NoBraking: Recent Episodes
James
NoBraking creator James sits down and talks cars and bikes with automotive legends, icons, drivers, builders and some great friends. New weekly episodes go live every Wednesday morning and the occasional bonus episodes can be found on a Monday.
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Paul Laguette is the current Art Director for Vintage Motorsport Magazine. However his background covers more than 20 years of working experience in the automotive, motorcycle and motorsport industries as a graphic designer/ Fine Artist Illustrator. Paul's graphic designs, print ads, logos and illustrative works have graced the pages of major magazines as well as books and racing programs across the globe. His next project is with KurumaNFT and it is twelve covers illustrated by Paul for Racer Magazine. Each of the 12 covers consists of four different variations of each piece of artwork.
The automotive metaverse has arrived with Kuruma NFT, this is an NFT platform that allows customers to purchase, promote and commerce NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) in a devoted on-line setting referred to as the “Autoverse”. Our latest guests are part of the leadership team at Kuruma, Taro Koki (President) and Sam Mitani (Co-Founder). Something we are excited to see is that Kuruma has already started partnering with companies both large and small, and is teaming up with a collection of artists across the digital landscape ahead of a series of future NFT Projects that will be launched at Kuruma NFT.
Russ Monte does a little bit of everything and he does it very well. Originally Russ began working on cars at home before getting a start at Summit Rod and Custom which then led to him transitioning to his own shop North Jersey customs. However during that time Russ kept himself busy working on cars for Hilton Hot Rods. Eventually Russ started doing some work for Rob Ida and he now is part of the team at Ida Automotive. However Russ is not only a talented car builder and painted he is a gifted musician and is part of the Grease Guns.
Ravi Dolwani is a 4th generation member of the CSF Radiator company and is the CEO of the CSF High Performance Division. Dolwani created the division of CSF in 2010 with the intent of expanding the business to markets besides OEM manufacturers. Over the years Dolwani has both grown the CSF brand and proved that through rigorous design and testing it is possible to create superior products for a variety of vehicles.
The term "Donk" refers to 1971-76 Chevrolet Caprice or Chevrolet Impala cars. When it comes to "Donk Racing" these are show-quality classic cars with big wheels that compete on the drag strip. Born in Savannah, GA and bred in Hardeeville and Orangeburg South Carolina, Sage Thomas is better known by his nickname "Donkmaster" given to him by a nine year old fan. Thomas spent most of his days as a youth shadowing his Uncle Buggy who instilled in him a love for racing competition and an understanding of hard work. Thomas built his first "Donk" at the age of 16. Through a DVD he was introduced to the big wheel racing culture in Florida. This led Thomas to create the National Donk Racing Association (NDRA) Thomas created an organization that was a scalable championship series for the world he loves. The NDRA is the world’s first sanctioning body for big wheel racing with a standard structured rule set and a point system for Big Wheel Racing, just like other racing organizations.
For Sean Smith he gets to live this dream job every day. Sean specializes in the bespoke automotive industry and founded Sean Smith Designs over 20 years ago. He has designed cars for celebrities like Kevin Hart and Robert Downey Jr. and worked with brands like Saleen Automotive, Ringbrothers, and Salvaggio Designs and others. Sean comes from a family of creatives and began exploring art at an early age, however it was at continuation school in his sophomore year when his teacher sent some of his Nike sneaker drawings to Nike. What followed was a note back from Nike to keep in touch and a suggestion for Sean to visit Art Center College of Design. Upon visiting Art Center Sean found out about the Automotive Design Program and the rest is history, working with companies like Saleen Automotive, Rockstar Games, Ringbrothers and Salvaggio Designs.
Amir Bentatou story begins with a father that had a passion for German cars and a mother with history in offroad racing. It comes as no surprise that Amir has grown into the man he is today, the founder of RS Future. RS Future is a motorsport focused shop based in Southern California who specialize in car development and driver coaching. Bentatou brings over 15 years of experience in the Southern California motorsport community, and offers a unique and complete array of services including aerodynamic packages, performance parts installs, complete vehicle builds, track-side support and more.
Our guest is veteran motor sports reporter Jamie Little. Little joined FOX NASCAR in 2015 to cover pit road for the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series. Little was named in November 2020 as the play-by-play voice of the ARCA Menards Series, making her the first woman in history to call TV play-by-play for a national racing series. In October 2021, she was named to the prestigious Cynopsis 2021 Top Women in Media list in the Game-Changing On-Air Talent category.
Little also serves as a reporter for NASCAR RACEDAY, FOX Sports’ pre race show for the Cup Series. Her additional FOX NASCAR assignments over the years also have included select races and special events, including her pit reporting debut for the 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona, hosting duties for FOX Sports’ coverage of Supercross and periodic guest hosting roles on FS1’s NASCAR RACE HUB.
Lara, better known as @ThatPorscheGirl, is a fit model, however she started her automotive career as a Hollywood precision driver. But we have to turn the clock back to when Lara was twelve and she knew she wanted to drive a Porsche. That was the day she saw a friend of her mother’s, drive up in her own Porsche. Up to that point in her life, all the adult women she knew drove station wagons. This symbol of women empowerment was burned into Lara’s memory and has guided her throughout life.
Part of the mission of @ThatPorscheGirl consists of updating the image of women in the world of sports cars. She doesn’t reveal any personal information in public, not even her last name. Shortly after launching her @thatporschegirl Instagram site, there were some unpleasant experiences with bothersome fans so she scrubbed all the particulars from the web.
A background in architecture has given Eric Black a unique design perspective on the work he creates. His work is unique and has an ageless style that he carries throughout his projects. Operating under the E.Black Design Co banner, Eric Black is one of the most talented vintage automotive designers of today. His work focuses on Hot Rods and Custom cars working with the likes of Troy Ladd, Roy Brizio, Pinkee’s Rod Shop, Austin Speed Shop, Johnson’s Hot Rods and ICON 4x4 to name a few. However Eric also has his own projects like his Trail Cap Camper Shells, a modern take on a vintage trailer.
Jessie Madera is an artist who really started honing her craft after battling chronic Lyme Disease when she was 18 years old. She would use the art as an outlet to ease her mind from the intense treatment process. In the next 10 years Madera established herself working with digital images and acrylic designing for independent brands, the music industry, and apparel companies. However it was in the last 4 years when Madera discovered airbrushing that her career transformed as she started taking on projects in the automotive field. Her goal when working on a piece is to create miniature works of art, not just traditional airbrush imagery. Her style now includes a mix of hyperrealism techniques and pop surrealist tones, to demonstrate disguised macabre themes in a whimsical execution. At the end of the day Madera wants to create pieces that make her happy and the airbrush community has allowed her to showcase in a way that has pushed her creative process.
In a previous episode we talked to Albo Agunday, a film-maker based out of Japan, about his automotive background. However after our cconversation we thought it would be great to connect again and talk about the value of a car. In the past 2 years the values of cars have significantly increased across the globe, so what better time than to talk about the price of Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) cars.
The nostalgic effect makes people buy their dream cars. The popularity of both Gran Tursimo and the Fast & Furious franchise escalated the demand for Japanese performance vehicles. These memories bring drivers back to their youth in the blink of an eye when they get behind the wheel. Japanese sports cars also offer a more analogue experience on the road compared to the computer-aided vehicles today. This has meant that demand grows by the day pushing the market price up for these vintage vehicles.
Zac Mertens from Hoonigan Racing has always found a means of creating value for others through the things which he is passionate about. Over the years he has had the privilege of working on projects that have taken him across the globe. However it all started with "Gnarpm" automotive content before a switch to Hoonigan. He is a thrill seeker, an adrenaline junkie and curiosity has led him down many paths that has forged an ability to adapt and overcome any obstacle, sometimes by jumping a vehicle over it.
Justin Bell has over 20 years as a professional racing driver, winning the 1997 Le Mans 24 Hour race and the 1998 GT2 FIA World Championship. However there came a time when he realized that maybe he could talk faster than he drove, and so a successful TV and web hosting career followed with Speed and then Fox Sports.
Justin created the Torque Show with Tommy Kendall and Jason Jacobson, their unique Live-streaming show from the IMSA paddock has been a huge success. The company has also expanded to breaking new ground as host and producer of the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, the Audrain Newport Concours, and Motorweek. Now in demand as a host for shows ranging from 'Drives Unexpected' with Hagerty, and branded content for Omaze and Motor Trend, Justin has always been ready to take on greater challenges in front of the camera.
Winslow Bent is the Founder of Legacy Classic Trucks, a Full-Service Auto Restoration Facility located just outside of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Legacy Classic Trucks has grown to be one of the premier truck restoration facilities in the United States. Legacy builds several lines of vehicles, including the Legacy Power Wagon Conversion, the Legacy Scrambler Conversion, and the Legacy Napco. They also take on custom jobs and specialize in rare and special trucks, such as Diamond T, Mack, Studebaker, and Hudson.
Faruk Kugay was born in the small city of Swidnik, Poland. His mother is Polish and his father is Laz, a Turkish ethnic minority. Faruk's family immigrated to the United States and he grew up in the Bay Area. Faruk started drifting in 2002 and remained close to his passion by helping and working at drifting events. A move to Europe in 2007 led to him organizing, announcing, and judging events as well as coaching other drivers. However a return to the States led to him pursuing his dream, achieving a spot in the Formula Drift series. In 2019 Faruk turned his attention to television and he was featured on the show, Hyperdrive and The Getaway. Faruk also manages a shop based at Sonoma Raceway where he also runs Sonoma Drift.
Matt Field thrives off every form of racing. However not only is Matt a talented driver, Matt is also a technician, fabricator, engine builder, driver & team owner. Matt has accelerated his drift career as a pro driver and business owner as in 2013, he opened the garage doors to The Drift Cave a motorsports/fabrication shop located in Silicon Valley - San Jose, CA.
When he first got behind the wheel he competed in grassroots events and gained his Formula Drift license through the Just Drift series in '09. Since then Matt has been a proud supporter of the sport; giving back to local organizations, and offering driving instruction, event judging and car setup advice to other drivers.
Our latest guest is Ron Zaras, Senior Brand Director for Hoonigan. However to hear his story in detail about how he came to Hoonigan you can listen to this earlier episode here. Today we are talking about a passion we both share and that is the World Rally Championship. After Ron's recent trip to Germany which you can watch in the Hoonigan Carcaine Abroad series, we talked about our love for Group A cars and the idea for a podcast came together. The Group A era was between 1987 and 1997 and included both Rally and Touring cars, and some might say one of the best era's of rallying.
Mike Andrada is a talented fabricator currently based in the Pacific Northwest after stints in the Bay Area and Anchorage after his family emigrated from the Philippines. His talent for fabricating came from his time learning from his peers and putting that to work on his projects at home and for friends. While Mike does have a passion for Honda with M-Fab Mike is able to take on projects both big and small that help him keep pushing his abilities to improve as a fabricator.
Jim Liaw is our latest guest and we discuss his new role as General Manager for Performance Racing Industry (PRI). In his new position Liaw will direct and oversee activities related to the PRI Trade Show, PRI Membership, PRI Magazine, online content, and promotion for all segments in the motorsports industry.
One of Liaw’s priority initiatives will be successfully executing the 2021 PRI Trade Show in Indianapolis, Indiana, December 9th-11th. The PRI Trade Show is the racing industry’s No. 1 source for new technology, ideas, and business opportunities. The in-person event includes over 45 conferences, seminars, and social gatherings, making the PRI Show the best place to learn and build valuable business connections. Liaw will also assist in building PRI’s new membership program. The PRI Membership is a groundbreaking program that advocates for the motorsports market by uniting the worldwide racing community.
