Thunderbird and Harley updates kick things off—headlight and wiper fixes, plus a slow Amazon parts saga—before Andy Reid and John Sacramento return after a 3.5-year gap. They trade stories from Amelia and Pebble, including showing a 1957 Chrysler Superdart 400 at Pebble and winning preservation at Amelia. The conversation then pivots to auction/concours market shifts: modern cars are hot, some mid-tier classics are soft, and younger collectors often lease rather than hoard. They also share the dumbest near-disaster moments involving multi-million-dollar cars, plus Porsche/Corvette “feel” debates.
Brett and Mark welcome Andy Reid, East Coast editor for Classic Cars.com and John Saccameno, owner of Sport and Specialty, to discuss showing cars at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, Dawn Patrol, doing the morning drive in a one-of-one concept car, and the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance. This and much more on Driven Radio Show!
"Yeah. I haven't dug into the headlights yet.
[73.1s] I think it's the switch on the floor. I think I need to replace it.
[79.9s] Okay.
[80.5s] Because, you know, you click that and the lights will go out just completely."
They’re talking about the car’s headlights. If the headlights shut off completely when you use the switch, it usually means there’s an electrical problem somewhere in the switch or wiring.
Headlights are part of the exterior lighting system, typically controlled by a switch and wiring/relays. If the lights “go out completely” when operated, it often points to a faulty switch, bad connection, or an electrical issue rather than the bulbs alone.
"[79.9s] Okay.
[80.5s] Because, you know, you click that and the lights will go out just completely."
“Lights go out completely” indicates a hard electrical interruption rather than dimming or flickering. That pattern often points to a failed switch, loose connector, blown fuse, or a relay issue in the headlight circuit.
"It has no high beams. And I don't know what the hell the guy that owned it before me put in there and the headlights, they're LEDs and they're stupid."
High beams are the really bright headlights you use on dark roads. If they don’t work, it’s often something like a switch or wiring problem, not just the headlight itself.
High beams are the brighter, long-range headlight setting used when there’s no oncoming traffic. If a car “has no high beams,” it usually points to a wiring, switch, relay, or bulb/LED driver issue rather than the low beams being totally dead.
"And it looks like changing the, and I don't think, I don't know if I mentioned this in the last show, the wiper motor. Yeah. No, it's because you and I talked about it and you were sending me examples of them."
The wiper motor is what powers the windshield wipers. If it’s vacuum-powered, switching to an electric motor can fix reliability issues, but it needs the right parts to fit and work.
The wiper motor is the power unit that drives the wiper arms through a linkage. If the motor is vacuum-driven on older cars, it can be replaced with an electric wiper motor, but the conversion must match the mounting and wiring/control requirements.
"After an extraordinarily long absence, Andy Reed, editor of classiccars.com and John Sacramento, a sport and specialty are returning to us."
ClassicCars.com is a website for collector cars. It’s where people shop for classic vehicles and where car news and listings are published.
ClassicCars.com is a well-known collector-car marketplace and media site. In the context of this episode, it signals that Andy Reid’s perspective is rooted in the classic-car buying and selling world.
"Andy is written for grassroots motor sports, vintage motorsport magazine, Jaguar World, Hagerty online and classic motorsports magazine."
Hagerty is a company that focuses on classic and collector cars. Their site covers news and information that helps owners and buyers understand what these cars are worth and how to care for them.
Hagerty is a major collector-car insurance and media brand. Mentioning Hagerty online suggests the discussion connects to collector-car valuation, ownership costs, and the classic-car enthusiast community.
"[463.2s] You know, jetting around the way we do.
[465.5s] It's hard to find us.
[468.5s] Bill Estee, you know, Amelia Island."
Amelia Island is a famous car event in Florida. Lots of classic-car fans and sellers go there to see cars and often to buy or auction them.
Amelia Island is a major motorsports and collector-car event in Florida, best known for auctions and classic-car gatherings. It’s a common destination for enthusiasts and dealers to buy, sell, and showcase cars.
"...was that a nine millimeter or a 38 popping off? Or was it just a backfire?"
A “backfire” is when a car makes a loud popping sound, usually because fuel ignites in the wrong place (like the exhaust). It can sound similar to other bangs, so it can be easy to misidentify.
A “backfire” is an engine combustion event that produces a loud popping sound, often from unburned fuel igniting in the exhaust or intake. People sometimes confuse it with other noises (like gunfire), especially when they hear it consistently from a neighborhood.
"I got to go to Villadeste, Concorso de Villadeste last year for the first time. Thanks to BMW."
This is a very prestigious classic-car event in Italy. It’s the kind of show where only certain people can get in, and it’s more “special event” than a typical public car show.
“Concorso de Villadeste” refers to the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, an elite concours event in Italy known for stunning historic cars and a glamorous setting. It’s often associated with high-profile sponsorships and limited access compared with more public shows.
BMW is the automaker they’re crediting for helping them get to the event. Big brands like BMW often sponsor these high-end car shows and help certain guests attend.
BMW is mentioned as a sponsor/connector for access to Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. In concours culture, major automakers often provide invitations, media credentials, or support for participating cars and journalists.
“Pebble” refers to Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, one of the most famous concours events in the world (held at Pebble Beach, California). The speaker compares it to Villa d’Este, highlighting how different concours experiences can feel.
Car
Chrysler Superdart 400
"We took the Chrysler Superdart 400, 1957 Chrysler Superdart 400 by Gia from the main classic car museum."
Chrysler built a very special, rare car called the Superdart 400. Andy is saying they brought a 1957 version of that car to Pebble Beach, which is a big, prestigious car show.
The Chrysler Superdart 400 is a one-off concept-style show car built by Chrysler for the mid-1950s era, known for its futuristic styling and performance-focused name. In this segment, Andy Reid says they took a 1957 Chrysler Superdart 400 to Pebble Beach, highlighting it as a notable, rare display vehicle rather than a common production car.
"How does that drive? Like a 1957 Chrysler 300C. OK."
