The Ultimate “What If?” — Big Block Dreams and PT Cruiser Revenge in Coeur d’Alene

Alex and I are out in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, for our third annual sibling weekend getaway, which naturally means two things: drinking a ton of coffee and talking about rigs we absolutely do not need but desperately want.

We just dropped Episode 29 of the podcast, and we went deep on a couple of massive themes. First up: our Top 5 Unobtainable / Impractical Dream Cars. Then, just to mess with each other, we played a round of the “Fantasy Build” where the budget is totally unlimited, but the catch is you have to daily drive a car you’d normally hate for an entire year.

When we started brainstorming this list, I told Alex, “This is gonna be easy.” It wasn’t. You look down and realize you’ve only got five spots for about twenty terrible, beautiful ideas.

Here is how the madness actually shook out from both sides of the table.

My Top 5 “Blank Check” Fleet

My list is a mix of vintage crisp lines, pure childhood nostalgia, and heavy-duty armor. If I win the Powerball, this is what’s parking in the new shop:

• 1960s Jeep Wagoneer (Gladiator Grill Swap): I want the early vintage because the body lines are sharper and more crisp. The plan: drop the body onto a slammed, two-wheel-drive Tahoe chassis. Keep it wide, give it big brakes, retain the classic front bench seat (just highly bolstered), and drop a built, rowdy Hellcat or a big-block Mopar engine inside. Think of it like a 1960s factory SRT8 Cherokee wagon.
• 1990 Lamborghini Countach (25th Anniversary Edition): This is the ultimate childhood poster car for me. Mine was the white-on-white version on a black-and-white checkered floor from the school book fair. It’s completely impractical, the rearview visibility requires a literal periscope prism, and at my stature, I’d probably barely fit inside. But I want the carbureted European version because it has 35 more horsepower than the fuel-injected US model. Tuning six carburetors sounds like a nightmare, but man, what a wedge.
• Kaiser Deuce and a Half (1960s Multifuel): I’ve wanted one of these forever. The goal is to drive it as a 6×6 for a bit, but eventually bob it into a four-wheel-drive shorty on 53-inch Michelin tires with top-loader axles. The 60s military multifuel engine can run on diesel, kerosene, or gas (if you add motor oil to it). It is the ultimate apocalypse vehicle. I would 100% daily drive this to work and just park on the sidewalk when it won’t fit in the garage.
• Built Flat-Fender Jeep: This is the most obtainable rig on my list, but it just doesn’t fit my life right now. I want a clean little summer beach cruiser on 33s or 35s, rolling on Rubicon Dana 44 axles, a manual transmission, and a Dana 20 transfer case with a 3:1 low range. Power-wise, a fuel-injected Chevy 4.3L V6 or a TDI four-cylinder would be perfect—plenty of zip without snapping axles. Throw in some comfortable PRP seats and a simple bikini top. (And before anyone asks, yes, I have a factory flat-fender coming into my possession down the road, but that one has to stay strictly stock, which is why I need to build this wild one!).
• Early-to-Mid 1930s Rat Rod Sedan: I don’t care about the exact make, I just want a chopped sedan body with a wicked wedge stance. The front end needs to be stretched way out, completely fenderless, with the absolute biggest meats I can tuck under the rear. It needs a massive big block with a roots blower so high I can barely see around it. Zoomie pipes, zero mufflers, and raw aluminum bomber seats that offer no protection and get scorching hot in July. Completely obnoxious, terrifying to steer, and loud enough to shake the ground at an idle.

Alex’s Top 5 Nostalgia Trip

Alex went a slightly different route. While my cars are builds I want to piece together, his list features production cars that—if you had the cash at the right place and the right time—you could have actually bought right off a dealership lot.