Like many in the automotive industry, Liaw was an auto enthusiast before he was able to drive. After graduating from UCLA, he joined McMullen Argus Publishing (now Motor Trend) as a sales associate for Sport Compact Car magazine, and later served as sales manager for one of the first-ever sport compact drag racing series, Import Drag Racing Circuit (IDRC). He then co-founded Formula Drift in 2003 and introduced the sport of drifting to America and built what is now the premier drifting series in the world.
Austin Hironaka from Hiro's Hotrods is our latest guest a native from the Pacific Northwest, Hironaka was raised in Tacoma but post graduation found himself traveling the world as a professional snowboarder. However while looking for his next magazine cover or film Hironaka was always thinking about his next car project. Hiro's Hotrods combines his passion for both his love for Japanese cars and the knowledge of customizing classic cars passed down to him from his old man Moe.
This week we went down a different path with two of my friends, Designer Walter Franco and Builder / Host Big Mike to talk about the Automotive Community. But first let's take a look at what a community is. The word “community” has a strange power to it, conveying both a sense of togetherness and positivity.
So click to listen where we describe what we think the Automotive community means? And more importantly why is it important to us?
Today’s guest is the Hoonigan Design Director Jon Chase, however you might also know Jon for being the person behind DSTROYR, a lifestyle brand he created. But you might ask how did Jon start on this path? It all started by working incredibly hard at an industrial rubber company. Then things took a turn as Jon started at Famous Stars and Straps working under Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker. Jon spent time at Maisto as a designer working on diecast vehicles before some serious arm twisting from Hoonigan's Brian Scotto. This arm twisting had Jon join the growing band of Hoonigans and led to what is now his current position as Design Director.
Steve Hogue is a Coach Builder living the dream working on and fabricating vintage car bodies for a living. Steve Hogue Enterprises opened more than 25 years ago when Steve started working on muscle cars and hot rods. As Steve gained experience over the years his shop developed a reputation for both coachbuilt vehicles, sports and classic cars. The rare breeds that pass through his workshop include Shelby Cobras, early Porsches and anything else you could imagine.
Walter Franco was born and raised in the heart of Seattle and is passionate about both Japanese cars and fixed gear bicycles. However, having graduated from ArtCenter College of Design with a degree in Automotive design, Walter decided to elevate the car community through NAMSAYIN, his lifestyle brand that encompasses automotive projects, community events and clothing. Currently, Walter continues to work with small businesses with brand development, collaborative art and vehicle design projects. Some of those partners include Hiros Hotrods, Speedfactory Racing, Think Bigger Project, KASE Real Estate, JP+CO and Swarovski.
Ian Baker is the CEO of World Time Attack Challenge, however he originally got his racing career going first as a race car fabricator. It was during this time as a fabricator Ian was on the forefront of turbo charger installations in Australia. In 2007 as part of the Hi Octane Racing team he took a car to the Tsukuba Circuit in Japan, after seeing the race he wondered why they didn’t have anything like that in Australia.
As his interest and participation in the format grew, Ian saw an opportunity to re-create the event on a scale previously unseen in the sport of time attack. The idea was to create a truly international event where the best of international time attack teams compete on the same track at the same event. In this format, the teams represent not just the tuning shops behind the car but also their country.
The inaugural World Time Attack Challenge was held in 2010 at Eastern Creek Raceway and proved to be a huge success. It was the first time Australian teams competed against the international time attack superpowers; Japan and the USA. With the likes of PanSpeed, CyberEvo, R-Magic and Sierra Sierra. What Ian was pleased most about the event was it winning Speedhunters’ Event Of The Year and the response from those in attendance including the participants, sponsors, exhibitors, spectators and the media. Since then the World Time Attack Challenge has grown rapidly, setting new records for attendance and quicker lap times each year.
One thing that has happened throughout the running of the event is that Ian and the team are keen to add aspects to the event as time attack racing is only part of the show. New additions to the event include the Turbosmart Flying 500 where tuner cars line up on the main straight with the car reaching the highest top speed crowned a winner. The Turbo Legends race where the heroes of yesteryear take to the track to showcase the technology that ruled the Australian motorsport in the 1980s and 90s that is then followed with drifting competitions and stunt driving.
If you want to take a break from the on-track action there’s no shortage of attractions in the pit zone. The Trader Alley is bursting with exhibitors showing off their latest products or you can take in the largest outdoor car show in Australia.
Albo Agunday is a Canadian film-maker, Youtuber and story-teller who has lived in Japan since 2010. Originally he made the move to Japan to teach English as part of the Jet Program. As luck would have it Albo was whisked away to his new school in Gunma prefecture home of "Initial D" immersed in the world of street racing and drifting. Inspired to document the underground scene, in 2014 he created the documentary series “Drift Hunter” which is an investigative documentary series on Japanese automotive culture from a western perspective. 7 years later Albo made the move to Tokyo and during that time Albo has made the switch to ALBO Media where he aims to capture the sense of adventure and excitement of living in Japan to share it with his many hundreds of thousands of fans.
Charlie Noble is the Visual Effects Supervisor for the latest James Bond film No Time to Die. He has over 30 years experience in the visual effects industry and is one of the co-founders of DNEG.
No Time to Die is the 25th in the James Bond series. It stars Daniel Craig in his fifth outing as the fictional British MI6 agent. Development began in 2016 and it is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga from a screenplay by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Fukunaga, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Principal photography was from April to October 2019 under the working title Bond 25. The final title No Time to Die was announced in August 2019.
Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Christoph Waltz, Rory Kinnear, and Ralph Fiennes reprise their roles from previous films, with Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch, Ana de Armas, Dali Benssalah, Billy Magnussen, and David Dencik joining the cast as new characters.
OG Moto Show is back!
The Outlier’s Guild Motorcycle Show is a celebration of custom bikes. It is now in its fifth year and came about as a response to similar shows in Austin and Portland. Los Angeles didn’t have a similar show, and the organizers, Ralph, Stand and John felt Los Angeles was ready. Five years in and four shows later (thanks Covid), Los Angeles is still enjoying the show. While a lot of motorcycle shows feature Harley-Davidson customs, and the OG Show accepts those, too, the focus of the OG Moto Show is a more diverse range, specifically: café racers, bobbers, classics, scramblers, old school choppers, trackers, modern choppers and full customs to name but a few. More importantly however each bike is hand-selected by the organizers. Also as in previous shows, there is more going on than just the bikes as there are a number of artists on hand, as well, displaying their creations.
In this two part podcast we have a selection of creatives from the show in part 2 you will hear from:
Wayne Elmore - Wayne Wreck Studios
Anthony Robinson - Gasoline & Coffee
Walter Franco - Waffle Designs
Dean Stunts - Scooter Outlaws
Hugo Eccles - Untitled Motorcycles
Michel Valle - Alchemy Motorcycles
OG Moto Show is back!
The Outlier’s Guild Motorcycle Show is a celebration of custom bikes. It is now in its fifth year and came about as a response to similar shows in Austin and Portland. Los Angeles didn’t have a similar show, and the organizers, Ralph, Stand and John felt Los Angeles was ready. Five years in and four shows later (thanks Covid), Los Angeles is still enjoying the show. While a lot of motorcycle shows feature Harley-Davidson customs, and the OG Show accepts those, too, the focus of the OG Moto Show is a more diverse range, specifically: café racers, bobbers, classics, scramblers, old school choppers, trackers, modern choppers and full customs to name but a few. More importantly however each bike is hand-selected by the organizers. Also as in previous shows, there is more going on than just the bikes as there are a number of artists on hand, as well, displaying their creations.
In this two part podcast we have a selection of creatives from the show in part 1 you will hear from:
Craig Marleau - Kick Start Garage
Dave Lucas - Lucas Studio
Dorian Valenzuela - DV Mechanics
Marko Djoric - Djoric Design
Ben Gradel - Ben Gradel Design
Cristian Sosa - Sosa Metalworks
Darryl Hollenbeck is an acclaimed custom car builder and elite painter. However this all came from years of hard work, sanding, priming and painting that all started in the family business before he was 13. Darryl works out of his own custom shop, Vintage Color Studio in Concord, California. Throughout his career he has had the chance to work with some of the greats including Roy Brizio, Rick Dore, Steve Moal some of these cars ended up in the collection of James Hetfield, Eric Clapton and Neil Young. Darryl has also had the chance to work on many concours vehicles that have won awards across the globe including the famed Pebble Beach. In 2016 he and his wife Terri had their biggest car related achievement with their 1932 Ford Roadster which won the coveted AMBR award - America’s Most Beautiful Roadster at the Grand National Roadster Show (GNRS). The GNRS started in 1950 and is the longest-running indoor car show in the world, and the AMBR, a towering eight-foot-tall trophy, is considered the ultimate recognition for a roadster-style hot rod.
James Owens grew up in Detroit with family members involved in the "industry" so you could say James has been around cars his entire life. However his automotive journey really started when he decided on the Center for Creative Studies to study for a BA in illustration before transitioninto into the field of commercial advertising. After a long successful career James needed a change of direction, moved out of Detroit to Knoxville, Tennessee where he started acting this move to acting eventually led to a move to Los Angeles. It was during his time in Los Angeles and between auditions James decided to start painting and spurred by the esthetic of the late forties, fifties and sixties he set off on a path to create his own style of fine art. James has been lucky enough to have his paintings in galleries around the world.
Tom Utley is the man behind Von Industrial, and is also known to the restoration community as KingTutley. What Tom creates are machinery tags for vintage equipment and machinery that can be used as part of a restoration project. It was the restoration of his own personal South Bend Lathe that was his introduction to the art and science of tag creation.
Mark Arcenal started his design career as a Jr. Designer and over the past 24 years he has climbed the ranks working as a Designer, Jr. Art Director, Art Director, Sr. Art Director, Creative Director and Design Director.
He has worked with many of today’s Fortune 500 Companies including the likes of Nike, Gap, Adidas, Hot Wheels and Electronic Arts. With them he has developed and created brand experiences and partnerships. In his different roles he has built brands from the ground up as well as led global teams and he is known to many as one of the pioneers and influencers in street style.
However what Mark may be best known for is creating and starting Fatlace and Illest where he drew inspiration from graffiti, music, clothing and car culture to launch two global brands.
Our newest guest is Andy Bell, a former Extreme Sports Athlete. He competed professionally on two wheels in Motocross, Supercross and he became the first ever “factory” sponsored FMX athlete in the world with KTM. While riding in FMX he joined the team of Nitro Circus as one of the Daredevil athletes and as a result now has a number of Guinness World Records under his belt. He is also pretty handy on four wheels as a Baja 1000 winning Off-Road racer and precision driver. Andy is also an experienced stuntman and stunt choreographer working with bikes, cars, skies, bull riding, and on top of that he is an experienced television host and personality. As you can probably guess Andy never shies away from a challenge so after completing two seasons of Nitro Circus he started his own company called Sweatpants Media which is a full-scale, independent film production company specializing in unique creative content from Super Bowl commercials to long running web series and everything in between.
In this episode we talk to Jack Fields, who had an affinity for cars from a very early age. However it wasn't until he partnered with Edgar Hernandez when they were able to move out of family workshops and created Starlite Rod and Customs. After several years of building both a clientele and honing his craftsmanship Jack decided it might be time for a break to focus on himself.
