove like a Toyota 4Runner and just super chill, but he'd always ride around with like skeletons in the past. I don't know the story behind it, but every car we had had a fake skeleton in it. So it was fun.

I don't think that gets you in the HOV lane.

I don't think so.

I'll try. Yeah. Yeah. So who do you kind of refer? Like for example, if something like this comes through, right, or you have some of those classics, do you typically have a shop that you refer people to or?

Yeah, I think the main ones that work on like the older stuff, I want to say is like quality coaches and humor, if I'm remembering right. So kind of like those guys we send them over to, we'll definitely try, but and then we also have like all these old cars have crazy convertible top issues. So there's a guy, it's just 10s auto, so he's a couple hours away, but he'll do all of that stuff as well. So we kind of have like, I have a little list in my office of like every single thing we can't do of like where I can trust to send it to, because I hate being like, yeah, check Google. Sorry, good luck.

That is the worst thing. How about like when it comes to like, because like, for example, you mentioned earlier that some of the customers have like houses around the country and various things like that. Does it get difficult trying to source stuff in like other states? Or do you run across that often or not really?

Yeah, we don't really run across it too often. Probably my biggest annoyance right now is trying to get Lotus parts.

That's difficult, I've heard. There was a Lotus at a friend's shop recently.

Or like old Lamborghini parts are just like pulling teeth, like the Diablo we had in here. We couldn't even find like a wiring diagram. We had to get it off some weird little eBay sites and there was one and it was like damaged. And so it's hard to source stuff.

But it's pre-internet stuff.

Yeah, but it's fun.

So then, so do you do a lot of like, are you the one doing a lot of that sourcing then, like trying to find things?

We kind of all do now. We used to have like a specialized parts person, but we figured out it's much easier to just like do it per job and source it directly. That way, you're not trying to like go back and forth and play telephone and get the wrong thing.

Yeah, I'm sure that, yeah, well that... Is there anything that's...

Mostly spinning through a catalog, like a four parts thing or whatever, although it isn't Volkswagen owned, like mostly everything now.

That's fair. I can't imagine many parts from my GTI go into a chiron though.

No, yeah, probably not.

Yeah.

It probably has the same trick engine lights, but no.

Oh yeah.

So what about your upcoming show then?

Yeah. So the show is on Saturday, September 14th. It's from 11 to 2. So we'll basically have like we kind of do it a little different every single year. This year, we're actually making people register for parking because we always get like the one Toyota Camry that's they made it here first, and then everyone else is pissed. So we're trying to make it so it's show cars only up here. And then the lot across the street is going to be just like general parking. Or like if you didn't want to register, you can park over there too. And then we'll have all like the cool cars in here. I'm kind of still curating and figuring out what cars I can get my hands on for the showcase show. But we're partnering with Cars and Coffee. So I mean, last year, I think we had about 5,000 people here. So I'm hoping maybe we can get to 7 or 10. I say that, and then the day comes and then I'm overwhelmed. But it's going to be really fun, so.

Well, yeah, no, it was packed last year. Like I didn't even bother getting into the line to come look at the cars. I was just like, I'm going to stay here for an hour and I'm going home. But it's also kind of changed, right? Because I feel like once you've seen it once or twice. Well, actually, there's a question, right? Do you ever get jaded? Do you ever get at the risk of getting fired? Do you ever get tired of seeing some of the cars? Or are they just kind of so unique and you just kind of enjoy them all the time as is?

I feel like we definitely have enough stuff that comes in that's different and there's always something new and Lamborghini is always coming out with new stuff that we've never seen before.

True. Yeah, they milked the Huracan to death. They had 55 editions, almost as many as Hellcats. But for example, at some point, I had to kind of remind myself, a Huracan is still an amazing car, but they're also everywhere. And I feel like, so it's not like you could see it again and still appreciate it basically.

Oh yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, I used to think that since I grew up with Audis and all that stuff, I used to think Audis is a sports car, and this is the cream of the crop. And I'm like, oh yeah, it's an A4. Like, it's okay. Do you still have any Audis? I used to have an A4S line. I loved it, but I have two dogs and they're massive.

And I didn't notice they were around.

Oh yeah, they're sleeping in my office.

Gotcha.

Otherwise, they would be eating the microphones and all that stuff.