The Chrysler 300 is a large sedan made by Chrysler. The podcast compares how it drives to a 1957 Chrysler 300C, meaning they’re talking about the driving feel. It comes up because it’s a classic, recognizable model line.
The Chrysler 300 is a full-size American sedan line known for its bold styling and comfortable highway driving. The podcast compares how it drives to a “1957 Chrysler 300C,” using it as a reference point for feel. It’s discussed because the 300 name carries a long history and a recognizable driving character.
"So it's power steering disc brakes. And it was fine."
Disc brakes are the kind of brakes where pads squeeze a spinning metal disc to slow the car down. They usually work more consistently, especially when you brake more than once.
Disc brakes use brake pads clamping onto a rotor to slow the car. Compared with older drum brakes, discs generally provide more consistent braking and better heat management under repeated stops.
"So it's power steering disc brakes. And it was fine."
Power steering makes the steering wheel easier to turn. Instead of you doing all the work with your arms, the car helps you, especially when you’re moving slowly.
Power steering is a system that uses a pump and hydraulic (or electric) assist to reduce the effort needed to turn the steering wheel. It’s especially helpful at low speeds and during parking or maneuvering.
"Yeah, in Palm Springs. With an Avanti next to it, right? I mean, it's kind of perfect."
The Studebaker Avanti is a classic car made by Studebaker in the early 1960s. The podcast mentions it as part of a setting or lineup of cars. It’s notable because it’s a distinctive, older classic that many people don’t see every day.
The Studebaker Avanti is a classic American grand touring-style car produced in the early 1960s. The podcast mentions an Avanti in Palm Springs, using it as a visual or collection reference. It’s discussed because the Avanti is a distinctive, less-common classic that stands out among more familiar brands.
"...ought the world sounds crazy. The world's nicest Porsche 9144. That's 100% original with 14,000 original miles..."
The Porsche 914 is a sports car made by Porsche. The podcast mentions one that’s very original and has very low mileage. That matters because collectors usually prefer cars that haven’t been changed much.
The Porsche 914 is a sports car model from Porsche’s lineup, known for being a lighter, more approachable entry into the brand’s classic sports-car world. The podcast specifically calls out a “100% original” Porsche 914 with “14,000 original miles,” emphasizing originality and low mileage. It’s discussed because condition and originality are especially important for older collector cars.
"And we showed that at Emilia last year. And that's, we had brake problems there where the brakes"
“Brake problems” means the car didn’t stop as well as it should, or there was an issue with the braking system. With older cars, it’s often something that needs inspection and replacement before you drive hard.
“Brake problems” suggests the car experienced issues with braking performance during an event. For classic cars, brake problems can range from worn components to fluid/line issues, and they’re especially important to address before driving or showing.
"And it's 100% original paint and like in a really good way. It was a 100% Cosmetically original car. Never mucked with."
That means the car still has its original factory paint. Collectors like it because it usually means the car hasn’t been repaired or repainted, which can affect value.
“100% original paint” means the car’s factory paint is still intact and hasn’t been repainted or refinished. In collector-car circles, that usually signals better originality and can support higher value because repainting can hide prior damage or deferred work.
Term
6C1750, TT, Tepo 33, TZ2, SZ1, SC2
"Was it the alpha stuff?
[2256.3s] Yeah.
[2256.9s] I mean, you know, in the second room, he had two race cars in
[2260.1s] there and I just kept seeing the name and I went, wow, this guy
[2263.5s] had, this guy had great taste, you know, it, it was, it was, it
[2269.6s] was, it added a lot to see those cars come out.
[2273.5s] 6C1750, TT, Tepo 33, TZ2, SZ1, SC2.
[2280.9s] I mean, Julie had a lightweight coupe."
Those look like shorthand names for specific classic cars, but the way they were transcribed is unclear. With a cleaner list, you could identify exactly which models were in the collection.
These look like model/designation codes for classic cars, but the transcript is too garbled to reliably map them to specific makes/models. If clarified, these could represent a lineup of rare collector vehicles (possibly including Alfa Romeo and other Italian marques).
"It's a kid who owns one or two or maybe even one and maybe they lease them.
[2746.6s] You know, he's got some car that he bought from, you know, a Lamborghini
[2750.1s] or he bought a Ferrari and he has that car and they keep them for a year,
[2753.8s] 18 months, they turn them in and they get another car."
Leasing is like renting a car for a fixed time. You drive it for a while and then give it back and usually get a different one.
Leasing lets someone use a car for a set period (often 12–36 months) and then return it. The speaker describes a cycle of buying/leasing a Lamborghini or Ferrari, keeping it briefly, turning it in, and getting another car.
"We buy something where, you know, you, you know, Mark,
[2789.5s] Mark's talking about, you know, his Thunderbird and, you know,
[2793.0s] I think if I just hit the light switch on the floor first,"
The Ford Thunderbird is a classic Ford model. They bring it up because it has an older, simpler wiring setup for things like the headlights.
The Ford Thunderbird is a long-running personal-luxury car line from Ford, often associated with classic American styling and older-school electrical layouts. Mentioning it sets up a discussion about how the lighting circuit is wired and triggered.
"I mean, I mean myself and at the, you know, collector cars at once ever. And because it's manageable."
Collector cars are cars people keep mainly because they love them, not because they need them every day. Even when you’re not driving them much, they still need care, insurance, and a place to store them.
“Collector cars” are vehicles kept primarily for ownership/collecting rather than daily transportation. Because they’re often stored and used intermittently, upkeep can include maintenance, insurance, and storage planning.
"And I kind of always operated that way because I know what the upkeep on a big collection is. It's staggering. Nine cars in a year."
Keeping lots of cars isn’t just about buying them. Each one needs regular care, and if something breaks, you have to fix it—plus you still pay for insurance and storage.
Running a large car collection has compounding costs: routine maintenance, repairs, insurance, and storage. The “upkeep” burden grows quickly as the number of cars increases, because each car has its own maintenance schedule and potential issues.