In taking a break Jack stepped into the world of Television heading up the team working under Troy Ladd and Courtney Hansen on the tv show "The Ride That Got Away". The show has a simple concept: viewers submit their stories about a beloved car that their family had to let go and it reunites deserving people with their ride “that got away”. However it was during those days on set that Jack thought about starting his own place, and that is where he is now at Kraftsman Autoworks.
Rakel Karlsdóttir was born and raised in Iceland and originally grew up riding horses. After moving from Iceland, she has lived in various cities around the globe including London, Paris, Milan, New York and today she is based in Copenhagen where she has her creative studio.
During that time Rakel has earned a master degree in Architecture, studied at the Royal Danish Academy and obtained a bachelor degree in Architectural Technology and Construction Management. Her work as a creative consultant primarily involves designing housing and working on collectable design pieces of projects. Between her work in architecture, design and art Rakel continues to travel the world on her old Harley Davidson.
In the episode we talk to the Driving La Carrera rally team which is made up of two American brothers, Chris and Jeff Mason (The Rally Brothers). The Mason brothers grew up in Morristown, New Jersey, a quiet, leafy suburb 30 miles west of New York City but they both had a love of adventure, a competitive spirit, and a passion for life that in later years has taken them around the globe together. In this incarnation a passing mention of a rally in Mexico has led the brothers to delve down a rabbit hole of vintage racing in which they now race a 1965 Volvo Amazon 122S (Vintage Racing Services) called The Mzcalero in the La Carrera Panamericana.
The original La Carrera Panamericana, now remembered as one of the most memorable motorsport events of the time ran from 1950–54 and promoted Mexico’s newly completed Panamerican highway. Over five races, 27 people lost their lives, including racers, officials, and fans. After the tragic crash that killed 80 spectators at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June 1955, La Carrera Panamericana was canceled, seemingly for good until a new version of La Carrera returned in 1988.
After one year of competition the brothers thought it would be great to capture the event, and in partnering with locals the documentary Rally Brothers was completed and then became the foundation for a business to chronicle the stories of other La Carrera race teams. The following year in 2020 the crew followed two teams, including that of Karlo Flores in his GT40 (GT40 Panamericano) and navigator Fuentes and driver Gabriel Pérez Torres in their Studebaker (Carrera Passion).
We have writer and author Sam Mitani back to talk about what went into publishing his debut novel, The Prototype. Sam has not rested on the merits of his award winning book and instead chose to dive right back into writing. His second novel on the horizon is Red Mist, which based on the chapters Sam released to gain interest in early 2020 will be another great read. Red Mist will be out January 2022 from Force Poseidon.
Tom Gilroy is the Founder of Purpose Built Moto. Tom spent countless days in the family farm shed fixing and modifying old dirt bikes. Today, Purpose Built Moto is focused on creating motorcycles built with the future rider in mind. In essence the clients tell Tom what they want the bike for and based on this idea he shapes that concept into a functioning, rideable piece of rolling art. However that is not only the goal of Purpose Built Moto as the company has a wide range of parts that riders can outfit their own bikes with, always with a goal of creating something special.
However Tom not only spends time at the office, he actually enjoys riding the bikes he creates, this can be seen in a project called Wide of the mark. This was created out of a desire for an adventure in its purest form. Tom even decided to make it more challenging, building not only an adventure bike out of an everyday commuter to handle harsh terrain, but one for another rider to handle two weeks of riding around Tasmania.
Roland Sands is a motorcycle racer and designer of custom high-performance motorcycles. Sands is the son of Performance Machine founder Perry Sands, and he had spent a lot of time in his youth working at Performance Machine. Roland also spent years at the track, between 1994 and 2002 he secured numerous victories, multiple lap records and even secured the 1998 AMA 250GP Championship.
It wasn’t until 2004 and 2005 that the public truly got to know Roland the Bike Builder. This is when he created “The Hardway” and then went up against Arlen Ness during the 2005 season of Biker Build-Off. After the tremendous success Sands found on Discovery Channel's Biker Build-Off, Sands founded Roland Sands Design.
Roland Sands Design (RSD) not only produces motorcycle parts, accessories and creates custom motorcycles it also offers an extensive apparel line. Roland doesn't like to limit himself and has also created events like the Moto Beach Classic which supports the Super Hooligan National Championship. Super Hooligan racing is a mashup of custom flat-track riders of varied ages and experience levels, riding bikes that are 750cc, 400lbs and above with no front brakes. The racing is inclusive and has a class for almost everyone.
Aaron McKenzie is the head of mischief at Antecedent.Media who specialize in producing commercials, videos, short films, TV shows. What does head of mischief mean, you ask. To translate, Aaron is a writer, photographer, producer, and digital media consultant. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Aaron decided to leave the United States at age 22 and spent a decade living and working in South Korea. He returned to the United States in 2012 and found his way into a career in the automotive media space. Throughout his work he has partnered with major brands including Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and Jaguar and worked with some of his childhood heroes including Stirling Moss, Hurley Haywood, and David Hobbs.
Kevin Jeannette is the owner of Gunnar Porsche Racing and has a long history of involvement with Porsches. His start came over 40 years ago with a Porsche repair shop in Southern California. By 1977, Kevin was a Porsche racing mechanic, and in 1978, formed Gunnar Porsche Racing. Kevin began his racing career working with teams racing 934s and 935s, and eventually into 962s. He also started in tandem with his racing work a thriving restoration business.
The early years included working with teams including Cliff Kearns/Milt Minter in a 934, the Whittington Brothers at the Indianapolis 500 and in a 934, and 935s. Kevin went on to crew the Swap Shop Porsche 935, including the '83 Daytona 24 Hour winning car (which he built the engine), with Foyt, Wolleck, Ballot-Lena, and Preston Henn. Kevin moved on to Porsche 962s, with Swap Shop Racing, then Shelton Racing, Primus Racing, Bayside Racing, and Busby Racing. All the while, Gunnar Racing was making a name for itself, for restoring Porsche's racing cars, including 917s, 908s (both long and short tails), 910s, RSKs and Speedsters. A fun fact is that the first car Kevin and Andy restored was the 908 LH (long tail coupe) for the Porsche Museum.
Gunnar Racing, built the first open topped prototype to run in the IMSA Camel GTP class, with the 966 Spyder campaigning the car from 1991, until the class ended in 1993. The car attracted great drivers, such as Derek and Justin Bell, Hurley Haywood, John Paul, Jr., Jay Cochran and David Donahue, and some Hollywood stars, such as Bobby Carradine, and Chad McQueen.
Gunnar Racing took on a new amount of enthusiasm, in 1999, as Kevin's son Gunnar, who grew up in, and around, the cars his father was preparing, took to the sport, as a driver, at age 17. Since then, Gunnar Racing ran the 2000 Rolex 24, with Gunnar and Paul Newman driving, as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where they finished 6th in the GT class, and Gunnar went into the record books, as the youngest driver ever to complete the race, at 18 years, and 33 days old. Not to forget their roots in vintage Porsche's, Gunnar Racing is also very active in historic racing, keeping a whole stable of cars race ready.
Mark Jarel is a creator who likes to build things. His passion is to think of an end product then work on putting the pieces together to make that come true. He is a longtime motoring enthusiast, as well as a frequent competitor racing anything on wheels, be it cars and motorcycles on circuits, lake beds, and drag strips. Mark was introduced to working with your hands at an early age thanks to the woodworking skills of his father.
However it wasn't until his son, Haven, was born, Mark made a choice to skip television and instead, he and Haven would engage with the physical world and create. Mark even went so far as to move into a warehouse space named the "dream factory" that is not just a living space for himself and Haven but also an entire lifestyle.
Stefanie Lizet is an artist, she is also a young woman making a name for herself in the male dominated world of lowriders and motorcycles, establishing herself as an incredible pinstriper in the custom paint world. Stefanie first learned the craft as an apprentice to the legendary painter, Danny D of Danny D Studios. She was also one of two women of 50 artists invited to exhibit pinstriping and lowrider-inspired art at the Petersen Automotive Museum for "The High Art of Riding Low: Ranflas, Corazón E Inspiración," an exhibit that celebrated lowriding art, iconography and Chicano pride. Stafanie's contribution was part of a collection of everyday objects painted in the lowrider-style, Stefanie painted a toilet seat.
In this episode I talk to Lyle Brummer of Speedkore Performance Group. Speedkore specializes in both one-off high performance car builds and carbon fiber composite part manufacturing. The builds that Speedkore are known for blend high end technology to incredible craftsmanship that result in stunning works of art. However what they are mostly known for is their stunning carbon fiber bodywork that resembles the original but at a much higher refinement than ever used in a production build.
The cars that Speedkore build follow the signature SpeedKore recipe: reduce weight and increase horsepower and attract all kinds of customers including Hollywood A-listers like Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans and Kevin Hart. Founded in 2015 Speedkore has been able to create a workplace where advanced engineers and traditional artisans combine their craftsmanship with cutting edge technology to produce works of art.
Our latest guest is Josh Robinson, a multi-disciplined race car driver from Australia. His interest in cars started before he could walk and the same year he attained a car licence he started competing in local grass roots autocross / autokhana competition. In 2008 he progressed to tarmac rallying where he won Champion Rookie in the Dutton Rally National Series and backed it up the following year with a 2nd place finish in the Australian Tarmac Championship. Between Rallying events Josh discovered Time Attack as a great way to keep his seat time and skills up.
However in December 2012 Josh was invited to try drifting in Japan and found that it was the most fun he had ever had in a car. It was there he was fortunate enough to meet Nobushige Kumakubo-san, be taken for passenger laps and taught to drift by Andy Gray and Naoto Suenaga-san (Team Orange), before being extended an invitation to be a team guest at the Odaiba D1GP season finale. In 2013 Josh competed in the Japanese G1GP drift series while building the HSV Maloo with Horsepower Factory he started campaigning in Australia in 2014. He completed his first season with a best finish of 2nd in Drift Challenge Australia, losing only to American Formula Drift driver Chelsea DeNofa.
In 2016 Josh had a 2nd place in the Japanese G1GP championship. With his results in the Japanese championship he was able to secure a Formula Drift license, making him the first Australian driver to be granted one. Josh has then competed for the past three years in Formula Drift Prospec he will take a break for the 2021 season to focus on the Texas Drift Academy.
In our latest episode we talk to the Sultan of Symmetry and bodybuilding legend, "Flex" Wheeler. Flex is an International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness Hall Of Famer. Flex has won the Arnold Classic four times being described by Arnold Schwarzenegger himself as one of the greatest bodybuilders he had ever seen. In other competitions he has won 5 Iron Man Pro competitions and was runner up in Mr. Olympia in 1993, 1998 and 1999. Aside from bodybuilding Flex is also an author and martial artist.
Trevor McClure is a Championship-Winning Sports Car Spotter, Race Strategist, Chef and Consultant. He has over 20 years experience at race tracks around the globe. This all started with him becoming a marshal at Virginia International Raceway. Over the years in his different positions he has contributed to nearly 40 Championships and Vice-Championships, from IMSA, ALMS, Grand-Am, 24h Series, TCR, SCCA, NASA, and others. To top it off Trevor has also played a part in a unique achievement as he has helped with wins at both the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring more than once.
