Cars Yeah With Mark Greene

Tom Cotter has been a car-crazy guy his entire life. After selling his company in 2000 he bought himself a 289 Cobra and drove across the United States with his pal Peter Egan. Yes, that Peter Egan. His car collection grew and he wrote his first book, Homan-Moody, The Legendary Team. Then he wrote a series of six books on barn-finds including The Cobra in The Barn, The Hemi, The Vincent, The Corvette, and The Harley in The Barn. His latest book, 50 Shades of Rust was just released. He’s written biographies, been a contributing Editor of Road & Track magazine for 12 years and writes for the New York Times. He’s the former Co-Chairman of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance and teaches public relations at Belmont Abbey College. His latest build is a ’32 Ford Hi Boy Roadster that he’s dreamed about since he was 15 years old.

Jacques Vaucher and L’art et L’automobile has been decorating the automotive enthusiast’s home, garage, business, museums, and racetracks since 1975. His website arteauto.com is the largest online store and auction site for automobile art and gifts. It’s a playground for enthusiasts with 22 categories of automobilia and over 1,600 items listed. Always changing and forever enticing you’ll never know what you will find at his site. He was the unofficial test driver of toy cars for Eureka, a French toy manufacturer owned by his grandfather. He attended racing school in France and he raced in touring and endurance championships in the U.S. He managed Ferrari importer Luigi Chinetti’s New York show room. Jacques life around cars has been amazing.

Denise McCluggage is a legend in the automotive world. She is a race car driver, a journalist, an author, a photographer, and a honorary judge at Pebble Beach, Amelia Island and the Santa Fe Concorso. She embarked upon a racing career in the late 50s and took part in many international sports car races. Her co-competitors include: Juan Manuel Fangio, Sir Stirling Moss, Phil Hill and many others. She’s won at numerous races around the world and driven many outstanding race cars. Her trademark white with black polka dot helmet was a standout on tracks around the world. She’s an award winning journalist, writer and photographer. Denise holds the Ken W. Purdy Award for Excellence in Automotive Journalism and the Dean Bachelor Lifetime Achievement Award and was the first journalist to be inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame. Her adventurous spirit and zest for life are magical.

Peter Vincent is an artist, author, and photographer who’s been working with the landscape at the Bonneville Salt Flats for over 20 years, combining it with the Sub-Culture of Land Speed Racing and the Pop-Culture of the American Hot Rod. He’s a regular on the salt every August for “Speed Week” and never misses this gathering, ever. He’s published numerous books on the automobile and his work has been displayed in museums across the country including many permanent collections. His fourth book, The Bonneville Salt Flats, 20 Years of Photography was released in the fall of 2013. Peter’s fifth book, The Rolling Bones is due out in the late fall of 2015. His images have been published in many magazine including The Rodder’s Journal and American Rodder. One of Peter’s photographs hangs in my home.

Artist Jan Rambousek uses digital-imagery to create wonderful artwork. As a founder of Playground studio he has collaborated on a number of assignments and digital solutions for clients. He also is behind VirtualRig Studio, the motion-blur simulation software that has become a popular among all the big names in automotive industry. Jan‘s latest collaboration – The Silver Arrows Project – is a combination of staged photography, advanced 3D graphics and state-of-the-art computer imagery that brought back to life the legendary racing cars of 1934 through 1939. 

Craig Morrison is the Operations Manager at Morrison Enterprises. Craig grew up with a father, Art, who’s life has evolved around cars since the 70s. His father sent him off to find his way in the world and after some time in the South Pacific and other adventures he returned to the family business ready to be much more than “Art’s son.” Morrison Enterprises designs and builds chassis, custom chassis and all sorts of components for custom cars, street rods, and more. Craig works along side father Art and a talented team building dreams for automotive enthusiasts around the world.

