- 2 months ago
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00:01We're going to teach you to stunt drive.
00:03Cool.
00:04You're kind of looking like an actor.
00:07Like actors are always...
00:08Hey, I'm an actor!
00:09Yeah, I know, but not today.
00:11Today you're sung the stunt driver.
00:14Hold on deep. Are you scared? I don't know why I'm scared.
00:17Don't be scared.
00:18Everyone buckled up?
00:19Yeah, we're all buckled up.
00:23And go.
00:24Get your speed up. Click it.
00:29Shift, shift, shift, shift.
00:37We run this.
00:38Yeah!
00:39Woo!
00:42Is that fun?
00:43Yay!
00:44So fun!
00:46Alright, what's next?
00:49I'm Sung Kang.
00:50You may know me from The Fast and Furious.
00:54I'm passionate about cars in real life too.
00:57Woo!
00:58And it's not just the thrill of driving.
01:01Cars are a gateway into diverse and often overlooked cultures.
01:05Connecting exciting communities and people.
01:08Sounds like a jet engine!
01:10So this is my dream job.
01:12Taking you on a global road trip.
01:14To see how cars are changing our world.
01:17And making all of us a little better.
01:21This is The Ride Line.
01:23I'll be the one to show you.
01:25I'll be the one to show you.
01:26I'll be the one to show you.
01:27I'll be the one to show you.
01:28I'll be the one to show you.
01:29Hollywood Boulevard sunrise.
01:30Overstar.
01:31Heels over my shoulder.
01:32Hey G.
01:33That's where the Academy Award is.
01:35Watch me to my wall.
01:39This is my daily driver in Los Angeles.
01:42I have a minivan.
01:43It's a perfect car.
01:44I can haul a whole bunch of friends around.
01:4618 cup holders.
01:48Come on!
01:49LA is my home.
01:52I came to LA to pursue the Hollywood dream.
01:55To make it as an actor.
01:58The city has become a magnet for all kinds of ambitious artists.
02:02And with that comes an intense competition.
02:05To become the hottest thing in music, movies, food or fashion.
02:09This is where I have to have my A game on and everything has to be about career.
02:15Getting to the next level.
02:16I think the car community here is shaped and elevated by the same forces.
02:21Some of the most amazing car people in the world actually are from LA.
02:26It's going to be fun and interesting for all of you guys to see who these people are to me.
02:32And why they're important to me.
02:35Maybe this journey in Los Angeles is going to make me realize how lucky I am.
02:40And look at what is right in front of me.
02:42And I appreciate that.
02:44First up, I'm going to introduce a friend of mine.
02:47Who is street racing throughout his college education.
02:50But don't let that mislead you.
02:51This guy, his knowledge of cars and mechanics is off the charts.
02:57Busy Azaroa founded Busy Moto Engineering.
03:01It's an engine design and tuning house famous for boosting the performance of Honda engines.
03:07You know, not only do we talk about cars, but we talk about very personal things.
03:11How to be better, better contributors to this world, to the car community.
03:18And like me, Busy has a minivan as his LA daily driver.
03:23Hey, Sang.
03:24Hey, BC.
03:25How are you?
03:26Good, how are you?
03:27I have something a little special over here.
03:31The Honda Odyssey, but has a little bit of BC Moto magic.
03:35But let me ask you first.
03:36Sure.
03:37How many cup holders do you have?
03:38Eight cup holders.
03:39I have 18.
03:40Ah, ha, ha.
03:41Throw up the mic.
03:42Yes.
03:43However, I have a little bit of oomph in this one.
03:46Why is it so low?
03:48That's part of the Mystique.
03:49What?
03:50It's manual.
03:51It's manual.
03:52It's manual.
03:53With the rotation?
03:54Yes.
03:55What?
03:56Oh.
03:57Oh.
03:58Oh.
03:59Oh.
04:00Oh.
04:01Oh.
04:02Oh.
04:03Oh.
04:04Oh.
04:05Oh.
04:06Oh.
04:07Oh.
04:08Oh.
04:09Oh.
04:10Oh.
04:11Oh.
04:12Oh.
04:13ох.
04:14уurl 86.
04:15That's a whopping six times the power of standard Socke mom engine.
04:19Turbo is awesome.
04:20Using energy that's typically wasted through sound and exhaust gases to power a car.
04:25steroids.
04:26Sick.
04:27Oh, my God.
04:28What a treat.
04:29I'm glad you like it.
04:31So cool.
04:32Busy has been on a quest to make cars go faster ever since he came to the U.S
04:38Nigeria to study engineering.
04:40I came to the United States in 1989,
04:42and just loved everything on a motor.
04:44Street racing became V.C.'s testing ground
04:46for go-fast mods, as he strived to make
04:49his petrol-powered CRX a winner.
04:51If you wanted to go fast,
04:53you had to figure things out yourself.