Gary Boulanger our latest guest is a storyteller. He started telling stories in 1987 intertwining music, sports, bicycles and motorcycles together seamlessly. In his current role at FOX Factory he is the Communications Marketing Manager for Powersports. This means he and his team promotes the hard work done by FOX in the UTV, snow, motorcycle, truck and off-road sectors. However before FOX he was an editor with stints at the Vintagent and Cycleworld to name a few, where he would regale readers about his tales on motorized vehicles. His real forte though is capturing the backstory and his hope is to inspire you to ride. But that doesn't account for the many other hats Gary has worn so make sure you listen.
Brooke Berini is a Boston native now living, working, and pursuing a higher education in Washington, D.C. But she might be better known as the pilot of the 'Alpha Princess' a pink chrome Nissan GT-R that Brooke drives faster than almost anyone else on the planet. However if we turn back the clock Brooke learned to drive on the family farm. In her quest for quickness, this led to her modifying cars since well before she was able to legally drive. Once she had her license in hand nothing could stop her from obtaining the car of her dreams, a Nissan GT-R. A road trip led to a purchase of a GT-R a few road rallies later and Brooke was smitten. The GT-R was transformed thanks to the help of AMS Performance and now Brooke is known as one of the fastest GT-R drivers in the world thanks to her skills behind the wheels of her Alpha Princess.
Jamey Price is a motorsport and automotive photographer from Charlotte, North Carolina. His motorsport work has taken him around the globe more than once. His interest in photography was not his first aspiration although his love affair with the camera eventually won out. Growing up near the farms of Charlotte, Price got his fix racing on thoroughbreds across the United States that led to a season in England and Ireland. In his college years his competition efforts took place in the swimming pool. However influenced by both of his grandmothers who worked as professional photographers, throughout that time, Price covered his life in horse racing and swimming from behind the camera, taking photos between his races.
In 2011, Jamey's photography career path switched from horse riding to horsepower. His passion and understanding of the sport have helped him succeed at the professional level. Things like knowing the culture and understanding the pivotal parts of a race all help sell his images to clients. With his images published around the world in magazines, newspapers and websites including The New York Times, Hot Rod, Hagerty, MAXIM, Car & Driver, Road & Track, Autoweek, MotorTrend, Autosport, Motorsport Magazine, Formula1.com, Lamborghini.com, Top Gear.com, Popular Mechanics, Sports Illustrated, ESPN and many others.
Jamey is also a TENBA bags Ambassador & LEXAR Elite Artist and Polar Pro Ambassador.
Our latest podcast guest is Hugo Eccles the Co-founder of Untitled Motorcycles, a company based in San Francisco and London that designs and builds custom motorcycles. Aside from being a motorcycle builder, Eccles is also a professor of industrial design at California College of the Arts (CCA). Eccles graduated from the Royal College of Art in London before starting work at IDEO. He emigrated to the US in 2003 to become global director of product design at Fitch, winning numerous awards including an IDEA Gold. From there, he went on to head the Arnell Group Innovation Lab in New York. In 2010, he returned to the UK to work with Sir Terence Conran as MD of Studio Conran, and later to serve as creative director at Native Design.
His background in industrial design clearly has an influence on his motorcycle designs. Eccles’ most recent build is the ZERO XP, an experimental electric motorcycle that explores the future of motorcycles by taking a first-principles design approach.
Gears & Queers is a platform for and by LGBTQ+ automotive enthusiasts. Chris Landry & Jake Margle make content about cars, queers and everything in between. On their site you will be able to find them reviewing cars both new and old and more importantly working on their fleet of "rapidly decaying" vehicles. Recently the pair have taken their show to Jalopnik with "Project Driveway" a show where the dynamic duo will demonstrate how to do "things and stuff" to your own car. You may ask what kind of things and stuff? It is routine maintenance, basic repair jobs and eventually more involved projects down the line. The goal of the show is to show you that maintaining and improving your own car isn’t hard, regardless if it’s 40 years old or fresh off the showroom floor.
Riley Stair has clearly got a passion for building cars. For him it all started at an early age working with his father, a gifted mechanic on the family vehicles. As time went on these family vehicles turned into passion projects and the builder began to flourish. But before we talk about the cars he has created we have to touch on Riley Stair, the professional BMX racer who is quite possibly the fastest cyclist I have ever had the chance to meet. It was life at the BMX track that allowed Riley to develop the determination to stay focused on his goal and put the hard work in, to make it happen. I think it is also worth adding Riley's own words here, in that he has "the urge to take the road less traveled, and dare to do things a bit different than those before me is another heirloom of the Stair family".
Riley’s most recent work is his incredible Trans-Am that was introduced to the world at the 2018 SEMA Show. However as the Trans-Am transitioned from debut to track day driver it has been a work in progress for the incredibly talented fabricator. I'll let Riley give you the full details on the "carport built" car but in short form it has a full tube chassis and the heart of the car is a Chevrolet LSX that revs up to 10,000 RPM.
It was a push that led to Riley entering the Hot Wheels Legends Tour, a competition for car owners to get their beloved vehicle turned into a Hot Wheels. So far only two other cars have made it to miniaturization, Stair’s is the third.
In our newest episode we talk to Loren Haleston, otherwise known as LoreninHD. A creative film maker by trade he first cast his lens over his friends' cars at drift events in the Pacific Northwest. His focus on telling the story while being behind the camera then pushed him towards his new career. Covering his friends led to customers reaching out to Loren to provide coverage of the drivers in Formula Drift as well as the series itself. However Loren did not stop at drifting; he has worked with clients that have flown him across the globe to cover the Gumball 3000 event. He has recently re-partnered with Race Service to help them cover the driver introductions for Formula 1 as he did in 2020. One thing is for sure with Loren is that he is never going to stop filming nor stop his creativity as he continues to push the envelope with his artwork.
For Alex Taylor it all started when Alex was just a few weeks old. The old story of "it's in your blood" really applies here. Born and raised in Booneville, Arkansas, from the time Alex was just a few weeks old a majority of her time was spent at the shop. At the age of 15, Alex and her parents began to build her car. What started as a 12-second Camaro that Taylor drove to high school each day and competed in HOT ROD's Drag Week in 2013 began its transition into the eight-second “Badmaro”.
Perhaps more impressive than Taylor’s racing history is her commitment to being a well-rounded driver. She is not only hands-on with every project, does her own tuning/maintenance and keeps all her fans and supporters updated via her social media and her YouTube Channel.
Scott Birdsall is a character. He is a business owner, builder, fabricator, race car driver, used car salesman, Dad, and many more things, but for the purpose of this piece we will start with Chuckles Garage. This is where Scott transitioned from the corporate world to chase the dream of building and creating hot rods, one of those famed builds is the classic "Gasser" affectionately known as "Strange Bird". However Scott doesn't just limit himself to Chuckles Garage he is also part owner of Resolute Motorsports who specialize in improving 911's from 1983 to 1989 for either the road, track or safari rally's. Last but not least we can't not touch on the fact Scott currently holds the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb record for a diesel vehicle, beating previous record-holder, Uwe Nittel and his Mercedes Benz C300D 4MATIC, by just over 13 seconds in "Old Smokey".
Now "Old Smokey'' his beloved truck is hard to characterize, maybe the best way is to say it is an IMSA race car hiding under 1949 Ford truck sheet metal. It is however registered and legal to drive on public roads and with the squeeze of the loud pedal it obliterates a pair of rear tires at will. This is in part thanks to a massive wave of torque from the turbocharged Cummins engine that sits up front. Honestly the truck defies easy explanation, and therein lies its appeal. It is cool because it's so functional in ways that it shouldn't be. Most people wouldn't build a race car out of a 1949 Ford F1 pickup, and for those who would, it is extremely doubtful they would go to the lengths Scott did. Originally, he didn't build Old Smokey to set records at hill climb or top speed events; he actually bought it to fix it up and flip (hence the used car salesman).
Back to the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and its 156 turns over the course of 12.42 miles. Scott has the current best diesel time of 11 minutes and 24.065 seconds, beating the diesel record set by Mercedes-Benz in 2016. His end goal is to get the record under 10 minutes in "Old Smokey". I know he will do it because Scott already made the impossible happen in getting a 1949 Ford F1 up a mountain faster than anyone else, that number is just going to get lower as Scott gets better
Igor Polishchuk is the founder of CAtuned one of the most renowned BMW workshops in North America. However it was the early hands on experience he gained from working with his father on family owned cars that led to his love for cars. A paying hobby flipping cars led to the acquisition of a space and then a garage which is what we know today as CAtuned. Igor started CAtuned in 2002, it all began with an admiration for square body cars like the BMW E30, and he is still inspired by the classics. From custom BMW and classic parts to full restoration services CAtuned does it all. However it is not just BMW's as CAtuned Off-Road takes care of the 4x4 and Overlanding community from simple products to custom off-road rigs. Then of course we have Igor's worldwide expansion of the CAtuned brand to Canada, Russia, Ukraine and Germany.
Through CAtuned Igor has been able to combine his passion to build unique vehicles and create a business known throughout the world for quality parts. However the best and probably most rewarding part of it all is that he is able to use his business to educate people while bringing customers dreams to reality.
Tim Matthews is the Curator of the Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed. This means he oversees all day to day activities of the museum as well as in helping acquire items for the collection, negotiates deals, coordinates deliveries and trips to pick up donated or purchased items, helps plan events and Cars and Coffee speakers and manages the rest of the Museum Staff plus so much more! Tim set time aside to talk to me about the museum and the HBO Documentary series The Lady and the Dale. If you are unfamiliar about the documentary, it delves into the life of Liz Carmichael and the Twentieth Century Motor Car Corporation.
The Museum of American Speed in Lincoln, Nebraska, is a non-profit corporation founded in 1992 by "Speedy" Bill and Joyce Smith. The original museum was in a smaller building on Van Dorn street in Lincoln. The museum moved to its current location on the Speedway Motor's campus in 2001. This 150,000 sq. ft. museum was formed to present a continuous chronology of automotive Racing Engine and Speed Equipment development and to preserve, interpret, and display items significant in racing and automotive history. The collection results from the Smiths' personal involvement in racing and hot rodding, and their lifelong passion for collecting and preserving racing and automotive history.
Leen Customs has created waves in the automotive community, and built a brand around his unique take on the collectible enamel pin. However you have probably never heard of the man behind Leen Customs. In our latest episode we had a chance to talk with Hansel Echeverria or as you might know him Mr Leen Customs.
Hansel Echeverria grew up in Los Angeles, working as a freelance artist. Graffiti was something he was fascinated with and that is where Hansel started his art career and earned the moniker Leen. However it wasn't until he started attending design focused events and he noticed brands and artists made these very cool collectible pins. But there was never something that was about car culture, so he thought it might be a good idea to try and design some automotive-style pins and lo and behold Leen Customs was born.
The pins now number around 1,000 and are varied from Hollywood icons, hotrods, race cars to celebrated vehicles in the automotive community. The first one was a Subaru rally car because it was his favorite car at the time, and he has never looked back.
In this week's episode we get the chance to talk to Myron Vernis. Myron has been described as having one of the most eccentric car collections in the world. These days people can track him down as Junkman356 and follow the latest from his garage in Ohio. However I think the best way to describe Myron is he is a dedicated automotive enthusiast with an eye for things that are a little outside of the norm. Nevertheless, he hasn’t retired from finding odd and unique cars Myron has a little more than a "handful" of cars and like any dedicated enthusiast is always looking for that next vehicle to find its way into his garage.
