Cars Yeah With Mark Greene

Michael Thompson is the Field Coordinator at this year’s Cigar City Concours d’Elegance taking place in Tampa, Florida. His passion for all things mechanical covers everything from steam trains to supercars.  In his formative years, he developed a strong affinity for vintage Fords, especially anything with a Flathead V8. Mike spent much of his career with the Ford Motor Company at the dealership level in parts and service. He is very active in the car hobby and today operates a workshop where he helps hobbyists that need specialized mechanical work on Flathead Ford engines, transmissions, and rear axle refurbishment. 

Joe Pep is an automotive commission artist, a graphic designer, and illustrator whose work has been featured in Hemmings Classic Car, their Daily Blogs, and in Muscle Machine magazines. Joe’s art has been exhibited at the AACA Museum in Hershey and the Elegance at Hershey. For over 20 years he created comic books and graphic novels including the iconic Archie Comics. Since his last appearance on Cars Yeah Joe launched Every Car Has a Story where he interviews numerous automotive enthusiasts and I was honored to be a guest on his show! Joe will be the Master of Ceremonies at this year’s Cigar City Concours d’Elegance.

Vic Piano is the Founder of the Cigar City Concours d’Elegance, now in its second year. His life has been all things automotive that started with his launch of an automotive publication titled Part Finder, back in 1975. In 1980, he produced, directed, and syndicated the International Show Car Association for television. That same year, he also produced and syndicated the Watkins Glenn Grand Prix and in 1981, the Long Beach Grand Prix. Vic went on to produce SCORE Off-Road World Championships and numerous NASCAR events including the Charlotte 600. He founded many antique automobile clubs, tours, driving events and more. This year’s Cigar City Concours d’Elegance will be held at their new venue, Tamp Bay Downs Horseracing Track.  

Josh Stahl is President and CEO of Reviva, a Minnesota based engine remanufacturer. Reviva is a lean focused manufacturer and remanufacturer of industrial equipment and engines. The company has three engine plants where they remanufacture gas and diesel engines ranging in size from .5L to 20L.  Reviva now offers a line of high-performance LS engines and they partner in a large envelope machine shop that supports the defense and oil and gas industries. Prior to joining Reviva, Josh was a coxswain in the U.S. Coast Guard. Josh’s hobbies include racing in triathlons and other endurance events and he enjoys driving boats, cars, and motorcycles.   

Paul Rivera is the recently appointed CEO of Electra Meccanica, a designer, and manufacturer of electric vehicles. He is currently overseeing the production and launch of the company’s innovative electric, single-passenger SOLO vehicle designed to revolutionize the way people commute. Before joining Electra Meccanica, Paul most recently served as President of Ricardo USA, a 100-year-old global engineering, strategic, and environmental consultancy business focused on designing, engineering, and testing vehicle systems, as well as the niche manufacturer of high-performance products. He has more than two decades of experience in the automotive, transportation and energy sectors. Cars Yeah listeners will remember Henry Reisner from Intermeccanica, a past guest on Cars Yeah who is the President of the company.

Geoff Goddard has been the Sporting Director at the Nysna Simola Hillclimb at as a volunteer since 2008. He studied Automotive Technology at Reading College in the UK then working for Ford and later at THATCHAM Crash Test Research Centre. Geoff raced Stock Cars in the UK and won the English and World Superstox Championships in 1969, 1971, and 1972. He emigrated to South Africa in 1974 and ran his own repair and tuning shop, and later as a Test Engineer on military vehicles. He worked at BMW Group as a Test and Development Engineer and he managed their Test Operations. Geoff was a BMW SA works driver in Group N and Touring cars and was the Team Manager as well. Listeners will remember Geoff’s son Kai was a past guest here on Cars Yeah. 

Linda Nunes is the Crew Chief for Chris Nunes, her teenage son’s off-road racing Team. Regular Cars Yeah listeners will remember Chris Nune’s show earlier this year. Chris races Pro Buggy in the Lucas Oil Off-Road Nationals and most know him as the California Kid. Linda is in charge of marketing, PR, Spotting, Hot Pits, Travel, and she is the team’s Strategist responsible for developing and building the most competitive car at the lowest possible price. Linda has also raced a dirt bike and won first place at Barona Oaks, their local track and she raced a UTV at Lucas Oil Off-Road. Linda won first place two years in a row in their powder puff event. Her past includes regionally competitive figure skating, a National Water Ski Championship, and a world-record Barefoot Jumping competition and she waterskied professionally at Sea World. 