04:55But in recent years, he's found a new passion.
04:58Saw a lot more electric cars, and I felt that
05:00if I want to keep on being relevant to them,
05:03I need to learn this technology.
05:04So I painstakingly, begrudgingly
05:08built my first performance electric vehicle.
05:10And performance, because that's what I'm about, right?
05:12I'm all about going fast.
05:14That first EV conversion was a Porsche 935 K3V.
05:20And the first time I drove it in the back of my shop here,
05:23I almost urinated on myself.
05:24So I went half throttle, and I almost crashed it.
05:26It was, the acceleration was second to none.
05:29Overnight, I became an advocate.
05:33Now, V.C. upcycles a host of celebrated performance vehicles
05:37with a modular electric power plant.
05:41This is my latest and greatest.
05:42This is the V.C. Moto Porsche 935 Mobi X.
05:48So this is what I see as a future of hot rodding
05:51in motorsports, merging the classic beauty of a Group 5
05:55race car and the modern technology of electrification.
05:58I have a standard J1772 plug for the front.
06:01And the setup right here has what is known
06:04as a 32 kilowatt hour battery pack.
06:07Yeah, it's like I'm also learning like a foreign language
06:09right now, because I don't understand most of the things
06:12that V.C. just said, but I'm learning.
06:14This is as analog as you can get with modern technology.
06:18So when we sit inside, it'll smell like an old classic Porsche.
06:21It feels like a Porsche race car.
06:23But the proportion is immediate.
06:29Wow, that's so good.
06:31Play with it and see how you like the Mobi X.
06:34We can stretch its legs on the industrial park's closed roads.
06:43Whoa!
06:44A zero to 60 mile per hour time of just two seconds
06:49is 0.6 faster than the latest Porsche Taycan EV.
06:53Whoa!
06:53Whoa!
06:54Whoa!
06:54Whoa!
06:55Whoa!
06:55Whoa!
06:56Praise God!
06:56Whoa!
06:57Whoa!
06:57Whoa!
06:58Whoa!
06:59Whoa!
07:00Whoa!
07:01I'm really sweating here.
07:02Wow!
07:03Whoa!
07:04You know, we go 100 there almost.
07:05Good?
07:06Yeah.
07:07You're good.
07:09My face feels like you got pulled back.
07:14That was a good run right there, huh?
07:16Yeah.
07:20California is a leader in the push for electrification
07:23to reduce vehicle emissions.
07:26But the pace of change has outraged some diehard petrolheads.
07:30What did the purists say about this?
07:31They hate me.
07:32I've got a couple of dead pet threats.
07:33Yeah, of course they still hate me.
07:34Of course they do.
07:35But that's what we do.
07:37We create things that are unique.
07:40And that's part of innovation is to upset the status quo.
07:44Very true.
07:45I really think that the future of hot rodding is very bright.
07:48Because this technology is very exciting.
07:51It's zero emissions.
07:52And instead of building a car from scratch,
07:55we're actually upcycling.
07:56I mean, this guy's voltage is off the charts, constant, pushing the needle forward.
08:08Innovation.
08:09It's like if everyone's happy with what you're doing, it probably isn't that good.
08:14Yeah.
08:15Yeah.
08:16Yeah.
08:17Yeah.
08:18Yeah.
08:19Yeah.
08:20Yeah.
08:21Yeah.
08:22Yeah.
08:23Yeah.
08:24Yeah.
08:25Yeah.
08:26Yeah.
08:27Yeah.
08:28Yeah.
08:29Yeah.
08:30Yeah.
08:31Yeah.
08:32Yeah.
08:33Yeah.
08:34Yeah.
08:38So I'm stepping things up today with the Corvette Era.
08:39It's kind of cool to be able to drive a Corvette around Los Angeles.
08:45This latest VED has supercar performance levels.
08:50The Corvette is synonymous to California cruising.
08:55You have an all-fiber-fast sports car, so it was very light.
08:59It's what represented success.
09:02This was the Ferrari of its era.
09:04This was the car that you wanted.
09:06I'm taking the E-Rae down to Pico Rivera on the east side of L.A.
09:13Sometimes you need to sit down with somebody to just remind you,
09:17what is it all for?
09:18Like, why are we doing this?
09:19Why are we here?
09:20And maybe it is all just to bring people together.
09:24That's why I'm meeting David Riva and his lowrider family.
09:28The lowriders are one of the tightest communities you could ever meet.
09:32What's up, guys?
09:33What up? How's it going?
09:34Wow, this is beautiful.
09:36It's a 1948 Chevy Fleetmaster.
09:3848?
09:39It's my first car.
09:41I've had it since I was 14 years old.
09:43Wow.
09:45David's a second-generation lowrider.
09:47He often meets up with his friends to work on their cars at his Uncle Tony's home.
09:53My family's into cars, and I grew up around this.
