SEMA Show Photographer: Mustang Dreams to Industry Access
To All The Cars I've Loved Before: Classic Car Restoration, JDM, and Automotive History
To All The Cars I've Loved Before: Classic Car Restoration, JDM, and Automotive HistoryAug 12, 2025
SEMA Show Photographer: Mustang Dreams to Industry Access
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Concept
Car Guys vs. Bean Counters
This book talks about how people who love cars sometimes have to deal with business people who focus only on numbers and profits. It shows the struggle between following your instincts and being controlled by financial metrics.
GM stands for General Motors, a big car company that makes many different brands of cars, like Chevrolet and Cadillac. They are very important in the car industry.
Chrysler is another American car company that makes different kinds of vehicles, including family-friendly minivans and SUVs. They have a long history in making cars.
General Motors is a big car company that makes many different brands of cars, like Chevrolet and Cadillac. They are known for making a lot of different types of vehicles.
The Gold Plated Porsche is a book about Porsche cars, focusing on their luxury and unique features. It tells interesting stories about the brand and its fans.
Car
Porsche 83
This is a Porsche car from the year 1983. The speaker talks about how someone bought a damaged one and spent a lot of money to fix it up.
The Chevrolet Spectrum is a small, inexpensive car that was made in the 1980s. It was designed to be simple and affordable for people who needed a basic vehicle.
Manual locks are the kind of locks you have to open and close by hand, instead of using a button or remote. They are simpler and were common in older cars.
The Ford Taurus is a family car that was very popular in the late 1980s. The 1988 version was known for being spacious and comfortable, making it a good choice for families.
An intermittent wiper module makes windshield wipers work at different speeds instead of just constantly moving. This is useful for light rain and was a special feature in older cars.
Isuzu is a car company from Japan that makes different types of vehicles. They helped create the Chevy Spectrum, which was sold under the Chevrolet name.
Badge engineering means that one car is made by a company but sold under different names. For example, the same car can be called different things by different brands.
The Geo Metro is a small car that was very good on gas, making it a popular choice for people looking to save money on fuel. It was made by a company called General Motors.
The Ford Mustang GTD is a special version of the Mustang that is built for speed and racing. It has a powerful engine and special features that make it perform really well on the track. Car fans talk about it because it's one of the best versions of the classic Mustang.
GT suspension is a type of car suspension that makes the car handle better during fast driving. It can make the ride feel rougher, especially on bumpy roads.
The Tesla Semi is a big electric truck that doesn't use gas, which helps the environment by reducing pollution. It's designed to be cheaper to run than regular trucks, and it has cool technology that makes driving easier. People are excited about it because it could change how goods are transported.
EcoBoost is a type of engine made by Ford that uses turbocharging to be more powerful while also saving on gas. It's a way to get good performance without wasting fuel.
An aftermarket intercooler is a part that helps cool the air going into the engine, which can make the car run better and faster. It's often added to cars that have been modified.
Ember Glow is a special paint color for the 1966 Ford Mustang. It's a shiny copper color with a bit of orange, making the car look really unique and attractive.
The Plymouth Prowler is a unique car that looks like a classic hot rod but is actually a modern vehicle. It has a cool design and is made mostly of aluminum, which makes it lighter and faster. People like to talk about it because it's different and not many were made.
Restomod means taking an old car and fixing it up with new parts so it looks like the original but drives better. It's a way to enjoy classic cars with modern features.
The DeLorean DMC-12 is a cool car that looks different from most because it has doors that open upwards and is made of shiny metal. It's famous for being in a movie where it travels through time, which makes it a fun topic for car lovers. People often talk about how special and unique it is.
LIVE
Welcome back to Planet Earth, to your authoritative podcast where motor mounts meet memories that's
to all the cars I've loved before, carslove.com, where we take a walk down memory lane and
meet some wonderful people.
Some pulled from our past, some we met just today, and thanks to everybody for taking
this ride with us, whether you are listening from around the world or down the street.
We wanted to mention that we would, if you can follow the show, and I say that a lot,
we say that a lot, but ensure that it shows up in your library, Doug, can we just take
a second and talk about the follow mechanism.
Now it's where you have to go to the show page and hit the little plus that says follow.
I don't know why sometimes I feel like they make it so small, is it just me?
But if you click that, I believe it shows in your library, and then you're always informed
when a new episode comes up, right?
And our cadence, we've been 100% consistent, has been every other week on Tuesday morning.
Well, evening, right?
Oh, no, when the episode dropped, sorry.