Yeah, we've had that before. Like we did one with Lunatech recently, and their dog Luna just kept running around. So it's like, obviously, every time she stretched during the episode, you have to say big stretch.

Oh yes, absolutely.

You can't talk to a dog in a not-baby voice either, right?

Oh, it's the best. Like some big man comes in here, and he's like, who's your good little puppy? And I'm like, oh my god. And then he's like, yeah, I want this, and very firm. And I'm like, okay, sure.

Yeah, well, you can't... Who was it? The one comedian, I can't remember his name, but he's like, imagine talking to a dog with like a straight up voice. Just like, hey, how's it going? You know, who wants a cuddle? Like, it's just, you know...

That's a red flag.

Dan Soder, right? Yeah, that's a real killer. Yeah, it was Dan Soder. Yeah, it was amazing. Is there anything you could disclose about what will be at that show, or is that going to stay a surprise?

We usually like to keep it a surprise till kind of the very end, but most likely, there's going to be a Bugatti, because we always end up getting one of them. But I'm trying to figure out which one that's going to be, and probably Ferrari Lamborghini in that, and Porsche, because Porsche is great.

Yeah. Well, I'm guessing one of these two will probably be there. I guess any of these will likely be there.

So we might still have that one in that exact same spot. But yeah, I'm not quite sure. I know that he'll be at our show, but I don't know if he'll be inside. Most of these guys like to drive the cars to our show, and getting them in here is so hard. So I always have to like, day before, a couple days before, kind of run around and collect all the cars, which is also super fun.

Is that something... So you didn't really grow up around supercars, did you?

No, not at all.

So did you ever have that perception? For example, when I grew up, especially being early on into the car community, depending on who you're around with, some people be like, oh, supercar owners are a-holes, that sort of deal, right? Yeah. Did you ever have that perception, and did it ever change, or did you just kind of stumble into it, and it was like, this is awesome? Oh, yeah.

I definitely thought European car owners and exotic car owners, I always thought the typical stereotype, oh, they're going to be mean and all this stuff. But most of them, knock on wood, have been just the easiest going, most kind-hearted people. They're just very appreciative that we're giving them the service, and vice versa. They're very low-key, laid back, especially when you get into the Bugattis and everything. They're just the most friendliest, greatest people. It's always, I don't want to say like the balling on the budget guys, but it's those ones that are really aggressive. Sorry.

I'd imagine you have, your life has gone well enough that you've been able to afford these things. Why be an a******, right?

Oh, yeah.

Things are going to be going pretty decent for you. Just chill out a little bit.

For the most part, I mean, like knock on wood, most of our customers are amazing and they're so nice. And they're like, I consider 90% of the people I deal with on a daily basis, like a friend, like we talk about life and then I'm like, yeah, you also need breaks. So it's, it's great.

You try to ease them into that bill.

Yeah. Like it'll be a couple of commas. It's fine. How's Linda? Like, it's good.

That's right.

Well, it's not a bad business get into because I mean, to be fair, these cars are great, but they're also, none of them are really known for being super reliable. Like the supercars break and they break kind of often. McLaren comes to my mind all the time. You guys work on McLaren's here too?

McLaren's are my nightmare.

Yeah.

Oh really?

Yeah.

Yeah. They're just, well, I mean, no one has the computers to work on them. We can do like very basic things. But everyone always buys a McLaren in Minnesota and then they call us and we're like, we can kind of help and then they get mad at us. And we fly in a guy like once a year to do- Yeah, like a-

Or whoever it is.

Yeah, basically, just kind of clear all the service lights and check everything over. But any major service, we're like, you got to ship it.

Yeah.

But yeah, they're-

Or collect enough of them broken down out back to fly somebody in to work on them.

Yep. Yeah.

Yeah, I know there was one shop that was trying to rectify that. I'm not sure if they did. But we'd have way more McLarens up here because they are-

It's crazy.

They're a good bargain. I shouldn't say bargain. But given how much car you get for the price, especially for a 570, the Civic of McLarens, it's such a great car. But then you have to be terrified all the time. So then, again, that's one of those situations where you probably refer them elsewhere.

Yeah. It gets a little touchy. But some of the stuff we just can't do on them. But we can do normal services like oil changes. Every single bolt just takes forever. McLaren just made everything so complicated.