09:56Different people have different addictions, and I guess this is mine.
09:59I've seen amazing lowriders from Japan to Korea, but this is where lowriding began back in the 1940s, with Mexican-Americans returning from World War II.
10:12What makes a lowrider?
10:13This ain't a lowrider.
10:15No.
10:15I'm a lowrider.
10:16You are.
10:17Because I ride low.
10:17Okay.
10:18This is the lowrider's car.
10:20All lowriders are designed to go low and slow, but some can spring to life with the flick of a switch.
10:26Back in the day when the cops would pull you over and the car was too low, they would give you a ticket.
10:29Huh.
10:30And then they use them to pick up the cars when they see a cop.
10:33They'd pick up the car and be normal.
10:35The cop would go away, and then they lower it.
10:37And then all of a sudden, it started bouncing a little bit, and then it got bigger and bigger, and now look at it.
10:42They're practically up in the air.
10:43Yeah.
10:44Straight up.
10:44Yeah.
10:45Now it's a hobby.
10:47Let's see how you look in one of these first, right?
10:49You know I'm going to look fresh.
10:52This feels great already.
10:53Look at that.
10:53That's what I'm talking about.
10:54Let's see.
10:55Tap this one up a little bit.
10:57Whoa!
10:57Whoa!
10:58What the?
10:58Go ahead.
11:01Go ahead a little bit more.
11:02Whoa!
11:03Whoa!
11:03Whoa!
11:03Whoa!
11:03Whoa!
11:03Whoa!
11:04They say we look like a bunch of bobbleheads going cruising down the streets.
11:07You know what I mean?
11:07Yay!
11:08Whoa!
11:10This is not subtle.
11:15In the 80s and 90s, lowriders were shunned because they were associated with gangs.
11:21In recent decades, they have come to represent something better.
11:24I built this on my father before he passed away.
11:28It's a real deep, deep bond that I have with him.
11:31And just being connected to the cars, I feel like I'm still connected to him.
11:35You know, my dad grew up, he was a gangbanger, so he wanted to try and shift me a different
11:39direction.
11:41The way I learned and the way he kept me out of trouble was a lot through these cars.
11:44He led me that way, and I mean, I thank him every day.
11:48If we could get our kids to do that, he got his kids into that.
11:51If I could keep it going, this never ends.
11:54Most of these cars have been held by the family for 30 or more years.
12:02It's sexy.
12:03She's sexy.
12:04That's what she says.
12:06They're passed down from one generation to the next as treasured heirlooms.
12:11We're going to go for a drive.
12:13I mean, you want to go cruise?
12:14You can pick which one you want to jump in.
12:15Anywhere you want.
12:16Yeah.
12:17So many to pick from.
12:18I'd like that.
12:19I'd like that.
12:20I'd like that truck.
12:21But we should take that Impala out.
12:23Oh, yeah.
12:24You'll like that.
12:25It's ready to hop, huh?
12:26Oh, yeah.
12:27Yeah.
12:28Batteries in charge.
12:29Look at all these cars, man.
12:33Look at all these cars, man.
12:35Wow.
12:36That's dope.
12:37Everyone's just cruising today.
12:38Yeah.
12:39Perfect day to cruise.
12:41So Whittier right here, this is like where it all goes down.
12:45This is where the majority of low riding is.
12:48Whittier Boulevard has been a low and slow runway since the 1950s.
12:53Its wide, straight lanes cutting through a Mexican-American enclave are perfect stage for the home-built cruiser.
13:00Hit the switch for that guy.
13:02Make the first one go down.
13:03Yeah.
13:04Woo!
13:05Now make it go up.
13:06Tap and swipe to go up.
13:07Woo!
13:08Woo!
13:09I like your car.
13:12That's him.
13:14That's him.
13:15That's him.
13:16Yeah, I like that.
13:19What's up?
13:21Hit the switch.
13:22Hit the switch.
13:23What?
13:24Just off the reactions you got right now.
13:26It's not your car, but you feel it.
13:27Right now it's your car.
13:28You're driving.
13:29It's like an instant connection with strangers.
13:31The low rider culture may have gone global, but there's a style of cruising that's synonymous
13:38with East L.A.
13:40Follow this guy like that.
13:41What's he doing?
13:42Just follow him.
13:43Yeah.
13:44You gotta do it.
13:45I gotta do it?
13:46Yeah, come on.
13:47Side to side.
13:48Just go with it.
13:49Go with it.
13:50Go with it.
13:51Just let it.
13:52Smooth, smooth.
13:53You got a lot of this.
13:54Go hit it.
13:55Hit it.
13:56Hit it.
13:57Hit it.
13:58Hit it.
13:59Whoo!
14:00There we go.
14:01Yeah.
14:02We've got a lot of room.
14:03Yeah.
14:04The guy behind us following suit suit.
14:06See?
14:07Yeah.