He has a wealth of knowledge on so many different types, manufactures and styles of cars. It was a real highlight to get the chance to talk to talk with Myron. Please make sure you take a listen, follow Myron on Instagram and just enjoy his dedication for automobiles
This episode we talk to Scottie Sharpe from Scotties Workshop. A Philadelphia native who now resides in California's Bay Area that started his professional career with computers and now finds himself running a vintage BMW restoration shop. Having motorcycles at a young age Scottie got the BMW bug early thanks to a BMW 2002, but it wasn't till his desire to attend events such as the Moto Melee really saw him delve in vintage BMW's with a 1962 BMW R60/2.
Over the next several years he dismantled and rebuilt that bike several times, always seeking to make it more reliable, and to increase the performance. Part of that quest for increased reliability and performance led him to meet Duane Ausherman, Joe Groeger, Roy Reynolds and several others who were master BMW technicians. The more time he spent with them picking up tips and tricks and hearing about their careers as BMW master mechanics, the more the lifestyle appealed to him. In 2011 he answered a Craigslist ad from someone who needed help with a restoration and the next thing he knew he had a bevy of old BMWs lined up in my driveway awaiting restoration. In 2012 he quit his job and started working on motorcycles full time.
Scotties Workshop now has four departments: vintage workshop, classic workshop, paint shop and machine Shop. They started with an original mission to provide the best repair, maintenance and restoration services for vintage (1948-1969) BMWs, but due to the demand that has had to grow over time. Scotties philosophy in repairing and restoring old motorcycles has always been to try to use the same tools and techniques that were used when the bikes were built back in the ‘50s and ‘60s. In essence to keep that vintage energy flowing through the bikes. He wants them to feel old, right down to the tools and techniques that are used to repair them.
Talking to Scottie I was able to understand the vintage appeal and what it requires from him and his employees to keep the life in these old souls that we call motorbikes.
Before you listen to this episode we need to take a step back and understand what happened in Northern California in 2018. If you are from the West Coast, or even anywhere in the United States, you more than likely already know of what now appears to be "regular" fire seasons. At the time the ‘Camp Fire’ was the deadliest wildfire in California history. The towns of Paradise and Concow were almost completely destroyed, each losing about 95% of their structures, while the towns of Magalia and Butte Creek Canyon were also largely destroyed. Paradise is around 50 miles north of the California state capital, Sacramento.
I was connected to Allyn Pierce by Nick Ashby from Rockstar Garage. You might remember Allyn, moreso probably his Toyota Tundra, better known as Pandra due to his experience of surviving the 2018 Paradise Fire that devastated the city of Paradise, California. Pierce works in healthcare by day as a nurse but will forever be remembered for his bravery and astonishing heroics. His story which is remembered through social media is the life-affirming tale of real heroism in the face of what felt a certain death.
I caught up with Allyn two years after the experience to talk about how extraordinary things have happened to someone who considers themself to be just a regular guy. It is an opportunity to see from Allyn's perspective the changes that have come about through all of this.
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Jon Sibal is an artist who shares his work across two domains. In his digital automotive renderings he works with partners to bring conceptual ideas to life. The flip side of this is his work as an inker which can be seen in over 100 titles from the likes of Image Comics, DC Comics, Marvel and many more.
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Mike Burroughs is a Renaissance Man proficient with both the camera and the pen as well as many tools in the workshop and we have yet to mention his talents behind the wheel. However in this episode we talk to Mike about his interest in the automotive world, the birth of Stance|Works, his many incredible builds and his soon to be new project(s) for 2021. His hope with Stance|Works is that every car he captures, every account he shares, and every wrench he turns he hopes to push the "car community" forward and preserve the essence of its history.
Stance|Works was originally founded as a safe haven for automotive enthusiasts that had an affinity for pushing the boundaries of wheel fitment and stance. In the years that have passed Stance|Works continues to grow and push its goal. The goal is to share the everyday inspiration and dedication found in enthusiasts' garages, driveways, and streets around the world through beautiful imagery and heartfelt story telling.
Toyo Tire has brought back the Toyo Tires Treadpass with a dozen one-of-a-kind vehicles making their world debuts online in a 3D showcase. This means auto enthusiasts can experience one of the most popular destinations of the annual SEMA Show from the comfort and safety of their home with Toyo Tires Treadpass 3D. With a dozen one-of-a-kind vehicles making their world debut, Toyo Tires Treadpass 3D provides virtual attendees the chance to explore the vehicles with a both a detailed spec sheet and a 360-degree view.
We were given the chance to speak to a number of the Toyo Tires builders about their vehicles and how 2020 has impacted their creative process. The builders and their builds include:
1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS "BULLY" by Ben Craven
Features a 1000 HP Supercharged Engine, race tuned suspension with splined sway bars and custom valved coil overs, SPAL cooled power steering coolers, thermostatically controlled oil coolers, and Toyo Proxes R888R tires
2020 Chevrolet Corvette C8 by Alex Lawn
Features the first Pandem C8 widebody kit in the U.S., Airlift air suspension, full Borla exhaust, Ld97 forged wheels, and Toyo Proxes R888R tires
2018 Honda Civic Type R "LMTLS R" by Luigi Arroyo
Features the first complete Varis body kit for the Civic Type R, custom Alcantara interior, a full paint color change, and Toyo Proxes R888R tires
2020 Jeep Gladiator "BBJT" by Mitch Button
Features a Metalcloak "Duroflex" Game Changer Suspension with 6PAK Shocks, Undercloak Integrated Armor System, additional storage solution systems, and Toyo Open Country M/T tires
1955 Mercedes Gullwing Widebody Droptop by John Sarkysian
Features a real modern AMG frame and drivetrain, S Klub 300sl droptop, Koenigsegg style doors, electric hatch and trunk, custom dashboard and interior, and Toyo Proxes Sport tires
1993 Toyota 4Runner "5150 Lux" by Scott Kanemura
Features a drag race tube frame chassis with a shorten rear ended and 4 link suspension, bored and stroked Toyota in-line 6 3.4 liter turbo charged 2JZ turbo, a custom interior with a unique double floor system for style and aerodynamic advantages, and Toyo Proxes TQ tires
Hannah Maloof was born into the car world. Her father Sammy Maloof owned a race shop Maloof Racing and the family spent plenty of time at the track. It was natural that this became her lifestyle growing up around the smell of race fuel and disassembled race engines. When Hannah turned 16 she started racing at the drag strip and this led to a move into precision driving under the tutelage of her father.
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Jeff Cox and Reggie Wynn work for Turbonetics / Precision Turbo and Engine. Jeff works on the Engineering side and Reggie works on the Sales side. Turbonetics has been a leading source for OEM and aftermarket forced induction systems and components since 1978. All Turbonetics products are designed and manufactured in house and Turbonetics works closely with customers to develop unique solutions for any forced induction challenges.
Precision Turbo's racing heritage can be dated back to 1989, when PTE worked with John Ligenfelter on his Bonneville Land Speed record setting Trans Am. Since 2008, Precision Turbo and Engine customers have compiled over 119 World Championships and set over 256 World Records. Precision-boosted vehicles have set numerous records and won championships in a wide array of racing sanctioning bodies including NHRA, ADRL, NTPA, PPL, NMRA, NMCA, NSCRA, PSCA, ORSCA, WCHRA, Fun Ford, NDRC, NOPI, and NSCA.
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Billy Rehbock holds a Master of Science degree in Journalism from USC Annenberg. Before that he was a graduate of Loyola Marymount Univserity. His role now is the Social Media Editor at Automobile Magazine where he curates and manages Automobile Magazine's social media channels with editorial and paid content. When he is not focused on social media he can be found hosting videos for MotorTrend and writing stories for the website and the print magazine.
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Willy T. Ribbs featured many setbacks during his career due to the color of his skin. Despite these setbacks, he was an amazing driver and he became one of the winningest drivers in the history of the Trans Am series. Through sheer determination, Willy shattered the color barrier in professional racing, becoming the first Black man to race in the Indy 500 and mostly recently he was crowned the inaugural VROC Champion (Vintage Race Of Champions). Watch and learn all this and more in the incredible documentary Uppity: The Willy T. Ribbs Story streaming on Netflix now.
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Andy Blackmore has over 26 years experience in vehicle styling and motorsport livery design in both the real and virtual world. Originally a lead product design and automotive stylist at McLaren, he followed that as a vehicle craft director and lead car modeller at Electronic Arts. Andy then stepped away from the corporate world to create Andy Blackmore Design to provide creative services for the Motorsport industry and as a byproduct his series of automotive 'Spotter Guides'.
His clients have included IMSA, Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, Honda, Ken Block, Toyota, Sony, Turner Motorsport, Scuderia Corsa, BMW, Hoonigan, Nissan, TAG Heuer, Rolls Royce and Falken Tires.
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Nick Ashby is the owner of Rockstar Performance Garage, a collaboration between Rockstar Energy Drink and LDRSHIP designs to build the first Lifestyle Garage. The team at RPG wear many hats although they are known for the builds they create to promote new parts and support brand initiatives. They also have an in-house media team that captures every aspect of the process, both in the garage and in action on the trail. Brand coordination is also a large part of what RPG does as they maintain major relationships between key brands in the auto industry.
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Born in Conegliano, in the province of Treviso, Alessandro Bressan started karting at the age of 8 and a move later in life to the United States has led him to a career into car racing. When he isn't breaking lap records he is a driving instructor at one of the most prestigious driving experiences in the country.
Now he races for Team ACE1 Villorba Corse, who compete across several series including the 24 Heures du Mans, European Le Mans Series, Le Mans Cup, 24 Hours of Spa, Blancpain GT Series, Gulf 12 Hours and more. Alessandro will compete in the Asian Le Mans Series, competing in China, Australia, Malaysia and Thailand.
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James Chen is a serial entrepreneur and has been in the automotive wheels and accessories business a number of years. Currently he is the Alpha Dog at ALPHAequipt, a company that specializes in the overlanding space. However, this is a step away from the Fast and the Furious franchise where he gained his first taste of success with Axis Wheels.
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Tyler Charest is a graduate of College for Creative Studies and is now a Senior Designer at Mattel creating Hot Wheels. He designs die-cast vehicles for a various lines, including Hot Wheels Character Cars and Hot Wheels Basics.
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Spencer Canon is an ex-bicycle builder but now spends his time at Race Service as a Cross-Media Creative Strategist. However while his experience is on two wheels he now focuses on four wheels with his collection of vintage cars.
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Albert Roxas is the founder of tUNINGwERKS magazine which ran from 1999 - 2004. He now works as a private consultant in the aftermarket industry, providing content to automotive manufacturers and companies.
Aside from Albert's passion for everything car related, he is an avid Hot Wheels collector and writes a personal automotive blog. A huge thank you to the team at Rstrada for hosting.
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Drive Night is run by the EDGETV and is part VR Racing, part arcade and part car meet, with a purpose to find the Fastest Sim Racers in Los Angeles.
In our latest bonus episode we spent an evening at Drive Night hosted at the always hospitable Race Service. Where we were able to sit down with members of the crowd for a chat about the evening. Guests included Eric from Team Subaru 15, noted author Ryan ZumMallen, Will Wattanawongkiri from Wattanawongkiri Racing and regular guest Rod Chong.
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Sean Lee is the founder of the Purist Group. The Purist Group is a collection of automotive enthusiasts brought together by a shared interest in driving. However along the way things changed and the Purist Group has been organizing events to unite the car community towards a common mission, to help those less fortunate.
The Purist Group focuses on helping one another through charity events and volunteer-based service. In addition to frequent charitable community events, the annual events include the back-to-school drive, Los Angeles blanket drive, and the year-end toy drive.