Yes, correct, correct.
You're talking about recording, so yes.
But who knows, maybe we'll start doing more.
But yes, if you want to be alerted to the first latest episode when it drops, hit follow.
It also helps us know that what we're doing is valuable to the listeners.
Absolutely.
You're enjoying it.
You want more.
Yeah, so is the follow mechanism also the same with different platforms, streaming platforms?
Maybe they don't call it follow on Selma.
I only use Apple, but Spotify has a follow, I believe, or something similar.
So we're on all the major ones.
So if you like what you're hearing, please, it completes the feedback loop for us.
You can always email us, but please do follow the show.
That way, you will always be aware of the stuff that we do.
And as we move into new platforms, we can engage in those places moving forward.
So this is the place where we talk about life lessons through cars.
Again, please follow the show.
Reach out over mail.
We're getting more and more mail.
Christian at carslove.com or Doug at carslove.com.
We continue to buy as many domains as we can, but those are the best email addresses to get to us.
So I think those are the calls to action.
But Doug, there were a few emails that I got in with some listeners saying, hey,
you guys sit comfortably at the intersection of memorabilia, automobile, and media.
And I got to thinking about that.
We always, whether you're sitting around with your kids and you're seeing
automobiles, cars in movies, in TV shows, in music, in books, they really do permeate
past, present, and future.
And it got me to thinking of what are some ways that we come across,
all right, whether it's Miami Vice, cars in that show as a kid,
Knight Rider, Starsky and Hutch, depends on how car 54, where are you?
How far back do you go?
Andy Griffith's show, right, with the police cars and that sort of thing.
So Doug and I are big readers and I just finished a book here by Bob Lutz.
I'm holding it up for the camera.
And I read a book of his a few years ago, Car Guys vs. Bean Counters, about this push-pull
between leading with your gut and sort of constantly being micromanaged by either the
dollar, the widget of the metrics of the KPI.
And I enjoyed that one so much that I bought this one and it took me kind of years,
my to be red shelf is groaning with books under the weight of the books.
And these icons and idiots, Bob Lutz, that's something really interesting.
And he of course has held executive positions all over the world for car companies all over
the world.
Yeah, Ford of Europe, Chrysler, GM, they kept bringing them back out of retirement.
He had something to do with the Dodge Viper.
Absolutely, absolutely.
And in this book, he talks about kind of some of the supervisors, managers, CEOs,
that he worked for, and whether it's, he just kind of walks through his life.
He has led a fascinating life.
He was a marine aviator, went to high school in Switzerland, whether it was at GM,
Opel, let's see, he worked for BMW for a time, talks about working for the, you know, Philip
Caldwell at Ford, everybody knows Red Polling at Ford, Lee Iacocca at Chrysler,
Eaton also at Chrysler, and just on and on, and then ultimately Richard Wagner at General Motors.
And he kind of talks about, I wouldn't say it's a no holds bar, but you can see,
I've dog-eared so many pages, Lutz is really a natural rider and great turn of a phrase.
And he just talks about sort of the pros and cons about these people's leadership style.
There are some sharp observations, but really it's a very interesting, I was surprised by the
depth of this, and I don't read a whole lot of business books, but I don't know, I just find
myself kind of, you know, I tend to read pretty widely, but I thought this book was really
interesting. So Doug, before we introduce today's guest, any books you've read recently,
kind of to start the media, kind of the media, go ahead.
Well, a book I have in all my shelf that I've read and then started rereading
and then stopped is called The Gold Plated Porsche.
And so that book was written by, let's see, give me one second, I'm actually going to walk
through every grab. Yeah, I was actually looking on my bookshelf as well for the Car Guys vs Bean
counters. I couldn't find it. Maybe I linted out. I need to stop doing that.
That's all right. So Stefan Wilkinson, he was editor of Car and Driver, Road and Track.
Sorry, I don't know off the top of my head, but basically this guy bought a beat up
83 Porsche and ended up spending several years and $70,000 to make it a car that's worth
at the time, maybe like $10,000. But he loved doing it. And it actually is the book that got me
really interested in the intersection of cars and media, which actually, Christian,
the next step was the book I was going to write called To All The Cars I've Loved Before that
you talked me into turning into a podcast, which I'm so glad you did. Amen. Because it's not lonely
writing that book. And we get to meet people like our next guest, actually, which is a great one.
Perfect segue. Well done. Go ahead. Hey, Charles, good evening.
