With Donald Osborne at the Chattanooga Motorcar Festival
Talking Classic Cars with Wayne Carini and Jay Ward
With Donald Osborne at the Chattanooga Motorcar Festival
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Car
Lancia Fulvia
The Lancia Fulvia is an old Italian car that was popular in the 1960s and 70s. It was known for being well-built and doing well in racing. The Fulvia Sforza Gatto is a special version or nickname for one of these cars.
Concept
electric car
Electric cars run on batteries and electric motors instead of gas engines. They were actually common a long time ago but became less popular when gas cars got easier to start and use.
Term
car starter
A car starter is a small motor that helps start a gas car's engine with the push of a button or key, so you don't have to turn a handle yourself. This made gas cars easier to use than electric cars back then.
Concept
veteran car
A veteran car is a really old car made a long time ago, usually before 1905. People like to keep and drive these cars because they show how cars were made a long time ago.
Concept
Goodwood Festival of Speed
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is a big car event where lots of fast and famous cars race up a hill near a big house in England. People come from all over to see it.
Concept
Goodwood Revival
The Goodwood Revival is a special car event where people dress up in old-fashioned clothes and drive old cars like they did many years ago.
Concept
Goodwood Members Meeting
The Goodwood Members Meeting is a special car event just for club members where they race and show old cars.
Brand
Audrey Motorsport
Audrey Motorsport is a company that helps support car racing events like the Goodwood Members Meeting.
Concept
circuit race
A circuit race is when cars drive around the same track many times to see who is fastest.
Concept
Vanderbilt Cup
The Vanderbilt Cup was an important car race in America a long time ago. It helped make car racing popular in the country.
Term
speeding
Speeding means driving a car too fast, faster than the law says you should. People can get in trouble for it.
Concept
Buffalo to New York City race
A long time ago, people raced cars from Buffalo to New York City to see which car was fastest and strongest.
Car
Chrysler Fifth Avenue
The Chrysler Fifth Avenue is a big, comfortable car that was popular a few decades ago. It was known for being fancy and smooth to drive, kind of like a car you’d see in movies about rich people. They might have mentioned it because it’s a well-known name or because of the place called Fifth Avenue.
Concept
car culture
Car culture is about people who really like cars and enjoy meeting others who like cars too. It includes things like car shows, meetups, and talking about cars.
Concept
entry point
An entry point is like a beginner's level where people can start being part of something, like a car show or collecting hobby.
Car
BMW 318I
The BMW 3 Series is a popular car that many people like because it’s fun to drive and feels nice inside. The 318i is one type of this car that’s known for being reliable and easy to handle. People talk about it a lot because it’s a good mix of sporty and comfortable.
Term
air cooled
Air cooled means the car's engine stays cool by air moving over it, instead of using water or liquid to cool it down.
Concept
car collecting
Car collecting means buying and keeping cars because you really like them, not just because they might be worth more money later. It's about loving the cars and their stories.
Car
Ferrari 250 LM
The Ferrari 250LM is an old and famous race car made by Ferrari. People love it because it looks cool and was raced by famous drivers a long time ago.
LIVE
Hello, from Chattanooga, I'm Jay Ward.
And I'm Wayne Carini, and this is Talking Classic Cars.
Today we have, well, I don't know how to describe my friend, Donald Osborn, indescribable, let
me read the whiteboard.
Yeah, I don't think we have to describe Donald yet.
Donald, I've been friends for over 40 years and we still can't figure out why we like
each other.
We keep trying to do that, but real quick, for everybody to know, Donald Osborn is the person
that cemented the deal and got me my TV show, Chasing Classic Cars, because he wrote an article
about my Hudson Italia that appeared in the New York Times and the head of my production
company, Jim Ostrowski, read that article on Sunday, called me on Monday, and the rest
is history.
Then, in turn, I got him out of his fair play.
That's right.
So, what's my car words called me and said, we'd like you to be the co-host, and I said,
I'm a little stretched and out thin.
But there's a good friend of mine, Donald Osborn, that fits your criteria perfectly.
He's knowledgeable.
He's a great guy, and they hired him.
And so, you're really responsible, Wayne, for me getting my next big break, which
is working with Jay Leno, because I was fired after two seasons from what's my
car with.
Well, they finally found out about you, huh?
Were you really fired?
I was absolutely fired, Jay.
What happened?
So, I got to tell you, so he comes and finds me at Scottsdale, and he goes on a set of
what's my car words, and he said, I didn't know we were filming today.
And they said, we are, but you're not.
That's how you found out.
Yeah.
I actually found out through a phone call, said, oh, well, you know, you're filming
across town.