Ryan Turner has been focused on the VW industry for over 13 years. His obsession started with the purchase a '72 VW Beetle in high school and has since spiraled out of control and consumed all aspects his life. Three years ago, he made the big leap: He quit his job as a government contractor to start his own business, Krauthouse Motorsports. With no formal training and little investment capitol, he has since expanded his portfolio to include a VW-themed t-shirt sales site and has most recently acquiredVWDiesel.net, an online community of enthusiast committed to all things Volkswagen diesel related. With the support of his wife, he is working to build and expand the site to include a blog, podcast, custom builds, and more to help fuel VW enthusiasts worldwide.

Alex Raphael founded Max RPM Motorsports in Bremerton Washington in 1977 when he was just 17 years old. They service, repair, modify, and tune Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, Audi, VW, Ferrari and Lamborghini automobiles. They do all sorts of maintenance and specialize in high performance exhaust systems, suspension components and anything that maximizes performance on your special automobile. Every day they strive to elevate performance to a new level.

Cliff Reuter has created the website Etceterini.com. Etceterini is a result of a passion for automobiles that he shares with his father Jack who has enjoyed an amazing life around European racing cars. Over the years the Reuters have owned numerous interesting and iconic cars including Porsches, Ferraris, Maseratis, Bandinis, Bugattis and many more. Cliff has created a dedication to the history, documentation, and preservation of Etceterini cars. What is an Etceterini car? Cliff will explain the answer to this and he will share more of his families rich automotive history today on Cars Yeah.

Wendi Martin is the President of Enthusiast Media Group that she founded in 2006. While her company focuses on print media, consulting, promotional material, and more, Wendie’s involvement in the automotive world is very extensive. She caters to the top enthusiasts in the automotive industry. Her company runs several concours events including the La Jolla Concours, Carlisle Events, and the Desert Concorso. She belongs to the Driving Diva’s, an enthusiastic woman’s BMW driving club. She’s completed several high-performance driving M Schools and has run tours through South Carolina to Ashland and the Biltmore. And she is the chair for the BMW CCA foundation raising money for BMWs museum and street survival program. Wendie’s a car girl through and through.

Byron Sandborn has been a BMW Club member for over 41 years after attending their driving school at Seattle International Speedway. After that experience Byron was hooked on driving at speed. He autocrossed and then raced in ICSCC and SCCA events winning championships in 1987 and 1988. After being invited to drive a friend’s Shelby King Cobra in a vintage race, a friendship at the track with another vintage racer was formed when he helped with their Elva Mk 7. That friendship lead to a career move to Vintage Racing Motors. Byron’s been a key part of VRM for over 25 years as a mechanic, restorer, manager, and a driver. He’s raced over 175 different cars at over 35 different racetracks around the world. And yes, that's a Lazy Boy recliner that Byron built in to a drivable racer.

Dennis Simon began his career as a fashion illustrator after graduating from the Maryland Institute, College of Art in 1969. He later worked as an art director in an ad agency and then as a full-time freelancer. In 1986 and 1987 Denis designed the exhibit system for the Collier Automotive Museum in Naples, Florida, providing an ideal opportunity for him to combine his skills in exhibit design with his longstanding interest in vintage automobiles. His interest in cars has been life long. His work has appeared in numerous magazines, books, and on many event posters. Through his imagery and design, his goal has been to bring back the missing elements of style, romance, and panache that so characterized an earlier part of this automotive age.

Pete Vack is a writer, a book author, an editor, and a publisher who has had hundreds of articles published in magazines such as Road & Track, Automobile Quarterly, AutoWeek, Vintage Motorsport, and Sports Cars International.  He is the author of two best-selling books and has owned a long list of classic cars. Pete has raced vintage Alfas, he worked for Ferrari of Washington as a mechanic. He co-established the first print on demand automobile publishing house, and fourteen years ago, established the Italian and French online magazine VeloceToday.com. And all this in his spare time while working as a network engineer for AT&T and Tellabs and raising his family.