Good evening. Good evening. So with us is Rob, who we have an officially met in person,
except over the interweb. But Rob and I connected over Facebook, if I remember correctly, via
City of Annapolis Cars and Coffee post that I did for our podcast, many moons ago. And
yeah, tell us a little bit about yourself, Rob, and your early, early goings. And you have some
great car stories. I hope we can get to at least three of them, because you have about 30.
Yeah. So again, my name is Rob. I was born and raised in the Baltimore area.
And I've always been sort of excited about cars and always sort of had a special
place in my heart for Mustangs. And so at this point in my life, I've owned a few Mustangs,
which has been really fortunate in that regard. And now I do try to get out to cars and coffees
and car shows and things like that, because I just like going out and seeing cars. It doesn't
matter to me to make the model, whatever. I just want to go out and I want to see what other people
have done with their car. What are they proud of? And hear the stories similar or similar to what
we're doing here. That to me is what the community is like all about. Yeah. Wow. And not to take
it away from you, right? But one of your hobbies intersected with cars and back to media again
is, and I'll say this, this may not be accurate, as an amateur car photographer, right?
Yeah. Yeah. I've done a little bit of professional photography, but I do,
by doing some car events, I've now done some photography for two different online magazines
or online websites, whatever, carshows.com as well as Stang Magazine. They really helped me get me
started in this business. And so, and I've been really fortunate that through one of those,
I got a connection and I was able to attend the SEMA show two years ago in 2022. And that was a real
eye-opening experience, pretty amazing stuff out there. Yeah. So for the listeners, I'm familiar
with SEMA. I haven't been to it. I think it's always in Las Vegas. Yeah. And tell everybody what
it stands for and what you've seen there or what the experience is like. I mean, it's like
the super rock stars, if you will, of custom automobiles, right? I'll leave the rest to you.
Yeah. So SEMA is the Special Equipment Manufacturers Association. So they're the advocates for
anybody trying to make aftermarket parts for cars. They're the ones, by the way,
if you have a car with a loud exhaust, they're the ones that are fighting. So you can still
modify the exhaust in your car if you want to get it tuned. They're the ones going to court
for you. So good organization to support. But at the show, the goal of the show is that
all these aftermarket equipment manufacturers come and want to show off their latest
inventions and things and products so that you, no matter what it is, if you're into
trucks that you can put campers on, there's 10 or 12 people making campers that fit on top of
trucks. There's people making all kinds of paint and paint protection and tires and wheels and
you name it. The show is just absolutely massive though. It covers seven conference halls.
But. And I was only able to cover two halls a day. So the show, because I had a media pass,
I got in on Monday as a preview day and then Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, I walked the show
every day. I probably walked 10 miles a day looking at all this stuff and you're seeing
all this equipment that the manufacturers have out. But the manufacturers also want to show off,
like this is what our product could look like on your car. So that's where you start seeing
all these builds. People bring in these really high-end builds, builds that are $200,000, $300,000.
You get all the major players that are there like I met. Oh my gosh, blanking, can dig it.
Can't think of his name. I'll tell him ahead. But met him there. In fact, one time I went
into the bathroom and I turned around and there's Chip Foos. I was like, I didn't want to bother him
while he was there. But afterwards, I was like, hey, how you doing? And thanked him just for
I like to thank him for what he does for the industry because I think he's a champion for
the industry and just the way it should be done. But yeah, they also have competitions for builders.
So they have cars parked all over where people can enter their cars into a competition. Some of
them are very professionally judged. And you have cars there like the one car won the Riddler
Award in Detroit that year. It was on display and the crazy part is there's so many cars. You go
outside and there's cars parked outside that people probably have $100,000, $200,000 in these cars.
There's just not enough room in the halls because that's where they're showing off all the actual
equipment. People are parking $100,000, $200,000 cars outside just so they can be part of the
show that otherwise these cars may never see the light of day. It's amazing.
Now, is it true that SEMA is not open to the public? So it's kind of a business to business
true industry. Yeah, you got it. In order to attend, in order to get a ticket to walk in the
door, you have to prove you're part of the industry. So you have to work for, you know,
you can buy a ticket if you work for like an automotive repair shop or a paint or a body shop
kind of a thing or whatever. People in the media get in that are, you know, into media and doing
stuff for the industry. But on Fridays, the public are allowed in. That last day, the public is
actually allowed in. And it's only like a half day event. It's kind of cool. Some of the cars
that do a big rollout event at the end of the day on Friday. So you see some of the cars sort of
like parading out and stuff like that. I should mention too, one of the things I forgot is so
wild. Like while you're there, they had two different drift tracks there outside and they're
doing exhibitions all day. And I may or may not have snuck into one of the booths so I could get
closer to the track. But pretty, pretty, pretty amazing stuff there. Fantastic memory. Good deal.
