#TBT: Kicking it old-school with Adam Carolla’s car collection | Articles

Comedic Break: Remembering the 510’s Finest Hours

We’re big fans here at GRM of comedian Adam Carolla. (Yeah, there are actually times when we do think of things other than cars.) When we’re in Los Angeles on business, we always listen to KROQ radio; and once the work day is over, we’ve been known to flip open a beer and watch a little Comedy Central.

Thanks to these non-car habits, it wasn’t long before we stumbled across Adam Carolla. Often teamed with funny man Jimmy Kimmel—who now has his own show on CBS—Adam has become an everyman’s comedian of sorts. As an example, he’s one of the few people we have heard rant on air about the odd door handles fitted to the Renault Le Car.

When we found out Carolla was not only a consummate car freak, but our kind of car freak with a Porsche 911 RS replica and a BRE Datsun 510 clone, we just had to meet this guy.

Looking for That Big Break

Just about everybody in Hollywood is looking for their big break. For Carolla, that break came when he called KROQ and volunteered to help train Kimmel, at the time an on-air personality at the station, for a boxing match that was to be part of a radio stunt.

The two quickly hit it off, and Carolla, the carpenter who was born in Philadelphia and grew up in North Hollywood, was in show business. Don’t think success came instantly for him, though, because in addition to his weekend job as a boxing instructor, Carolla had spent years training with the famous Groundlings and Acme Improv groups in Los Angeles. He also spent considerable time as a standup comedian, appearing at the world-famous Improv and The Comedy Store in Los Angeles.

Kimmel helped Carolla get a job on KROQ’s “Kevin and Bean” morning show. Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of the “Loveline” show on KROQ, heard Adam and liked his style. In 1995, Dr. Drew asked Adam to co-host “Loveline,” and…