He said, oh, we are, are we?
And so, yeah, yeah, I was fired for all the right reasons.
I was told I was too sophisticated for the show.
So I thought, well, that's a really terrific insult, and I'll take it.
But it was one of those situations that I think we've all been there where we
never know where life is going to take us.
And a door closes and a window wall opens.
So he comes up to dinner that night and he tells me the story.
I said, don't worry.
Things are meant for certain reasons.
There's something else around the corner that's going to happen to you.
It's going to be great.
And about a week later, Jay called me and said, what do you think about
Donald Osborn for my new TV show?
I said, it's fabulous.
And he got hard.
Exactly. Jay called me up there and talking to him about starting this new
show. And he said, would you be interested in not doing what's my
car worth anymore?
I said, well, you know, Jay, we have to think about this.
Yes.
Did you know Jay Leno at that point?
Yes, I did.
He had come to know me through my writing and we would meet out
in California at various events at Purple Beach and other places.
And we'd chat.
And so he was a fan of my writing.
I knew that.
But we had actually worked together for the first time in 2014.
I went and did an episode of his YouTube show.
He had never driven a lunch at Fulvia before.
And I had a beautiful lunch at Fulvia Sforza Gatto.
And I said, I'm going to bring it to Burbank and have you drive it.
And so that was the first time we worked together.
And the reaction to the to the YouTube segment was sensational.
People really like the way we interacted.
And so it's not something that might work.
Yeah, the relationship chemistry is definitely there.
Now, you and Jay are working together at a much deeper level now
because of the odd drain.
Now, tell me a little bit about how you went from Southern California
to how you got involved with the odd drain and how you got Jay Leno
and or how he got involved with the odd drain.
Well, much like Carini, Leno was the reason why I became
involved with the odd drain.
OK, back in 2016, they need to have an appraiser
come and appraise the collections and Jay knew of me and my work
course and recommended me to them as an appraiser.
So I went and did the appraisal job in 2016 and then started
working with them as a consultant on acquisitions and collection management.
And then when they plan the first 2019 odd drain
Newport Concord Motor Week, they asked me to come on
because they knew I'd had a great experience in the administration
of shows and attending shows and participating in shows.
And so I came up as a as a consultant for that.
And as the executive director of the Concord the first year,
and I was in Newport for a month, supervising things, getting together
in the day before the Concord of the chairman, Nick Schwarz,
his partner, Mike Weil, called me into Nick's office and said,
we're in like the way you work.
Would you think of moving to Newport and becoming the CEO
of the odd drain group to help us take this to the next level?
I said, sure, why not?
So when you called me and invited me to judge with that initial
fact, you called me and emailed first, but then you called me and said,
I really think this show is going to be special.
I want you to be part of it.
And I'm so glad you did.
But at that point, you weren't officially full time part of the odd
drain. I had been a consultant since 2016.
And it's very funny because when they first approached me about
being involved in the Concord Motor Week, my first reaction was,
oh, dear God, it's a world in another Concord.
And then I spent some time in Newport and I realized what
an incredible place Newport was.
And that for a variety of reasons, people was trying to
start a Concord Newport before back in 2007, 2009.
And somehow they managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory
because if there was ever a place that was meant to have an event
like that, it was Newport.
And when I realized the scale on which they were planning it,
I said, you know what, this could be something that really works.
Yeah. And we were talking about the previous event with David
Hobbs yesterday and how life.
So remember that event where I think the woman that it was
attempting to put this big show on had a few million dollars
given to her to do it.
And she blew it all at one event.
And she had David Piper and all sorts of great.
Sterling loss and death.
Everybody came. It was a wonderful event.
But then the next year there was no money and that was it.
It was all over one time.
But here's the thing about Nick Shorst.
What blew me away that first year because you did say he
has a vision for this thing.
He willed that show into existence with so much financial
backing that he just said, I'm not going to leave anything
done halfway. Everything will be done to the highest level
possible. And what you guys did by doing that was everybody
who left that show went away and told somebody you have to go
to this the next year because it is so amazing.
And I think it worked.
That strategy of going really all in all chips in that
first year.
Well, you know, it's no wonder that the two of you have
been involved in a show from the beginning and are so
enthusiastic about it because, frankly, it's also the way
the three of us think.
If you're going to do something, do it.
Don't just sort of phone in and it's not worth it.
You know, our enthusiasm goes through our nine to five and
our other activities as well.
And of course, for all of us, we get to make our nine to five
our pleasure and amusement.
And there's something that's so incredibly amazing about that.
So if you're going to do it, do it.