Jason Lotoski is the Founder and CEO of Tonit, a motorcycle community app built by riders for riders. Jason is a 27-year old entrepreneur who is motivated to build a global motorcycle community with Tonit. In just 8 months, Tonit was already the #1 trending lifestyle app on Google Play and has over 170,000 active users who post, connect, and share their riding experiences on this lifestyle app daily. At Tonit, Jason and his team aren’t just a motorcycle app creators, they are a company that lives for the thrill of the ride, helping other riders build a community to get the most out of their motorcycle lifestyle.

Joel Carash has been a trial attorney for over 50 years and when he’s not in the courtroom, he’s on the road in his 1927 Bentley 3 Liter that he acquired over 22 years ago. He’s put over 40,000 miles on that special car of which over 26,000 miles have been in rallies and tours all over the world. I had the honor of spending a day with Joel in his car during the La Jolla Concours Tour last spring and what a special day that was for me. Joel was the Bentley Driver’s Club Chairman, Golden Gate Region and has toured in his 3 Litre Bentley in Switzerland, South Africa, New Zealand, Austria, Italy, France, England Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Canada, and Western USA. His car has also been on the lawn of many Concours events including the La Jolla Concours and Ironstone Concours d’Elegance. On his 16th birthday, Joel got his student pilot’s certificate and then his driver’s license telling you a bit about his passion for speed.

Caroline Cassini grew up in the collector car world. She is a lifelong car enthusiast and has been participating in car events with her parents since the age of 3 and attended her first Pebble Beach Concours at the age of 4. Caroline was the Co-Founder and Vice President of the Edison Concours d’Elegance. She has judged at numerous Concours events worldwide, including the Zoute Concours d’Elegance in Belgium. Caroline is an avid researcher and is highly knowledgeable in both sales and restoration of classic cars. Caroline is the first woman to graduate from the Academy of Art University’s Automotive Restoration program. Caroline currently works for Fantasy Junction, a prominent classic car dealer right outside of San Francisco. 

Dave Phillips is one of the world’s best-known Land Rover writers and is a former editor of both Land Rover Owner International and Land Rover Monthly, the best-selling magazines on the subject. He is also the co-author of the Off-Road Driving Manual (Haynes). His newest book is titled The Land Rover Story and is published by our friends at EVRO Publishing in England. Dave grew up in rural West Norfolk, near England’s east coast, in an era when every other vehicle on the country lanes was a hard-working Land Rover and has since driven these vehicles in most parts of the globe, including across deserts, up mountains and through tropical forests. These days he lives in Northamptonshire’s Nene valley, in England’s east midlands, which he enjoys exploring in his 1984 Ninety and 1996 Discovery.

Serge Vanbockryck started his career in the late 1980s as a journalist and photographer, reporting on endurance racing for European newspapers and magazines. In the mid-1990s he left journalism for public relations and marketing, working in Formula 1, the World Rally Championship, and at Le Mans with brands including Marlboro, Lucky Strike, and Toyota. Since 2000 Serge has been a European PR coordinator for GM’s Cadillac LMP, Corvette GT, and Chevrolet WTCC programs. He is a regular contributor to British monthly magazine Racecar Engineering and German monthly Sport Auto, and he is the co-author of the official Porsche Rennsport Reunion programs. Today he is here to share his latest book titled Works Porsche 956 – The Definitive History. It is the second title in publisher Porter Press International’s Ultimate Series. 

Jennifer Maher serves as the dually-appointed CEO of TechForce Foundation and America’s Automotive Trust, two national nonprofits working collaboratively to promote America’s car culture and to support and drive tomorrow’s workforce of technicians. TechForce leads the industry’s initiative to solve the technician shortage, and serves as one of the country’s largest scholarship and grant organizations, awarding nearly $2 million to support students pursuing technical education and technician careers. America’s Automotive Trust and its affiliates, RPM Foundation and LeMay-America’s Car Museum, preserve America’s automotive heritage and passion by celebrating the past, present, and future of mobility. Jennifer brings 27-years of nonprofit management, marketing, and strategic alliance expertise to the automotive world, having previously served on the national team of Make-A-Wish America, YMCA of the USA, and The Nature Conservancy. 

Fireball Tim, yes that’s his real legal name, is a true legend in the car design world, having designed for over 400 of Hollywood’s biggest films including Batman, Knight Rider, Jurassic park, and Monster Garage. In addition to car design, he is an award-winning filmmaker, a host for Speed Channel, TLC, Discovery, Velocity, and others. He is also the Founder of Fireball Publishing where he creates unique and cool children’s coloring books centered around automobiles and sea life. He has 21 titles and the newest, TIKI, is now available. He is the host of Fireball Malibu Vlog where he and his lovely wife Kathy take you on adventures around Malibu and beyond, and he does a weekly Art Talk on Facebook Live. He hosts a monthly Wheels and Waves car show in Malibu and he is the Design Director for the Murphy Auto Museum. Regular listeners will remember David Neel, the museum’s director who is a past Cars Yeah guest. Fireball’s been a past guest here on Cars Yeah, #419 in January of 2016 and #905 in November of 2017.

