Cars Yeah With Mark Greene

David Stern is the Vice President of Marketing at Metrovac.  A company that focuses on manufacturing American made, high quality, high power vacuums for the automotive enthusiast who demands the best. David has been a car guy since childhood and began his entrepreneurial ways when he was a kid. He’s an avid motorcycle rider and can often be found ripping up back roads with his buddies when he’s not in the garage playing with his cars. I own several Metrovacs and I can tell you they are a joy to use when you’re detailing your vehicles.

Bill Neale is a foremost painter of automobiles, drivers, owners and the racetrack.  Motion plays a big part of his colorful technique and his work can be found in galleries and collections around the world.  His involvement with aviation often shows up in his work resulting in compositions that include cars and airplanes. Bill is a Peter Helck and Athena award-winning member of the Automobile Fine Arts Society and serves on the Board of Directors. His credits cover a wide range of automotive events, magazines, event posters and more. Bill’s a true gentleman and he’s been a passionate car guy his entire life.

Bill Warner has been around automobiles his entire life. As a teenager he worked at the local VW and imported car dealership. After college he worked for Sports Car Graphic Magazine and Road & Track Magazine. His photographs and writing has appeared in most of the well known automotive magazines and his awards are numerous.  In 1975 Bill ran a Porsche 911 in the infamous Cannonball run and has raced in a Brabham BT-8, a Datsun B210, GT3  cars and many others, winning many awards.  He’s restored numerous vintage automobiles and in 1996 he founded The Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance which is one of the top concours events in the world.  In 2002 Bill was awarded the Meguiar’s Automobile Hobby Person of the Year. In 2003 he was inducted into the Road Racing Driver’s Club by Brian Redmond and Bobby Rahal.  He is on the Steering Committee of the LeMay-America’s Automobile Museum and his awards and involvement in the hobby go on, and on, and on. Bill also served for 30 years in the Florida Air National Guard r

Scott Whitehead has been active in the 12-volt industry for over 25 years. He was the founder and president of Innovative Audio from 1988 to 2004. Today he owns and operates Benchmark Motoring in Bellevue Washington, a premier automotive audio retailer and custom installation company.  Benchmark is no ordinary stereo installer. With multiple awards for his companies Scott and his talented team focus on quality and custom installations on virtually every top name brands in the automotive industry. Scott truly sets the benchmark for an approach that is noted for innovation and focus on keeping the integrity of a vehicle at factory standards while enhancing audio/video systems beyond anything a factory manufacturer can produce.

Called the “Painter Laureate of the car” Harold Cleworth’s original paintings grace the homes, garages, and offices of car collectors and celebrities alike. Of English descent, Harold grew up drawing and painting the heavy machinery and industrial neighborhoods of England. Because of his impressive work he was accepted at the famous Manchester College of Art. He worked for Decca Records and his artwork graced the album covers of the Rolling Stones and The Who among others. When San Francisco car dealer Richard Rubin commissioned Howard to paint a Mercedes Gullwing his automotive art career blossomed. Commissions from manufacturers Ford, Chevrolet and others soon followed along with private collectors requesting Cleworth paintings of their prized automobiles. His ability to capture the essence and spirit of an automobile is unmatched and I know you’ll find his story very inspiring.

McKeel Hagerty is President and CEO of Hagerty Insurance Agency a premier classic car and vintage boat insurance company.  They protect over 700,000 vehicles, 10,000 boats and 25,000 motorcycles.  Hagerty Insurance gives back by donating 10% of their net revenue to programs and organizations devoted to preserving the hobby. McKeel is a hands-on leader who truly cares about cars, collectors and his employees.  Cars and wooden boats have always been a part of his life. At 13 he and his father restored a rusty 1967 Porsche 911S which he still owns today.  A leader in his industry and a true enthusiast of the hobby McKeel is a car guy through and through.

Michael T. Lynch is a consultant, an author, historian, researcher and photographer.  He is a full journalist member of both the Motor Press Guild and the American Automobile Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association.  His writing has appeared in journals worldwide and if you’re a reader of any automobile magazine you’ve probably read one of Michael’s articles. He is also noted for writing some of the world’s most prestigious concours d’elegance programs.  The list of awards for his writing skills is long and prestigious.  His clients include collectors, special events, museums and universities.  And Michael is the Vice-Chairman of the Art of the Car Concours, a researcher at the Revs Program at Stanford University and a member of the Racing Car Certifications Committee of the Antique Car Club of America.