14:08You ain't gonna stop me killing you.
14:09Yeah.
14:10Yeah.
14:11Yeah.
14:12Yeah.
14:13Yeah.
14:14Yeah.
14:15Yeah.
14:16Yeah.
14:17I've got a lot of room.
14:18Yeah.
14:19Yeah.
14:20Yeah.
14:21Yeah.
14:22Yeah.
14:23Yeah.
14:24Yeah.
14:25Yeah.
14:26I've heard people from other states like, man, you people in that league, you guys just
14:34drive like you're surfing.
14:37I'm falling in love with this.
14:38You can have the Corvette.
14:42Our convoy is headed to the LA River Canals, where David has pulled together some friends
14:47for a lowrider meet.
14:49Think the car's kept you out of trouble in your life?
14:51Hell yeah.
14:52Yeah?
14:52Yeah.
14:53My dad, he told me, if you graduate from high school, the car is yours.
14:57You know, I had a goal to get to.
14:58I wasn't a straight-A student, you know, but I made it happen.
15:03That's crazy.
15:04A car motivated you to study hard, graduate.
15:08Yeah.
15:08Now I try to tell my kids the same thing.
15:10Cruising time was family time.
15:12Yeah.
15:14For lowriders, their cars are symbols of love, respect, and a reminder of challenges their
15:20parents overcame.
15:23Who?
15:40Yeah, we invited a couple people out.
15:42A couple?
15:42David's called on all the hops from his side of town to set up my first lowrider match.
15:49Hit it up.
15:50Hit it up on him.
15:54Now hit it down.
15:56Now hit the second one.
15:57Hit it up.
15:57Oh.
15:57Yeah.
15:58Yeah.
16:00What's up?
16:01Whoa!
16:03What is he doing, man?
16:05All right, you win.
16:14When you come in with switches, bro, this is what happens.
16:17What's that?
16:17Are you ready?
16:18Girls, you're right!
16:20Are you ready?
16:21Today's hoppers have gone next to us with sophisticated engineering capable of defying gravity.
16:27Three-wheeled at standstill, mostly to the up and down.
16:30That takes extra pumps in there.
16:34Battery-powered hydraulic pumps shoot pressurized fluid to the suspension at selected wheels,
16:40launching cars into the air.
16:43He has wicks so he can hit it from the outside.
16:50Cars dancing for us.
16:51What's up?
16:55What year is this?
16:57What is that?
16:58This is 64.
16:5964.
16:59That's dope.
17:04Look at them tires, though.
17:05Recognize them?
17:06These are mine?
17:06Yeah.
17:07The car community is so small.
17:09My wheels are on this car.
17:12Wouldn't be a lowriders meet without a barbecue.
17:15Ribs, chicken, hot links, baked beans, and smoked corn.
17:18Money back guarantee.
17:19And just like their cars, they like their meats cooked low and slow.
17:31This is the L.A. car community.
17:34Well, you get to, like, walk around a car meet, pick up some barbecue.
17:38There's some damn good barbecue.
17:40Hanging out with David and his friends, his Uncle Tony.
17:44Getting into the world of lowriders in Los Angeles.
17:49This is a celebration of the best of what car culture in L.A. has thought.
17:56You know, at one time, lowriding culture was connected to all the negative stereotypes.
18:02Gangbangers and gangsters.
18:05Today, it disproves there's nothing negative about it anymore.
18:10And it shows how car culture has changed perception and built community.
18:18That's what culture is for.
18:20I'm so fortunate to be where I am, thanks to my role in the Fast and Furious.
18:36It's an honor to be able to walk in Honshu, to be an ambassador.
18:42But ever since my friend and fellow cast member, Paul Walker, died in a crash back in 2013,
18:48I haven't been the same.
18:49My passion for cars was tested.
18:54And truth be told, I don't even really like to drive fast anymore.
18:58I feel all these, like, weird feelings and insecure feelings.
19:01That's behind my meeting Patrick Long, a former professional race car driver who now coaches a competitive mindset.
19:10Patrick believes the same skills can make us faster on the track and more accomplished in life.
19:17Stop.
19:18Hi, Patrick.
19:19Wow, look at these cars.
19:21What?
19:23It's like M&M's.
19:23This 912 is actually one of my dream cars.
19:28My theme is one air-cooled Porsche from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s before they went to water-cooled.
19:35And, yeah, I just love them.
19:39Patrick's talent and hard work took them to open wheelers and racing Porsche sports cars.
19:45I did 18 years with them on the factory team.
19:47We went to Le Mans, Sebring, Daytona.
19:50Won all those classic races in GT.
19:52He found a lot of success.
19:56Alongside racing, Patrick has been a coach and mentor to aspiring drivers for over a decade.
20:02My clients say to me, teach me how to do well when things are not going my way.
20:08I know what I have been able to achieve on my very best day when it felt effortless, when I felt like I was in my purpose.