Don Gottwald is President of Digital, Data and Mobility Solutions and Chief Strategy Officer of KAR Auction Services, Inc. Don is responsible for KAR’s growing portfolio of digital, data and mobility assets—overseeing KAR business including OPENLANE, CarsArrive, RDN, Clearplan, DRIVIN, Autoniq, InstaVIN, and STRATIM. He also oversees KAR’s data as a service function, leveraging the company’s broad data set to develop predictive analytics and artificial intelligence solutions that power efficiency and informed decision making for both the company and its customers. Don is an avid automotive enthusiast and collector. His prized classic is his Mach 5 – better known as Speed Racer’s car.

Terry Shea is Hemmings Motor News Auction Editor and heads up a team of freelancers who are responsible for building the listings of the vehicles that are being offered at Hemmings Auctions. His career has included working in the media business at The Sporting News, as a freelancer, then as a contributor to dozens of automotive magazines and web site, providing words and photography. Terry joined Hemmings in 2011 as an editor and contributed to their three magazines: Hemmings Motor News, Hemmings Classic Car, and Hemmings Muscle Machine along with providing digital content for Hemmings.com. Not only does he get to meet lots of fellow enthusiasts, collectors, and like-minded collectors, but he also gets to drive a great number of vintage, antique, muscle, and exotic automobiles.

Chuck Moreland is the Founder and CEO of Elephant Racing, a company he started in 2002. Elephant Racing is the leading manufacturer of suspension products for the Porsche aftermarket. Under Chuck’s leadership, the company has successfully developed and marketing innovative products that are commercial successes worldwide. In 2018 he founded Vonnen, a company focused on a hybrid aftermarket performance system for Porsche models. Vonnen’s system fits an electric motor between the engine and transmission on stock 991 generation Carrera Prototypes that adds power and torque. Plans are in place to offer this system on older Porsche models as well.

David Grainger is the Founder of The Guild of Automotive Restorers, a company he and his wife Janice established in 1991. His shop is a world-renowned facility that repairs, restores, and sells classic and antique cars. They do mechanical work, bodywork, paint, upholstery, fabrications, transportation, and storage. David is the host of a successful worldwide broadcasted television series Restoration Garage, now in its sixth season. Located in the town of Bradford, about 45 minutes north of Toronto, Canada, The Guild of Automotive Restorers is open to the public with a fantastic showroom, a fun store, workshops, and talented craftsmen who work on and restore some of the finest automobiles in the world. 

Ed Welburn is the former General Motors VP of Global Design and was responsible for the design of all GM vehicles worldwide from 2003 to 2016, the same position once held by Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell.  He was only the sixth person to have led GM Design in the company’s history. He was involved in the design of over 540 cars and trucks for GM. Ed was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame, received the Eyes On Design Lifetime Achievement Award, and is the only car designer to have his archives placed in the Smithsonian Museum. A wing of the Detroit Institute Of Arts has been named in his honor, and he received an Honorary Doctorate Of Fine Arts from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.  Ed is an active board member of Tony Bennett’s foundation, Exploring The Arts and a judge at Concours events including Pebble Beach, Amelia Island, Hilton Head, Suzuka Japan, and Radnor Hunt. In this new chapter in Ed’s life, he is CEO of Welburn Media and is an Executive Producer of an exciting movie project.

Martin Pagh Ludvigsen is the Director of Creative Technology at MullenLowe, a Los Angeles advertising agency where he works primarily on their Acura account. During his tenure, Martin has directed a series of increasingly innovative, award-winning technology-driven experiences for Acura. One example was “What a Race” the launch of the 2018 Acura TLX, where a custom augmented reality-helmet was created and the race reached more than 3 million people. He’s created unique and innovative campaigns for Acura’s RDX, ILX, and others that stretched well beyond the norm. A graduate of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark Martin has used his degree in Computer Science, Digital Communications, and Theatre to apply his curiosity and perspective on global brands including Coca-Cola, GE, Google Play, Etihad Airways, H&M, Volvo, McDonald’s, Nike, Toyota, Acura, and others. I had the pleasure of meeting Martin during Pebble Beach Car Week at the Acura Type S Concept Reveal.