David Madeira is not your typical sit-behind-the-desk CEO.  He has served as President and CEO of LeMay-America’s Car Museum since 2002.  David has been on some amazing adventures having ridden his motorcycle across 25 countries from Spain to Nepal.  His career as a fundraiser in the educational field is long and impressive. After learning that the owners of the world’s largest car collection were trying to create a museum around their automobile treasures, David jumped in to action and spent years helping develop what has become a spectacular car museum located in Tacoma Washington. It is a legacy to the late Harold LeMay who with his wife Nancy, collected their incredible collection. The museum opened in 2012 with David at the helm leading a dedicated team who cares for the collection. That is when he’s not riding his motorcycles through Brazil or Peru!

Marshall Buck has been an automotive enthusiast since childhood. At the young age of 15 he designed an electric slot car racetrack set, presented it to the R&D group at Aurora Toys, and started doing freelance work for them. In 1982, after a well-healed client convinced Marshall to go full bore in to model making he has never looked back. His models have garnered much publicity and praise world-wide. Marshall’s client list is a virtual who’s who of some of the “movers and shakers” in our world.  Marshall’s models are truly works of art.

Warren woke up one morning and his wife asked him what he had been doing at 3:00 in the middle of the night. He didn’t remember being up. She said he was at his desk writing something. When he looked at the pad he saw a sketch with the words Busted Knuckle Garage and an idea was born. That was 17 years ago. Today the Busted Knuckle brand can be found in all sorts of automotive venues with over 250 different products that you can find at Warren’s website, The Busted Knuckle Garage and at many other retail and on line venues. Always a car guy Warren is an entrepreneur at heart.

Jonathan A. Stein is the executive editor and associate publisher of Hagerty Classic Cars, although he may be best known for his 12-year stint atAutomobile Quarterly.  A full-time automobile historian and editor for over 26 years, Jonathan has been involved with the old car hobby for 40 years. He is the author of three books, he has edited or published another dozen and has written hundreds of articles for major magazines in the United States and England.  He has consulted for museums, restoration shops, auction houses and for Smithsonian Journeys, for which he is a frequent study leader for European tours to automotive points of interest.  A long-time denizen of the concours circuit, he is a judge at Pebble Beach, Amelia Island, Concours of America and many other major automotive events.  On his own time, Jonathan has been spotted driving the MGA coupe he's owned for 37 years.

Diane Brandon still owns her first new car, a 1965 VW sunroof sedan. In February 1980, she drove her 1957 Bentley S  3,730 miles in just over three days from Toronto to Portland, and the car served for over 200,000 miles as her daily driver, never failing to proceed and racking up a few awards of its own at Rolls-Royce Owners' Club judged events.  She has owned several vintage Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars and has driven every chassis type of both marques from earliest model years through the 1980s and road-tested and reviewed most of the new models as they have been introduced.  For decades, she served as a member, publications editor, officer, judge, and chaired many tours and events in the Rolls-Royce Owners' Club and the Classic Car Club of America.  From 1984 through 2006, she was on the R-R and Bentley judging team at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.  Last year she re-joined the team and this August will be on the 18th Fairway again, judging the Rolls-Royce Phantom IV and V class.  Diane researches

Perry started his automotive career over 25 years ago as an advisor at a vehicle consulting firm, helping customer to decide on which vehicles they wanted and then helping them through the purchase process.  He has always been a car nut, but that was his first exposure to the inner workings of the auto industry.  He left in 1995 to become one of the original staff members of CarPoint, Microsoft's automotive Web site that launched in late 1995.  Perry has worn a number of different hats and in 2002 I became editor of the site that is now known as MSN Autos.  Over the years Perry helped in planning as well as contributing to various MSN properties in Canada, Japan and throughout Europe.

For more than three decades, editorial cartoonist Steve Kelley has devoted his attention to public officials the way the radiator grille of a tractor-trailer might devote its attention to June bugs. He has delighted readers by consistently consigning office-holders to the single fate they fear most – that of not being taken seriously. Steve’s editorial cartoons have appeared in Time, Newsweek, US News & World Report, Forbes, Playboy, The Chicago Tribune, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post among others.  His work is a regular feature on many news websites, including Townhall and National Public Radio.

