Past Gas
Past Gas
Donut
Donut's Nolan Sykes and Joe Weber walk you through incredible stories behind your favorite cars and manufacturers. Episodes include underground Japanese racing clubs, bitter racing rivalries, and how some of your favorite classic cars came to be. Listen and find out why Past Gas is the #1 automotive podcast on Apple.
How Ferrari Survived Ford, Fiat, and Fate
Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [https://bit.ly/3Kj2XLO] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance.Thanks to Hankook for sponsoring today's video! Click here [https://bit.ly/44f5Sgl] to learn more about Dynapro tires!Thank you EveryPlate for sponsoring this episode. Try EveryPlate and get $2.99 per meal on your first box, plus free steak for a month. Go to https://everyplate.com/podcast and use code gassteak to claim your offer.And thank you Underdog Fantasy for sponsoring this podcast. Download the app today and use promo code GAS to score $75 in Bonus Entries when you play your first $5. Must be 18+ (19+ in Alabama & Nebraska; 19+ in Colorado for some games; 21+ in Arizona, Massachusetts, and Virginia) and present in a state where Underdog Fantasy operates. Terms apply. See https://assets.underdogfantasy.com/web/PlayandGetTerms_DFS_.html for details. Offer not valid in Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and ...
Dec 22, 2025
1 hr 6 min
318: Ferrari Borrowed Its Most Famous Symbol
Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [https://bit.ly/4mgo1jE] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. Thanks to Indeed for sponsoring this episode. Listeners of this show will get a $75 SPONSORED JOB CREDIT to help get your job the premium status it deserves. Go to ⁠https://indeed.com/PASTGAS⁠  right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Also thanks to Aura Frames for sponsoring this episode. Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/GAS. Promo Code GAS This week on Past Gas, we’re diving into Ferrari — and the surprising, emotional origin of its most famous symbol. The Prancing Horse didn’t start with Enzo Ferrari, or even with cars at all. In Part 1 of our two-part season finale, we trace the logo’s roots back to a World War I Italian flying ace, and the chain of events that turned a wartime emblem into the most iconic badge in automotive history. From Alfa Romeo ...
Dec 15, 2025
42 min
317: How Japan’s Fastest Cars Were Built in a Cowshed
Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [https://bit.ly/4n4xlrY] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. And thanks to Hankook for sponsoring today's video! Click here [https://bit.ly/4nsAXo6] to learn more about Dynapro tires!This episode is also brought to you by Aura Frames. Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/GAS. Promo Code GAS This week on Past Gas, we’re telling the unbelievable story of how HKS went from wrenching in a shed on a dairy farm to building some of the fastest cars Japan has ever seen. From early turbo experiments to the 300-km/h Celica, the outlaw Zero-R, and record-smashing time-attack monsters, this is how a tiny team under Mount Fuji ended up reshaping JDM and motorsport forever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dec 8, 2025
47 min
The Tire Problem That Created Drifting
Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [https://bit.ly/4mVSVPj] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. And thanks to Aura Frames for sponsoring this episode. Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/GAS. Promo Code GAS This week on Past Gas, we’re telling the story of Kunimitsu Takahashi — the motorcycle phenom who survived a near-fatal Isle of Man crash and came back to dominate Japanese touring cars in the Skyline GT-R. His aggressive, controlled power-slides, born from the limits of bias-ply tires, helped shape the driving style that inspired Keiichi Tsuchiya and drifting as we know it. From volcanic hillclimbs to Nissan’s “Three Crows” era to delivering Honda a GT2-class win at Le Mans, Takahashi’s career defined multiple eras of motorsport and left a legacy that still echoes across racing and drift culture today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dec 1, 2025
43 min
What Ever Happened To Pininfarina?
Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [https://bit.ly/463GZoO] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. This week on Past Gas, we’re telling the story of Pininfarina — the small Italian coachbuilder that became the world’s most iconic design house. Before their name appeared on Ferraris and Peugeots, Battista “Pinin” Farina was just a kid in his brother’s shop dreaming bigger than Detroit. From turning down a job offer from Henry Ford to creating the MoMA-worthy Cisitalia 202, Pininfarina quickly rewrote the rules of car design. And after one legendary lunch with Enzo Ferrari, they’d go on to shape nearly every iconic Ferrari for the next six decades. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Nov 24, 2025
58 min
How a Racing Loophole Made Tom Walkinshaw a Legend
Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [https://bit.ly/3VhqAH3] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. Also thanks to Hankook for sponsoring today's video! Click here [https://bit.ly/3ZWwwYL] to learn more about Dynapro tires! This episode is also sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/PASTGAS and get on your way to being your best self. This week on Past Gas, we’re diving into the unbelievable life of Tom Walkinshaw — the Scottish farmer-turned-racing powerhouse who built one of motorsport’s greatest empires. Before he became the mastermind behind Jaguar’s return to Le Mans and Holden’s dominance at Bathurst, Walkinshaw was just a tough kid from Midlothian hustling his way up the racing ladder. From controversial disqualifications in the British Touring Car Championship to pushing homologation boundaries with Holden, Walkinshaw earned a reputation as the guy who’d do anything to go fa...
Nov 17, 2025
34 min
The Million-Dollar Porsche That Got Its Maker Killed
Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [https://bit.ly/4gmCSHD] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. Also thanks to Hankook for sponsoring today's video! Click here [https://bit.ly/3GjjL3S] to learn more about Dynapro tires! This week on Past Gas: one of the most insane tuner stories ever told. In the ’80s and ’90s, Gemballa turned Porsches into wild, million-dollar supercars for sheikhs, rappers, and rock stars. But behind the gold interiors and Testarossa body kits was founder Uwe Gemballa, a perfectionist whose obsession with luxury led to his disappearance — sparking one of the automotive world’s strangest mysteries. How did a man who built the wildest Porsches on Earth simply vanish? And how is his son rebuilding the brand today? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Nov 10, 2025
43 min
The Gas-Station Kid Who Outsmarted Dodge and Became the Mopar King
Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [https://bit.ly/47IpOdG] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. This week, when Dodge said a 383 big-block wouldn’t fit in a Dart, a Chicago car guy proved them wrong — and forced Detroit to copy him. From selling 50 Dodges in a snowstorm to building the first dealer-tuned muscle cars, Mr. Norm turned a local dealership into the birthplace of Mopar performance culture — and changed how Americans bought speed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Nov 3, 2025
36 min
The Crash That Changed Drag Racing Forever
Thanks to Hankook for sponsoring today's video! Click here [https://bit.ly/4ewUjVf] to learn more about Dynapro tires! Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [https://bit.ly/4mcrYFS] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. This week, before it was America’s fastest sport, drag racing was pure anarchy — street duels, homebuilt death traps, and war vets chasing speed wherever they could find it. Wally Parks stepped in to bring order to the chaos, founding the NHRA to make racing safer and more legit. From outlaw origins to organized empire, this is the story of how the NHRA was born, and the crash that changed drag racing forever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Oct 27, 2025
54 min
The GM Madman Who Built the Stingray in Secret
Thanks to Allstate for sponsoring today’s episode! Click here [https://bit.ly/3GSyliQ] to check Allstate first and see how much you could save on car insurance. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/PASTGAS and get on your way to being your best self. Meet Bill Mitchell, the hard-drinking, womanizing, design genius who shaped General Motors’ golden age. From the Corvette Stingray to the Buick Riviera and Cadillac Eldorado, Mitchell’s fingerprints are on nearly every iconic GM car of the ’50s through ’70s. He defied bans, built secret studios, and literally climbed trees drunk at company parties. It’s the wild story of the man who made American cars beautiful — and himself impossible to ignore. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Oct 20, 2025
52 min
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