Aren't Porsches kind of complicated, too? Don't you need special tools for everything?

Yeah, we do.

Because I don't think you can even service your own engine bands on the newer ones, right? I don't know.

Maybe. I know most of them, I like the Porsches and the Audis and stuff like that. You don't have dipsticks anymore. It's just non-existent, so that's kind of annoying. But like the newer Porsches, instead of us doing an oil change in like a half an hour, which everyone's used to, and that's what they expect, it like sits there and does its little German thing, and it's like an hour and a half, and we're just trying to read the oil level. So it's just more time, but we're still able to do it.

Yeah, they're forward thinking on that one. Like, can we must get some billable hours for the deal?

No, I think they're like, oh, let's get the Americans, but.

Put the few firmwares down in all of the software when we send it over there.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, no, I've really.

They are for like, so I track a GT 500 and I love it. But like for there's nothing better than those on the track, though, right? I mean, the GT 2 RS, the GT 3 RS, like they're just known as being it, right? For doing anything like that road course stuff anyway.

Well, here's a kind of a better question, right? Because like right now, we're kind of in that weird transition phase when it comes to cars, right? So like right now, in your case, you got the S650 Mustang. Porsche has their newest and latest, the 992s. Lamborghini's got their Rivalto era. I don't know what they call their era. I don't know. The new Temuraria, which I'm pretty excited for. I was a little skeptical at first, but it's growing on me for some reason. Do any of those kind of stand out to you? Like who's just on it right now?

Oh, gosh. I'm honestly not a big fan of like, the new Lamborghini stuff is cool, but like the Storado is just like, I'm I feel like the Porsche, like the Dakar is way better quality. Like if you're going to daily drive it, if you're just going to like rip and raw on it, that's totally fine. But like the the radio quality even, and I sound picky when I say that, but I want to jam when I'm driving. So I want it to be like a little comfy and like have a good stereo system. So I feel like Porsche has it pretty good. Obviously, like Bugatti, whatever they just came out with, blanking on the name again.

The Turbion, Turbion, Turbion.

Yes.

Yeah.

One of us is going to mispronounce it.

But I'll say I'll say all the wrong ways and the right way, and they'll figure it out.

Yeah, I feel like I don't know. Bugatti is just like artwork that you can coincidentally drive. But like Porsche, I just feel like everything that they come out with, everything that they make, it's just better. Like it's not like a BMW where you see the new girl and you're like, what the f*** is that? So like Porsche, I feel like is always improving. And like Audi, kind of the same. But yeah, I feel like maybe Porsche Lamborghini, probably my top.

Well, I was going to say like the Cerados, basically that meets Huracan, right? You know, Jeep meets Huracan, so.

Absolutely.

Yeah, that'd be cool. I'd love to jump one of those.

Yeah.

I'm just saying unlimited budget. I would be.

Oh, I would rip and roar.

Yeah. Is there anything else that's upcoming that's kind of exciting for you guys? You guys aren't planning to expand at any time in the near future, are you?

No, I think, I mean, our shop works very well the way it is. We actually downsized. Our old shop used to be like twice the size of this.

Where was that at?

It was over off of $55 and $494.

That's right. Yeah, you guys like.

It was massive and like we were just storing way too much stuff. So this is way more efficient, way easier. We can keep it way cleaner. I think. Yeah, I don't think we're looking to like add on any other service base or anything like that. So it's it works.

How about like services or you guys just kind of content with where you're at at the moment?

We've been dabbling a little bit with like the kind of American stuff, like the off roading stuff, like wenches and running boards and stuff like that as well. We've been getting into so I know we have to get like a heavy duty lift at some point because it like I used to have a 2500 Chevy and it was like this on the lift and making everyone nervous.

So what are these rated for anyway?

I think these are 10,000 pounds.

Do you guys ever do any like track prep stuff?

Yeah, so for like a lot of the Porsche club, like the Nordstern PCA guys like that one. So like buy a new car. We'll do like a corner balance alignment on it or we'll get more suspension parts for it if we're like we're not getting the tire wear that we want and it's not handling right. And then we also do all of the like the roll cages, the tie down straps or like the tie downs and then the harnesses. So they can kind of like come to us and say like oh this is this is what I'm feeling and I have them kind of talk to our tech and we make a plan and adjust little things here and there and 99% of the time they're like oh yeah that's awesome.

Are all your techs kind of like the same I guess level or is there some that specialize in some things over the others?

I would say like they're definitely the same level as far as like I could trust them with any car, but like we definitely have a guy that specifically does BMWs. He was at BMW for like I want to say 13 years or so and then he came to us. So he's just like our little BMW wizard. We can just give him the problems and he solves them. It's just great. And then we have a guy that mainly specializes in Porsches. So he's our our main guy. He does like a lot of like the older Porsches, like the IMS bearings and stuff like that too. He's just crazy efficient. But he also does anything specialty, like any weird Lambos and stuff like that.

So speaking of weird, is there anything court, like for example, you mentioned again, like old Lambo parts and McLarens are being nightmares, which to be fair, nobody's surprised by that one. Yeah. Is there anything else that's come through here? That's like just quirky or just off the wall?

I mean, we see, we saw, god, it was like an old like a 90s Lambrini truck. It was like beige, like in color, like a ivory.

Was it the LMP 002 or whatever?

Yeah, that was cool. So I just like walked into work when I was like, that's awesome. I want it. How do I get it? But every once in a while, we see like something gets imported that someone gets. We have like a little Izuzu. Almost looked like a jeep or something. But yeah, it was super cool. But every once in a while, we get like just quirky, fun things that I'm like, I've never heard of this car before. So it keeps it spicy.

Are you staying pretty busy? Are you guys have like a wait list or anything here right now?

Typically in the summer months, we're pretty packed. We're usually like two-ish weeks out or so. The winter is when everyone puts the fun stuff away. And then it's just like, my tires suck, my brakes suck, and this is leaking, which is fine. That keeps us busy, but all the fun stuff gets put into storage. So that's why we like to do big projects.

We've talked to shops too, and it seems to be, you would think that like, okay, I want to build a build, right? You would do that over the winter, but it seems like that's not the case either. People are like, oh, spring's almost here. Yeah, it's kind of backwards here.

They don't plan ahead either. It's like the snow melts, and then it's the middle of May, and they're like, I want this now.

Yeah.

A lot of you guys know Ratified Motorsport for their RS3, TTRS, thousand horsepower hairdresser car builds, but they are so much more than that. From basic maintenance on an R35 GTR to, you know, cute little Volkswagen GTIs like mine, they're able to do a little bit of everything. Whether it's your basic maintenance or an intake in a tune or even a full blown build, be sure to go to ratifiedmotorsport.com to get yourself booked today. And I hope to see you guys at the shop. So what's this thing I've been hearing about an F1 car?

Yeah, so Red Bull actually approached us at the last car show for Cars and Coffee. So they're coming here for, I want, I forgot what they're naming their event, but they're basically doing like a demonstration in Minneapolis where they're going to take an F1 car and a couple other things. I think there's going to be a motorcycle. And I want to say one of those big a** trucks that's like the crazy Red Bull truck. So I think those three are going to be down there. So they reached out and they kind of wanted to do a little collaboration, you could say. They were looking for a shop instead of just a warehouse to bring that F1 car to take it off the truck and build it. So they're going to do that here, which is super, super cool. So they're going to do that the week before our event. And then our events are the same day. So our event is from 11 to 2, and their event is from 2 to 4.

Perfect timing.

So I'm hoping I can literally close the doors of our event and speed and not get caught and get down to Minneapolis and see whatever they're doing. So but yeah, they're going to be building an F1 car here. I think we're going to have them do some startups at some point too. So it's going to be crazy. I've never seen an F1 car in person.

So they're bigger. Well, actually, they'll probably have an older one for that, but they're bigger than you expect. Yeah, I went to the Miami Grand Prix, like the first year they had it. And it's like they had like the demonstration car and it was like 18 feet long. Like, it's stupid. I mean, it's stubby and short, but like, it's ridiculous. Like, yeah, it's cool. Now, I'm curious, I'm curious which one they're going to bring. Do you follow that much often or not really?

I literally just started like watching the Netflix, like the drive to survive, as cheesy as that is. So I started watching that like right before they approached me at the car show and I was like, oh, no way.

Right, perfect timing.