20:16Teach me how to have that all the time.
20:18How did you find your purpose?
20:19Because I feel like I'm still looking for it, Patrick.
20:22Like, here in L.A., I'm feeling like, man, I'm not doing anything.
20:26There will always be doubt.
20:28But what you do with it and how you direct it is really what I learned to do through competition.
20:34If you're in the race car going 190 miles an hour and your mind starts to shift elsewhere, you're not completely immersed.
20:41You're not completely in the zone.
20:44And that's when mistakes happen.
20:45And that's when things can get really ugly.
20:49Patrick has a reaction time exercise that he thinks will help me learn to block out distracting thoughts.
20:55My goal here is to keep my eyesight as wide as possible, my mind as calm as possible,
21:03and to focus on the task at hand and nothing else.
21:07To quiet the voices.
21:10The lightboard measures how quickly you can hit the boxes before they explode.
21:15It'll just be in the moment.
21:17Yep.
21:17Huh.
21:17Exactly.
21:1982.
21:20Whoa.
21:22Start.
21:23Look at that.
21:29That bad?
21:31Maybe it doesn't matter.
21:32It's just about furthering yourself versus comparing to anybody else.
21:37It's also about being immersed into what's the task at hand in front of me.
21:42What's my job?
21:42Try it again.
21:54There you go.
21:56Nice.
21:58Look at that.
21:58Oh, one more.
21:59The first run, I was like, I gotta hurry up.
22:02And then the second one, I was just enjoy it, too.
22:04Yeah, you seem very calm and very, like, immersed in the task.
22:08Just block out the noise.
22:09Yeah.
22:11The next step will be to turn better focus into faster driving.
22:16I've actually never driven a 912 before.
22:19Oh, nice.
22:19Yeah, you'll like it.
22:20I love this.
22:32It drives so great.
22:34I love that you love it.
22:35I love that you love it.
22:36My lesson will actually be driving an electric go-kart.
22:42It may be small in size, but the G-forces, rapid acceleration and braking are as close as I'll get to a real formula race car.
22:52We use this for training because it is really tough on the body, tough on the ribs, tough on the neck and the hand.
22:59I've never talked about this, but after we lost Paul, and he wasn't even driving that car, like, I hate going fast.
23:14I don't know if I fear it, but I, like, I just, I get so repulsed by it.
23:19So sorry for your loss.
23:20That's a big one for everybody.
23:22Yeah, for everybody.
23:23I do believe that loss, which we all are going to suffer in our lives, has to happen in order to move forward and to do that person justice.
23:32If I was out there driving, thinking about death, then it's only increasing the risk.
23:37I'll be following Patrick around the racetrack until he feels I'm ready to lead the way.
23:44You're focused on being present in what the next set of corners is, not what happened a year ago or what's going to happen in 100 years.
23:50Right here, right now, if your body starts to hurt, don't let your mind go to your body.
23:56Stay on the task.
23:57Stay here.
24:07Try to use your outside arms.
24:13Use your left arm to push instead of just pulling so you kind of preserve your energy.
24:18Okay.
24:18He's so fast.
24:42Hard to keep up with Patrick?
24:43Super hard.
24:45What were you thinking about when I left you?
24:47There's all these people, like, watching.
24:49Right.
24:49Hey, it's Han from Fast and Furious that's getting his ass whipped.
24:53You can't control what they think.
24:55All you can control is, like, you're behind the wheel, and you have A, to be safe, B, all that you really can think about is the next corner coming up, which is kind of a metaphor for life.
25:07I want you to try to recognize when this is slipping in.
25:10Okay.
25:11Reframe, resist, get back in the moment, be present.
25:14Okay.
25:17Let's go.
25:47Good job.
26:00I wasn't focused on you going faster.
26:03I was like, let me just enjoy this.
26:05Yeah.
26:05Now you've reset everything that happened in the past
26:08that was in your mind about speed before we came today.
26:11At least I dealt with it today.
26:13Yeah.
26:13With your help.
26:14I mean, if you're at peace with it, that's awesome.
26:16Thanks, Patrick.
26:17It was a pleasure.
26:18Great to spend time with you.
26:21I've got to enjoy the process and learn from somebody like Patrick.
26:25I know through this journey that I can be better
26:28and keep being better until the day I die.
26:31That's what gives you purpose.
26:41Hollywood is where fantasies happen.
26:43Cars are characters within these movies.
26:47So people grow up watching a certain film or a TV show
26:50that becomes the car that you dream of one day.
26:56Behind the scenes of every movie,
26:58there are car builders and stunt drivers
27:00who bring these fantasies to life.
27:02I don't do my own stunts.
27:04I'll learn as much as I can to make my movements look authentic.
27:08But all the driving that happens in Fast and Furious
27:12is not me.
27:13These amazing stunt drivers.
