Tran Girlismo

Hello! In this episode we invite our old friend, author, and fellow podcaster Kevin McCauley! We catch up a bit on what we've all been up to in the past five years since the girls left Texas, and offer a lengthy digression about what Porsche calls their early fuel injection systems. (Hint: It's CIS.) Then we dive into a discussion of what Porsche Influencer Magnus Walker is up to on the heels of his newest Sotheby's hypebeast starter kit auction.
Check out Kevin's absolutely incredible book, Waiting For The Sun To Come Down at Carrera Media! And if you want more Kevin you can listen to him (biannually) on New For '96! He also has a fantastic YouTube channel for automotive photographers called Capturing The Machine!
Referenced Stories:
Listen to Be Gay, Solve Crimes [and give them money also on Patreon]
The video Kevin and I made together on the roof of the parking garage in Houston on his YT channel
The Iraqi Burn Pit scandal @The VA
The LC500 video Kevin and I made together in Galveston (also on his YT channel)
The Nine Foot Tall Energia-Buran Model That Kevin Referenced That Blew Up Victoria's Entire Life [more photos on Flickr]
The story Victoria mentioned being a specific press trip she would not name @This Patreon
The story Victoria mentioned about rally cars in Vermont that no one read @Motor1
Kevin's "Intercontinental Ballistic Missile" Porsche 911 flight/road trip @Autoweek
Ferdinand Porsche's Elefant Tank Destroyer
Victoria's photos from Modern Aircooled in Houston @Flickr
Victoria's review of Kevin's 911 @The Drive
[I will probably finish updating these notes sometime tomorrow, 3/12! - Victoria]
Our intro music as always is off stella spazzatura's album Horse Tranquilizer Simulator, which you can find on Bandcamp!

Hello! In this episode, Jordan starts us off with genuinely one of the funniest jokes Victoria's ever heard in her podcasting career during a discussion of how we like to fly. We then discuss the fact that Volkswagen is almost certainly going to whiff on launching Scout (remember Scout?) because The Vibes Are Off. Then we give the fans what they DEMAND and deep-dive into the train wreck of STELLANTIS on the heels of them losing Twenty Six Billion Dollars. Then Jordan gives me the scoop on a BDS-compliant Forza Horizon, aka "TDU: Solar Crown", and how we miss when car games were still fun.
Also sorry about the little bit of background noise from me, Victoria, I absolutely had to run the dishwasher because I had run out of clean forks and we record right before I eat dinner. I promise I will be better about doing my silverware.
Editor's Note: P.J. O'Rourke is dead.
Referenced Stories:
Volkswagen Delaying Scout??? @TheDrive
The Microbus concept Victoria had a Barbiemobile @eBay
Original Plan for Scout Validation Vehicles In 2026 @Car And Driver
S. Korean Former PM Sent To Jail Forever @BBC
Amtrak Cancels Plans To Replace Bilevel Cars (Superliners) @Trains
VW Still Selling Tons Of EVs In Europe @ArsTechnica
Edmunds Loves The Model Y??? @Edmunds
VW Changes ID.4 To ID.Tiguan @AutomotiveNews
Tim Walz Has a Scout. Too Bad He Sucks @LA Times
Tim Walz Pulled Over Drunk Driving His Miata @Time (NOTE: He was doing 96 MPH, not 103 MPH, at the time of his arrest. This publication regrets the error.)
Stellantis Lose $26.3 Billion Dollars @Freep
New Pacifica @MotorTrend
RAM REV cancelled @Car And Driver
Stellantis PHEVs Cancelled @AutomotiveNews
Edmunds "Sick Of" Their Charger EV @InsideEVs
Fiat Struggles @Club Alfa
Fiat Struggles (Europe Edition) @ara
MORE HEMI, SAYS FILOSA @AutomotiveNews
European Diesels Coming Back @Forbes
Dodge Challenger: America's Id @Jalopnik
The Aston Martin V12 Vantage Top Gear Segment
Francis Fukuyama's Instagram
BDS Movement Target Microsoft
The Giant Bomb TDU2 Video