Yeah, that sounds like a lot of fun. But we have to step into the way back time machine and let's
transport back to when you were younger and how it all started. What was your first car? Where did
it come from? What was it? It was a 1986 Chevrolet Spectrum in dark blue. And my dad put a red pin
stripe on it. And this car, when my mom got it, it was meant to be like an Akano box, super cheap
car. So when my mom got it, she got the bare bones version. I don't know if there was any options
on the car. So it had crank windows, manual locks. Everything was just very manual and basic about
the car. It did have air conditioning, which was really nice. And in fact, when it came from the
factory, there wasn't even a radio installed in the car. And so my parents, when they bought the car,
told the dealer, you got to put a radio in it. So they went back a week later and had the radio
installed. But I mean, that's how it was something, it was a car that at the time that they needed a
car, they bought a new car. And that was where it came from. A few years later, when I became
of age to be able to drive, my dad fortunately had been given a company car because of what he
did for sales. So my mom took his 1988 Ford Taurus station wagon, another cool retro car.
Absolutely, turn all the heads. And then I got her spectrum. So nice. Nice. And you mentioned the
didn't come with the radio, did have AC, it had crank windows. Were there any
looking towards your future? Were there any mods that were done to this unique Chevy spectrum or
bare bones with the red pinstripe? Yeah, yeah. So yeah, my dad, out of a JC Whitney catalog,
ordered a little intermittent wiper module. And he installed that one weekend. So eventually
they had intermittent wipers, which today, of course, is standard on like every car. But in
the 80s, that was a feature, you know? Yep. That was a luxury. Yeah, it was. And when I
got ahold of it, the radio, of course, came out and I put a tape deck in it, I cut some bigger
holes in the rear deck lid, put some Jensen 6x9s in the back deck lid, and put it to pieces.
Yeah, I had some fun with it. But all in all, it was pretty stock. But it got me from A to B
and got me to school. And I was very, very lucky to have a car at that age.
Yeah, not only from that, but my favorite part about the story and about the spectrum is that
it seemed to help several of your pals in the neighborhood pass their driving test. I've never
heard anything like this. So walk us through how that happened. Yeah, so it was a good luck charm
that myself and three of my friends all passed their driver's exam the first time in that car.
So a couple of my friends were just like, you know, I want to go get my driver's test,
my parents don't have time and like, I'll take you after school, let's go. So, you know, the one
girl, she, you know, we went up, we went to a parking lot, she practiced parallel parking once
or twice, whatever, and went up and passed the exam. We stopped in McDonald's on the way home,
was a thank you. And that was kind of cool. And actually, one of the girls, I ran, I ran, I ran
into her at a reunion over the summer. And I saw her and I said, you know, I remember the story,
I remember you passing, she's like, that's a funny thing you mentioned, like my parents were really
into, you know, letting me go out and do some of the driver's exams, but they were not going to take
me for my license. She's like, if you didn't take me, I don't think I don't think I would have had
my license to this day, like, so it was pretty cool. So yeah, man, you did a good turn. Now,
one thing that you said that didn't strike me when we were first talking about this or when
this story first came to light was, so there was an element of this car being good luck. Yeah.
Which I love. So everybody said, hey, well, you know, whether it's whether it's, you know,
willing something to be true, or it's easy to drive, or it just kind of somehow the car
willed the person testing you to pass you because you look responsible in it. I think
that's pretty neat. You did somebody a good turn to be sure. Yeah. So remember, four people passing
the exam with no power steering either, because that's, you know, back then that was an option.
Yeah, it's great. So you didn't have to go to the gym either. You were getting to work out,
fighting the steering. Lovely. My second car didn't have power steering. And
by my choice, it was a stick, chef. Boy, that was a workout.
Let's see. And if memory serves, Chevy Spectrum was not actually made by Chevrolet, right?
It was what we'd call badge engineering by a close GM partner.
Yeah, my understanding is that I was actually designed by Asuzu and sort of rebranded. And
I think Azuzu co-sold it as their own. I don't remember what they called it.
Yeah, I think it was the I mark. That sounds right. Yep. And GM down part of Asuzu. So there
fun fact about that car, it actually had another name because it was the Chevy Spectrum from 86,
I think to like 80 or 85 to like 88. And then the Geo brand came along. It became a Geo Spectrum
for like a year. Good call. Okay. Yeah. I know somebody on this podcast who owned a Geo.