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Andreas Thurner is the Vice President of Global Design & Architecture at Karma Automotive. Karma Automotive designs, engineers, and markets luxury electric vehicles, all from its Southern California base of operations. Founded in 2014, Karma Automotive is committed to elevating and growing the luxury mobility experience for its customers and draws on global relationships and technology partners to achieve Karma’s goals of offering leading automotive design, technology and customization.
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Scott Elrod is the CEO of AutoConcierge. AutoConcierge is the go to solution for the automotive enthusiast who understands the importance of properly managing and maintaining a rare, historic or high-performance vehicle. The team at AutoConcierge have built a business around providing a full-service asset management service to clients. This can be as little as advisory services to complete management solutions – from procurement and registration to logistics and customization.
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Ryan ZumMallen is a writer with a passion for the automotive industry and has written for The Verge, Road & Track, Car And Driver and Autobytel. His latest effort is his book Slow Car Fast: The Millennial Mantra Changing Car Culture for Good. The book from Carrara Books explores the changing tides of car culture and re-examines the meaning of being a “car person” in 2020.
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Randall Robertson is one of the owners of Rtech Fabrications, who “Build Trucks To Do Truck Stuff". Rtech Fabrications are an Idaho-based restoration shop that specializes in 1967-1972 GM trucks. Rtech Fabrications can do it all, frame-off work, specialized builds and custom upgrades.
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Colin Miller is American Honda’s On-Road Media Coordinator. Miller has been with Honda for more than six years, initially in the Techline Group and most recently in the Service Technical Group. Prior to his time at American Honda, Miller spent nearly a decade as a technician and service manager at several motorcycle dealerships.
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Josh Barnett is an American mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and color commentator currently signed to Bellator MMA, competing in their Heavyweight division. However automotive fans might know him more for his passion for muscle cars, which was the focus for our conversation.
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We first talked to Micah Coley, otherwise known as The Hollywood Mechanic, in episode 56, however at his request we had him back to talk about some of the challenges he faced in his time here in Los Angeles where he now spends his time between his own workshop and Race Service.
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Andrew Davidge is the founder of Vintage Electric. Vintage Electric is not just your everyday electric bicycle company. They are so much more. Vintage Electric produces high performance works of art on wheels that embody ingenuity and enduring quality.
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Elana Scherr is a freelance writer who specializes in Automotive and is currently in the process of writing her first book on the legendary drag racer Don Prudhomme. Elana started in the motorsport industry with Graves Motorsport and TaylorMade Racing before she switched to writing with Hot Rod Magazine and Roadkill Magazine.
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Eddie Lee is the Co Founder of Titan 7 Wheels. With decades of performance wheel experience, Titan 7 sought to masterfully craft performance wheels. Titan 7 Wheels are built 100% in house to ensure quality control and they have worked with many of the OEM wheel manufacturers.
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Motor Trend is an American automobile magazine that first appeared in September 1949 and now has a monthly circulation of over one million readers. Jonny Lieberman is a busy man as the Senior Features Editor at Motor Trend and the Writer and Host of the Motor Trend shows Ignition and Head 2 Head.
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Alex Bernstein was born and raised in New York, but relocated to Los Angeles for work. He has been drawn to going fast for a long time and now spends his spare time modifying and in his own words "often-times ruining perfectly good automobiles". A graduate of journalism and photography from the University of Hartford, Alex worked for several years as an editor and photographer in automotive magazines. As his passion for photography grew, Alex made the leap to professional photographer and now, he specializes in commercial campaigns.
Alex’s clients include Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Audi, Ford, Toyota and others.
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Taro Koki is an award winning automotive video content producer, digital marketing expert and Co-Founder of GTChannel Inc. Taro has helped to create content for the like of Gran Turismo/Sony Computer Ent, Falken Tire, America's Tire/Discount Tire, Nismo and Subaru to name a few.
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In this episode we again venture down a different path, this time I talk to the Creative Design Director at Mustang RTR, Lindsay Ross about one of his design passions, the "wedge" era. Italian design houses ItalDesign, Bertone and Pininfarina were at the forefront of the movement, however it was not just the Italians as other car manufacturers soon pushed the notion of the wedge to varying degrees of success.
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Dan Green is a former pro motorcycle racer with Red Bull - KTM and a veteran car racer who is now currently working with electric motorcycle company Cake on their US Operation. Prior to Cake, Dan handled PR and marketing duties for Ritte Bicycles.
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In our last OG Moto Show recording we talk to Dustin Kott who runs Kott Motorcycles an LA-based custom motorcycle garage with a history of producing some of the most functional and timeless builds. He started Kott Motorcycles in 2007 as a full time business, however he has been wrenching and building cafe inspired motorcycles for much longer than that.
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Daijiro Yoshihara, more commonly known as Dai Yoshihara is a professional driver. He currently competes in drifting in the Formula Drift, endurance and time attack with Spoon Racing, hill climb with Evasive Motorsports and the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series.
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Benedict Radcliffe works across a wide spectrum of disciplines, creating everything from cars and bicycles to furniture and household objects, as well undertaking various architectural commissions and signature sculptural pieces for clients across the globe. Radcliffe left Glasgow in 2007 and set up a studio in London where he works and has received commissions from Comme des Garcons, Puma, and Paul Smith to name a few.
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In this episode we do it a little different as I sit down with Rod Chong to give a brief talk on the history of the car and how it has changed in the past 120 years and what might the future hold. We look at key technological and cultural developments that have shaped the nature of how things have changed over time and what impact it has had on the pair of us.
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Michael Woolaway, or ‘Woolie’, is a master bike builder and the design director of Deus Ex Machina. His Venice-based workshop, the Emporium of Postmodern Activities, has turned out one masterpiece after the next. Woolie is a natural born gear head, the Hawaiian born, California raised builder has been taking things apart and putting them back together ever since he can remember. Having grown up on motorcycles in Marin County and within close range of Laguna Seca and Sears Point raceways, a career in competitive racing was preordained for Woolaway. Since joining Deus in 2008, Woolie has crafted two-wheeled wonders for the likes of Orlando Bloom, Ryan Reynolds, Billy Joel, and Bruce Springsteen.
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Our first builder from the OG Moto Show is Ava Wolff. Ava is an auto mechanic by day, and bike builder by night. Her first build with the help from the Tobacco Motorwear Company is a 1984 Yamaha XT600 and it is a remarkably accomplished build, even more so given that she had no previous knowledge of the XT600.
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Christopher Rutkowski is a Director and Cinematographer working in Hollywood. However he is possibly more well known as the creator of theAFICIONAUTO a web series hosted on YouTube based on movie cars. He takes his time to track down famous movie cars and tell the story both behind the owners of the car, the car itself and sometimes the celebrity behind the wheel.
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Tomas Pajdlhauser otherwise known as Captain Tom is an artist and Creative Director based in Ottawa, Canada and co-owner of Birling, a local skateboard brand and shop. By day, he’s an Art Director for Jam Filled working on animated TV shows and in recent years, his focus has shifted to projects that combine his love of moto adventures, travel, and the tactile elements of the design process. His work is based primarily on lived experiences captured on-the-go in sketchbooks.
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The Cafe Racer Podcast is a short podcast dedicated to motorcycling featuring interviews from bike builders and moto junkies. One of the hosts Chris Ashmore better known as "Crash" sat down with to talk at the OG Moto Show. When "Crash" isn't podcasting he can be found working on an eclectic selection of motorcycles and aircraft as he serves his country in the US Navy.
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The Charis Culture are a team of digital experts focused on creating unique content for automotive clients. I had the pleasure of sitting down with part of the team when they were out on the West Coast for Tuner Evolution SoCal. Charlton “Minus” Ochoa is an established web developer and photographer, Steve Cucinotta creates digital masterpieces for clients through his art and photography and Ryan Chavarria a dedicated photographer. These cogs in the machine make up part of what is The Charis Culture.
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Tyler Cornelius was raised in the motorcycle industry, racing since the age of 5, he knew he’d grow up following his father’s footsteps, designing and creating motocross products. After graduating from Art Center College of Design he worked in the industry before settling down at Thor MX in San Diego. Cornelius now fulfills his dream of designing, teaching and creating works of art.
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Hertrech Eugene Jr. is the Content Manager at Hoonigan, however he is probably more well known online as a fake internet scientist. Born and raised in Orlando, Florida, Hert (as he is better known) has always had a love for cars. His passion developed at an early age playing racing video games. Fast forward a few years, and he is now lucky enough to have his own car (Twerkstallion) in a video game. Hert is a larger than life character and this is his story.
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Ashley Baker is a Producer at Hoonigan and specializes in automotive producing both on and off set for commercial, viral, network, and live event productions. Her expertise ranges from keeping automotive content authentic and realistic, to car wrangling, driver casting and location scouting for vehicle-specific needs. When not working on her never-ending builds such as the Porsche LS 944, Land Rover D1 Discovery and the Ford F100 she can be found working on her mid-century modern home.
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John Naderi has been in and around the automotive industry since the 1990's and is considered by many a stalwart of the Southern California tuning scene he has worked with Max Power Magazine, Overboost, Super Street, Global Time Attack, MotoIQ, Dsport and Mothers Car Care to name a few. However it is in his role as the Associate Creative Director at Hoonigan Media Machine where he has found his niche.
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Ron Zaras is currently the Head Scientist at Scumbag Labs, however he is more likely known for his work on both the Gymkhana and Climbkhana series of videos with Ken Block. His title at Hoonigan Industries is Marketing Director which means a combination of filming, editing, photography, writing, design, asset managing, and developing online presence.
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Micah Coley is The Hollywood Mechanic and he specializes in maintaining repairing and customizing cars. After bringing his engineering background to Los Angeles it was after a chance meeting that Coley decided to open his own shop. Working from humble beginnings, he now partners with people like Race Service to work on an incredible array of vehicles.
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John Pangilinan is a man who wears many hats: photography, brand development, content creation, public relations and consultancy. For more than 12 years he has been embedded in the automotive industry in a variety of capacities. Whether running public relations, building project cars or creating national ad campaigns, Pangilinan acts as an ambassador and communicator of automotive lifestyle.
His next project is the OG Moto Show which is an annual motorcycle event in Los Angeles featuring select Cafe' Racer, Bobber, Classic, Tracker, Scrambler, Old School Chopper, Modern Classic, Brat and full custom motorcycles on display as well as a host of artists. This project is the vision of Jay LaRossa of Lossa Engineering, Stan Chen, John Pangilinan, and Ralph Holguin of RMD Garage to help bring this style of motorcycle culture to Southern California.
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Founded in 1930 and located in Pasadena, California, ArtCenter College of Design is a global leader in art and design education. ArtCenter offers a wide array of industrial design, visual and applied arts disciplines. Throughout the College's long and storied history, ArtCenter alumni have had a profound impact on popular culture, the way we live and important issues in our society.
Transportation Design instructor Geoff Velazco has more than 17 years teaching at ArtCenter, he currently teaches Viscomm Fundamentals 4 when he is not Hyundai's North American Design studio. However he started his career at General Motors working for both Chevrolet and Buick. After General Motors, Velazco moved to Southern California and began working for BMW Designworksusa where he spent 12 years before the switch to Hyundai.
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Karissa Hosek was born and raised in a small town in Texas. Growing up around her family’s car audio shop help develop and nurture her love for Japanese cars, attending local car events with older brothers meant she was destined for the automotive world. Now a graduate from the Academy of Art University she specializes in automotive and commercial photography.
