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Driven Radio Show #348: Steve Volk of The Shelby American Collection

Driven Radio Show #348: Steve Volk of The Shelby American Collection

Driven Radio Show Apr 09, 2026 62 min
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About this episode

Steve Volk, executive director of the Shelby American Collection, joins Driven Radio to connect his unlikely path from dental school to pioneering data storage tech with his lifelong Shelby obsession. He explains building early hard drives and optical media, then shifts to the museum’s Shelby-focused story: Cobras, GT40s, and rare Shelby Mustangs, plus long-term loans and major expansions. The conversation also covers Tapcat Solutions, the nonprofit sweepstakes platform he founded, and a current giveaway of a low-mileage 2006 Ford GT. The hosts wrap with garage wins, show updates, and a few laughs.

Cars: Ford Mustang
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Technical Too Afraid to Ask
Company

YouTube

"And former co-host and the force behind YouTube's craving cars, Mr. Corey Pratt."

YouTube is a website/app where people post videos. The show is saying some of the car content is made for YouTube.

Term

carburetor

"[252.1s] I think I know the little thing that I wiggled and then something moved. [257.6s] And I'm pretty sure it's in the linkage before it gets to the carburetor. [262.2s] It's two-foot jokes, man."

A carburetor is how older engines mix fuel and air. If the controls that operate it are slightly wrong, the engine can start acting up because it’s not getting the right mixture.

Part

fuel rails

"Anybody need a couple of fuel rails? A couple of fuel rails. Yeah, two of them."

Fuel rails are like fuel “pipes” that feed gasoline to the engine’s fuel injectors. If you’re missing or replacing them, the engine may not get the right fuel flow.

Company

Classic Collision

"huge thank you to John Burdolski and all the good folks at Classic Collision in Kansas City, Kansas. If you need quality body or paint work on your car, be sure to contact them..."

Classic Collision is a shop that fixes cars after body damage and does paint work. They helped make the car look better again.

Term

trunk

"But more than that, that keeps water out of the trunk. That does help."

The trunk is the storage area in the back of the car. If water gets into it, it can cause damage like wet carpet or rust.

Concept

Schadenfreude Express

"And it fully earned the name Schadenfreude Express. So, oh, did you hear the other name I found for that car?"

It’s a joke name. “Schadenfreude” is about enjoying someone else’s bad luck, and here it’s being used to say the car keeps causing headaches.

Concept

Hitler's Revenge

"Oh, so P.O. Somebody else thought it up. I didn't think of it, but I saw it in print online. Hitler's Revenge, which is 100% spot on."

That’s just a nickname—meant to be shocking and funny. They’re basically saying the car has a reputation for causing problems.

Brand

Mercedes

"Oh boy. Yeah, he was big. I think he, he cruise around in Mercedes, didn't he?"

Mercedes is a luxury car brand. In this context, it’s being mentioned as part of a joke about what kind of cars the person in the story drove.

Term

oil leaks

"And some mechanical stuff. I'm going to chase on a couple of oil leaks, but the car's getting there. It's really getting there and it's been so long since I've had it perfect that I'm,"

Oil leaks are a common maintenance issue where engine oil escapes from seals, gaskets, or oil lines. Chasing oil leaks is important because low oil levels can cause accelerated wear or even engine damage.

Company

Shelby American Collection

"Our special guest this week is Steve Volk, executive director of the Shelby American Collection, founder and CEO of Tapcat Solutions. Steve has had an extensive career in optical and rotating magnetic data storage."

The Shelby American Collection is a group focused on Shelby cars and their history. The guest runs it, so it’s likely tied to real Shelby vehicles and stories.

Term

rotating magnetic disc drive

"So that's rotating magnetic disc drive. [742.9s] Everybody knows about that."

It’s the classic computer storage type where a spinning disk holds data. A tiny arm reads and writes by touching/hovering over the spinning surface. For laptops, it had to survive being jostled and used with low battery power.

Term

1.8 inch hard drive

"What is integral peripherals? That was the 1.8 inch hard drive. Okay."

A “1.8 inch hard drive” is a tiny data storage device—basically a small computer storage component. They’re bringing it up to show the person’s background wasn’t traditional car stuff.

Term

starter

"...And then the 427 cobra was not operable. It had a bad starter in it. And my boss said, Hey, if you can fix the starter, you can drive the car."

The starter is the electric motor that cranks the engine to get it running. If the starter is bad, the engine may not start at all, even if everything else is fine. The speaker’s boss uses this as a practical test: fix the starter, then you can drive the car.

Company

Haggerty price guide

"Dave Kenny, who is the publisher of the Haggerty price guide, went to school in Kansas city also."

The Haggerty price guide is a tool that estimates what collectible cars are selling for. People use it to help judge whether a car price is fair.

Term

CDs

"You know, CDs were too big. Um, and so we built a tiny, uh, it was a blue laser based, uh, optical media and we got all the, uh, you know, we built the hardware."

CDs are the music discs people used to buy and play in cars and home stereos. The point here is that CDs were physically large compared to what they wanted to build.

Company

Panasonic

"We had teamed up with Panasonic, but it was all our technology... And then we had a Samsung and Toshiba and Panasonic and others that were going to build the players"

Panasonic is a big electronics company. Here, they’re mentioned as helping build the devices that play the new music discs.

Concept

Napster

"Uh, and then Napster came out. Oh, okay. And killed all that. Because you could get free music, uh, downloaded and, you know, just burn it on CDs"

Napster was a website/app that let people share music files online. It made music feel “free,” which hurt sales of traditional music formats like CDs.

Concept

car giveaway

"So I'd always wanted to do a car giveaway. And I asked the guys, I said, Hey, go find some software that we can, that can facilitate a car giveaway, you know, a sweepstakes."

A car giveaway is a contest where you can win a car. Instead of selling the car, the organizer runs it like a lottery/sweepstakes, and they have to follow rules so it’s allowed in each location.

Term

435 miles

"And it's only got 435 miles on it. It's basically a brand new car."

“435 miles” means the car has been driven very little. Cars with extremely low mileage are often treated like they’re still basically new, which collectors usually like.

Term

BBS wheels

"[1646.4s] BBS wheels. [1648.0s] Yes. [1648.5s] Macintosh radio."

BBS makes aftermarket wheels that are popular on performance cars. People like them because they’re well-made and often look great, and sometimes they’re lighter than stock wheels.

Term

Painted Calipers

"[1659.8s] Painted Calipers. [1660.6s] Painted Calipers. [1661.7s] That one slipped my mind."

Painted calipers means the brake calipers are painted to look nicer. It’s usually for style, but the paint has to handle heat.

Concept

long-term loan

"Some are on long-term loan and the museum owns some. Some have been donated."

A “long-term loan” means the museum is showing a car that belongs to someone else. The owner keeps ownership, but the museum gets to display it for years.

Concept

unrestored (museum car)

"And it was in our museum, unrestored. And John Arzbach, who's a terrific guy, kept bugging me and bugging me and bugging me."

“Unrestored” means the car hasn’t been fully rebuilt or cleaned up to look brand new. Collectors sometimes like that because it keeps the car’s original condition, even if it’s not perfect.

Concept

GT40s and Cobras

"They had to have that car and more focused on GT40s and Cobras. And so one day I said, okay, and he got it and he restored it."

They were especially into two famous kinds of cars: the GT40 and the Cobras. The GT40 is a legendary race car, and Cobras are iconic performance roadsters associated with Shelby.

Concept

Sonoma Raceway

"You know, the Shelby American Automobile Club just had their big thing out at Sonoma Raceway."

Sonoma Raceway is a well-known racing track in California. The speaker is saying a Shelby event happened there.

Concept

pace car

"He was, you know, the pace car. And he was beside himself."

A pace car is used to lead the race at a controlled speed when the race needs to slow down. It helps keep everyone safe and organized until racing conditions are ready again.

Car

Mustangs

"But, you know, we don't have any newer Mustangs."

The Mustang is Ford’s famous muscle/pony car. They’re basically saying they don’t currently have the newer Mustang models in the museum.

Term

radar

"[2653.6s] Okay. [2653.6s] So this was a development lab for them and they were developing, they also had a contract to develop custom got into the radar. [2663.4s] Oh, radar."

Radar is the technology police use to “see” how fast you’re going. The device sends out a signal and measures how it changes when your car moves.

Company

Hagerty

"Yeah. Here, let me reset it. Oh, it's smoking now. You know, I'm looking at Hagerty. How much did you buy that?"

Hagerty is a company that specializes in classic cars. People use it to get an idea of what a certain older car is worth today.

Term

torque

"Oh, really? Because the 240Z's got more torque and but the 911's got a better top end."

Torque is what helps a car get moving quickly. More torque usually means stronger acceleration, especially at lower speeds.

Part

front bumper

"[3141.1s] Well, here's the deal with this car. [3142.6s] And then I just go into it. [3143.4s] Let me tell you about your front bumper."

The front bumper is the front protective piece of the car. It can get damaged in small crashes, and changes to it can sometimes tell you something about the car’s history or modifications.

Term

192 miles an hour

"[3525.3s] And Doug sent me that terrific picture of their GPS with the quote saying, [3529.6s] at no time did we ever violate 192 miles an hour. [3534.5s] And on the GPS, they're doing a buck 92."

They’re talking about a specific top speed number and whether they stayed under it. The GPS is being used to argue they didn’t go over that limit.

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