I did. I love that little car that you could go anywhere on a tank of gas.
Was that a little convertible Geo? No, I wasn't that cool. I wasn't cool enough to have a convertible
Geo. But yeah, I was lame enough to have a regular Geo for a moment. Geo metro. Yeah,
in my misguided youth, I spent a lot of time without a car and having a bum ride. So it's
whatever. I bought whatever car I could afford by scraping change out of that nearest sofa.
But wow, bringing back memories. Good times. Yeah. But that didn't last long because we moved on
to the first of many pony cars, right? Yes, sir. Yeah. So I had the opportunity. I was in college.
My parents were like, Hey, if you want to sell the Spectrum, buy you know, I had some money that
my grandparents had given me through the years and said to buy a car. And I was like,
you know, I got I got some money in my pocket. Can I afford a Mustang? I'd always been dreaming
of one. So I bought an 87 Mustang GT with the ground effects kit and the big spoiler on the back
and 50. Yeah, it was 50. That one, that one, the car, the paint on it was terrible. It was white.
It was like peeling and all that kind of stuff. So we knew when I bought it that it was going to get
painted. So I got a painted a really dark gray, which was a factory color, but they normally
did like a two tone. I did the whole car solid in it. And the painter even said like, I'm not
so sure about this. But when he was done, he's like, this looks really solid. He really liked it.
So where did you get it painted? My dad like knew a guy that knew a guy and somebody did it like
in their spare time, borrowed somebody's booth and painted it like overnight. And it didn't look
terrible. You say it looked good. It looked pretty good. Yeah. Custom painted metallic, dark gray.
God, I wish we had a photo. Love to see that. So that car, I'm sure was a lot of fun, but maybe
not a lot of fun in the rain or the snow or a long trip. Is that true? Yeah, that's very true.
Yeah, that that GT suspension, you got on the highway for 30 minutes and you knew you were
driving a GT like it's danger around that that ride was no fun. And then in the rain and snow,
forget it. When I was in college, I had to get the car. I had to move it for a spring break. It
was snow was there was some that you had to get it out of the school lot for spring break. So I was
going to put it behind my buddy's house a half mile, half mile away. And I had to I had to get
out of a little parking garage parking area. And there was this little tiny hill. And it took me a
half hour of trying to get up this hill back up and gain as much speed as I can to drift over the
top. And then I finally got out of that lot. And then there was this big long hill that had to go
up and that car just wouldn't do it. There's no weight in the back, too much torque, the tires
weren't really designed for it. So my friends pushed me up the hill. And that's how I finally got
apart. So comically, my my grandfather, he passed when I was in when I was in college,
but he had a 79 Jeep Cherokee four wheel drive. Yeah, my parents were like, Hey, since that car
since the Mustang so terrible in the winter, why don't you take take the take the take the Cherokee
back and this thing my grandfather said, Hey, why don't we get it painted? So he gave it to a local
guy to paint and he said paint it yellow. And it was like I was already like a 70s yellow,
but the guy painted it like really bright yellow. I can't even describe how bright this thing was
yellow on the bottom black on top. It was it was something. So that thing that thing was fun,
though, that I was dating a girl in college. She lived like an hour away. So over over a
different break, I drove up to her place and I'm driving back on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
And I hear this sound as goes flat, flat, flat, flat, flat, clunk. I was like, what the heck was
that? I look up and there's something spinning right in the middle of the road. It looks like it
looks like a two liter bottle of soda spin in the middle of the road. I'm like, what the heck is
that? And so I pull over and I look at the car and like there's no lights going on the battery
still charging. I'm like, that just might be the starter on my car. So I open up the hood and I
double check and like all the belts are still connected and stuff. And I'm pretty sure that's
the starter. So well, let me go claim it. So as I'm walking back, like the quarter mile to claim it,
a semi truck, 18 wheeler truck is coming down the Turnpike. He sees me on the side of the road.
So to be polite, he's like, he starts switching lanes. And as he switches lanes, sure enough,
he hits that thing, you hear this bang. And I was like, he probably got a flat tire and it was bad.
So I finally, you know, traffic, traffic, there wasn't any traffic. I ran out, grabbed this thing,
picked it up by the, by the pigtail electrical cord and it's all beat up the crap now because
it's been rode over by an 18 wheeler. And I'm like, looks like a starter. So I get back to the
truck, throw it down in the seat, drive back to school. And I'm like, all right, here's the plan.
I'm going to pull into the gas station, leave the car running, put gas in the truck,
put gas in the truck, then drive over to my dorm, leave the car running out front,
grab all my stuff, all my dirty laundry from college and then drive back to my parents' house
because I still had more time on break and let my dad help me deal with this problem.
And it had a shifter on the column on Matic and I get into the gas station out of habit,
you just grab the shifter, put it in park, turn the key and I go to get out and I go, oh no.
And sure enough, I turn the key and nothing, nothing at all. That was the last time I drove
the car and the last time I saw the girl. So. Well, you raise a good point though. You don't
really need a starter if you never turn it off. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, as long as you have
endless access to fuel, I think you're really onto something here. Yeah. Right.
Solar panels on the roof and well. I dig it. I dig it. Well, then one of many mustangs from what
I see from the file we have on Mr. Rob. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. So right now I daily drive a 2018
EcoBoost convertible. It is red, black interior. It's a premium edition. So it's got some really
nice upgrades just from the factory. Then I've done some work to it and it's car show worthy
from the outside. From the outside, I like to think of it as it looks like it should have
come from the factory that if you look and go, did that come from the factory that way?
And then you open the hood and you go, okay, that's definitely not factory anymore.
And yeah, what he's describing and I'm looking at it. So we're trying to describe to
Listenerland what he's done. The hood line. Right. So he opens the hood real nice and wide here.
And what it is is if you're not familiar with the Maryland state flag, it's the best state flag
out of all 50, to have to be honest. It looks like a coat of arms. It's four quadrants.
The upper left and lower right are kind of this yellow and black check that looks like a racing
car flag. And then the alternating quadrants on top right and lower left are almost like this.
What would you say it's sort of like either a sword or a cross? It's a cross. Yeah. Maybe
maybe like a knight's cross or something. Exactly. Exactly. That's what I was going to say. It looks
like a medieval castle flag, something to be flying over. And I think it's, I'm going to get
this wrong, but is it called the John? Is it the John Calvert family crest or something? I think
that, we can look into that later. We can have somebody fact check us. I'm not big on the fact
checking. But in the middle of the hood liner is the flag. And in the middle of the flag,
it's the Mustang, the pony that looks like it's flaming. It's kind of stretched out in streaks.
It's going so fast. And it actually is a callback to the little pony on the front grille of the car.
It is, it's really something else. It's very distinctive. And if it's okay with Rob,
we're going to put this up on our site because I've never, I've never seen anything like that
before. What do you think, Doug? Ditto, Ditto. And he's also got some nice red accents
underneath the hood, which are colorful and about the same color as the car, but they're also mods.
So you've done a couple mods to this Mustang as well. Yeah, I've had the front bumper off of
that car three or four times now. I put an aftermarket intercooler. It's got an intake. I had
a professionally tuned. So factory, it was like 240 horsepower to the rear wheels, because again,
it's a four-cylinder turbo car. It now puts about 290 to the wheels, which at the crank,
at the crank, that's like 330 at the crank factory. And now it's probably close to 400,
which a GT is like 460. So I'm getting closer to GT territory. I'm never going to compete with the
GT. I know that. And that's fine. But it just makes the car a little more fun to drive, a little
Yeah, actually, I try to keep it down like four-cylinder. I'm not a big fan of exhaust on there.
Unlike my 87 Mustang, where I had the mufflers removed and I ran straight pipe and that thing
would like wake the neighbors. But this car, this car, I keep it quiet like I'm like, ah.
Trying to be a good neighbor. Yeah, a good citizen. Yep. I hear you. I hear you.
So yeah, so go ahead, Doug. No, no, I was going to say, and there's another Mustang.
So I think we're on the fourth one, maybe? Third one. Third one. Yeah, I love how he starts
in the 80s and 87. He goes forward, what is that, 30 years to a 2018. And then goes back,
what is that, 60 years, 55 years to a 1966 Ford Mustang. And it's a very specific color. The
color is called Ember Glow. And we're looking at a picture of it on the screen. Again, we'll have
to put these on our website. You see, it's this beautiful, how would you even describe it, Rob?
It's a kind of a metallic. Yeah, kind of a copper color with like a little bit of extra
orange in it. Yeah. There was a Plymouth Prowler factory color that's close,
but it has a little more orange in it. The cool part about this color, you know,
Ford offered it in 65 as a custom order color. About 400 people did it. So there's
none, hardly any of those left at all. In 66, they offered it as a factory option.
12% of the cars were sold like that. So it's like 60,000 cars or so are this color from 66.