With a love for beauty when Hosek is between jobs she can be found exploring the US in a 1999 Mitsubishi Montero with Linhbergh Ngyuen you can follow the adventures at Gon' Dirtin'.
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It was a 1992 Mazda Miata and an extended commute which helped push Linhbergh Ngyuen into what he is today, one of the foremost automotive photographers in the US. Linhbergh has had the chance to work with a selection of clients including Tesla Motors, Acura, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Chevrolet, Mitsubishi, and Kia.
He now spends his time between photoshoots continuing his exploration of the United States with Karissa Hosek in his 1999 Mitsubishi Montero which is lovingly curated at Gon' Dirtin'.
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Abhi Eswarappa is the founder of Bike-urious. Bike-urious was created to help motorcyclists find rare, unique, and interesting motorcycles to put in their garage. Aside from finds across the globe you will also find event coverage, gear reviews, giveaways, ride reports, and his adventures with press bikes.
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Stacie B London is an industrial designer with a passion for art that has become a vintage motorcycle addict. London took up riding late in life, when she bought her first bike. She went from riding around Los Angeles, to road racing across the US, to starting a motorcycle club named the “East Side Moto Babes” and now she has broken land speed records and looking to go faster still.
Formed in 2010, the East Side Moto Babes (ESMB) is a club of motorcycle riders who ride and race in Los Angeles. The members in the group are women-only, though the rides and events are mostly coed. The intention was to provide female motorcyclists – new and old – with support, information and friendship. Not only empowering women to ride, but build a vibrant motorcycle community.
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Lindsay Ross is the Creative Design Director who brings ideas to life at Mustang RTR. The team at RTR have been designing and building very special cars, for almost ten years. In 2009 the very first Mustang RTR was released. The following year an official alignment between RTR and Ford Motor Company pushed RTR beyond a traditional aftermarket company and into approved Ford Dealerships.
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Pontus Fontaeus is the Executive Design Director at GAC Advanced Design Center. Established in 2017 in Newport Beach, California, GAC Advanced Design Center Los Angeles is GAC’s first global satellite design studio. The Design Center also serves as a production studio to provide creative support for GAC Design in China and a trend research post for the American market as well as global design trends on behalf of GAC.
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Nathan Fette is the Marketing Director for Dinan. Founded in 1979, Dinan is well established as one of the premiere BMW and MINI tuners. Dinan develops, manufactures and markets a comprehensive line of high-performance products and systems, distributed through a network of Authorized Dealers and independent BMW service/high-performance facilities. Recently, Dinan has further expanded its offerings to include other European marques such as Audi, Mercedes, and Porsche.
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A number of wiring specialists have surfaced over the years, one of the most popular and highly respected is California based Rywire Motorsport Electronics. Owner and enthusiast Ryan Basseri has been tinkering with wiring and all of its quirks and intricacies for more than 15 years. What started as a paying hobby soon led to a small home workshop that has transitioned to a successful business with a storefront, employees and a demand for his goods from across the world.
The net result of all this time and hard work means flawless builds and paying attention to every little detail are synonymous with the creations from Rywire.
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Ryan Truax is the Founder of Advanced Fuel Dynamics that specialize in aftermarket flex fuel systems. A dual-fuel vehicle, colloquially called a flex-fuel vehicle (FFV) is an alternative fuel vehicle with an internal combustion engine designed to run on more than one fuel and both fuels are stored in the same tank. The most common commercially available FFV in the world market is created using ethanol, here in the USA it is known as E85. E85 is an abbreviation typically referring to a fuel blend of 85% ethanol fuel and 15% gasoline or other hydrocarbon by volume. In the United States, the exact ratio of fuel ethanol to hydrocarbon may vary according to ASTM 5798 that specifies the allowable ethanol content in E85 as ranging from 51% to 83%.
Considering how inconsistent pump E85 is, Advanced Fuel Dynamics have created a system that gives owners the power to fill their vehicle with their preferred fuel without the worry of a mismatching tune or map. The system allows users to unlock the most power and performance in their vehicle.
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Founded in 1997, APR is a leader in performance aftermarket products for Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Skoda, Porsche, and other vehicles. APR's sole mission is to engineer the highest quality tuning solutions ensuring the enthusiast the ultimate driving experience. Joel McKay looks after the technical aspects and Ian Baas is an ex American Le Mans driver and Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona winner.
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Martin Klein is the Vice President of Recaro Automotive. Recaro is a name that has become a benchmark and synonym for quality, setting standards in automotive seating for decades. Recaro has been the world’s most renowned seat maker for more than 110 years and they presented the first sports seat in 1965. Recaro's customers include manufacturers of automobiles and commercial vehicles as well as providing end customers with aftermarket seats and motorsports customers with racing shells.
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Robert Bollinger is the CEO of Bollinger Motors. Bollinger Motors are the creators of the world's first all-electric sport utility truck. Bollinger Motors started in upstate New York in 2014 in a renovated car repair shop and 20 months later they had a prototype truck. The goal was an all-electric, dual-motor drivetrain with All-wheel drive and 50/50 weight distribution. The end result is a truck for both work and play. Not satisfied with one vehicle the team then switched to the all electric B2 Pickup Truck incorporating even more cargo options. Both the B1 and the B2 are Class 3 work trucks (10,001 gross vehicle weight rating) with a hauling capacity of 5000 lbs.
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Henk Van Dongen is the Director of Marketing at Omix-ADA. Omix-ADA is the world’s largest independent manufacturer of Jeep parts and accessories. Over the years Omix-ADA has expanded the business by adding and building brands like Rugged Ridge, Alloy USA, Precision Gear, and Outland Automotive. By continuously investing in new products and product lines, Omix-ADA is able to service the Jeep enthusiast market covering from 1941 to the most recent models. However not only do Omix-ADA specalize in Jeep parts and accessories but they also have an exclusive collection of cars from 1941 with a view to preserving the Jeep heritage.
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Daniel Boyer is the Director of Sales and Marketing at Vanderhall Motor Works. It was a chance meeting with Steve Hall, the President of Vanderhall, allowed him to combine his talents for sales and marketing with his passion for automobiles. Vanderhall was founded in 2010 by Steve Hall. Hall, who had been a CAD designer at Novatek, spent five years prototyping before offering his designs to the public.
Vanderhall are hand-built, three-wheel Autocycles. His initial model was the Laguna: a three-wheel roadster that is federally classified as a motorcycle and passed final testing for NHTSA and EPA certification in 2016. In 2017, Vanderhall introduced the Venice model and in 2019 the all-electric Edison² and the more luxurious Carmel will be available to the public.
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Micah Diaz was crowned the newest Hoonigan ambassador in the Hoonigan Most Wanted challenge. Among hundreds of entries, 10 finalists: Jiyuan (Jackie) Ding, Kadell Johnson, Nick Baumgartner, Ashton Harrison, Brian Smith, Jorge Salazar, Jamie Moreno, Christian Faloppa and Jessica Tracy were put through a number of driving challenges over five episodes in FIAT models. Judging this year's finalists were team captains, Rhys Millen and Tavo Vildosola as well as members of the Hoonigan Team.
When he isn't working his 9-5 job Diaz competes in The Drift League which is a Formula DRIFT sanctioned Pro-Am competitive drift series hosted by MotoIQ. TDL’s objective is to help aspiring drifters prepare for the professional levels of drifting.
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Since 1979, Red Line Synthetic Oil Corporation has grown to manufacture more than 100 products, including motor oils, gear oils, assembly lubes, fuel additives, and its cooling additives for the automotive, motorcycle, marine, and industrial markets. Originally founded by president Tim Kerrigan and Peter Filice to produce lubricants for the racing industry, Red Line Oil now distributes its diverse line of products across the globe. In 1986, Roy Howell, was appointed as Chief Chemist at Red Line Synthetic Oil Corporation and is currently Vice President of the company.
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Michael Dweck is an American visual artist and filmmaker. Best known for his narrative photography, Dweck has moved into filmmaking with his feature-length film The Last Race premiering at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
The Last Race is an intimate portrait of a small-town stock car racetrack in Long Island, Riverhead Raceway and the tribe of passionate blue-collar drivers that call it home, struggling to hold on to an American racing tradition as real estate development threatens its survival.
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Noah Alexander is the owner of Classic Car Studio who specialize in classic car restoration, sales, service and custom builds. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri the team at Classic Car Studio have the ability to handle all aspects of a project under one roof.
You can also find Alexander and his Classic Car Studio team on the hit tv show Speed Is The New Black which currently airs on the Velocity network.
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Jack Roush Jr. was born in Michigan in 1973 to Jack (Sr.) and Pauline in a household that lived and breathed racing. As a young adult he watched his father build their family company into a multifaceted performance empire. Jack Roush Jr. did not want to follow the exact same path as his famous father, longtime NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team owner Jack Roush. So he decided to take a different route. Jack re-joined the family business as his full-time job in 2008, with his focus being ROUSH Performance. ROUSH Performance, a division of Roush Enterprises, designs, engineers and manufactures completely assembled pre-titled vehicles and aftermarket performance products for the global performance enthusiast market.
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Rod Chong is the current Deputy CEO of Roborace. Roborace is the world’s first competition for human + machine teams, using both self-driving and manually-controlled cars. It is a new platform for brands, organizations and individuals to test the development of their automated driving systems. Roborace is set to redefine the way you think about AI.
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For Betim Berisha, years of hard work and determination paid off when he was able to start his own shop – BBI Autosport. Berisha started off sweeping floors for a local shop in Washington state before being promoted. Now with his hand picked team of craftsmen they build some of the fastest and most powerful Porsche and exotic cars out of their Huntington Beach, California workshop.
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Lance Stander, a native of South Africa, is the owner and CEO of Superformance LLC, based in Irvine, California. Superformance LLC is the US distributor for a line of replicas and continuation race cars from the 1960s. In addition to the Shelby Cobra MKII and MKIIII, the company also builds versions of the Shelby Daytona Coupe, Ford GT40 and Corvette Grand Sport, among many others.
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Drew Fishbein is the founder of OMGDrift and the current Community Manager at Hoonigan. He is also famous for instigating one of the most notorious vehicles on the internet, Sh*tcar. Caitlin Ting is a freelance photographer and online streamer. She can be found on Twitch streaming Overwatch, Fortnite, Forza and even the occasional drift event.
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“Born Racer,” directed by Bryn Evans and written by Evans and Matthew Metcalfe, is a powerful documentary that homes in on the life of IndyCar racing’s Scott Dixon. Dixon is a proud New Zealander with five IndyCar Championships, 44 wins and the 2008 Indianapolis 500 to his name. The film gives a rare, behind-the-scenes look at Dixon’s 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Chip Ganassi Racing and Dixon’s family, including Emma an incredibly competitive sportswoman who was a former competitive track runner and daughters Poppy and Tilly, gave the film’s producers an all-access opportunity at the track as well as in Dixon’s motorhome and the family's residence in Indianapolis.
The film will be available nationwide on DVD and digital download on October 2nd.
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Doug Breuninger is a graduate of the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California. He is a rare breed in the automotive car world in that his passion for art blends seamlessly with his love of aftermarket design. However what he is know for these days is his Notable Rides, a Post-It series of cars he has been working on since 2013.
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Jason Engel is the founder and owner of Classic Recreations. He and his team of talented craftsmen have been modifying and custom fabricating high performance vehicles for more than 15 years and have now just moved into restoration. Each vehicle is built-to-order over a 4 month period and result in a work of automotive art.