 An honors graduate of Dartmouth College, Steve began his career in 1981 at The San Diego Union-Tribune.  Steve’s work has won many awards including six first-place honors from the California Newspaper Publishers Association. Along with fellow cartoonist Jeff Parker, Steve created and writes the popular daily comic strip Dustin, distributed to 330 newspaper clients b

Tim Suddard grew up the son and grandson of a Ford dealer. He began restoring cars at the age of 14 and still has the first car he restored, a 1929 Ford that his grandfather had sold brand new.  Shortly after graduating from Stetson University he decided that America’s car magazines focused too much on the wealthiest few, so he started Grassroots Motorsports, a magazine geared towards regular people who enjoyed fixing up and playing with common, readily available sports cars. This success lead to the formation of a second publication; Classic Motorsports, which has become America’s largest publication catering to classic sports car enthusiasts. These publications led to an events business, that includes hosting the Classic Motorsports Mitty, one of the oldest and largest vintage races in America, the Ultimate Track Car Challenge and the $201X Challenge series of low cost events; that have run for the last ten years. Tim does a variety of contract publishing work that includes publication of the Amelia Island

Steve has been an avid car nut since childhood and at an early age decided to pursue a career in car design. He attended Art Center College of Design and has worked with Volkswagen, Nissan and The Advanced Design Group at General Motors. Steve was on the team that created the New Beetle, Nissan’s Z & Titan Pickup Truck and more recently, was involved with the EcoJet supercar for Jay Leno. As if his day career wasn’t enough, in 1996 Steve started an automotive Illustration practice where enthusiasts sends photos and information about his or her car and Steve creates a custom illustration memorializing their prized automobile.  The process is fully customizable to the individual owner’s specifications.  Steve will turn your car in to a lifelong framed treasure.  Steve’s illustration work can also be seen in the pages of Excellence and Forza magazines, both of which feature his work as a Staff Illustrator. You see more of Steve’s beautiful work at saillustraions.com If you have a hard to buy for automotive e

Dominic made 65 starts in Indycars between 1984-1994, including seven consecutive starts in the Indianapolis 500.  He was CART Rookie of the Year in 1986 and was the Fastest Rookie in Indianapolis history in 1988. He drove numerous IMSA and other sports car races including the 24 Hours of Le Mans,  the 24 hours of Daytona and the 12 hours of Sebring in a Porsche 962. He also raced two years for Dodge in the North American Touring Car Championship, winning numerous races and finishing a close 2nd in the championship in 1996. He was an instructor at the Bob Bondurant Driving School at Sears Point Raceway and started Zephyr Racing in the mid 80’s.  After retiring from racing in 1998, Dominic presided over a multi-million dollar collection of historic automobiles at the Cavallino Collection and founded Motion Research Corporation. Currently Dominic is the National Corporate Relations Director for LeMay-America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington.

Tom’s business background is in finance, film and television production, and investment banking. But an early introduction to something called an Alfa Romeo sparked a passion for cars that later ignited Tom’s involvement in an amazing event. Tom is the President of the internationally known Concorso Italiano, an annual automotive event that takes place this year on August 16 during the iconic Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and Monterey Historic Races. This year Concorso returns to the rolling hills of Black Horse Golf Course in Monterey Bay California. The unique format features over 800 Italian vehicles in a relaxed atmosphere that includes delicious food, elegant fashion, music, art and of course, lots and lots of Italian automobiles. Take everything ever made in Italy from fashion to Ferraris, sprinkle it with some red wine, slather it with sunshine, top it with elegance and fun and you have the Concorso Italiano. Tom is also president of the Desert Concorso which will debut in Palm Desert California in

Russel Fleury is one of the most highly respected consultants in corporate education today. He is the founder and CEO of Road-Scholars International, a performance improvement firm specializing in coaching automotive dealerships in management, customer retention and human resources.  His clients include:  Hyundai, Toyota, BMW, Mini, Ford, General Motors, Porsche, Mitsubishi, Ferrari, Maserati, Freightliner, Daimler, Harley-Davidson, Correct Craft, The Kinetic Group and more. He’s one of the busiest guys I know.  Enjoy this very personal and passionate interview.

Sam has spent the last 45 + years as an automotive professional and over 25 years of continuous radio broadcasting. The last 20+ years Sam has been an executive producer and co-host on numerous television show and has 18 years as an associate editor and automotive writer. He’s been a television personality on numerous automotive TV shows including Two Guys Garage, Chrank & Chrome  and Shadetree Mechanic. As if all that wasn’t enough Sam produces the Sam’s Garage website, he’s the associate editor for Dodge Turbo Diesel Register, the host of Sam’s Garage, a live nationally syndicated radio show that’s been on the air for over 12 years. He’s an ASE certified master auto technician and a member of SAE. Whew!