And then they stopped. So the color is very unique, unique to the year. And that's actually the reason
that I have this car is because of the color. So when I got my 2018 convertible,
my dad started seeing what I was doing with it, and he started reminiscing about all the car,
all the Mustangs he owned, because he's owned several, but my grandmother. Well, the Mustangs
he's loved before. Yes, he's owned a couple as well. But my grandmother, she bought a 1966
Ford Mustang in Emberglow. It was an automatic car with the deluxe two tone interior. They also
call that the pony, the pony interior. And it had a center console in it. My dad kept telling me
stories about how gorgeous this like interior was and stuff like that. And I finally saw one at a
car show. And I was like, man, one day I've got to have one. And so I went ahead. And about two
years ago, I found out my father was diagnosed with cancer. And I was like, Oh, man, I've always
wanted one of these. And I wanted to be able to make some memories with him. And I thought I had
like more time, you know, I was like, I need to have one. So we figured out how to be able to
afford one. We were lucky that we were able to make make that happen. And then
so I got I got I got one of these cars. My dad is now on the mend. He's doing he's doing well.
Glad to hear he's been treated and doing well. So that's really exciting. So now he likes telling
the stories to about about the car because I kind of left kind of left this out earlier that
my grandmother didn't just own one of these cars, she owned two of these cars.
She owned the first one was a six cylinder. My dad was coming home from college and
he ended up sliding on some ash that back then that used to put ash soot down on the road for
like track for traction in the winter. And he slid on that it was dry was in Pennsylvania and
the road the road was covered in this this stuff and he slid on it and totaled totaled the car.
And he told me he told my grandfather, he said, you know, if I had more power, I would have been
able to sort of like power slide out of this thing or whatever. So I think so when they
replaced the car, they got the V8 version because my grandmother, my grandfather literally went out
to the crash site and looked and said, Yeah, I think you're right. If you had more power,
you could have made it. So the second one, my grandmother got a second one, same color,
same same car, same identical cars, what it sounds, but but with a V8 in it.
With a V8 in it. So this car, this car that I had started out pretty much like hers,
her boat, but both of hers had a black vinyl roof. Black vinyl doesn't wear very well.
It does terrible things for rust underneath and stuff like that. So this car, this car does not
have the vinyl roof. But this car started out with the same two, two, two and nine motor in it.
Someone did a lot of nice engine work for me putting a four barrel carburetor and an intake
and a water pump and a cam headers exhaust. So it rumbles a little bit. That one will wake the
numbers. So I try to be I try to be really polite when I started and I have to leave for a car show
at eight o'clock in the morning. But now I over the winter, I twirl out every piece of the braking
system and I put disc brakes up front and drum brakes and rebuilt the drums in the rear and
upgraded suspension in the rear. And year by year, it's getting getting some upgrades here
and there that my goal is from the outside and the inside, it looks factory, but the drivetrain
free game, I'm going to upgrade it and make it everything, everything I can because I want to
be able to drive and really enjoy the car. Yeah. So yeah, that's a rest amount to a degree. And
yeah, there's so many modern anybody who's heard me talk. I had electric power steering added to
my DeLorean. Oh my God, it's like a different car. The new suspension, the new suspension too,
but it was like driving a different car. It was so much and it's adjustable in the in the amount
of assist. But yeah, there's there's electric air conditioning condensers for cars. As you
mentioned, disc brakes make make a big difference. Yeah, there are just so many things that can make
these cars just so much more enjoyable than than they ever could have been from the factory,
even though back then we had a different set of standards, if you will. Right. Well, I have a throw
back on this car on my on my 66 that my transmission was acting up. And I was like, you know, I could
spend $2,500 or so and try to have the transmission rebuilt and reinstalled. But I knew one day I
wanted to put overdrive in it. So rather than do that, I found a I found a transmission, an
AOD transmission out of like an 89 Ford Mustang. Had that had that rebuilt, I do not do transmissions.
I know I know my limits. So I had a shop, I had a shop locally here, install that install that for
me. So this car actually has overdrive in it. It has a custom valve body, though. So I have I can
select first gear, second gear, and then I have drive, you know, third gear slash fourth gear,
and I have a I used a factory fog light switch as my overdrive lockout. So I can basically lock
out fourth gear and keep the car in third gear. So I can drive the car out of a red light like a
stick first, second, third, I'm going 30 miles an hour. And I want second gear, I can just pull it
down into second gear and just go. But I don't have to deal. I don't have to deal with the clutch,
which I don't mind I can drive I can drive stick, you know, my 87 Mustang was a stick.
