carsales Drive-Thru car chats with Filipe Toledo
Teaching mates to drive cars can be hazardous as Brazilian pro surfer Filipe Toledo revealed "he almost took everything out!”Brazilian pro surfer Filipe Toledo is best known for his progressive surf styling and incredible aerial maneuvers that see him soar like an eagle over some of the world’s most epic surf breaks. But did you know he’s a car guy?
He’s owned a 1969 Chevy Chevelle muscle car as his weekend toy, uses a van for surfing and family duties and even owned the OG king of the road – a V8-powered Cadillac Escalade SUV.
"I remember when I got here to America in 2014 … and then I remember the first car I saw passing by, I thought ‘Oh my gosh, look at that car, it’s beautiful, it’s cool, it’s big!’
"It was an Escalade from Cadillac," he grinned, recounting the story.
"The sound of it was good, I was like ‘wow, that’s the dream car." Then in 2016 I got a chance to buy one – it was used – but I got a chance to buy one and drove that for a year and half. It was just awesome." Said Toledo, who joined the World Surf League (WSL) at just 18-years-old, back in 2013, one of the youngest ever.
But even pro surfers with big endorsements know when enough is enough. Eventually Filipe had to sell the massive eight-seat V8 SUV.
"Then when I was figuring out everything, making money and all that, I was like ‘okay that’s too much gas going away!’. My dream came true but thank you, bye bye, time to move on!" he laughed.
In 2019 Filipe Toledo showed us his off-road skills thrashing a Jeep Wrangler on the beach in Western Australia, and this week the Jeep Ambassador and father of two chatted to carsales about where his love of cars started.
What is your earliest memory of cars?
"I guess it was my family car. My dad back in the day, he used to have a surf school and he had an old wagon. With this car we’d fit surfboards in from the whole family, and surfboards for the surf school, so we had a big tent, signs, chairs, coolers, dude, all in one car!
"It was packed. We’re a family of five and everyone would see that car with all the surfboards from miles away. People would say “Oh look here comes the Toledo family!”
"The rack on the roof was full already with the long boards and paddle boards so we had to put all the small surf boards in the trunk and some are sticking out the window.
"So this car was the earliest memory I had with the family, going to the beach, it was pretty cool memories."
What do you drive at the moment, a big V8 truck?
"Haha, no, no, it [uses] too much gas. We’re trying to get a [Jeep] Gladiator soon, we’re working on that, but right now my wife drives an SUV, and I drive a big old van to get my boards in the back, fit the kids in."
What are the two things we’d find in your car right now?
"Wax and a lot of sand!"
What are your bad habits in the car?
"I have too many actually, so I have to think! Haha, I’m kidding. In automatic cars, I guess I pull my left leg up on the seat. So I guess that's a bad habit I do."
Have you ever taught anyone to drive?
"Back in Brazil, where I used to live was just like dirt roads, there’s no cops, no nothing, so I’m trying to teach my friend in our neighbourhood and it was fun and scary at the same time! [laughs]
"In Brazil we normally drive manual cars. So he was driving a manual car and we were going to my garage and we’re kind of getting speed and I told him, ‘Now you slowly touch the brakes and you’re gonna stop in front of the garage.’ But he made a mistake and pushed the gas, not the brakes, and I’m like ‘Dude what are doing?!’
"And then I had to pull the park brake and I almost took the door off the garage, my dad’s car was parked right next to the garage, he almost took everything out!
"I said, ‘okay we’re done here!’"
What’s the longest car journey you’ve done?
"A trip from France to Portugal took me, what, 10 or 11 hours?"
Who would you like to road trip with and why?
"For me right now it’s family, wife, two kids, mum and dad, everyone, two cars, just going to awesome places."
Do you wait until the low fuel light comes on before you fill up?
"I don’t man! It’s something that scares me. I dunno, when it goes back to ¼ or something, it’s like ‘dude I gotta fill up the tank, I gotta fill up the tank!’
"My dad goes like ‘Dude, there’s just so much gas in your tank?!’ and I’m like ‘Dude, I gotta stop, don’t talk to me right now, I gotta stop and fill it up’."
What feature can’t you live without in a car?
"Navigation is one. Apple CarPlay too."
Do you prefer to drive or be a passenger?
"Prefer to drive. I just love to drive."
Have you seen any of The Fast and Furious movies?
"All of them! I’m, a big fan, I’m a huge fan. After that you just wanna take your car and be like ‘wwwaaaaaah’ [makes driving noises]."
Have you ever named a car?
"Oh yes. So we had like our first one [when] I moved here, I was already sponsored by Jeep, they got me one of the Renegades. It was the first time seeing the Renegade. My mom was joking around and she's like ‘ohhh I love this little car, it looks like a little…’ I know this is wrong but, it was just funny and cute at the same time … okay we call the car this right now!
And she’s like ‘I love it, it looks like a little toast, toaster,’ because it’s all black, and then higher and you know squares. Okay we call it a toaster then. I was like every time its like ‘lets get the toaster and go!’
It was a fun way to call the car and not just call it, not just take the car and drive, it was special, it was from the heart.
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