Yeah, not as just rehearsal, especially with something
like the Concord where people expect excellence and you go
to Newport Rhode Island and it's a beautiful, beautiful city.
You never bend.
You have to go the level of opulence in that city, in the
history of 120 years of this being the vacation homes for
the wealthiest people in New York.
And the automobile was such a big part of that history.
So, I mean, these people could afford anything to
Vanderbilt cup grease.
Yeah, it was there.
I mean, you know, and then, of course, the electric car
when people said electric cars, I didn't know they had electric
cars, but back in the teens and earlier than that, the electric
car was what Mrs. Vanderbilt would would call into the
butler and say, I'm going to go over to Susan's for tea this
afternoon and make sure my electric cars on the front.
So the electric car had such a big presence in Newport and
in a many wealthy city at Baltimore, you know, in New
York City, that kind of stuff.
Yeah.
And then it went away.
The minute the electric started, car, you know, car starter
came in, the electric car just disappeared.
The good about something that Jay said, one of the things
about Newport, it's a historic city.
There are very few cities in North America that were founded
in the 17th century and Newport was.
So it's got a very, very, very long history.
And what's really for me, what makes Newport really special
is the fact that it lives its history.
We all live and work in these incredibly historic buildings
that are still making history today.
That's one of the other things I think that makes a difference
in the Concord and Motor Week because it is of the city.
It is in these houses.
It is on these roads.
And also we see that as well in the veteran car tour
that we do as well.
And that Wayne has participated in where we do a 50 mile
drive from Newport up the Bristol Road Island and back
in 1907 and older cars.
And it is absolutely fantastic.
It's again, what we're all about, about celebrating,
sharing and preserving historic automobiles, but it's
living with them, driving them through the streets.
All the things that we love using them if it's key.
You know, Newport came back from a really low, really tough time.
Most of these mansions were empty.
They were, they were shuttered and a lot of them were broken into.
I mean, there were so many bad things going on.
And then the Navy left, you know, so it was a huge
Navy presence in Newport.
And when they left these houses in Newport were selling for $50,000.
They're now a million and a half to two million, three million
dollar house, the same house because nobody wanted to be in
Newport anymore.
Yeah.
And then suddenly this reassurance just happened that it was
unbelievable that the restorations of these homes and now
it's, it's a destination.
People just love going there.
And like you said, the preservation of the city.
I think it's somewhere that they respect the history.
They're not leveling everything and putting in a
Starbucks. They're very good about that.
Let's go back to your veteran car tour a little bit.
I think one thing you guys have done very well in the last
few years as you've grown the culture of Audrey and it's
really become a culture is you looked at Goodwood for some
positive things.
And you guys have a relationship with Goodwood now.
And for people who don't even know what Goodwood is, just
to explain a little bit about the parallels and what you
guys do with them.
Well, Goodwood is an amazing place.
It is the home of the, of the, his grace, the Duke of
Richmond, and who has been an incredible motoring
enthusiast and who revived the motor racing at his home,
which has existed from 1948 to 1966.
And it's an extraordinary thing.
They have three events a year, the Festival of Speed, which
is a hill climb up the driveway of the house that
attracts international stars and manufacturers, cars from
modern Formula One cars all the way back to cars and
turning the century.
They do the revival, which is a celebration of the
Goodwood road races and everyone gets dressed up in
period costumes and the cars are limited to those cars that
would have run at Goodwood from 1948 to 1966.
And that's a lot of fun.
Then they do the members meeting from the members of
the Goodwood Road Racing Club and Audrey Motorsport is the
connecting sponsor of the Goodwood members meeting.
And so we've got a very special relationship with them
for that.
And one of the things they do at Goodwood is again, it's
one of these things that it's all in.
Goodwood is a place that is the absolute, if you
imagine what sort of every upperclass young man and
young woman would do who was a car enthusiast before World War
II and immediately after, that's the life of Goodwood.
It's riding, it's off-roading, it's great sports cars,
it's great touring cars.
And over the top at Goodwood is just right.
It's right.
Yeah, fireworks and carnivals and concerts.
And so the way that the Duke and his team were able to take
the spirit of Goodwood and share that with so many people.
That's what we tried to do in Newport with the
Audre is to say Newport stands for history, luxury and sport.
And we can bring those things and realize those things
through our events, through celebrating the cars,
the people, Wayne mentioned the Vanderbilt.
Of course, Willie K Vanderbilt was one of the pioneers
in bringing automotive racing to America.
The first circuit race in the United States was held in
Cranston, Rhode Island in 1896.
