Ford CEO gets personal with Tom Brady, Jimmy Kimmel in new 'Drive' podcast
On Saturdays between last fall and this spring, Ford CEO Jim Farley started his morning pouring coffee as a Pope Francis Center volunteer serving the less fortunate who wanted a warm meal in Detroit.
Then he headed down Michigan Avenue to Dearborn for a top-secret project.
In a nondescript conference room surrounded by empty desks at Ford World Headquarters, Farley teamed with a small podcast production crew to record a series of interviews with world-famous and less-famous guests.
Farley wasn't paid, nor were his guests.
It was an experiment, a pilot project. No one knew what to expect.
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The spark for this pilot podcast came a year ago, when Spotify approached Ford about the idea of launching a series with a "business leader." But, when presented with the idea, Farley didn't like it. He said he didn't want to be that boring business leader guy.
He agreed to do the series under one condition: He didn't want to talk about work.
"This podcast has nothing to do with my job at Ford," he told the Detroit Free Press during a telephone interview before the podcast launch. "I’m not doing this as CEO and president of Ford."
Planes, trains, automobiles
This had to be something different, something that highlighted childhood memories and personal adventures and, well, just car talk, he said. And they sealed the deal.
Farley, cousin of the late comedian Chris Farley, hosts "Drive," which debuted May 25 and continues with new episodes every week into July.
"Drive" has some elements similar to the beloved "Car Talk" show on National Public Radio, with discussion about favorite cars, road trips, family stories and sometimes car repairs.
"Spotify came to us," Farley said. "We were like, 'Well, I’m not interested at all in doing a business leader – you know, 'What does success mean to you?’ (show). … As long as it’s car-related, and I could talk to people about cars, and it's not, like, normal Ford business, I’d be open to it."
Spotify is an audio streaming service that reported 422 million monthly active monthly users in the first quarter this year, according to Fast Company.
"We can’t just be business all day," Farley said. "This is my way of kind of reminding people that cars have a pretty fundamental impact on everyone’s life.
Spotify paid for production and sent its team to Dearborn.
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Drag racing
Farley started with Dax Shepard, "Top Gear America" actor from Milford, Michigan, who also hosts the "Armchair Expert" podcast and is married to actress Kristen Bell, a Detroit-area native.
"My mom and dad drag raced in high school," Shepard said during the "Drive" podcast. "My father, if he had $10, he spent $20 on a car."
Shepard went on, "I'm proper hillbilly rich, like, you know, I own way too many cars. My wife, you know, is very understanding and, at the same time, she really can't wrap her head around it because they all perform roughly the same job. But I compare it to handbags, you know? One only needs one handbag but she has more than one. So I have more than one car."
Tom Brady and the fam
Farley asked superstar quarterback Tom Brady about what cars he sees in an NFL team parking lot during practice and what it's like to parent in the public eye. That conversation is the season finale, dropping July 6.
The guest lineup is eclectic.
For example, while Jimmy Kimmel will appear on an episode, many people may not recognize the name Emelia Hartford, but they'll never forget her once they hear her story, Farley said.
"Here’s a person who’s essentially homeless, had no future in life, was wondering, 'Why am I even here on this planet?' and she winds up becoming a YouTuber. That totally changed her life and reenergized a whole new generation around cars. And she did it in her own way," Farley said.
"I love that interview more than any one that I did because it was the best example of how cars can totally change people’s lives," he said.
'Memories through our car rides'
"I just want more people to kind of understand the analog experience of a journey. I think of my life that way," Farley said. "I think of memories with my mom through our car rides, me as kid of coming into adulthood. I think of all the mistakes I’ve made, all the dumb things I’ve done, all the great people I’ve met."
The man known as "Jimmy Car-Car" as a child, who learned about the auto industry from his grandfather (Ford employee No. 389) and grew up to race classic cars, said this podcast sometimes is about revealing childhood experiences and even embarrassments.
"I’m not an investigative reporter diagnosing stuff," Farley said. "I just want people to resurrect those moments in a car life that kind of were fun and enjoyable and highlights. We all have them. Now some people like Patrice (Banks) will make a living off it. She was totally transformed as a person serving women. Cars are also a male-dominated topic. ... Some people are breaking through that."
Banks is a former DuPont engineer who became a mechanic when she couldn't find a female one. She founded the Girls Auto Clinic, which is staffed by and for women, intended to empower women in car purchasing and service.
She titled her Ted Talk in 2020: "I Plan on Disrupting the Auto Industry ... in Red Heels."
Rich and famous
No matter how rich or famous anyone is, they really sound like the rest of us, Farley said.
"Their daily life, really different. They don’t live like I do. But when you get down to our experience with cars, we’re all pretty similar."
Farley prides himself on being a gearhead who readily shares personal stories, whether it's about a first-car experience or sitting facing backward in an old station wagon and (as he tells it) making obscene gestures to drivers as a kid while his mom was at the wheel.
Cars, cars, cars
During his first podcast, Farley expresses concern about how unguarded he can or should be, and Shepard tells him that America wants authenticity and real life.
"I just want to celebrate that," said Farley, who assumed the CEO role in October 2020. "If I was in the toothpaste industry, I wouldn’t’ be celebrating. We’re lucky."
The 'Drive' schedule
May 25: Dax Shepard, actor and podcaster
June 1: Jimmy Kimmel, ABC late show host
June 8: Jochen Zeitz, CEO of Harley-Davidson
June 15: Emelia Hartford, actress and auto influencer who races cars
June 22: The Duke of Richmond, owner of the Goodwood Revival in England
June 29: Patrice Banks, mechanic catering to women
July 6: Tom Brady, football legend
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid.