The Shelby Mustang is a special version of the Ford Mustang that is faster and more powerful. It was created in the 1960s and is known for its sporty look and performance.
The Toyota Supra is a sports car that many people like to modify to make it faster. It became very popular in the early 2000s and is known for its great performance.
Matching numbers means that the parts of a classic car, like the engine, are the same as when it was first made. This is important for collectors because it can make the car worth more.
Collector cars are special cars that people like to buy and keep because they are rare or have a lot of history. Some people collect them as a hobby, and they can become more valuable over time.
Hypercars are some of the fastest and most expensive cars in the world. They are built with the latest technology and are usually made in small numbers, which makes them very special and sought after.
An enthusiast guide is a book or resource that helps people who love cars learn more about them. It can include information about different types of cars, how to take care of them, and what makes them special.
The Pontiac GTO is a classic American car that was popular in the 1960s. It’s known for being fast and powerful, making it a favorite among car lovers.
The Porsche 911 is a famous sports car that has been around for many years. The 996 is a specific version made between 1999 and 2004, and it has some unique features compared to earlier models.
The Chevrolet Corvette is a well-known sports car in America. The C3 and C4 are different versions of this car made in different years, each with its own unique features.
JDM cars are cars made in Japan for the Japanese market. They are often special because they have features or models that you can't find in other countries.
Car
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a famous car brand known for making luxury vehicles. They have been around for a long time and made many classic cars that people love to collect.
The collector's ladder is like a path that car collectors follow as they start with simpler cars and eventually aim for more expensive and rare ones. It shows how collectors grow in their interests and investments over time.
Key collectible models are special cars from a certain time that many people want to own because they are unique or important. These cars are often shown at events where car enthusiasts gather.
Classic era cars are older cars that many people find interesting because of their unique styles and stories. They are often collected and admired for their history.
A blue chip car is a type of car that is very valuable and sought after by collectors. It's like a safe investment because it tends to hold its value well.
The Ford GT350 is a special version of the Mustang that is built for speed and performance. It's known for being powerful and fun to drive, making it popular among car fans.
Auburn Cord Duesenberg is a famous old car brand that made luxury cars a long time ago. People who love cars often admire these because they are beautifully designed and well-made.
Supercar Blondie is a well-known person on social media who makes videos about supercars, which are very fast and expensive cars. She helps more people learn about cars and car culture.
The Isuzu iMark is a small car made by the brand Isuzu in the early 1980s. It was not very expensive and was often chosen by people who needed a reliable vehicle.
Analog cars are vehicles that use more traditional, mechanical parts instead of relying heavily on computers and electronics. They are often easier to work on and provide a more direct driving experience.
The Chevrolet Bel Air is a classic car from the 1950s that many people love for its stylish look and smooth ride. It’s a symbol of the fun and flashy cars from that time.
The Lamborghini Countach is a flashy sports car known for its unique shape and doors that open upwards. It was very popular in the 1980s and is still admired for its cool looks and speed.
The Ferrari 250 GTO is a very rare and expensive sports car from the 1960s. It's famous for its beautiful looks and success in racing, making it a dream car for many people.
LIVE
All right, welcome to the collector car podcast. We're going to do something a little bit different.
This is the big announcement about my new book coming out called the enthusiast guide to collector
cars. Now real quick, if you would like to preorder this book, you can go to the collectorcarpodcast.com
and you'll see a picture of the book. Just click on that or the preorder tab and that'll take you
to this launch page, which will have even more information and ways to get involved early. Now
the first 100 folks that do order a book, you'll get an autograph copy with a little cartoon
that I will draw and it has, it relates to something, a fun fact that's in the first
few chapters of the book, the little cartoon that I draw for you. So be sure to check it out.
I thought for fun, since this is 2026 and this is my big project for the year, I thought instead of
me just telling you about the book, I would actually interview myself about the book. So a
little bit different. So it's a lot of Greg on this podcast, but I'm going to ask some fun questions
to myself and hopefully this will give you a little bit of an insight as far as what the book
is all about. Now to kick it off, I do want to give a little overview of the book. Now this is in
the first few pages of the book and as I've been sending out some information, this is what I've
had as kind of an overview. So take a listen to this and this should give you a nice overview of
what the book is all about. Collector cars are more than transportation. They are rolling artwork,
cultural time capsules and emotional anchors that connect us to our past. A Duesenberg evokes the
elegance of the Jazz Age, a Shelby Mustang Roars with the rebellion of the 1960s. In a Toyota
Supra recalls the tuner culture that defined the early 2000s. Cars are not just machines,
they're stories on wheels. Yet for many, the collector car world feels intimidating.
Auction headlines screened multi-million dollar sales. Insider jargon like matching numbers
or bar and fine seemed cryptic and the market shifts faster than most can track. The truth is
you don't need to be a millionaire or a lifelong expert to appreciate or participate in this hobby.
You only need passion, curiosity and the willingness to learn. That's where this book comes in.
The enthusiast guide to collector cars is designed to make the collector car world accessible,
engaging and inspiring. Each chapter blends history, cultural context and market insight
with features like the collector's ladder and why a new enthusiast should care. These elements
keep the focus not just on the cars but on how they fit into life, culture and community.
This book takes you on a journey through the eras of collecting from brass era pioneers to
modern hypercars while also diving into cultural forces that make certain cars icons from movies
and music to rallies and events. Along the way you'll get practical advice, stories and a framework
to understand why these cars matter and how to find your place in the hobby. And most importantly
this book is built on the belief that the collector car world should be a ladder not a pedestal.
It's not about looking down from the top and million dollar machines, it's about giving every
enthusiast a way to climb whether your first step is a miata, a Mustang or a Mercedes Gullwing.
And this is only the beginning. The enthusiast guide to collector cars is the first volume in a
series that will explore the collector car world in greater depth. Upcoming titles will focus on
specific passions from Porsche to muscle cars and pony cars, modern classics, Ferraris and more.
Think of this book as your roadmap to the world of collector cars and the first stop
on a much bigger journey. All right now it's time for some of the questions so I'm just going
to rattle down some questions and let's see how I respond. Now for anyone just discovering this
project what is the enthusiast guide to collector cars and why did you feel this book needed to exist?
Well honestly I came down to two things. First off I have a couple of nephews that are 15 years
old and if you follow me on Facebook or social media you know that I tried to teach them how to
drive my 1966 Pontiac GTO that's unrestored because they would like to know how to drive stick. Well
beyond that it's just a matter of that they like cars but they don't really know much about cars
and it is overwhelming in my mind as a young kid to come into the collector car hobby
and really kind of understand what is beyond that first car you like so if you like a cool
Ferrari well how do you get them engaged in other generations of cars other eras of cars
and so that was the one of the main things was trying to figure out how do I give an easy touch
point for let's call them teenagers or just new enthusiasts in general to go beyond liking a
particular car that drives by to really understanding the different eras and models and makes that makes
up this cool car hobby of ours and another thing was my wife honestly as we go to car shows she'll
ask me you know for 9-elevens what generation is that we had a 996 had a ducktail spoiler so we
would call it ducky and she would ask me well is that the same generation as ducky and I would say
well no that's the generation after and then it even went to Corvettes you know she started
learning a you know what what's a c3 versus a c4 and I thought that was really really cool and
yes there's a book for Corvettes yes there's a book many books for Porsches but there's just
not one thing that you could grab and read and kind of get an overview of everything so when it
comes to the Corvettes and the Porsches yes there would be a future book for each of those
where it goes in by generation but for right now just wanted to provide something that gave an
overview of the eras and the third thing that kind of popped into my brain is my buddy Paul was like
why don't you just write a guidebook for kids well that's that's a pretty interesting question
you know just something that gives an overview of collector cars so that was something else that
made me think you know what I should probably do this at a high level who is this book really for
and who might be surprised that is for them too now this book is honestly for everyone so whether
you're you know steep in Ferrari lore you're a Ferrari judge this is a great book for someone
like that that maybe you know doesn't know a lot about brass era cars it's meant for you know the
12 or 13 year old kid that likes a cool cars in the parking lot but wants to know more it's it's
for all those youth judges out there it's for people that are just in the social circles of
community it's really for anyone it's meant to be an easy accessible read I want to see it
dog-eared in the back of backpacks for kids going to school or thrown you know treat it like a
magazine something that you really kind of dig into take your notes whatever dog-eared the pages
of stuff that you would like to know more about and it's just meant to be a fun resource that's
also an entertaining read so you can learn while you read and see some cool pictures as well this
book has been years in the making when did the idea first start forming for you so I think I'm
a failed teacher meaning that I like to give back in some ways to the younger generation so a number
of years ago I wrote a business book for kids that's my only published book up until this point
and then after that when I got into podcasting I did a podcast called learn from others
and that was meant to be a podcast that would share the career journeys of professional
individuals with kids kids that wanted to know well what does it take to be a doctor what does it
take to be a political speech writer and so I did I think almost 200 episodes of different career
paths that was meant to be shared with kids as far as informing them like hey if you want to do this
path here's some here's some tips and tricks some education you might want to consider
and then as part of that I always had a fun car thing at the end so if I interviewed a surgeon
you know what kind of classic collectible car would a surgeon drive and so if you