27:16These folks deliberately are putting their life on the line
27:19to make me look good.
27:20These are like the real unsung heroes.
27:22There is no Oscar for stunt performers
27:25where I think there should be.
27:26I'm meeting up with Dee Bryant and Olivia Summers,
27:40two pioneers of women's stunt drivers.
27:43It's beautiful that there are now women in stunt driving.
27:59It was a very male-dominated department.
28:03I think it's because Hollywood has opened up characters
28:07or leads to be female action heroes.
28:10I'm catching up with Dee and Olivia
28:20at their desert training ground.
28:22Willow Springs is the oldest road racetrack in the U.S.
28:26Many, many things have been filmed here.
28:28Ford versus Ferrari.
28:30Fast and Furious was shot here.
28:37Hello.
28:38Well, hello.
28:39I'm Dee.
28:40Hi, Dee.
28:40Nice to meet you, Sam.
28:41Nice to meet you.
28:42I'm Olivia.
28:43Hey, Olivia.
28:43I saw you guys.
28:45You look great out there.
28:46Very cool.
28:49Both ladies were into driving fast 20 years ago,
28:52but they took unlikely paths into stunt driving.
28:55Dee was behind the wheel of big construction rigs
28:59while Olivia studied ballet at a professional dance school.
29:02It doesn't seem like a natural transition
29:05going from a professional dancer to a stunt driver,
29:08but it kind of balances in some ways.
29:11It's like a dance, really.
29:14One thing about stunt driving is a lot of it's hitting marks.
29:18Like, anybody can crash a car into a wall.
29:20Without coordinating vehicles.
29:22Same as choreography with dance.
29:24Yeah.
29:24Stunt driving is like being a professional athlete.
29:28Absolutely.
29:28Right?
29:28Mm-hmm.
29:29You guys are the only ones, I think,
29:32in the whole crew that risk your life.
29:35You can literally be taken out by these cars.
29:39You know, when preparation isn't there,
29:41like, you'll hurt yourself and hurt other people.
29:43For sure.
29:44That's why we're always on the track.
29:46We're always learning,
29:47always trying to figure out what we can do next.
29:51You guys are a wonderful inspiration for young women
29:54that want to, you know, get into this world, too,
29:56because I'm sure when you guys started,
29:58this was very male-dominated.
30:00Still male-dominated.
30:01It still is.
30:01Yeah.
30:02Totally.
30:02Still.
30:03Absolutely.
30:03It's still a boys' club we're trying to be a member of.
30:05Olivia and Dee have created an association of women drivers
30:10to lobby for women's rights in the stunt industry.
30:13We don't want to be known as great female drivers.
30:16We want to be known as great drivers.
30:18That's just awesome.
30:21What are you teaching me today?
30:22A reverse 180.
30:24Reverse 180.
30:25Yeah.
30:25Ooh.
30:26And we're going to have fun.
30:27Awesome.
30:28This is Dee's cop car.
30:30It's a Dodge Charger,
30:31so a lot of power for an automatic.
30:35So when we're going in reverse
30:38and you see your point where you just before
30:40where you want the reverse 180 to happen
30:42and you're cranking the wheel,
30:44when it gets to 90,
30:45when you feel like your hood is, like, on a 90 degree,
30:48and it happens really fast, by the way,
30:50then you're going to slam it in a drive.
30:53Oh.
30:53Okay.
30:55All right.
30:56You ready?
30:57Mm-hmm.
30:57Here we are.
30:58We're in reverse.
30:58Mm-hmm.
30:59I've got my mark.
31:00Now I'm getting all my feet up in the beginning.
31:03Now I'm cranking the wheel.
31:12Shift.
31:16Go forward.
31:19You made it so easy.
31:20Right?
31:20Well, for you.
31:21That was a slow one.
31:22That was slow.
31:23It's been a while, but I'm good.
31:25You are good.
31:26I am.
31:26Not so bad.
31:27Not backward, girl.
31:27For my turn, Olivia and Dee are upping the stakes.
31:34They're simulating the pressure stunt drivers face on a film set
31:38with a crew of mannequins.
31:40Because you have to hit your mark,
31:41and your mark is going to be the camera,
31:43and the mannequin is going to represent the DP.
31:47Okay.
31:47Hit that mark.
31:48Boom.
31:48You got to hit that mark and not him.
31:52So, Sung, make sure you have that director in your left mirror.
31:56You can see where he's at.
31:57Can you see him?
31:57Yeah, I see him.
31:58Okay.
31:59Sometimes what I do, too,
32:00I draw a cross in my rear-view mirror,
32:03so this way you can see where he is,
32:04and you want him to stay in that spot.
32:06Okay.
32:06To make this scene believable.
32:08Dee will be yelling,
32:10and I'm going to be like,
32:11go, go, go.
32:11Oh, my God, they're coming.
32:13So much to think about.
32:16Okay, stand by in three, two, one.