Alois Ruf is a legend in the world of unique, tuned Porsche automobiles. Founded in 1939 in Pfaffenhausen, Germany by his father Alois Ruf Sr, Ruf Automobile is officially recognized as a manufacturer by the German government. When Alois Jr. was only 24 years old he took control of the company and focused on his passion for Porsche. And in 1975 the first Ruf-enhanced Porsche came to life. In 1987 the record breaking Yellowbird exploded on to the automotive scene. Ruf Automobiles has been designing, engineering, and building its own unique automobiles for customers around the world. In addition to their breathtaking cars of today, including the CTR3, Rt12R, 3800 S, and Rt 35S , Ruf restores and maintains classic Porsche cars. There are no limits to the world of Ruf.

Justin Wilson is the General Manager at Cantrell Motorsports in Bellevue Washington.  He’s been racing since his teenage years and has worked as a logistics supervisor and support manager for teams and collectors. At Cantrell Motorsports he works with a talented team that provides world class automotive products, fabrication, service, and trackside support for serious motoring enthusiasts. Their new facility is state of the art and provides customers with full service for European and domestic sports cars. They also support client with car sales including pre-sale prep and PPI services.

Keith Oster is a lifelong car guy, whose first word was "truck".  He’s one of the fortunate few who is proud to be making his hobby a business by helping to build Vintage Wheels.com a classic car search engine. At Vintage Wheels, Keith focuses on growing the business by attracting users and developing product improvements. Although Porsches are his first love, Keith is truly a fan of anything with a motor, from VW Syncros to Buick Grand Nationals. He travels to car events around the country, from Pikes Peak to Pebble Beach, and enjoys meeting auto enthusiasts everywhere he goes.

Max Banks joined Alfaholics in July 2004 after graduating from the law department at Bristol University.  He is the director of Sales & Product Development when he’s not on the track racing Alfas. He’s also responsible for the preparation and on going development of the Alfaholics 2.0 Sprint GT race car and he’s in charge of building the Alfaholics FIA 1600 GT race car. Max is joined by his brother Andrew and his father Richard who started his passion for 105 series Alfas in 1975. Together they provide parts, advice, and service to Alfaholics around the world. They also buy, sell, build, restore, and maintain Alfa Romeos for their own collection and their client’s enjoyment.

Rich Doucette is the Founding Chairman of The Boston Cup Classic Car Show. Along with a group of automotive enthusiasts, he and his team stepped up when their local concours event came to an end an in 2012 the inaugural Boston Cup Classic Car Show was launched.  Their event takes place every September in The Boston Common. Rich is an active member of the collector car community, judging Concours events and restoring classic automobiles. He serves on the boards of the Mercedes Benz Club of America Minuteman Chapter, the Classic Car Club of America, New England Region, and the Antique Automobile Club of America Beanpot Chapter.

For over 25 years, Ed Justice has been the President and CEO of Justice Brothers, Inc., a legendary international manufacturer and distributor of lubricants, additives and cleaners founded by his father, Ed and Uncles Gus and Zeke. Many of us are familiar with the “glory days” of auto racing, but few have lived the experience as Ed Justice, Jr. has. At the age 44; he became one of the youngest to be inducted into the "Old Timers Club" at The Indianapolis 500 Motor Speedway.  Ed is the award winning host of the ROAD & TRACK radio show. He’s been awarded the prestigious Motor Press Guild (MPG) “Dean Batchelor Best of the Year” award and the International Automotive Media Awards, including a Gold Medal. Ed has also been on numerous radio and television shows and master of ceremonies at countless events. There’s simply not enough time to tell his whole story but today on Cars Yeah he’ll share some of his amazing history with us.

Magnus Walker’s love affair with Porsche began when he was 10 years old during a trip to the 1977 London Motor Show. He wrote to the Porsche factory and their response was, “Give us a call when you are older.” He did, but more about that later. In 1986 at the age of 19 he moved to Los Angeles and started his own line of clothing. That led to the acquisition of a warehouse in L.A., his firs Porsche, club racing and an ever-expanding collection of vintage Porsches. His builds started gaining attention and when he produced the video Urban Outlaw things really started to accelerate. Magnus is not your stereotypical Porsche owner and there’s nothing typical about Magnus. You never know where he will be next.