As some of you probably know, there is a newer show on Motor Trend on Demand which is hosted by Mike Musto, called the House of Muscle. In each episode, he selects some random dude's older domestic car and profiles both the car and the owner. He tries to take an authoritative look at the car as well as why it is significant to the owner, and he presents things in a mostly down-to-earth fashion.
I had never seen or even heard of Mike before finding this new show. As I've watched the four episodes produced to date, I can see how it would be easy to dismiss Mike as some arrogant, know-it-all prick. But maybe that's a harsh judgement. Recently I have seen a couple people whose opinions I would generally trust (such as David Freiburger) that have said Mike is a genuine, nice guy. Hmm.
Just the other night, I found out where Mike "came" from to get his new show on MTOD. Turns out he used to host a web series on /Drive called Big Muscle. In each episode, he profiled a random muscle car (surprise!) and occasionally included the owner, though in this series he seemed more focused on each car and why it is special rather than the person who owns it. Okay, fine. If I want to get to know Mike better, why not watch a few episodes? Thus I began checking out YouTube and watching a number of his shows, picked totally at random.
About six or seven shows into my binge watching session, I found this one:
This is where it all clicked for me. Not only about Mike--because by now I had changed my initial impression of him--but particularly because of what he said in the closing of this episode. He began preaching his call to arms, so to speak, encouraging viewers everywhere to hop in their unfinished project car and drive the thing. "Don't save it for the next guy, and don't put it off.... Do whatever you want with that car, but do it now."
And that's why I had to drive the Grand Prix to work this afternoon. Thanks, Mike.
I had never seen or even heard of Mike before finding this new show. As I've watched the four episodes produced to date, I can see how it would be easy to dismiss Mike as some arrogant, know-it-all prick. But maybe that's a harsh judgement. Recently I have seen a couple people whose opinions I would generally trust (such as David Freiburger) that have said Mike is a genuine, nice guy. Hmm.
Just the other night, I found out where Mike "came" from to get his new show on MTOD. Turns out he used to host a web series on /Drive called Big Muscle. In each episode, he profiled a random muscle car (surprise!) and occasionally included the owner, though in this series he seemed more focused on each car and why it is special rather than the person who owns it. Okay, fine. If I want to get to know Mike better, why not watch a few episodes? Thus I began checking out YouTube and watching a number of his shows, picked totally at random.
About six or seven shows into my binge watching session, I found this one:
This is where it all clicked for me. Not only about Mike--because by now I had changed my initial impression of him--but particularly because of what he said in the closing of this episode. He began preaching his call to arms, so to speak, encouraging viewers everywhere to hop in their unfinished project car and drive the thing. "Don't save it for the next guy, and don't put it off.... Do whatever you want with that car, but do it now."
And that's why I had to drive the Grand Prix to work this afternoon. Thanks, Mike.