listen to learn from others which is still available just google it and your favorite
podcast provider you can listen and then at the very end the last five minutes I asked the car
question and finally someone I think it was a political speech writer he asked me when we were
not recording he's like you know people could only describe you in two words three two or three
words what would it be I said well I'm the car guy he's like we should probably have a car podcast
which is how the collector car podcast began and again that's just me wanting to share my curiosity
knowledge and learning with others so I like to say for the podcast if I have a question about
something car related someone else probably has that same question so why don't we make a podcast
about it or why don't we interview someone about it and so I think the enthusiast guide to collector
cars is just taking that to the next logical step which is providing an easy accessible resource
on the collector car world for whoever would like to have it and it will continue as I said before
I'll have one for Porsches for Ferraris for muscle cars for JDM cars so it just seems like
natural progression of what I've been doing for years you've spent decades around auctions
concor events collections and collectors what gap did you see and how people learn about collector
cars what I've noticed at auctions and concor events is that you'll get the engagement of the
next generation of car collector car enthusiasts younger obviously and they're always gravitated
towards typically the hyper cars the crazy cars the most expensive cars and it doesn't mean they're
not interested in what the other cars are but how do you approach that how do you get your feet wet
you know you can't just go to an auction and all of a sudden you see you know 1930s Mercedes
Drive by you might think it's cool but how do you how do you research that how do you understand
what it is in the overall collector car world and again that's one of the reasons for the book
how much of your own collector journey is woven into this book well not much because I'm not a
collector yes I have three cars now which I guess is technically a collector but that's just recent
I've never been a collector I've always enjoyed cars always wanted to at least have one cool car
in the garage I just happen to be fortunate right now to have two and then one for my wife as well
were there any personal stories you debated including but ultimately felt
were important to share actually no not really I decided not to share any personal stories because
there was so much information to put into this book that I just thought you know let's keep it
as bare bones as possible I guess the one exception would be later in the book there's a quote for me
at the beginning of one of the chapters and at the end of one of the chapters but it kind of talks
to the collector's ladder a little bit how I progressed with my mustangs in my personal life
one thing I want to say about the book is the structure of each chapter so each chapter I start
with an opening quote either by myself or by an expert in the field that the chapter is talking
about so if we're talking about veteran and brass era cars is for from an expert in that era and I
try to also close with a quote from another expert for that era of cars now I always kick
off every chapter with what defines this category so what is this era of cars and why is it important
and how does it relate to maybe the chapter before or the chapter after then we go into design and
technology so that just kind of talks about what was special about this era of cars why was it special
what was happening globally that would influence car design at that time and then I go into why
these cars matter so just put it into the snapshot of why this era of cars matter and then that naturally
flows into key collectible models and not highlighting every key collectible model for each era that
would be exhaustive I'm just doing I don't know three to six you know known cars of that era that
you might see at a local car show and talk about each one of those and then one thing I added was
performance of the era we all like performance stats you know growing up for me it was zero to 60
times now it's like the quarter mile times and lateral grip and all sorts of different things
so I do have a performance of the era for each chapter which is really interesting when you
consider say the brass era cars maybe it's something that isn't as quantitative as you find in later
eras and then I go into why a new enthusiast should care so as you're as you're a new enthusiast
and you're reading this book you know why would I care about the classic era why would I care about
post-war American icons you know and this kind of gives a little snapshot as far as why a new
enthusiast should care about these generation of cars and then I go into the collector's ladder
so obviously I'm from the auction background we always see the big dollar cars trade across the
auction block well those are out of touch for a lot of folks myself included but there's a way
to participate in that era car even maybe with that same brand of car and I go over what's an
entry-level car for this particular era what's a mid-level car and then what's a blue chip car so
in my own garage I've or my own history I've kind of done that a little bit the first car I ever
owned was the 1968 six-cylinder three-speed Mustang coupe bought it for $1,200 from my cousin this
is like 30 years ago so that's the base model Mustang base body style base engine base transmission
and now you go into my garage and not that it's a GT350 which would be the ultimate
but it is a 65k code Mustang convertible so very desirable convertible body style
highest performance engine for that generation and you could see that you know what I'm in the
mid-level now I'm not in the top level but I'm in the mid-level maybe one day I'll get to that blue
chip where I do have a 65 GT350 so the collector's ladder it just kind of makes it more accessible
for a new enthusiast to get involved in that era and maybe even the make and model of the car that
you eventually aspire to have after the collector's ladder I go to collector considerations so this is
mostly around maintenance aftermarket parts storage stuff you just have to be mindful of you know a
lot of this is the same for different generations but you know the cars from the post-war years you
might need a little bit larger garage than typical you know just stuff to consider as you get into
the newer cars with electronics there's a whole different thing you have to worry about those as
well and then I go into the timeline of the era so this basically breaks down the timeline with
any like notable innovations notable models broken out by year typically so if we have a
you know 20 years of an era what happened when in those 20 years and then I go into a spotlight car
maybe one two or maybe even five depending on the chapter where I go a little bit more in depth on
one or multiple cars for that era and then I go into auction highlights and record sales we always
like to see those big numbers and so I tried to capture the top sales of a particular era for
the cars I tried to pull out oddities you know maybe it was a celebrity owned car or something
tried to keep it mostly to the actual factory produced car not some one-off oddball stuff
and then like I said at the end of the conclusion I try to close with a quote from a noted expert
of that era now looking back how did your first collector car shape the way you buy and think
about cars today I must say your first collector car if you don't own one currently your first
collector car will probably be the biggest learning crew you'll have chances are you'll probably buy
it wrong as I did with my first 1968 Mustang it was a solid car but when I bought it on the word
for my cousin I didn't realize it didn't have an engine now this is 17 year old me just trying to
get something but for 250 bucks he found an engine and he installed it and so I was able to get a
year and a half worth the use out of that car so worked out fine but I would have done it a little
bit differently so always understand there's a big learning curve when it comes to your first car
especially if you're just used to new cars and you want to jump back to a car that's 50 years old
yes they are harder to stop they're slower to get going they don't handle that well so you really
have to take that all into consideration when you jump into that first collector car you've
invited many respected voices from across the automotive world to contribute why was that
important I felt it was really important to get beyond my voice yes I'm an expert in some respects
in some eras but not all obviously and so I wanted to have experts from those eras also chime in
but I also thought it was important to get folks that are extremely successful
in the car world or big influencers that can reach a scope beyond my little world because I think
I need to reach out we need to reach out beyond the folks that are in our ecosystem per se especially
when we're trying to engage new enthusiasts and so I felt it was key to not only reach out to the
experts that maybe manage the Auburn Cord Dusenberg Museum or the celebrity folks like Jay Leno but
also folks like Supercar Blondie who she has a global audience in which she can get the word out
and try to get new enthusiasts engaged outside of the hyper supercar world into some of the other
eras that they might find just as exciting so it's been a lot of fun I've been amazed at how
quickly people respond with supporting folks because I believe they see that there's a big need
to engage this next generation and the fact that this is an easy entry point for understanding
what is one misconception about collector cars you hope this book permanently puts to rest
one misconception about collector cars is that they're all valuable they are not all valuable
in my mind a collector car is whatever drives your passion it could be a 1983 Yuzuzu iMark diesel
that's not worth anything and I bring that car up because I would love to have one of those in my
collection that was a car that I learned how to drive stick on that was a car that I drove to work
when I was a teenager that's a car that famously ran out of oil and my dad just met me and put in
fresh oil and it ran for another 40 000 miles that's a car that we took from Jacksonville Florida
to Maine with a trailer behind it and camped out of it and so that's a car to me that's a collectible
car probably to no one else in the world because it is defined by my history with that car my memories
of that car and the fact you know what they're about impossible to find because they pretty much
just rusted their way into the junkyard so in my mind a collector car is not about the value of a
car it's more about the emotion and the connection it has with the owner are there cars or eras today
that remind you of where muscle cars or air-cooled porches once were I think one of the most exciting
era of cars just happened I want to call it 2000 to 2016 call it the last of the analog cars the
last of the you know not overly controlled by computers not overly controlled by touchscreens
cars that you can actually still work on yes they do have a computer in them but they're not
overly complex or difficult and they have a high level of performance the car I'll call out just
because it's in my garage is an 05 Boxter s great little car we bought it with 2000 miles on it
20 year old car with 2000 miles it's been baby since the first day it was bought but just a great
little car that performs tremendously well it's one of the last small porches manual with solid
horsepower and a ton of fun and I think that is a snippet of time that we will continue to look back
on as the best of the last and you could expand that to some of the muscle car revivals some of
the demons and you know us muscle cars mustangs kameros whatever but I think that is one of the
last great eras of cars we will see for a very very long time this is positioned as the first in a
series what can readers expect next well as I mentioned before I this is the first in a series
I already have the next five books lined out uh porches next after that I believe it's Ferrari
and then we go into American muscle cars and pony cars I know we have JDM cars soon after that