"I don't like spending that much time at the DMV. And it's not even that."
DMV is where you do vehicle paperwork like registration. If you have many cars, you end up dealing with that process a lot.
DMV is the government agency that handles vehicle registration and related paperwork. For collectors with many cars, the time and hassle of registration renewals can become a real part of ownership.
"And it's going to be a place to store this stuff. And something's always wrong with something."
Storage is where you keep the cars when you’re not driving them. Good storage helps protect them from damage, but it costs money and takes planning.
Storage refers to the physical space where cars are kept when not in use—garage, warehouse, or off-site storage. Proper storage helps reduce weathering and deterioration, but it also adds cost and logistics for large collections.
"You know, and as I said, you know, I think the cars that they were showing and selling at broad arrow are kind of indicative of a move towards younger. Quite frankly, you know, Pebble Beach was, was kind of amazing too."
They’re saying younger people are getting into expensive car ownership and auctions. That can change what cars sell and how people choose to pay for them.
They’re describing a demographic shift in the collector/exotic-car world: younger buyers are showing up and participating. This matters because younger buyers often have different spending habits and financing choices than older collectors.
"Okay. And new Lamborghinis and, and the clearance and all sorts of crazy shit."
Lamborghini makes very expensive supercars. When they say younger people are showing up with new Lamborghinis, it means the expensive-car scene is getting younger.
Lamborghini is a high-end supercar brand, and the mention of “new Lamborghinis” signals that younger buyers are reaching for current, expensive models—not just older classics. It also hints at the role of leasing and modern affordability strategies.
"It's going to depreciate. I got to sell it. I got to do this."
Depreciation means the car will be worth less later than it is today. People worry about this because they might have to sell it and not get back what they paid.
Depreciation is how much a car’s value drops over time. When someone says “it’s going to depreciate” they’re usually talking about resale value and the financial risk of buying something that won’t hold value.
"In 2020, he bought a used Mustang, paid 12,000 bucks, financed it. Okay. Still owes."
Financing means you didn’t pay cash—you took out a loan for the car. You make payments over time, and you can still owe money even if the car isn’t worth as much.
Financing means the buyer borrowed money to purchase the car and will repay it over time with interest. In car discussions, this matters because you can still owe money even after the car’s value drops.
"Do I think it's going to correct? Oh, heck yeah. It might be not."
In pricing discussions, “correct” means a market pullback—prices stop rising and may drop as buyers cool off. It’s a common way to describe a potential correction after speculative or overheated pricing.
"in five years? You know, the speculation. Well, there's a real little speculation."
They’re talking about people buying cars hoping to make money later. If too many people do that, prices can get weird and then slow down.
“Speculation” here means buying cars with the expectation that they’ll rise in value, rather than for personal use or long-term collecting. Speculative demand can inflate prices, and then values may stall if buyers move on.
"[3621.9s] And so I was down, John and I were down at Hilton head this year.
[3626.0s] And I was directing the, one of the Le Mans competition,
[3634.2s] McLaren F1s onto the pop transporter leaving the Concorde."
Le Mans is a famous long-distance race where cars run for about a full day. It’s known for endurance racing and big, high-profile teams.
Le Mans refers to the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in France, one of the most famous motorsport events in the world. The segment frames the speaker’s role as directing race cars during logistics around the event.
Select text to request an explanation
Quiet, mem skulls. I'm broadcasting. Hey, all you gearheads and car fiends, welcome
to Driven Radio Show, your weekly automotive happy hour. I am Brett Hatfield here with
my co-host and engineer extraordinaire, Mr. Mark Groves.
That's me.
We are coming to you from Driven Radio Studios. We're here in the lovely Midwest.
You know, whether here's just proof that Mother Nature's a schizoid.
Yep. She's lost her marbles, but gained my respect.
There you go. What is new in Thunderbird World?
Not really much. The Thunderbird, it is...
It runs.
It runs nice.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
Nicely.
It starts right up. It runs smoothly.
Have you driven it around enough and are you confident about it?
Let me finish my question.
I already got an answer.
No.
Okay. Well, get your crap together, because in a month we're going to go to McPherson.
It would be kind of cool if you could throw your stuff in there and drive down.
Yeah. I haven't dug into the headlights yet.
I think it's the switch on the floor. I think I need to replace it.
Okay.
Because, you know, you click that and the lights will go out just completely.
It has no high beams.
And I don't know what the hell the guy that owned it before me put in there and the headlights,
they're LEDs and they're stupid.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
So I'll get that sorted out. That shouldn't be too hard unless you screwed up what they
plug into.
And I don't know yet.
Well, it could be that there's got to be more to it than just plug in headlights into
it and hoping it works.
Yeah, the floor switch, I think that's one of the culprits.
And there are plenty of them around, so it's not hard to find.
Okay.
And then I also dug into a couple of videos and did some research.
And it looks like changing the, and I don't think, I don't know if I mentioned this in
the last show, the wiper motor.
Yeah.
No, it's because you and I talked about it and you were sending me examples of them.
I think I can get a put in an electric wiper motor to replace the vacuum driven one.
And it should work.
The place I even sent back some emails back and forth with this place that sells them and
was like, one, do you have instructions?
And two, this definitely fits in a, in a 58 thunder.
He's like, yeah, it's been pre-drilled and set to be able to just, you know, you take
out the old, you drill this one in, you attach your little things.
And that'll be a nice upgrade.
Yeah, it would.
And it even has what's kind of cool in my opinion.
It has this other little thing that you buy along with it because it comes with a little
knob that you can put in when you put it.
The, not re-estab the switch, it has a knob for it, but it's just a generic plastic knob.
And it has an attachment that you can buy and put onto that spindle and then put your
original knob on it so it doesn't change how your dash looks.
We'll do that.
Yeah.
That's the plan.
So I'll be buying that, getting that, and then still waiting.
It was so weird that I finally pulled the trigger on it on just a simple, easy replacement
throttle connector.
Linkage.
Yeah.
Throttle linkage.
And it, it's taken forever for Amazon to send it.
It's a week and a half late.
That means Amazon didn't have it on hand and they got it from China.
Yeah, probably.
Just like the road Clyde saddle bag liners that I ordered from a company whose name rhymes
with Ed Van Black and they took stinking forever.
They didn't even send me a return email on it.
Oh, wow, for a couple of weeks.
It's just like, yeah, it'll come to you when it's ready to come to you.
Yeah.
Well, give me my damn money back then.
I'll go find somebody who's got it in stock.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, I, I, you know, it's moving along and that's the important thing.
So.
Okay.
Two, did you buy that super cheap chopper you sent me?
No.
That thing, that thing sold within hours.
No crap.
Yeah.
That was because it was under half price.
You should have snag that three.
I'm thrilled you're coming to McPherson for car show this year.
Yeah.
Finally got, I got my room and it lined up and way, way, way overdue.
Rhonda's probably thrilled to come down early on Friday.
You can help us do the ribs and pull the membranes off.
Awesome.
That's why we go early is because we always have to go do the rub on the ribs.
Yep.
Okay.
Number one, road king is home.
There wasn't anything wrong with it.
It's just been down at the warehouse.
So writing that around, remembering how much I like it.
Number two, road glide is home.
It had plenty wrong with it.
Thanks to guys out at Turkey Creek.
We really, Turkey Creek cycles really appreciate them going through.
Yeah.
Got a new set of bars on it that doesn't make me feel like I'm doing a pushup
when I'm riding it.
That one probably won't stay here very long.
Yeah.
As soon as I get the little odds and ends done on that and Rick gets the bags back to me.
Rick Hunter out of Hot Rod Express put that together and that thing will be going out
the door.
I may have the heritage sold already and I haven't even finished doing all the crap
to it.
That's fantastic.
I'm glad that that thing is going to be finding a new home and then I'll have to
wait until fall again to start buying needy Harleys up.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Writing letters.
You're funny.
You know you're going to find one.
You know you're good, but I love that you said that.
I love that you're like, no, I'm just going to wait until fall.
After the absolute brutalizing I got from the IRS this year, it'll probably be fall.
You've been road hard and put up late.
Oh, God, I just, I have lots to say about it.
Nothing nice.
Nothing nice.
Fair enough.
Fair enough.
We'll just quit there.
Hey, Andy Reed and John Sacramento are back with us.
Oh my God, that's trouble.
After an extraordinarily long absence, Andy Reed, editor of classiccars.com and John
Sacramento, a sport and specialty are returning to us.
And the reason I always like having these guys on together is cause they'll just punch
the crap out of one another.
And that's just my favorite thing.
Andy is written for grassroots motor sports, vintage motorsport magazine, Jaguar World,
Hagerty online and classic motorsports magazine.
He's currently the East Coast editor for classiccars.com, writes from Magneto and Tazio
magazines and is a licensed independent collector car insurance specialist.
Man, is that a mouthful.
Wow.
John is the owner of award winning full service restoration and maintenance shop sport and
specialty in Northern Illinois.
Sport and specialty characters to European sports car community with a focus on cars
from the 50s through the 70s.
Andy and John, great to have you back gentlemen.
Welcome back to Driven Radio.
Hey guys.
Thanks for having us.
I looked it up today.
I thought it had been like a year or two.
It's been three and a half years since we had you on together.
Wow.
We're the fun team too.
Yeah, I know.
So we have to vow not to make it so long next time.
That's ridiculous.
We've had a lot of adventures since then.
Wow.
You know, jetting around the way we do.
It's hard to find us.
Bill Estee, you know, Amelia Island.
It's hard to get us both pinned down in one spot.
Pebble Beach.
Yeah.
Caracas.
We've got a lot of mentoring.
Raytown.
Boca Raton.
Yeah, Raytona Beach.
That's right.
We put the con in concourse.
That's right.
Oh yeah.
See, Mark bought a new house or new to him that has this tremendous deck that overlooks
a beautiful little lake and he's just got the best view off the back of his house.
And then you get outside of his neighborhood and whole shit.
Bless their hearts.
It kind of goes to pot, but you did save a lot of money.
Yeah, we saved some money and occasionally it's kind of interesting to, you know, have
the windows open and go, okay, was that a nine millimeter or a 38 popping off?
Or was it just a backfire?
Yeah, I know.
No backfires that rhythmic and consistent, but I'm like, man, that's some good trigger
action there.
Whoever's doing that.
Well, didn't you say you pulled a nine mil slug out of one of your gutters or something?
Yeah.
And the funny end note to that story, yeah, I was cleaning the gutters when we first moved
in and it's like, oh, here's a nine millimeter bullet sweet and it's in really great condition.
And I happened to, the previous owner was visiting somebody else and happened to just
stop by.
I was in the driveway and met them for the first time and was chatting about it.
I'm like, and you know, there's a kind of funny story about what I found in the gutter.
And she's like, oh, I bet I know, but go on.
Oh, no.
I found one of four.
Oh my.
Yeah.
There were four others that had been out there and I'm like, wow, bring them over.
I'll put them in the collection.
So are the primers dimpled or are they good?
Would these clean up and go again?
Yeah.
Actually, the bullet is just, it just looks like it was pulled right out of the, it was,
obviously, well, I kind of obviously was shot in the air for some celebration or another.
Yeah, I don't think I'm starving for nine mil ammo that.
Because I wasn't finding it, you know, in the attic in the insulation.
It had some time to calm down before it came down.
I'm not kidding about it being a long time.
I looked it up today.
It was October of 22 when we had you both on together.
So how's life been treating you?
Where have you been?
What have you been doing?
It's a lot of ground to cover.
Can you condense it into a single serving package?
And you want to start with Andy?
Yes, absolutely.
Andy hit us.
So since 22, we showed, John and I both showed cars at Amelia in 23, 24, 25 and 26 of this year.
We also showed a car at Apple Beach this year for our first time.
Oh, really?
Which was extraordinary.
For me, I'm just doing the same thing.
Lots of events, lots of insurance.
I got to go to Villadeste, Concorso de Villadeste last year for the first time.
Thanks to BMW.
And again, thanks to BMW.
I'm going back to Concorso de Villadeste this year.
It probably will be my last year because the thing about that concourse,
you really can't buy tickets.
You get to go or you don't get to go and there's no public thing on the Saturday.
Cool.
Thanks, guys.
I look forward to this year, but that's it.
It's an extraordinary event.
I thought Pebble was great till I went to that.
Oh, wow.
Okay.
So now I have to try and bribe you to convince BMW to let another middle-aged semi-handicap
autojournalist go with you.
Yeah, I'll see what I can do.
I'll do my best on that one.
Also, our insurance brokerage, Haydenwood Insurance merged with Marsh McClellan
Agency this year.
So that's a lot of things going on in November.
So that's changed.
We've kind of grown, but kept our, we still do business the way they bought us
because they wanted us to do business the way we did.
We do it.
And so that's a big deal.
And we're still transitioning.
We're still figuring that out.
And my wife, who's famous in the car hobby for her baked goods, is opening a bakery.
No kidding.
Oh, that's cool.
Cool.
What does she bake?
What's she known for?
Cupcakes and cookies.
Hell yeah.
And she's opening the Frosted Sheet Bake Shop in Canton, Connecticut in the 28th.
That's fantastic.
Are you excited as this added to your workload?
Is she showing you cookies and saying, what do you think?
It's great.
All of the above.
All of the above.
And so, and my friends here and people in the car hobby have been eating her cookies forever.
John's eating thousands, probably.
And he probably has.
It's been years she's been making us cookies and we bring them to events.
Oh Lord, the dirty jokes are just writing themselves.
That's why Marcus pushed away from the mic.
Yeah.
He just, he just, he brings this entire suitcase full of cookies.
That's awesome.
It's a roller bag full of cookies and then redistributes all his crap at the end.
So he can, you know,
What's the name of the bakery is cupcakes and cookies?
Frosted Sheet Bake Shop.
Frosted Sheet Bake Shop.
Okay.
Well, that's better than eat my cookies.
Yes.
Like I said, the dirty jokes just write themselves.
So John, when, well, let's back up.
Which car did you take to Pebble Beach this year, Andy?
And were the, I assume the two of you were there together.
And how did it go?
We took the Chrysler Superdart 400, 1957 Chrysler Superdart 400 by Gia from the main classic car museum.
I love the Gia cars.
It's a preservation car, one preservation.
It's one preservation twice at Pebble in the 90s and in the, in 2000 and 22, I think,
or 21.
And then Ken Gross sent me an email and said, Hey, I don't know if you're interested,
but would you mind, would you like to show the Superdart 400 at Pebble Beach?
And I brought him back four words.
Is that a rhetorical question?
Bam.
And he called me up cracking up and goes, No, no, no, I thought that might be your answer.
And he goes, What if the owner doesn't want to do it?
I said, I'll do it myself.
I will send the thing out there myself and bring it out there myself if he doesn't want to do it.
And it committed immediately.
And it went really well.
We'd won preservation the year before at Greenwich.
It's, it's a hundred percent.
It's kind of the measuring stick for what a preservation car is in a lot of ways, I think.
It's a one of body.
It's crazy.
It's Jetsons nuts.
It was for the Exeter class, the Exeter Gia class they were doing out there.
And it just, we, it was extraordinary.
We went on the tour.
We had to get a battery the day before the tour because the battery was dead and we found out because the driver calls me on Wednesday
at 4 30 after my auction tour and said, Your battery is dead.
And I'm getting off an auction tour in downtown Monterey.
I'm like, Oh, OK, this is awesome.
So I go, so I'm getting a battery.
He's aware.
I go, I don't know.
So I call my buddy Joe Beale, who's got a sports car shop there.
And I said, Joe, what are the chances you've got a vintage, bad style battery for a Chrysler, for a Chrysler?
He goes, right poster, right side ground or left side ground.
You're kidding.
And I said, I told him I can't remember where it was now.
I think it was a right side ground.
He goes, and I was like two blocks.
It just happened to be two blocks from the shop.
And I said, I'll be over five minutes and pick it up, drag it up.
And the truck driver's like, Audrey, get that so fast.
I go, well, I know this guy and he had a battery.
And you could have told me two days ago.
And well, I forgot.
And so so we went on the tour.
Two was great.
Typical mayhem.
There's a sticker for the tour that you have to put in the car to go on the tour.
And I brought everything with me to the car on Thursday morning at four.
Yeah.
Except the sticker.
And I'm like, oh, crap.
And he left and no one was in our room.
Peter Singoff was rooming with us on the floor because we made him do that.
That's a whole other story.
And so I can't call Peter because he's there taking pictures of the tour.
And I finally ran into somebody at Pebble.
And I said, so here's the thing.
And they said, oh, you're not the first person that has done that.
Stressing up for two hours, by the way.
So trying to do we go back?
If we go back, we'll never get back in because traffic's crazy at that point.
Yeah.
And they said, we'll have a minute.
And we put the sticker on there and ran the tour with the owner in the car
and his son in the car to drove the tour with no problems whatsoever.
And it was awesome.
How does that drive?
Like a 1957 Chrysler 300C.
OK.
All right.
That's what's underneath of it.
Sure.
It's a 392 with 400 horsepower and dual quads and a 727 torque flight
and disc brakes in 57.
Not bad.
Not bad.
Yeah.
So it's power steering disc brakes.
And it was fine.
It was just it was faultless all weekend.
It's just that kind of a good car.
It's got 767,000 miles.
Original miles, I think.
And it's somewhere around there.
So if you're presenting the car and you got John with you,
what do you have in him do?
Help clean, help set it up, deal with whatever happens.
My basic job is to make sure we get onto the grass and off the grass.
Yeah.
All right.
And typically that's really easy.
A few times we've had an issue, but a little bit of moral support
and some mechanical know-how really.
And I've been very fortunate to join Andy on this.
His association with the main classic car museum
has really been a lot of fun.
It's very fruitful.
The owner is a tremendous guy, just a real nice gentleman.
And he treats us well and he has a lot of fun.
And I just really like hanging out.
It's between Amelia and then Pebble, which as Andy said,
I'd never been there before.
So to go there the first time, go on the tour,
go out on the grass on Sunday morning at ODARC 30.
It was pretty special.
No reason to ever go back now.
It will never be as good as that.
It was really terrific.
And that's a funny statement John says too.
I've been going to Pebble since 2001.
And this year I drove up and I pre-promoted that we were bringing
the car there, it was on Facebook.
And so we're driving on the field.
We get out there parking and we're in the pre-launch thing,
the pre-drive-in thing.
And I'm hanging out with McKeel and we're talking about stuff
and he's got a car out there and we're chatting in this.
He's got his Duesenberg there and I think it was the Duesenberg.
And we're chatting with a bunch of guys and I'm like,
wow, how the hell did this happen?
That I'm in this driveway to go do this.
And we pull on the grass.
We got Fugazi going on the Bluetooth stereo.
Sounder button gives me my stuff and gives me a funny look
about the music basically.
And said, so happy you got to do this.
And I'm like, it's been a long time.
I said, yes, it has.
And drove on there and all the people,
I know a lot of these people.
There's journalists and friends and stuff.
And they're all screaming our names as we drive up there.
Oh, that's cool.
They know who's in the car.
And I think that's unusual because I've been to Don Patrol 15 times.
I've never seen that before.
And I was talking to Alan Galbraith with this.
And he's like, dude, they know you're in the car.
I said, yeah, I guess people don't know the owner.
It's like, oh, I know.
And so we just rocked out to Fugazi and parked and showed the car.
Well, have an Alan.
We didn't win anything, but we got on the field at Pebble Beach.
So that is the win.
Yeah, having Alan with you doesn't hurt anything either.
Yeah, we made him clean a lot.
I made him clean the back window.
He knows how to swing it.
He knows how to swing a microfiber.
I got to tell you, you know, he can sport those things.
He's good at it.
Yeah, because that back window in that car is so raked.
And I wasn't going to do it.
I'm in a suit.
And so Alan did it.
Well, he's got long arms.
He's a tall guy.
Yeah, he is.
So that works out.
All righty.
So you just got back from Amelia Island Concours.
What were you showing?
Was this the same car you had at Pebble?
What's the easiest car to take to Amelia Island?
The one that's already there.
Pebble.
Right.
So Tim McNair hit it for a day.
And that's it.
And we were ready to go.
We pulled it off the trailer, put it in the garage Sunday morning,
started it up, started right up, drove it on the field,
and won preservation at Amelia Island.
Wow.
That's fantastic.
Yeah, it is.
Yeah, it is.
That's really good.
You didn't even have to go buy a battery or nothing.
Nothing.
Yeah, I was.
The thing is, when that thing left, the battery was charged.
I think someone left a light on or a door open or something
because that's the only reason that thing would discharge
because there's, there's no draw check.
There's no draw.
So the driver or something left the door open overnight
or something because that's the only way that thing was dead.
Left the interior light on.
Yep.
And it shows well.
I mean, it's really attractive.
I don't know.
I want to use the term attractive.
It's a really dynamic looking car.
If you've seen any photos of it.
No, I'm looking at photos of it right now.
The thing looks sensational.
It's a mid-modern period piece.
It's totally a mid-modern period piece.
It belongs in front of a house in Palms, you know, a mid-modern ranch.
Oh, yeah.
Palm Springs.
Definitely would look fitting in front of the mid-century modern,
single level, kick ass.
Yeah, in Palm Springs.
With an Avanti next to it, right?
I mean, it's kind of perfect.
We know somebody who's got a really rare Avanti.
Not only that, it's headed for Pebble right now or will be.
Really?
Well, Dave Kenny.
He's bringing his Avanti to Pebble.
Yeah, his R3.
Oh, R3.
That's why.
Yeah.
Yeah.
One of nine and apparently his is pretty damn good.
His is one all over the place.
Doesn't he have like five or six of them or something?
More than that.
Boy, he's been through a bunch of them.
He's had a mess of those Avantis.
He's had as many as like 28 at one time.
You're kidding me.
I didn't know that.
He's at the ASA thing in Long Beach this week.
I couldn't get a break free to go.
So you said you won preservation class at Amelia.
Yeah.
Dude, that's got to be cool.
Did you get to go up and accept the trophy and everything?
We drove up, got the trophy, gave us the trophy.
Owner was in the passenger seat.
John was in the back seat.
People were thrilled.
That's fantastic.
Very, very cool.
Simione preservation.
Yep.
So, John, other than making sure the car runs and getting it
on and off the grass, do you have any other responsibilities
except have a good time?
Well, since he doesn't drink, I don't have to keep him sober
and he just keeps an eye on me half the time.
And, you know, I mean, generally speaking, you know, we just,
it's easy to do it, but it's a lot of fun.
Plus, the two of us are kind of knuckleheads.
We have a pretty good time.
We have a great time.
And we pull other people into our orbit and we make them
the greatest stuff too.
Yeah.
And as I said, you know, this Miles Prentice is the owner.
He's just a terrific guy.
It's really, it's kind of, it's fun to watch him enjoy it.
I mean, he's not really even a car guy.
He's like, he's got a thing for Woody's, okay?
He's, you know, how many Woody's does he have?
Did he have it at the museum when you just before?
He served on like 13.
I mean, yeah.
That's, that's, that's, that's, you know, it's like, hey,
there you go. Got any more Woody's?
How does he make the move from Woody's to this?
Thank you.
Well, you're welcome.
Yeah.
I told them he needed the diverse.
I got made collection manager in 2020.
And I had already, I already insured the place.
I already insured the collection.
So they made me do that.
They had me ask me to do that.
And I said, sure.
And they insured the museum and the cars museum and the
dealership around it and everything else because there's a
dealership associated with it as well called motor land.
So they sell classic cars, service, classic cars and have a
museum of classic cars.
It's an interesting one stop shop for lots of stuff.
Some really skilled mechanics are there too.
So he said, I kind of want to do, you make my collection,
you make it nicer.
And he had a couple of nice cars.
And I said, well, what do you want to do?
He's like, well, I want what I would do is what sell a lot of
this stuff and make improve it, sell 10 cars and buy one and do
sell 30 cars and buy four.
And so what we literally did is what four years ago,
John, we brought all those cars to Bonham's.
Yeah.
It was like four years ago now, 28 cars we brought to
Bonham's and museum cars, museum cars always have issues.
And so we ran around with our friend, Mark, when John's and my
friend, Mark and the great staff at Bonham's and the
mechanics department, they're two really great Ian and the
woman there are terrific.
And made these cars go and we sold them all.
And then we went back to Bonham's.
I bought a couple of things here and there.
And then the next year at Bonham's, I bought the Chrysler
GS1, 54 GS1 and the 57 Superdark.
And then we bought the Ferrari show car then at that point.
And then we bought an ESO Grifo.
And then we bought the world sounds crazy.
The world's nicest Porsche 9144.
That's 100% original with 14,000 original miles.
That was last, what?
Last August.
Last year that's bought Arrow had it.
And we bought a BMW 327 and we bought a BMW 503.
We bought a 1949 Ferrari 166.
We bought a lot of stuff.
And so I bought cars that were much more special than what
we had.
We bought Wayne Carini's Hudson Italia.
That's 100% original.
Oh, cool.
And it's, we're showing that at Greenwich in, in the May.
Just entered it a couple of days ago.
And we showed that at Emilia last year.
And that's, we had brake problems there where the brakes
were locked up.
We had, that's where we had to do some dealing with some
stuff with that one.
And we won, we won Chairman's award with it there.
So we've had really good luck.
We've showed at Emilia with the collection in 2020, 2021,
2022, 23, 24, 25, 26.
So seven years.
And we've only not won something once.
Wow.
That's impressive.
Which is pretty amazing.
And it's interesting.
Miles doesn't get that.
And the owner doesn't.
He thinks that everybody just wins.
And it's like, oh, no, no, no.
No, that's not how this works.
So this year I had him walk around and look at the cars
because he usually sits by his car the whole time.
And he actually did it.
Pat, we got a golf cart and he got to go through the
concourse.
And I say, look at the cars without ribbons.
And he came back and went, wow.
And I went, yeah.
Now you get it.
So he kind of ingrained it.
And it's in the way they're prepped.
It's the kind of cars we bring.
You bring the right car to the right show.
And it's also the way you present them as well.
Sure.
I think I'm pretty good at that.
The judging thing of judging everywhere teaches you how
to present if you do it right.
Well, they're very, they're very different activities.
So aside from the concourse, how was the rest of your
Amelia Island car week?
Did you get to hit some other events?
We kind of went to almost everything.
Yeah.
I didn't, we didn't, we didn't get to park.
I don't think in any, I didn't park, at least I didn't
park in any auctions.
Usually try to spend some time, but we were, we were
kind of hustling around doing other stuff.
We had a birthday party.
We had dinners.
We had a lot of stuff going on.
And then the usual hanging out around the fire pit
at Amelia.
And so it's interesting.
I was talking about this.
There was a different feel this year in a really good way.
My favorite all time year at Amelia Island was 2016 for
just a number of a myriad of reasons.
It was a hundred years of BMW.
It was my Z three was down there on a display stand.
I got to drive the bond Z three.
It was just a really kind of an extraordinary year of a
bunch of different things all coming together.
And as a spectator and a journalist, it was really neat.
And that was like, I think that was the, and all
Amelia's I've gone through, that was the high point
of Amelia.
And it all was a little less from then in different
ways, just not as, not as cool and got dumbed down.
And in the last couple of years at bills, it was okay,
but it wasn't still, it still wasn't what I felt like
it was that year.
And this year.
And Haggerty has struggled with the cut with the event
and tried to really keep up what it was, but elevated
a little bit as well.
And if they've had, they've tried things and they've
worked and some haven't, they nailed it this year.
The energy back, the feeling was back, the fun was back.
We had so much fun this year, dude.
A lot of people.
Yeah, it was, you know, and, you know, I think they,
they thinned out some of the, some of the excess, but what
was, you know, what was there, you know, was really,
really high quality cars.
A lot of cars, the people were there, you know, people
are, people are coming back out.
Yeah, it was, it was pretty exciting.
It was pretty exciting.
Does it feel like it's been a multi-year return to form?
You know, I'm, I'm sure that immediately following
COVID, everything had to be built back up.
Does it feel like it's taken years to get there?
Yeah, they've also tried things.
They've, they've, they've tried this and tried that and
tried this and tried that.
And some of the things they tried were, were not as
successful as others.
Um, you know, it's funny.
They had this reverie party that they started last year and
it's kind of an expensive party.
It's like 395 corner bucks.
So it's the same price as the jet party at the, the, the
motorlux party at, at Monterey.
But at this party this year, they, you could, you could
have your own driving gloves handmade to you by the person
making driving.
Oh, curious.
You could own Sunday straw hats done for you while you waited
and a couple other things like this was inclusive in the,
all you could eat and drink food that was spectacular food.
And they really may, I peaked in there for just a second and
was blown away.
And, and the first year I was like, Oh, you don't need to go.
And the second year it was like people were coming out of
there going, I'm so happy.
I went to that.
So they've really improved things a lot.
I think the Saturday concourse format, people said that
wasn't going to work and no one would come on Sunday to
cars and coffee.
Well, there had to be close to 20,000 people on Saturday
and there were, I know that the tickets on the gate on Sunday
was somewhere north of 5,500 people for cars and coffee
spectators, not participants.