And the first Vanderbilt Cup was in 1902 in Newport at the
Aqueduct Park racetrack.
And so there's a great long history.
And in fact, one of my funniest things I learned about it
that the first overnight incarceration for a traffic
infraction was in Newport.
1904, someone was arrested for speeding and put in
jail overnight.
They must have been going rather quick, maybe over 35 miles
per hour at the time.
I think they're going up with 25.
Oh, so I've got a similar story with with with
there's this car that was in the Buffalo, New York City
to Buffalo race.
And they flew the driver over from France.
And and he was practicing up and down Fifth Avenue in the
car and he got caught speeding and thrown in jail.
And they had to get a special lawyer to get him out
so he'd be in the race the very next day.
I was at Panhard.
And and and so that was really exciting.
We restored that Panhard for for Rob Coffin.
Yes.
And and that's been a hero event, too.
It has.
In fact, it won a major award there.
I think that's right.
I'm a show.
It's another Willie Kaye car.
That's right.
Willie Kaye owned that car and drove that car and
raced that car.
And, you know, so it's the idea, again, like they
have it good with of these cars not being sort of
precious objects that you observe from afar.
But you see them at speed.
You smell the hot oil.
You smell the clutches.
And it's what really turns us on about these cars and
makes it, I think, very special for people who perhaps
don't consider themselves automotive enthusiasts, don't
identify as automotive enthusiasts.
They discover their connection with cars by
seeing these cars being used.
And Wayne can testify this very, very well.
The people that see us do the battery car tour,
the smiles, the amazement.
It's like, hold on a second.
That's a what year Oldsmobile that you're going to
drive 50 miles in a drizzle.
And it's like, you know, there's Wayne, the big smile
on his face and say, yeah, what do anything else?
The first the first year we brought the Oldsmobile
and we were going up this hill and it's a one cylinder
car that went up the hill.
We were going maybe five miles an hour and a
jogger passed us and he pulls up next to us and
he talks to us as he's jogging and we're going
to log. He says, well, that was rice, you know,
Larry about your car.
Have a nice day.
And he took off and we're gone.
Jogged ahead of you.
What just happened?
Jogger passed us.
What year was the Oldsmobile? 1901.
01.
So there are cars that are now 122 years old.
They're still on the road and driving 50
miles fairly reliably, right?
You had to change some spark plugs that
fouled, I think a few little things along
the way. But you set up that time for
people to enjoy that trip.
What I think is exciting is I'm hearing that
there's a younger generation.
People under 40 even, they're excited about
the cars in this era, which they have no
relation to at all.
It is astonishing.
There's always been the idea that we work
in the collector car space with that basic
bell curve, the cars we lost it after at
17, we can now afford a 40.
And so as those cars come into the
marketplace as that cohort ages, these
cars become valuable and interesting.
And then as they move out of the
collecting and active use of the cars,
then the values drop and no one cares
about them and they get thrown away or
whatever.
Obviously, the people who lost it after a 1901
car when they were teenagers are slightly
gone and yet there's more interest in
that area than ever before.
And it's been really hardening.
We're talking here in Chattanooga and
at the racetrack, looking at the
veteran car group of racers, so many
very young people from six to 18 years
old who were absolutely fascinated by
these cars and captivated by them.
It's an amazing thing.
I think something that that bodes very
well in the future of.
Yeah, you know, I remember 20 years
ago when people were dying that owned
the brass cars and I said, man, this
is going to be my opportunity to
swoop in and buy a really great brass
car for like 20 cents on the dollar.
Well, it went the exact opposite way.
New people got involved.
Tours happened and all of a sudden
now brass cars are untouchable.
Yeah, some of them really did great
incredible, you know, but it doesn't
matter what it is.
If it's a model to you, whatever,
if you're involved with that era car,
yeah, it's something special.
It really is.
I mean, you know, to really realize
that this is what people did.
That's just how they drove around
and the involvement that these
cars, the man that you had as a
driver, even as a passenger, is
something that also is very welcoming
to younger people because they've
grown up in an age where everything
is automatic, everything is sealed,
everything is hidden, everything is
disposable when you realize this is
the car that you have to pay
attention every moment you're behind
the wheel in order to keep it going
forward.
And that's something which is a
challenge and something that they
probably haven't really had in their
lives before.
It's true.
So you get the Australian
Concorde is grown over the
years. We're here in Chattanooga
and it's got very similar growth
here where as it gets
older. So this is the fourth
year. You were in your fourth
year.
Fourth year. Both events
started in 2019.
Yeah. And so I see that
growth to be similar.