Like now I know what this is. So I'm like, what driver are they bringing? I'm like trying to figure all this out, but it'll be pretty fun. I'm really excited.

Well, it's kind of like that Leonardo DiCaprio meme, like where he's looking at his TV, like, oh, that's you, you know, that's what it is. So that'll be really cool when that comes together. How about you personally then? Like, where do you see yourself kind of heading in these like next few years as you continue to grow your relationship with the Imola brand?

Yeah, I mean, I definitely I definitely want to stay here. I love it. I've never worked somewhere where I get to have fun at my job. And obviously, like we get to shoot the s*** and everything. And everyone here is kind of like a nice little family. But I definitely want to stay and kind of grow the business as best as I can. But I also really want to get into like I want to get a racing sim. I want to get on the track. I want to do stuff. And like I have so many speeding tickets. I think I'm one away from losing my license at all times. It's like I need to source that energy into an actual legal activity.

We've had so many guys that do track stuff here, especially like on a competitive level. And for them, it's like they said they stopped caring about driving fast on the street.

Oh, that's what I need then.

Yeah, that will help you so much. The insurance guy let me know to shout out Matt Nelson. He's saved so much. I gotta shout out Matt, dude. He's saved like, I think like it's got to be in the five figures now for the show. And he's not even a sponsor or anything. It's just wild. I just get referral emails like, thanks for the referral.

Oh, that's awesome.

Yeah, but it's ridiculous. Get a sim though. You can get a used one for cheap off Marketplace. But if you want to build like a really good one like me and Dan built some earlier this year.

Okay.

It's such a blast. And we know a few people that build them as well, like down in Chicago and stuff.

Yeah. Well, and like Minnesota winter is like, I'm antsy. I'm like, what do I do in a second bedroom?

What do you do?

With the sim? I ski.

Okay, fair enough.

I work too much. But yeah, that's pretty much it. Minnesota is just such a bummer in the wintertime.

So I don't know about that. I snowmobile. So that's where I get my horsepower fix.

Yeah, that's that's where you. Yeah, you thrive. I don't like the cold, so I'm inside. So if I can get a racing sim inside, and stop speeding in my car, that would be great.

Yeah, it'd be a good fix. Yeah, no, hit us up about that. And I'm sure you've driven sims before, then?

I haven't. Oh, you haven't even touched one yet? Our customers have them. And it's always like, oh, come over on this day. I'm like, oh, we can meet up at this time. And it just never lines up, because I'm always doing something else.

It's so much harder than you think. I got in one, and I was like, I should be good at this. It's hard.

OK, I'm ready to be humbled.

Speaking about Red Bull, though, one of my friends actually works for Red Bull, the drink side things, like a distributor or whatever it is. And they actually had, I don't think it was a real F1 car, but they were going to all the high V's in the metro, and they were doing some promo stuff, and they also had a sim there, too. So it wasn't a crazy good one, but it was a sim. So that'd be a fun thing to get into, for sure. So when you say you're doing late hours here, because you've alluded to that a few times now, what does a busy day consist of for you?

In the summertime, I could easily be here from 7 o'clock in the morning till 8 or 9 at night, depending on what I'm doing. Just because everyone's texting, when they get off of work, they're like, oh, I want to do this to my car. And unless it's a sunny day out and I'm on my boat, I'm usually like, OK, yeah, I want to source these wheels. I want to find this. I want to find the exhaust. So I'm not here because I have to be, but I'm here just because I want to be late and not want to be late, but I want to kind of dig into it more. And it's just it's exciting because every car is different. Like no one's like copy paste that exact thing.

Oh, true. I get that. That's a good point. There's a lot of variety here.

Oh, yeah. So you get this kind of pink wheels. No one's going for it.

So you get this shop for car parts for cool cars.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. That is a dream job.

Like, what should I do? And I'm like, oh, yes. And I'll be on my computer for like four hours, just like searching and like pulling up all our vendors and seeing what we can do to it. So it's fun.

Do you have anything in particular that comes to mind that you're kind of proud of? Like, oh, yeah, we did that.

Oh, the track cars.

The track cars?

Yeah, they're just so fun. I just I love, like. Just like setting everything up and and what goes into that?