But I wanted this car so I can also take it to parades. So other people can can see it. I wanted
it so my wife can drive it. She's not very comfortable driving stick. So now the whole
family can enjoy it. So yeah. Yeah, yeah. No, that's, that's awesome. And yeah.
What do they say? Necessity is the mother of invention? Is that what they say? So yeah, you
found another transmission from another Mustang. Yes, vintage of your first Mustang
into the same vintage of your grandmother's Mustang. You got it. That's your dad drove.
So beautiful. And as we go ahead. No, no, I was just going to say I'm taking the words out of
your mouth, Christian. I can't wait to put these pictures up on our website. They're gorgeous.
And you know, Rob saying he's a you know, I said he was an amateur photographer. That was not fair.
These photos, they are gorgeous. Yeah, well, the subject makes it easy. But the inside is just
just a time capsule and just hypnotically beautiful. The thing I like about the interior
of the seats, they're two tone. So I believe Rob was saying that the white is called parchment.
The name of the color is called parchment. And it's just so beautiful. So as we as we wind
down here and there it is, he's showing it. I love the center console to very, very 60s,
just like rails going down front to back all the way. So do you and as we are talking about the
weather is changing here as we move through season three and make sure you get outside,
get outside with your cars, go to a car and coffee, go to a car show, talk to people about
their their cars. And so this one makes the round with you to car shows, Rob. Absolutely. It was
just out on Saturday a couple days ago, or Sunday rather, it was out at a car show to benefit a
cancer cancer support organization, which was an awesome, an awesome thing to do. Nice. And
unfortunately, the cars never brought home a first place trophy. It's brought home a couple
seconds and thirds. But in the end, I don't go to the car shows to get a trophy or to get the
hardware. It's nice to be recognized. But really, I go because I just like talking to people about
their cars just like just like you, I want to go I want to see what people are doing with them and
well, I check them out. Yeah, I can see you light up when you talk about them, your enthusiasm is
comes comes right through the line. So, hey, it was great meeting you, Rob. I just want to thank
you for taking some time. And I think that's a wonderful way to button up the show is to kind
of book in with this Mustang, your first, the one you have now. And then you kind of went back in
history to fulfill the dream and and kind of bring it bring it back to family with your grandmother
and your father. So just great stuff. It was great meeting you. And if it's okay,
we'd like to put some of this on the website. Yeah, absolutely. Looking forward to it.
Yeah. And, you know, you could say every Mustang tells a story in this case, at least three.
Yeah. Yep. Yeah, he's definitely he's definitely got a type as they say.
Yeah. Yes. Yeah. All right. Well, no, I was just gonna gonna wrap up the show here.
This was to all the cars I've loved before. Thanks to our new friend, Rob.
And check us out. If you like us, follow. If you really like us, tell a friend.
I'm Christian at CarsLove.com. He is Doug at CarsLove.com. Let us know how we did take the poll,
take the survey, get involved and have you on the show.
About this episode
Rob shares his journey from a Mustang enthusiast to a professional car photographer, detailing his experiences at the SEMA Show and the vibrant car culture surrounding it. He reminisces about his first car, a Chevrolet Spectrum, and how it became a good luck charm for his friends during their driving tests. The conversation highlights his love for Mustangs, including his current 2018 EcoBoost and a 1966 model that connects him to family memories. Rob's passion for cars and storytelling shines through, making for an engaging discussion.
Rob's first car was a Mustang. Today, he's the guy photographing the most expensive, rarest, and most modified cars at SEMA.
The gap between "kid with a Mustang" and "professional automotive photographer at the world's biggest car show" is wider than most people realize. It's not just about getting a good camera—it's about understanding car culture deeply enough that you know which angle tells the real story.
SEMA isn't just a car show. It's where automotive dreams get documented for the world to see. Rob has a backstage pass to all of it.
In this episode, Rob reveals: - How his first Mustang shaped his eye for automotive photography - What it's really like being an automotive photographer at SEMA (access, challenges, pinch-me moments) - The car at SEMA that stopped him in his tracks—and why - Photography techniques specific to automotive work that don't apply to other subjects - How to turn car passion into a paying career (his actual path, no sugar-coating) - The build quality details that separate Instagram cars from SEMA-worthy builds - Why some car owners understand photography and others fight you the whole way
Plus: Rob shares the one SEMA moment he almost didn't photograph because he was too busy staring. Good thing he snapped out of it.
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