In this episode of Cool Cars with Chris, Chris and Courage sit down with Viraj, a lifelong car enthusiast with serious seat time in everything from Saab 9000 Turbos and Lancia Delta Integrales to the Shelby GT350 and AMG E63 S wagon.
Viraj talks about growing up in London, getting into performance cars, experiencing the wild world of Group B rallying, and why those raw, analog driving experiences still matter today.
The conversation also heads to Angeles Crest Highway and Newcomb’s Ranch, where Viraj shares stories from the Good Vibes Breakfast Club — including meeting Jay Leno and seeing him arrive in a historically raced
Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing.
Then we get into Viraj’s current garage.
His Shelby GT350 delivers an 8,250-rpm Voodoo V8, manual transmission and the kind of driver involvement that’s becoming harder to find. His Mercedes-AMG E63 S wagon takes a completely different approach with a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8, 603 horsepower, all-wheel drive and brutal everyday performance.
But this episode goes beyond horsepower.
Chris, Courage and Viraj debate modified cars vs factory engineering, why driver skill can matter more than the car itself, whether modern performance cars are becoming too computerized, and why the disappearance of manual transmissions may be changing car culture for good.
They also get into EVs, Tesla, the Cybertruck, self-driving technology, subscription-based car features, vehicle data, AI and the future of driving.
Are cars getting better — or are we slowly losing the connection between the driver and the machine?
Watch the full conversation and let us know:
Would you rather drive the Shelby GT350 or the AMG E63 S wagon?
Follow Viraj on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/voodoovgt350/
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00:00 Meet Viraj
01:37 Saab 9000 Turbo & Early Car Obsession
04:18 Group B Rallying & Lancia Integrales
07:22 Angeles Crest & Good Vibes Breakfast Club
09:01 Meeting Jay Leno
16:00 Shelby GT350 & the Voodoo V8
19:00 Why Driver Skill Matters More Than Horsepower
25:23 Modifying Cars vs Factory Engineering
36:12 603-HP AMG E63 S Wagon
40:25 GT350 vs AMG: Two Different Kinds of Fast
49:21 Are We Losing the Art of Driving?
52:06 Cybertruck, EVs & the Future of Cars
57:27 Cars Are Becoming Computers on Wheels
59:13 Is 0–60 Speed Really Enough?
1:06:21 Can Gen Z Bring Analog Cars Back?
1:13:13 Final Thoughts & Where to Follow Viraj
1:14:06 End
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