• 1969 Mach 1 Mustang Fastback (428 Super Cobra Jet with the Drag Pack): This one hits incredibly close to home for him. His dad actually owned one of these right after high school in Acapulco Blue with a black shaker hood, a four-speed transmission, and a 4.30 gear ratio. When Alex was born, his dad traded it for a Toyota Tercel because you can’t fit a baby seat in the back of a Mach 1. We still look at Barrett Jackson auctions just to call his dad up and remind him what that Tercel is worth nowadays compared to a Cobra Jet. (Spoiler alert: they aren’t close). Alex just wants to buy one to give his old man a ride in the passenger seat.
• 1948 Volkswagen Schwimmwagen (Type 166): The ultimate rare, historical, amphibious piece of German engineering. Built on a Beetle chassis, it’s the most-produced amphibious car in history, though finding one today will easily run you a quarter-million dollars. It features a clever PTO setup off the main engine pulley where a propeller swings down into the water on a friction coupling. You just ford a river, pop the prop back up, and drive away on land.
• Volkswagen Fridolin (Type 147): Sticking with the weird vintage Volkswagen theme, this was a specialized mail delivery van used by the Swiss and German postal services. It looks like someone took the front end of a Type 3 Squareback, mashed it onto a boxy bus rear end, and added sliding side doors. Because they were commercial vehicles, most of them got completely rusted out and driven into the dirt. Alex wants to slam one on 15-inch Empis with a clean two-tone paint job and a rowdy little 1.8L engine.
• 1968 Mercury M350 Crew Cab: Back in the 60s, Canada got Mercury-branded trucks instead of Fords, featuring unique trim, beautiful metallic paint options, and embossed tailgates that proudly say Mercury instead of Ford. Finding a factory 4×4 crew cab from ’68 with a factory 427 big block under the hood is a total unicorn haul, and it would look incredible sitting in a garage.
• 1959 Lowrider (Anything American): 1959 was arguably the absolute peak for massive American classic styling—specifically those giant, iconic wing tail lights. Alex doesn’t care if it’s a Buick Invicta or a Cadillac El Dorado; he wants a full-blown, museum-quality, SEMA-spec lowrider. We’re talking heavy metal flake pearl paint, wild pinstriping, flipped switches, chrome spindles, and full hydraulic lines gleaming on 13-inch Dayton wires.

The Unlimited Budget Revenge Build

For the Fantasy Build segment, the rules were simple: unlimited cash, but you have to drive it every day for a year. Alex thought he pinned me in a corner by handing me a 2008 PT Cruiser Turbo Convertible. He sat there with a massive grin, figuring the ultimate “retired-grandpa beach rental” styling would finally break my spirit.

He forgot that an unlimited budget is a cheat code. You can make anything cool if you throw enough hardware and fabrication at it.

My blueprint to salvage the PT Cruiser involves ripping out the front-wheel-drive four-banger, converting it to rear-wheel drive with a built 9-inch rear end, a four-link suspension, and dropping a Viper V10 into the engine bay. We’d wide-body the fenders to fix that narrow factory stance, slam it on classic Torque Thrust wheels, and completely fabricate custom vintage chrome bumpers to give it an authentic 1950s hot rod look.

Meanwhile, I handed Alex a 1950s Nash Metropolitan Convertible. He thinks he’s being clever by planning to channel the front clip and shoehorn a 502 big block with an 8-71 roots blower into it. It’s going to twist itself into a literal pretzel the first time he drops the clutch, and I can’t wait to watch.

Shop Status & DPV 2.0

On the home front, we have some massive milestones happening in our workspace right now. The concrete has officially been poured in my massive 40×60 shop, and it has that nice, glossy burn finish on it. Having an empty 40×60 slab is a rare thing, so before I fully move all the tools and projects in, we are absolutely organizing a temporary roller-hockey game in there and ripping around on pit scooters just to enjoy the space.

Speaking of thrashed tools, Alex spent his weekend helping a buddy do a crazy 6-hour transmission swap on a one-ton Dodge diesel. Literally everything on a one-ton diesel is bigger and heavier than you want it to be—transmissions, transfer cases, you name it—but they powered through, pulled two gearboxes out, got one running back in, and it’s on the road.

We’ve also got an awesome long-term collaboration cooking with Liam from Jeep Sheep TV. For everyone who was bent out of shape when I pulled the AMC motor out of my Jeep, you’re finally getting your fix—we’re going to be heading over to help Liam piece a vintage AMC engine back together for his Commando build. Between that, dropping the big block into my Impala, and about eight other projects waiting in the wings, the list is growing even though the tasks are getting checked off. The finish line keeps moving, but that’s exactly how we like it.

Drop a comment on the video and let us know what your 5 ultimate, money-is-no-object dream cars are!

Wheel it, Wreck it, Wrench it, Repeat!