Current and Combustion with Jason Hassett

About Current and Combustion with Jason Hassett

Welcome to The Car Nerd by Jason Hassett, your go-to destination for all things automotive excellence. From legendary classic cars and cutting-edge engineering innovations to the thrilling world of racing, F1, and electric vehicles, this channel dives into the heart of the past, present, and future of the automotive world. Originally launched in 2020 as "The Grand Prick" and later "Wheel Sports," this channel has evolved alongside my passion for all things racing and automotive. While Formula 1 remains close to my heart, The Car Nerd now expands to cover stories of automotive

Publisher

Hassett Studios

Category

leisure

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

18 Apr 2025

Latest episode

8 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

90 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   8 Nov 2026

   Rover 75: The Last Great Rover

   In October 1998, Rover unveiled the car that was supposed to announce its comeback. It had been developed under BMW ownership, with a new focus on quality, refinement and the way it drove. Then BMW’s own chairman helped undermine it. Comments made at the Rover 75’s launch raised doubts about the company’s future. A parliamentary investigation would later describe those remarks as highly damaging to an already fragile brand. By March 2000, BMW had decided to break up the Rover Group. The 75 would survive another five years in Britain, but the company it was supposed to help rebuild would not. How did Rover finally build a genuinely good car and still end up here? ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🏁 IN THIS EPISODE We tell the story of the Rover 75, the executive car caught between an ambitious German takeover and the final collapse of its British manufacturer. We trace BMW’s purchase of Rover in 1994, the investment that followed, and the expectations placed on a new model arriving after years of declining confidence in the badge. We examine the 75’s development under BMW, its distinctive styling and improved quality, and the challenge of finding its place alongside the German company’s own executive cars. Then we revisit the 1998 launch, the damaging public comments, and a business whose problems extended far beyond the car itself. Rover’s UK market share had fallen from 13 per cent in 1994 to under 7 per cent in 1999, while mounting losses and an unfavourable exchange rate put increasing pressure on BMW. We follow the decision to sell Rover, the transfer of 75 production from Cowley to Longbridge, and the end of British production in 2005. We also look at the car’s unexpected afterlife, as versions of its design continued in China under the MG and Roewe names. The Rover 75 was supposed to help secure the company’s future. Instead, it became one of the last cars to wear the Rover badge. #Rover75 #Rover #MGRover #BMW #Longbridge #BritishCars #CarHistory #TheCarNerd

2. 

   5 Nov 2026

   Mercedes CLR: The Mercedes that FLEW Out of Le Mans

   In 1999, a Mercedes racing car took off at nearly 200 mph, cleared the barriers at Le Mans, and landed in a forest. It was the third time in three days that a Mercedes CLR had left the ground. Mark Webber had already survived two backflips. His car had been withdrawn, the remaining cars had been fitted with extra front winglets, and the drivers had been told to avoid following other cars too closely. Mercedes went racing anyway. Then Peter Dumbreck’s CLR took off in front of a worldwide television audience. Mercedes had completed nearly 35,000 kilometres of testing before arriving at Le Mans. So how had it built a car that could do this? ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🏁 IN THIS EPISODE We tell the extraordinary story of the Mercedes-Benz CLR, the low-slung Le Mans prototype whose racing career ended after one terrifying weekend. We trace Mercedes’ journey from the tragedy of 1955 through its victorious return with Sauber, its domination of GT racing, and the unfinished business that brought it back to Le Mans in 1999. We examine the engineering behind the CLR, from its naturally aspirated V8 and carbon fibre chassis to the short wheelbase, enormous overhangs, and pursuit of straight-line speed that left it dangerously sensitive to changes in pitch. We follow Mark Webber’s two airborne accidents, the warning signs Mercedes dismissed, and the phone call to McLaren technical director Adrian Newey before the team committed its remaining cars to the race. Then we revisit Peter Dumbreck’s flight into the trees, his remarkable escape, and the French police officers who decided the next thing he needed was a breathalyser. We also explore the aftermath, the changes to the regulations and circuit, and what became of the drivers who survived. One CLR finished its weekend undamaged, parked in the garage with more than nineteen hours still to race. The only CLR that never flew. #MercedesCLR #MercedesBenz #LeMans #MarkWebber #PeterDumbreck #MotorsportHistory #TheCarNerd

3. 

   1 Nov 2026

   Audi Avant RS2: The Station Wagon that HUMILIATED the McLaren F1

   In 1994, a family estate car accelerated from 0 to 30 mph faster than a McLaren F1. It had 315 horsepower, permanent four-wheel drive, and a Porsche badge on the back. It was the Audi RS2 Avant. And it almost never existed. In the early 1990s, Porsche was fighting for survival. Sales had collapsed, its sports cars were ageing, and the company desperately needed outside manufacturing contracts. Meanwhile, Audi was trying to establish itself alongside BMW and Mercedes-Benz as a serious performance brand. The solution was a partnership between two German manufacturers. But when Audi asked Porsche to develop a high-performance coupé, Porsche refused. It would have been too much competition for its own 968. So instead, they built an estate car. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🏁 IN THIS EPISODE We tell the remarkable story of the Audi RS2 Avant, the Porsche-engineered super-estate that changed Audi's performance cars forever. We explore Porsche's financial crisis, Ferdinand Piëch's ambitions for Audi, and the unusual negotiations that turned a proposed sports coupé into one of the most extraordinary estate cars ever built. We head inside Porsche's Zuffenhausen factory, where the RS2 was assembled alongside the Mercedes-Benz 500E, and examine how Porsche transformed Audi's humble 80 Avant with a heavily reworked turbocharged five-cylinder engine, upgraded suspension, Brembo brakes, and unmistakable Porsche styling. We also revisit the extraordinary 1994 Autocar road test, when the RS2's launch performance embarrassed the mighty McLaren F1, and examine the car's flaws, its rarity, and the legacy it left behind. Just 2,891 examples were produced. But without the RS2, there might never have been an RS4, RS6, or the entire Audi RS performance dynasty. This is the story of how Porsche refused to build Audi a sports car, and accidentally created something far more important. #AudiRS2 #Audi #Porsche #RS2Avant #AudiRS #CarHistory #TheCarNerd

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

44,104

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

4.9 / 5

7 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 51 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

71

Social presence

0

YouTube

76

Engagement

0

Contact Current and Combustion with Jason Hassett

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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