On this episode of Tran Girlismo it's time to break down the First Brands collapse, so strap in for the most transgender explanation of shadow banking and private equity you'll hear this week. Also, Jordan fills Victoria in on Renault/Alpine's F1/WEC implosion. Then we exercise our right to make this podcast a little bit of a photography show because we wanna, and talk about private equity again in the context of the Kodak Alaris/Eastman Kodak split and the surprising direct distribution of Ektar and Ektachrome!
Kodak if you're listening we'll both sell out for a pallet full of Ektachrome :)
Referenced stories:
Raybestos shut down @Motor1
2019 study on private equity job loss impacts @WaPo
Private equity failure rate @CFA Institute
Private equity discussion @The Guardian
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s video with Kid Rock and cold-dippin' jeans @Instagram HHS
The 1963 Salad Oil Scandal @Well There's Your Problem
First Brands bankruptcy filing @The Guardian
First Brands sues Patrick James @D&O Diary
First Brands creditors noticing their money is gone @Reuters
First Brands fallout @Reuters
Morningstar DBRS report on First Brands collapse
Federal Indictment of the two brothers @DOJ
Patrick James story about his secretive life @Financial Times (archived)
Tricolor collapse @DealershipGuy
Jamie Dimon cockroaches quote @CNN
IMF $4.5 trillion dollar study @The Economist
Recaro bankruptcy (Jordan meant Recaro, not Sparco) @TheDrive
GM has urgent meetings with suppliers @AutomotiveNews
Also, apparently the Pacifica PHEV did get canned apparently???? But they still have the 2026 model for sale on their website. We're doing a full-bore Stellantis episode in the very near future though don't worry!
Alfa Romeo pissed off about Dodge Hornet @The Drive
New engine rules for F1 @F1
Renault cans F1 engine program at the end of 2025 @Autoweek
"Crashgate" controversy @Wikipedia
Alpine canning WEC in exchange for increased focus on F1 @Bloomberg
Alpine still flirting with America with a crossover @Car And Driver
Lamborghini out of WEC @Motorsports Network
Eastman Kodak reintroducing direct distribution @DPReview
Ektar and Tri-X sold directly via Eastman Kodak @Petapixel
Kodak structural racism @Medium (Madeline M. Dovi)
Kodak Alaris sold to Kingswood Capital @DPReview

Our intro music as always is off stella spazzatura's album Horse Tranquilizer Simulator, which you can find on Bandcamp!

Hello! In our first bonus episode, we discuss how I could have been JD Vance, and also try to cover as many reader questions as possible while drinking and stoned after recording for three straight hours! This is a very loose episode so please expect it to be such; we might add more structure in the future so if this wasn't your bag, please suggest some ideas and we're open to them!
Thanks so much for subscribing and giving us money so I can pay rent; we truly hope you enjoy! Jordan edited this one, give her a little round of applause, also!!

Hello! In this episode, we discuss the Ferrari Luce interior (feat. Squircle King Jony Ive), the (possible?) death of the Porsche 718 EV, and Victoria puts on her hammer-and-sickle hat to discuss why she thinks Waymo could be good, but probably won't be. We also shout out Thomas Sabula, the sole man at Ford more powerful than Jim Farley. Go off, king.

First bonus episode coming later this week for Patreon subscribers!!!
Referenced stories:
Jony Ive/Ferrari Luce Interior Teaser Pics @Jalopnik
Jony Ive/OpenAI iO concept design (I thought this concept rendering I saw floating around was the real thing - it's not; they've just vaguely gestured at the idea of a wearable. Jony, you could still surprise me by not using aluminum and glass in the final design. Bet you won't)
Porsche dropping the 718 EV? Who Knows!!!! @TheDrive
Porsche in the US market @Autoblog
EV sales falling in America in 2025 @TheDrive
Waymo hits child @SFGate
Robotaxis looooooove crashin' @Electrek
Apocryphal story of Musk's hatred of the color yellow in his factories @Intelligencer
Mitch McConnell's sister in law drowns in Tesla crash @BBC
Cruise disengagement statistic @CNBC
Waymo runs over cat in the Mission @axios
Waymo customer wealth @Forbes
Cruise false reports about pedestrian impacts @BayAreaNBC
My DDR bandanna drip @bsky
Source for cost estimates on Waymo compute stack @CBTNews
One Hundred Ten Billion Dollars @Reddit
Thomas Sabula Dudes Rock Moment @Road And Track
Our intro music as always is off stella spazzatura's album Horse Tranquilizer Simulator, which you can find on Bandcamp!