So you said, like, picking out, like, the color of the cages and wheels, harnesses, what else am I missing there? Is that covering?

Like suspension parts and like the like the lower tie downs and stuff. I don't like the tie downs that go on the front and like flap around. I just that's just chaotic. But yeah, just like kind of specking out the whole the whole build of like what they want to do on the track and like finding new tires for it that are going to perform better. And like then they call me later and they're like, yeah, that was awesome. Like this was night and day difference. And I'm like, yes. So what about?

You guys, I'm sorry. Do you have a go to like track tire that you throw on? Like somebody's doing road course or?

I mean, a lot of what we sell is like the Michelin, like the Cup twos and stuff like that. But if it's like a track, track tire, like the Hoosiers are.

Okay.

I think it's like the R7s, I want to say.

Yeah, I believe so, yep.

Yeah, but yeah, that's always fun. And like just picking out wheels and like figuring out like what the customer's like style is, is always fun to me because I'll have an idea in my head and I'm like, yeah, this would really, really look good with this car. And then they send me something. I'm like, that is funky as hell, but like, let's do it. And then it looks great. So that's always fun.

So then do you guys have a lot of like track dedicated cars like this one come through here?

Oh, like the one behind me?

Yeah.

That one is our owner's car. I think it's, I think it's been dead since I started.

Okay.

We gave him a lot of s*** for it. But yeah, we do have like quite a bit of track cars come through. The Porsche that's on our building was actually one of our customers' cars that I think his friend crashed on the track. So we were just joking around. It was here forever. And we decided to cut it in half, put it on the building instead.

Which by the way, like, whose decision was that? Because that's cool.

We had to ask the guy that like owned the car, and I think he just was, it's probably a non-issue that the car is totaled. But yeah, we just decided to, like, one day, we literally had like a little, like a, not a jigsaw, but one of those little saws back there. And we just cut it in half in the back of our lot, like very archaically. And it was so fun.

So just throw it up on the wall.

Yeah.

Yeah. We always joked, like, I was like, we'll put it on the top of the building, like hang it on the wall, hang it from a crane. And then we're like, we should cut it in half and like make it an art piece on the building. No one believes it's a real car either.

I thought it was plastic. Oh, yeah. It was pulling in. Oh, yeah.

That's pretty cool. That's a 2RS, right?

I think so. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, it was something from that. And they all look the same. They do.

Yeah.

To a degree. It's okay.

They have kind of had a body style that they've stuck with since inception, right?

I feel like the wings just kind of get tweaked just a little bit, and that's it.

Weighing some hood stuff. Initially, I hated what they did with the hoods in the 992, like the new generation, and it's grown on me. Everything about it's grown on me, especially after seeing the red GT3 RS, the new one out here with the red wheels.

Yeah.

I was like, that thing's awesome.

Yeah.

And initially, I was like, that's spec, and then I was like, but I like it now.

Yeah.

So is there any car that kind of warmed up to you over the years? That you were just like, like, Beamers, for example, like they did the stupid grill thing, and now I like them.

I don't think I'll ever warm up to Beamers. fair enough.

I get an Audi cult.

I know. Yeah. My mom also worked at BMW after she worked at Audi. So I just, I don't know. I just, I can't get behind a BMW. I just, I don't know what it is about it. It will always just be at a distance from me. But I would probably say Range Rovers. I've warmed up to a little bit. I used to think that they were absolute crap and get rid of them after the warranty, which is mildly true for the warranty period. You're going to have problems, but they are just very well made. And there's so many of them around here, and they're always clean, well-maintained. So they're not that much of an issue.

I think that's just in general. When you get to a certain tier of car, for example, like our AMG GTR, the interior, nothing rattles. It's amazing. There's just nothing. I've been in, for example, I've been in an SVJ Aventador, right? And this was one of the first years when they came out. And it's like, man, this infotainment's from 2005. But then you kind of grow into it. But when you look at some of the German cars, the R8s, the GTRs, they're really nice. So I think you kind of alluded to it earlier. The Porsche probably has the best interior then. Is that what wins?

Yeah, I would say Porsche or Rolls. The Star headliner just does something. It's just so great.

I know a guy that puts that into Hellcats, but we won't talk about that. Do you guys work with anybody on stuff like that, like when it comes to lighting or anything?