32:20Action.
32:20Hurry up and chase them.
32:21Go, go, go, go, go, go.
32:25Go, go, go, go, go.
32:27Go, go, go, go, go.
32:28Yes, sir.
32:30It's coming.
32:30Go, go, go.
32:32Yes, sir.
32:34Oh, my.
32:34Yes, sir.
32:38Oh, .
32:39You killed him.
32:43Call 911.
32:50Call 911.
32:51I think I overshot the director, huh?
32:55You started your reverse 180 too late.
32:57Too late.
32:58It's easier with nobody around.
33:00No mannequin.
33:01Yeah, but there's no invisible sets.
33:05Our busted up mannequin is going to have to film
33:07my next attempt lying down.
33:09I'm ready whenever you are.
33:11Are you ready?
33:12Stand by.
33:12All right, and that's it.
33:22Look at the cops.
33:23You guys, there's even more.
33:24They're faked.
33:34Yes, that's it.
33:36That's way better.
33:37Yes.
33:39Oh, wait.
33:40The next one, we can't high-five
33:41because they're still shooting us.
33:42They're like, why are they high-fiving?
33:43Oh, I said, run.
33:44We've got to go.
33:45Come on.
33:45We've got to go, ladies.
33:47Wait, that's a cop car.
33:48I can't get out.
33:48Oh, wait.
33:49I'll get you.
33:50I got you, girl.
33:51I was short of my mark,
33:53so I'm still a long way from doing my own stunts.
33:56He never hit the director.
33:57That's the most important.
33:58He'll hire you again.
34:00I wanted to.
34:01You wanted to?
34:02God put erasers at the end of the pencil for a reason.
34:07We all make mistakes.
34:08You know what I mean?
34:08God put erasers at the end of the pencil.
34:10Sorry, that's my cheesy little Canadian.
34:12No, no, no.
34:12I'm going to borrow that.
34:14You can use it.
34:15It's all yours.
34:16It makes sense why you guys are a rare breed in this business.
34:21I mean, you could take your attitude and your philosophy
34:24and what you do in stunt driving
34:26and put it in anything, and you'll be successful.
34:28Right.
34:28Right?
34:32Meeting Olivia and Dee today,
34:38it's like the reminder
34:39is that you can't rest on your laurels.
34:41And I guess that's what being in L.A.
34:44or the spirit of L.A. is.
34:46You always have to push forward.
34:50Not only do they make a place for themselves,
34:52they make a place for other women,
34:54other people of color,
34:55and even someone like me.
34:57I look at them and I go,
34:59I'm inspired by them.
35:02If they can do it, I can do it.
35:04If they belong in Hollywood,
35:06I belong in Hollywood.
35:08And through cars, they make their dreams happen.
35:12I have time to share with you just one more corner of L.A.'s car culture.
35:27I'm talking hot rods.
35:29Hot rodding was something that a lot of war veterans did after World War I and II.
35:35They had all this knowledge from working on military vehicles and they incorporated it into their cars.
35:42They still had a need for speed, they had a need for community, and, you know, it was cool.
35:47These days, hot rods are generally seen as an old man's hobby.
35:52What's surprising about the guy we're meeting, Alec Harrell, is he's still in his 20s.
35:57It's very interesting to hear what hot rodding means to him and why he has a connection to that and not the newer cars.
36:03That's nice.
36:06Hot rods come in many flavors.
36:08They can be cut up, stripped of weight, and given beefier motors.
36:12The end goal is always to go faster.
36:15Look at this shop.
36:16Hey, how are you?
36:17I'm Alec.
36:17Hey, Alec.
36:18Nice to meet you.
36:18Nice to meet you.
36:19Pleasure to meet you.
36:19I'm Bubba.
36:20Bubba.
36:21Welcome to Harrell Engines.
36:22What is this car?
36:23This one's 1929.
36:25Dang, you're keeping a 1929 Model A?
36:28Model A, yeah.
36:29We decided to use this truck as kind of a test bed to build these traditional hot rods with V8s in them.
36:34We specialize here in these flathead ports because we manufacture parts for them.
36:38This is classy, man.
36:40Alec's ancestors, Jim and Nick Harrell, began hot rod racing back in the 1920s.
36:46Their family business, rebuilding engines and developing speedy parts,
36:50carried on until they closed down in the 1970s.
36:53I found classic cars completely on my own, unknowing of the family history.
36:58My grandfather happened to mention, oh, by the way, we have this racing history.
37:02You can find old reel-to-reel films of hot rod races,
37:05and you see thousands of people coming to these events.
37:09After many decades of being dormant, the world forgot.
37:13So it kind of became my mission to remind everybody, bring it back into relevance.
37:17That's beautiful.
37:20Pharrell Engines has been slowly revived by Alec over the last two years.
37:27Only last month, he was joined by Stephen Galvin, Bubba to his friends.