I think Corvettes and there's one more I'm missing so these will be a series they will
continue until people stop liking them and I hope they go on for a very very long time
how do you hope someone feels when they close the final page
honestly I hope that they cannot wait to get to the next car show or cruising and take their
knowledge from inside that book and apply it in a real-world setting whether that's walking
up to their first brass era car or going into you know something cool a muscle car something and
just talk to the owner about it someone maybe a car they would never have looked at twice before
what does success look like for this book one year from now all right that's a really good question
honestly if I see this book doggiered and beat up in the back of some kids backpack at a car show
I would call that success obviously I want to have it in museums and at concor events in the
hands of youth judges but it's really just the one kid that just loves this book and reads it all
the time references it all the time that would be a big win for me how did you decide which
eras cars and themes deserve the spotlight Greg that's a great question basically I just
wanted to do the big eras the big bucket of cars and for that I based it on pretty much concor events
you always see different classes and concor events that I jumbled some of them together I split some
of them apart just to kind of get some big buckets of eras in which to cover now as far as which cars
that I drilled deeper in whether it was a spotlight car or timeline of the era it just really depends
on what the car was so you know if I'm doing 1950s American iron I want to include a 57
Chevy Bel Air try to include some of the iconic cars that everybody would know about but then also
include some of the cars that maybe you don't know about but there was something innovative
about that car that deserves a spot in the chapter what's the first poster car you had on your wall
I had a poster of a white Lamborghini Countach what's one car you regret selling
part of me regret selling my 66 Mustang convertible but then I realized that thing needed a total
restoration so I don't really regret it what's one car you're still chasing I'm always chasing
the next great find and I have like six of them in my back pocket that I hope come
available soon I know where they are I know what they are so hopefully I hear some cool stuff in
the future what's an auction moment that still gives you chills the auction moment that gives
me chills is when I can sign the 250 GTO and we snuck it into Monterey and we rolled it up
on stage for the very first time that gave me chills because I was standing with the family
in the audience and then it went to frustration because I had a waiter who did not speak English
very well trying to close out our tab while they were making the announcement so I wanted to sit
there and listen to the announcement watch the reaction of the crowd and I had this guy
blowing on my my shirt wanting me to close my tab that was very frustrating all right closing
question if someone is on the fence about whether they belong in the collector car world what would
you say directly to them I would say that you totally belong in the collector car world it
doesn't matter your level of passion or your level of knowledge if you like a cool car going down
the road and can appreciate it from afar or up close you are part of this community so don't
let anyone ever tell you otherwise all right so that's it that's the overview of the enthusiast
guide to collector cars coming out hopefully by May 1st 2026 pre-order your copy now at the
collectorcarpodcast.com now if you do have one of those cool poker chips that I've given out a lot
of these different car shows you can also scan that to pre-order your book now so as always thanks
for watching thanks for listening thanks for reading and I'll talk to all of you next week
About this episode
An exciting announcement reveals the upcoming book, 'The Enthusiast's Guide to Collector Cars,' aimed at making the collector car world accessible to all. The author shares insights on the book's structure, which blends history, cultural context, and practical advice, catering to both seasoned collectors and newcomers. The discussion highlights the importance of understanding the emotional connections to cars and the belief that collector cars should be approachable, not exclusive. The episode also teases future volumes focusing on specific car types, ensuring a comprehensive exploration of the collector car hobby.
This episode of The Collector Car Podcast marks a big personal milestone as I officially announce my upcoming book, The Enthusiast's Guide to Collector Cars. I share the inspiration behind the project, why I felt this book needed to exist, and who it's written for—from first-time enthusiasts to seasoned collectors.
I also highlight the incredible group of contributors who helped shape the book, including respected voices from across the automotive, motorsports, museum, and collector communities. This episode is a behind-the-scenes look at how the book came together and why it's ultimately about one simple idea: why cars matter.
A special thank you to our new sponsor, Discover Once, curators of one-of-a-kind automotive adventures you'll never experience twice. Learn more at discoveronce.com/muscle.
And as always, huge thanks to RM Sotheby's for their continual support and for making so many of these automotive dreams possible.
Listen to the "Octane FM: Shift, Rev, Repeat" album on Spotify!
Stay connected with The Collector Car Podcast—find us on our Website, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or reach out to Greg directly via email.
Join RM Sotheby's Car Specialist Greg Stanley as he brings over 25 years of experience and keen market analysis to the world of collector cars. Each week, Greg dives into market trends, interviews industry experts, and shares insights—with a little fun along the way. New episodes drop every Thursday and are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Learn more at www.TheCollectorCarPodcast.com or email Greg at [email protected]. Interested in consigning a car at an RM Sotheby's auction? Contact Greg directly at [email protected].