Yeah, we do. We work with Troy at St. Nordic.

Yep, that's who I'm talking about. Troy and Tyler. Yeah, literally talked to them today. He's like, hey, do you know the owner of this? I'm like, yeah, I think he's in my shop. I'm like, no, no, no, that's his customer.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, no, I love referring people his way. We'll probably get him back on at some point.

But yeah, he does a lot of audio stuff for like the donks that come in. And I'm like, hey, like we need subs, we need loudspeakers, like we need LED lights. We just ship it over to them and then we get it back and do our stuff on it.

So well, it's good that they're closer now. They're they're in friendly now, I believe, which is way better than Princeton.

Way better.

Yeah. So yeah, those guys are busy right now. Yeah. I guess as we slowly start rewinding up here, as long as the cameras are still on, that one killed itself again. It's okay, we still got that one. We're good. I don't know what's going on.

It's all right.

But as we slowly start winding up here, is there anybody else that you kind of want to just kind of give a shout out to or anything else that comes to mind or?

I feel like I'm probably forgetting people.

That's the name of the game.

Yeah, no, I'll remember on my drive home for sure. But yeah, I mean, like we work really closely with Midwest, Patience, Topstitch actually does really good interior work. I think they're out. I want to say Watertown, but that could be incorrect. But any of like the upholstery stuff, he's really, really, really good at it. Gosh, I would say Body Shop, La Metries and Minnetonka, we use them a ton for just like any customer that comes in and needs anything. We'll just kind of if it's not through insurance, we'll coordinate it and everything for them and just do our work while we're at it. But yeah, I'm definitely forgetting people, for sure.

Oh yeah, you'll get texts after this.

Yeah, yeah. But yeah, there's a lot of people that we work with, like DentWorks over by Midwest. So anything that like the Body Shop or anything he can't do, we send to the Body Shop. So it's kind of we have like a well-oiled machine of like where to go, which is nice.

Sweet. And on that note, Dan, do you want to pop the usual three, unless you have any other questions?

Nothing is coming to mind. Like when you get put on the spot, then you drive home. We'll just all call each other on the ride home and then we'll do this again. Yeah. But no, I'll pop the usual three. Sure. All right. So at the end of every episode or towards the end with his Minnesota goodbye, we ask our guests to pick three cars. You have an unlimited budget, a daily driver, a track car, and a show car.

What are you picking? Okay.

Working in a place like this where you've seen about everything, I'm really curious to see where this goes.

I would say, I mean, daily I would go with a Rolls Royce Cullinan because I've got dogs and I need like a big, big a** mom SUV. Track car, honestly, probably a GT4 or a GT3, but definitely Porsche, like a GT3 RS. And then-

So you're locking in GT3 RS?

Oh, yeah, GT3 RS for sure. Yeah. And then a show car.

Donk?

They have a special place in my heart, but it's like far, far away. Yeah. That was brutal. I love them. Yes, they're great. I would say a show car. Probably some form of like a Pagani waira Roadster or something to that effect, like art.

Okay, that checks that box.

Yeah.

Yeah. I guess only the third or fourth time somebody's mentioned Pagani ever. Yeah, we always get the classic like F40s and all that stuff.

But well, I've heard the name Pagani, but I couldn't pick one out or tell you or any of that. So some of us aren't don't follow that stuff.

Where do you find your knowledge of like hyper cars? I mean, obviously through here, but it's like obviously you're probably doing a ton of research, especially when somebody mentions a name or something.

Oh, yeah. Like if anyone like comes up and they're like, Oh, have you seen this car, this car, that car? My Instagram for you page is a lot of cars. Most of what I follow is car pages just to stay up to date and see what's coming out. But yeah, a lot of times our customers, they'll buy something and I'm like, What the hell is that? And I'll look it up and I'm like, Okay, that's awesome. When is it coming in?

But like that gold thing that I already forgot the name of that crazy.

Oh yeah, the Pina Farina Batista.

Yeah, the Batista.

Yeah. We couldn't even figure out how to start it.

Oh, really?

Yeah, we were like gonna move it, and there was a bunch of people in here after the show, and we're like looking at each other. I don't know where the start button is. Like, I don't we don't know how to move this thing. We figured it out. But what was it?

Um, weird.