37:31I've been working around classic cars my whole life as well,
37:35just tinkering with them with my grandfather for a few years.
37:37He unfortunately passed away.
37:39These vehicles helped me through a difficult time in my life, and it made me who I am.
37:43How old are you?
37:44I'm 27.
37:45How old are you, Bubba?
37:46I am 22 years old.
37:47God, you guys are babies.
37:48Yeah.
37:49It's super impressive to me that such young men like yourself is touching these old historic relics.
37:56Well, thank you.
37:57Most of the youth that's into car culture, they're not into this.
37:59We're caretakers for things that people find special and worthy of preservation for future generations.
38:06Can I drive one?
38:08I've never driven a hot rod.
38:09Yeah, totally.
38:09We can go right into my next shop right next door and look at my race car.
38:12We can actually drive that one.
38:13Check that out.
38:13Yeah, for sure.
38:16That's what I'm talking about.
38:17This is a 1932 Ford, one of the most desirable early Fords you can get.
38:23This is kind of the textbook definition of what a hot rod is, is this car.
38:27Why?
38:271932 is the year that Ford gave us the V8.
38:30Bonnie and Clyde wrote a letter to Henry Ford congratulating and thanking him for his triumph on this engine.
38:35They would exclusively steal these so that they could go do their robberies and everything else because this would beat anything else on the road.
38:42Yeah.
38:43That is crazy.
38:44Wow.
38:47This is a bucket list, man.
38:50Wow.
38:51So responsive, though.
38:52Yeah.
38:52I love it.
38:53You can give me all your troubles and nothing but bad news.
38:59You can take all my money and I will grow my feet.
39:06Different perspective for me.
39:07I've never sat over here.
39:08Ever since I found my baby, I ain't got the food.
39:13Woo!
39:14Yeah!
39:16Wow.
39:17This car is for a Southern Cali, man.
39:23Oh, yeah.
39:23You know, the wind in your face, the sunshine.
39:29I can see why people fell in love with racing cars.
39:33I mean, this car has a big personality.
39:37Woo!
39:38That was all right.
39:39Beautiful.
39:40Thing moves, huh?
39:41Beautiful.
39:42Beautiful.
39:42The fun doesn't stop there.
39:47Alec and Bubba have one more treat in store.
39:50It's not every day I'm the passenger princess.
39:53And driving a 57 Chevy is just the starters.
39:55We're going to the river, down to the canal.
40:09Why are we going there?
40:10Back in the day, hot rodders used to go meet down there at the canal, and they used to have
40:15fun, basically.
40:15They would either race or go enjoy themselves.
40:26We've landed.
40:27Heh heh.
40:30What's up, guys?
40:30What's up?
40:31How are you doing?
40:32When I first got this car, I didn't know anybody that was into them.
40:33It's just cool to find other people that are drawn to the same type of vehicle.
40:34Being able to work with the fellas on the old cars, bringing back something that was not
40:48so beautiful, and then make it very beautiful and stunning.
40:52It's a really good time, really fun.
40:54Back in the day, hot rods were built for racing.
40:59Driver, come to me.
41:01And these guys keep the tradition a lot, with a bit of friendly competition.
41:05Come, come, come, come.
41:06Fast and Furious race starters never looked this good.
41:10Ready?
41:11You ready?
41:14Run!
41:19That car flew.
41:20Wow.
41:21First pass the rail bridge wins bragging rates.
41:34And it's Bubba's day.
41:35Ha ha!
41:37He won!
41:38My boy won.
41:42Ready?
41:43Go!
41:47We have the unique honor of kind of getting to say, we built these.
41:50We preserve these.
41:51We are interested in this.
41:52Ah!
41:54People are starting to want to spin the clock back.
41:57There's this resurgence in traditional hot rodding that is boiling over right now, which
42:01is fantastic.
42:04And I don't run out of gas, baby.
42:06Good?
42:07Good?
42:08Good?
42:09Alec and Bubba and all his friends, they used these cars to have a place to belong.
42:15You don't have to have the most fanciest car or the most expensive build.
42:20And Alec pursuing his dream to carry on his family's legacy.
42:25It's interesting that these old hot rods, his way of honoring his family.
42:29It's a way to every day to make something better.
42:34And maybe that's what draws people to Los Angeles is that you can come here and dream the impossible
42:42and be constantly improving yourself.
42:46L.A. is not an easy place.
43:00It's the city of overachievers.
43:03You almost have to be like, I believe in something that's going to happen that nobody believed is going to happen.
43:10This whole journey for me is so crucial because I have to have these tools to survive in Hollywood for the next dream.
43:24There's so many things I want to do.
43:26I want to direct movies, act in roles that are challenging.
43:30I want to make films and stories that make a difference in people's mind and in the world.
43:36This journey is giving me the tools in my box to be able to do it.
43:45Passion and purpose.
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