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Cary Eisenlohr is the chassis and suspension engineer for Gunther Werks. Gunther Werks are a team of Porsche specialists that take the last of the air-cooled 911s to create the 400R. Eisenlohr was set the task of improving the car and his time was spent focused on perfecting the balance between grip and road feel.
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Aaron Beck is a New Zealand born designer known for his work in the film and video game industry. A lifelong love of science and mechanics have helped shape and create a unique aesthetic based on an application of functional real world technical solutions pushed into the realm of futuristic science fiction.
Aaron also asked that we correct his memory which we put down to him having a big lunch before recording, his Ford Raptor was actually purchased from Larry H Miller Ford, not Phil Long.
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People lease exotic and collectible cars for various reasons. Some do it for the cachet, while others do it simply to get to and from work. Steven Posner is Putnam’s chief executive, Putnam Leasing in Greenwich, Connecticut, specialize in leasing exotic cars. Putnam Leasing has been designing leases for drivers who ultimately want to own their cars. Putnam's leases are as unique and as individual as the clients who request them.
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Big Mike is a fixture of the Honda tuning community, he might be thought of as an automotive enthusiast, designer, builder, competition judge, event emcee and writer, however what he is most known for these days is the Think Bigger Project.
The Think Bigger Project is a return to the basics and looks to help people shift their mindset back to the core of what makes dreams come true through passion, drive, and focus.
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Sara Price started racing on the dirt and went on to join Kawasaki as the first factory-supported female racer. She began racing dirtbikes at the age of eight and collected 19 amateur titles and medaled in Women’s Super X at the 2010 X Games. However post her two wheel career Sarah now races UTVs and Trophy Trucks. In 2017 she won the Hoonigan Wanted Driver Search which led her to the San Pedro Martir Hill Climb. When she isn’t racing, Price works as a stunt professional, performing on motorcycles, and on four wheels and as a precision driver for television and film.
All the while at her side is noted off-road navigator (rally, trophy trucks and UTVs) and full time microbiology student Erica Sacks. Erica has been involved in off road for 16 years racing trophy karts, UTVs, limited and unlimited buggies and moved into co-driving in 2015 under the tutelage of mentor Chrissie Beavis.
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Sam Mitani is a Japanese-American writer and author, best known for his work as International Editor for Road & Track magazine, where he spent 22 years, and as the author of his debut novel, The Prototype.
His responsibilities as an automotive journalist included covering and test driving cars from around the world. He also wrote a monthly column for XaCAR, and regularly contributed to Best Car, two of Japan’s most popular auto magazines. His limited-run car magazine, called SPEED, won him a Maggie Award in 2004. Mitani also appeared as a guest host for the Best Motoring DVD series and has an Emmy Award to his credit for co-hosting for KABC’s Eye on LA television series.
As part of his job, he participated in a number of adventures, including the Dakar Rally in 1996, two stints in the Malaysian jungle in the Trans Peninsula Rally, the Baja 1000 and in 2010, he set a speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in a Suzuki Kizashi, going 203.73 mph. The run qualified him to join the exclusive 200-MPH Club.
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Joe Scarbo is a Mechanical Engineer and founder of Scarbo Performance. Prior to Scarbo Performance Joe had worked as a mechanical designer for a number of racing teams and performance vehicle manufacturers including Volkswagen Motorsports, specializing mostly in complex systems and chassis design. However what you might be more familiar with is the SVF1 which Joe was the mastermind behind which is accurately modeled after a 1967 Ferrari F312 Formula 1 racer.
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Luke Munnell is an L.A.-based automotive and motorsports photographer, writer and content producer, with more than a decade of editorial and advertising experience. Before venturing out on his own he worked as a social media manager and content producer for Mazda USA. Prior to that he served as a technical editor and associate editor for Source Interlink Media (TEN – The Enthusiast Network), working on automotive print titles like Import Tuner, Super Street and Modified magazines.
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James talks to Nico, James, Jacob and Andy from Race Service.
Race Service is a global network of artists, builders, creators, and drivers united by a common passion for the world of motorsports and creating content. Part of the original team at DonutMedia, Race Service's custom content leads them to an artful new wave of car culture for new and existing motorsports fans.
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Q by Aston Martin is a unique service that turns your personal vision into reality, using your ideas to shape the ultimate Aston Martin. Bringing distinctive design touches to your Aston Martin. This selection of exclusive trim and enhancements can be added at the point of specification and installed and hand-finished at the Gaydon headquarters.
Stuart McIntosh is head of VIP Sales in the US and can help you commission a truly bespoke, individual sports car taking you on a journey that involves a personal collaboration with the Aston Martin design team.
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Stephan Papadakis first quenched his thirst for speed on the streets and local tracks of California in a modified unibody Civic hatchback. Papadakis then shifted focus to the management of his motorsport business Papadakis Racing, Inc. and, under his stewardship, the team has shown impressive results — earning three Formula DRIFT championship titles.
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Randall Smock is the project leader for exterior design at Honda R&D Americas, Inc. (HRA), and is responsible for design concept direction and product development. Smock led the exterior design of the 2019 Acura RDX, the inaugural vehicle to mark the new design language direction for the Acura brand.
Smock has made many contributions to Acura design since joining HRA in 2001, such as being the lead designer on the 2008 Acura TSX, 2012 Acura RDX and 2014 Acura RLX.
Smock earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Transportation Design from the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California. He currently teaches at the ArtCenter sattelite studio at the Petersen Automotive Museum.
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Rod Emory takes perfectly good Porsches and makes them even better by making them safer and faster than they were when they rolled out of the factory. His company Emory Motorsports makes two kinds of cars: those that look stock but are not, and those that don’t look stock. The former are called Outlaws and the latter are called Emory Specials.
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Lyn Woodward is a super talented writer and on-camera personality who is currently working for Kelly Blue Book. She's done work for Motor1, Automobile, The Drive and others and she rips around LA in a gorgeous white Datsun roadster. She's pretty much the coolest lady we know and we're thrilled that she decided to sit down and talk about her career, her love of Porsche 356s and the problem with YouTube commenters.
Lucky number 13! Who'd have thought we'd get this far? Just kidding. We can't be stopped.
Anyway, this week James and Kyle trek to Torrance, Calif. to chat with Jackie Birdsall. Jackie is a brilliant senior engineer at Toyota and is one of the evil geniuses behind the development of Toyota's fuel cell vehicle technologies aka the Mirai (but not the design, so calm down). She's a dyed-in-the-wool car weirdo and a generally excellent conversationalist.
Donnie Callaway is a guy who's had a lot of jobs, a lot of adventures and who has restored and driven some of the best Ferraris in the world. He's got a million and a half stories and he stopped by James' house to tell some of them. This one is a fun one and we hope he'll come back again soon with that gorgeous white 308 of his!
Chris Cantle is the editor-in-chief of Motorcyclist Magazine, the world's oldest motorcycle publication. He's a talented writer, photographer, raconteur, bon vivant and general rabble rouser and he's one of Kyle and James' favorite people to talk to. This time around, Chris talks about trying to change the face of motorcycle journalism, racing jetskis, turgid money, Los Angeles' third steepest street and childbirth. Sit down, grab a beer and let's get weird together.
Julia LaPalme is a ridiculously talented photographer and one of the nicest people that James and Kyle know. Her work, both photographic and written has been featured in the pages of Motor Trend and Motorcyclist Magazine. She's shot for a host of other publications and done work for advertising for several auto manufacturers. She's currently working as a freelancer and generally living her best life. She also has cooler motorcycles than you.
Jonathan Ward is a guy who continuously operating on more levels at once than most people do in a lifetime. He is a fascinating guy to talk to, always buzzing with energy, a brilliant designer, a man of taste, and he swears a lot more than you'd maybe expect. His work with Icon has been lauded in just about every form of media we have these days, whether they focus on the FJ and BR trucks that serve as the bread and butter of the company, the exquisitely restored Redeemers or the beautifully beat Derelicts.
Oh and he just launched his first watch. It's called the Duesey and it's as gorgeous as you'd expect.
Jonathan is now officially one of our favorite people and we sincerely hope we can have him on again.
This week, Kyle and James sit down at Meguiar's headquarters in Irvine, California to have a chat with Jon Sibal and RJ DeVera, both excellent and hilarious humans.
Jon is a multi-talented artist with a gift for rendering out some truly amazing versions of your favorite cars, he also worked as an artist in the comic book industry on titles like the Uncanny X-Men and the Avengers. He's also instrumental in bringing Rauh-Welt Begriff (RWB) to the United States. Basically, in short, Jon Sibal is the man.
RJ DeVera is known for tons of things such as being terrible at Gran Turismo and telling us how fast Dom Toretto is in the opening street race of the Fast and the Furious, being the guy behind RO_JA wheels, writing for publications like Super Street and for generally being one of the great ambassadors of the Southern California import car scene for the past 20 years. He's a legend.
Most people know Bisi Ezerioha from his outlandishly powerful cars, built in his Ontario shop that he calls Bisimoto. Others know him from his days drag racing Hondas in the 90's and 2000's and others still know him as someone who is a genuinely passionate ambassador for the automotive community. But here's the thing, Bisi wouldn't be Bisimoto without his incredible wife Hedi who pushes him to continually do things bigger, better and different than everyone else.
Bisi and Hedi were kind enough to invite Kyle and James out to their shop so that they could sit down, have a chat and tell their story in a way that people might not have heard before. This is a good one, enjoy!
This week James and Kyle make the trip to Donut Media to sit down and chat with James Pumphrey, Bart Bidlingmeyer and Nolan Sykes aka the writers and hosts of the excellent YouTube shows Up To Speed, Science Garage, WheelHouse, and the New Car Show. They talk about everything from cheap beer and junior dragsters to authenticity and Nolan's sweet job interview mullet.
This one was super fun to make.
If you are into cars and find yourself reading about them on occasion, then chances are very good that you're familiar with Larry Chen and his amazing body of work. In addition to being omnipresent, he's also one of the most talented photographers working in the automotive sector, he's a super nice guy and he made the mistake of inviting Kyle and James to his compound to sit, talk and drink espresso with him and his similarly ultra-talented assistant, Louis Yio, aka the world's most hydrated man.
Kyle and James somehow scammed their way into Luftgekühlt 5 where they cornered Art, Bryan, Lane and Warren from Driving While Awesome! and forced them to record a podcast. Because they're great dudes, they agreed and went into some of the history behind DWA! as well as Radwood and the Coastal Range Rally while throwing low-key shade at Luftgekühlt 's show-goers.
Because this is outdoors at a car show, we apologize for the wind noise and some of the audio fluctuation but, really it's not that bad and this is guerilla podcasting, damnit.
For this one James and Kyle venture out of James' house and down to Race Service to interview Sam Nalven aka DriftIdiot. Sam hosts the Maximum Driftcast with his pal Corey Hosford and now works for Race Service as a filmmaker. Oh, and he also hosts the Formula D halftime show, so not exactly a lightweight. He's a super talented photographer and hilarious human and harbors a borderline unhealthy obsession with British sailing ships, so 10/10, would recommend.
For the first (second) episode of the NoBraking podcast, Kyle and James sit down with Nic Cuarta from Bee Line Coffee and Austin Cabot from Gridlife and Speed Ventures to geek out over performance driving, coffee, motorcycles and not having real jobs, except James who has a real job (like a sucker).
Welcome to the NoBraking podcast with hosts Kyle Hyatt and James McKeone. In this short introduction episode, they give you some background on their histories with cars and with each other.