That's, that's the biggest cars and coffee anybody's ever seen.
Yeah.
And they have room to grow that.
And there were two sides of it.
I didn't even get to, did you ever get to the Radwood side?
I didn't even get there.
Snow.
Yeah.
I never got there.
We were, you know, I was on the lawn.
I actually got to see some car when you biggest downside to
showing a car at a concourse, you don't get to see stuff usually.
Yeah.
We got our board early enough that I got to leave and go
actually walk and see some cars.
Did you get to see any of the auctions?
Now, how many auctions are running down there now?
It's Gooding and.
Brought era.
Just two.
Just the two.
Yeah.
We went extensively, we both did to both.
We've spent lots of time at the previews of both.
Do they seem to be thriving?
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
There were some, there were some stupid, crazy prices.
And like, like, but again, following the trend of the modern
cars that John and I have been watching since January at Mika
and which started it all off with 360 Scuderia is over
$700,000.
Jesus Christ.
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
I did that.
The whole second Saturday at Cosimi was just out of control.
Yep.
And second of all, Carrera GTs at six million bucks.
But it's a one of color.
Lamborghini Mira at almost $6 million.
But then there were some really good bargains.
1974 Alfa Romeo, Spider Veloce Silver with black vinyl,
11,000 original miles completely mechanically gone through
new brakes, new master, new, new brake, new caliper seals,
new head gasket, carbs done, everything done, brake lines,
all of it, 13,000 bucks.
Wow.
And that car will probably run just beautifully for at least
a month.
And it's 100% original paint and like in a really good way.
It was a 100% Cosmetically original car.
Never mucked with.
Wow.
And then there was a GT, there was a Julia GT 65.
Yeah.
That was 30.
Yeah.
That was you could drive home running on GTA style wheels,
weathers, all of it.
Again, totally done.
Not as Cosmetically beautiful as the other one, but just a good
driver that I think should have a couple of years ago would have
been an easy 50.
So people asleep in the room or was it early in the day?
Early lots.
I think a lot of arrows, early lots, there were some bargains.
Wow.
Yeah.
I think good thing, you know, we saw, I went through most of the
cars at Gooding, which, you know, they had a lot of, they had a
fair amount of, you know, let's let's say, you know, my style,
50, 60, 70 sports cars, high end, low end, but they, they were
moving the cars.
People were shopping, people were buying.
I was very, I was very surprised at how much activity was going
on.
I did see, there was a, there was a few collections.
And I think that's one of the things we're starting to see a
lot of now.
And as, and we saw a lot of that at broad air also, you know, as
people are, you know, kind of aging out and aging in, there's a
lot of collections going up.
There was a fair, there was a lot of American muscle cars at
broad air, which you wouldn't normally see.
Nice ones, the GTO.
Those two GTOs, yeah.
I mean, some really nice stuff that I was surprised to see, but
they had the back lawn at the Ritz full of cars, full of cars.
And they had, you know, I was like a Ben's, it was like a
Ben's reunion back there.
I think a lot of those came out of a collection too, if I'm not
mistaken.
Yes, it is.
So that's, that's kind of a new dynamic.
It used to be, you see, once in a while, somebody would have a
collection of 30 cars, there would be one of them.
I would say there was four or five different collections that
were being represented, you know, by the auction companies out
there.
Well, that Porsche collection and gooding, there had to be 60
cars.
Yeah.
Porsche dealership.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And there was a guy, I guess it was, you know, he was a racer.
I looked at every car, every car he had, I would, I fell in love
with and come to find out, he, you know, he had some accident.
I don't, I don't think it was racing, but I think he had some
accident and it passed away.
And they were, you know, his family was selling his collection
and it was, it was spectacular.
Was it the alpha stuff?
Yeah.
I mean, you know, in the second room, he had two race cars in
there and I just kept seeing the name and I went, wow, this guy
had, this guy had great taste, you know, it, it was, it was, it
was, it added a lot to see those cars come out.
6C1750, TT, Tepo 33, TZ2, SZ1, SC2.
I mean, Julie had a lightweight coupe.
I mean, it was like 100, yeah, 100 s, 100 s-healy, 100 m-healy,
you know, original cars, you know, really, really, really, really
good collector, collector style.
Lots of cool stuff.
Yeah.
They didn't go, they didn't go, they didn't bring a lot of dough.
I think that was, you know, I think that was one of those things.
I think there's a kind of a lull in the middle of the value chain
right now in some of those cars, like it or not.
My, my own, my own opinion is, I think a lot of people after
COVID went out and bought the cars of their dreams.
And, you know, Rising Tide raises all, all raises all boats.
And I think a lot of the cars out there that were probably,
let's, let's call it like marginal cars became middle, middle, middle weight,
you know, little, little higher weight cars, and they sold for some good money.
And now those cars are back out on the market and people are very disappointed
at the values they're bringing.
Well, they weren't good cars to begin with.
And or, you know, a lot of people had cars restored that, you know,
probably shouldn't have been restored, but they, you know,
I could get COVID and died tomorrow.
And I think there was a real fatalistic mentality out there, you know,
in the marketplace for buying these cars and it's rolling values.
And I think it's, it's a little tough because I believe,
I believe a lot of people got home after owning those cars for,
you know, 12 to 18 months and they said, I don't drive this car.
I don't drive this car.
Andy and I sat there with a gentleman.
He said, you know, all these old cars, he goes,
I'm getting tired of going out there, you know,
I got with this cigar.
I think you knew him.
And he said, you know, he goes, I don't, I'm not buying these old ones anymore.
I'm buying new stuff.
You get in them, you turn the key, it starts,
should you go for a drive?
That's that Thursday guy.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You're not stuck with, you're not stuck on the side of the road
with your wife getting pissed off at you.
You go, oh, there you go.
And this is the guy who had like Lusso's and two fifties.
This is a guy with heavy duty stuff who's moved,
who is probably 68 years old,
who's moved out of heavy duty stuff into modern stuff.
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