I forgot where it was. I think it was like either on the steering wheel or like a little hidden button or something. But they're just they're almost a little a little too much because everything's a knob and a button and you don't know how to look. But they're super cool.

What are your thoughts on like the whole like analog thing on like Bugatti's? Like they don't have an infotainment system.

I think it's cool. I like it. It just keeps it clean. I feel like and I mean, I feel like every single car like in the, I don't think the new Porsches, but like the old McCons had like the, I don't want to say it's like 2016 or 2017, like all the buttons and like all the crevices that you can get all your gunk in when you're driving. Like I like, I like everything to be simplified and clean.

We're just sealed off too, right?

Like if you spill a coffee, good luck, but.

Who do you guys send all your detailing to?

Midwest does a lot of detailing.

Oh, Midwest, okay. So they cover all of that. Yeah, because I know them mostly for the clear bra stuff. So where are they anyway? They're not far from here.

They're literally like a couple of blocks down the road.

Okay.

So they're not too far, so it works out pretty well.

Yeah, so this is like the area to see everything.

Oh yeah.

Yeah. Well, perfect. Well, on that note, where can everybody find you and Imola and all that?

Yeah, I mean, we're mainly on Instagram. Facebook is hacked right now for some reason, so we don't exist. But on my Instagram, which is the Dani Platteter or the Imola Instagram, which is the Imola Motorsports, we post a lot on there. We do little videos and stuff of the cars that come through here and the stuff that we do. So that's pretty fun.

So have you been enjoying doing those videos then?

Yeah, it was nerve-racking at first because I had the idea in my head and I was like, oh, this would be so cool to do. And then I did it and I was like, the camera's right here and I'm like, oh, f***. So I think I was here to one in the morning one night when we first did it, but it's become more natural as we go on.

Well, I tell everybody the first 10 are going to absolutely suck. Like you have to just get past the sucky phase and then you can start being more serious. And your episode 102, two cameras failed today. Like that's just part of it, right? So just learning the process around.

Oh yeah, I have a whole blooper reel that's starting to go. Yeah, and I used to start the cars and drive them away. One of them I just absolutely failed at driving a stick. So that's in there, that's going strong.

So are you, I think I saw a couple where you did an exhaustism. Are you doing any wrenching? Are you planning on doing more of that?

I mean, I can, I can change my filters. I can do my, like, I used to have a big 2500 Chevy. So like, I would do my own oil changes, and it would kind of like waddle on the lift. And I actually pranked our owner. I photoshopped a photo of the Chevy like this. And he was like, oh my god, like, are you okay? Like worried about workers comp already. But yeah, it's, I mean, I can do it. Like I put the exhaust on my Jeep. I put an exhaust system on a G63 four squared. I like to tinker, but I'm not efficient at all. It's going to take me three to five business days.

Well, at this point in your kind of like career, it's like, all right, it's taking away time from the main thing.

Oh, yeah.

So it's like, this is all extracurricular at that point.

My favorite thing probably to install was I put train horns on my 2500.

Of course.

Oh, it was just like a country mobile. It was so fun. But I wired something really wrong. And like my car alarm would go off and my train horns would go off. Or like randomly, if just for the fun of it, they would just go off. So my neighbors loved me, especially a train horn. I had two compressors to or two air tanks. I had one compressor, and it goes until the air tanks are drained. So it was like a good five minutes of like the whole time. So we didn't leave near a train track either.

So so did you sell it with all that still on it?

I ripped the trying to figure out how to put the train horns on my jeep. OK, so I ripped those out like right before I sold it. OK, there's no room. And all of the technicians won't talk to me about it anymore because they're like, we're not doing this for you. But it's going to happen at some point. OK, just the just being able to whomp someone if they come in your lane is so nice.

Well, it's not even like when somebody honks or if you honk at someone, it's kind of like, oh, no, but if it's a train horn, it's like they're in the shoulder.

No one's cutting you off. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, perfect.

On that note, Dan, you can find us at Gunner Garage with two ends. You came better at it. Like I said, if you want to go there and be bored, that's where you can find me.

Perfect. And if you guys made it this far into the show, you know where to find me. Dani, thank you so much for having us out here. I'm glad we finally made this happen.

Thank you.

Dan, thanks for existing and we'll see you all next time.