And what I like of what you guys
are doing, I made a comment to you
earlier in the week that
it's you've got such spectacular
cars to come from the West Coast
from all over the place, Europe
and Japan.
You don't forget about your local
people.
And that's so important that
if you get all these great cars
that show up and it squeezes
all the other people out
that love cars, the new 40
Connecticut and New Jersey,
wherever it may be, they all feel
like, oh, I can't go to that
because because it's just the big
dogs there.
What you're doing is you're
controlling that.
Well, thank you very much, Wayne.
And I have to be very careful
because
Jay, you're sitting very close to
me and you could get me with a
quick left jab.
But I enjoyed the time I spent
living in California for
11 years.
And everyone knows that
California is in so many ways
the center of car culture for
many people in the country and
around the world.
But I also have to say that
I have been so impressed
with the energy of
the car culture in southern
New England.
It is astonishing.
So many people have come up to
me at events and we've done our
cars and coffee events or the
Concours and even in the museum
and said, thank you so much for
bringing this car culture to
Rhode Island.
I said, we did nothing of the
sword.
We allowed the car culture
that was here a place to come
and share community.
And it's one of the things
that I think is so important
because there are a lot of people
who still have the idea that car
collecting is something that
billionaires do.
And it is.
You can have a wonderful car that
excites you, that teaches you about
history, that brings you into a
group of community that you pay
$5,000 for.
And it can be the best example
of something of that particular
car.
And it's not going to be a
50,000, a 5 million or 50
million dollar car.
One of the things that we're
very proud of at the
Drain is
filling the idea that Jay had,
Jay Leno had for the 30
under 30 class,
which is so incredibly important.
It's a class for cars
owned by people who are 30 years
older, younger.
And they have $30,000 or less
invested in their cars.
And it is that entry point
so that people can say that
it's not, they don't have a
children's table.
It's not a separate event
someplace on another lawn
somewhere.
They are on the main lawn
of the Concord,
judged exactly the way
the other cars on the lawn
are judged.
And they get to feel included.
This is their first step
into the places that they will
grow as collectors.
Well, that's true.
And that's that's what's going
to happen to them.
You know, that you take
that first step,
you put your toe in the water
and next thing, you know,
you're immersed.
And I judge that class
from the first year for you
guys, which I've really
enjoyed.
I don't think I'd want to
judge anything else because
what I do love about it is
the cars are meaningful to
them and the cars are
significant to them.
So when you judge the 30
under 30 class,
we're not looking at the
world's most perfect BMW
318i.
We're looking for the car
that the person worked on
themselves, the car that
the person modified or that
their father handed down to
them that they were stored
together.
Those stories to me are so
important.
That's why they have an
emotional connection
to these cars.
There's a young man,
the last time I judged,
that had a Franklin
and that's an air cooled
car, free war.
And this kid knew
everything about
Franklins.
And he was the youngest
member of the Franklin Club.
And I was like, there is hope.
I mean, this is awesome.
Yeah.
He won his class.
Yeah.
And what's really important
about that two days,
the fact that what we'd like
to do, all of us,
is to inculcate in young
people who are interested
in cars that personal
connection so that when they
grow to a position where
they can afford a more
expensive car, they're not
just buying the car
because it's more valuable
or will be more valuable
in five years.
They're buying it because
it really speaks to them.
That's the core essence
of collecting.
If you can afford a Ferrari
250LM, you buy it
because, oh my god,
this is a car that I
saw on the cover Road and
Track magazine.
And I read that my heroes
raced.
That's why you want that car.
Not because, oh, it's really
valuable, it's worth racing
Ferrari.
It's going to be worth a lot
more money someday.
Who cares?
You know, it's been a great
time visiting with you.
We could be here for another
five hours, but our time
is up.
So we want to thank you
for coming in and talking
to us here at the Chattanooga
Motor Car Festival.
And we're going to go out
and look at some cars.
Absolutely. Let's go.
All right.
Thanks, guys.
See you on the road.
Thank you.
About this episode
Donald Osborn shares his journey from Southern California automotive writer and appraiser to CEO of the Audrain Motorcar Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. The conversation highlights his long friendship with Wayne Carini, how he helped launch Wayne's TV career, and his collaboration with Jay Leno. They discuss the origins and vision behind the Audrain event, its connection to Newport's rich automotive and historic heritage, and the influence of prestigious events like Goodwood. The episode offers insights into the passion and dedication required to create a world-class classic car festival that celebrates history, preservation, and driving culture.
Original notes
On the road at the Chattanooga Motorcar Festival, Wayne and Jay sit down to talk to Donald Osborne about his journey of becoming the CEO of the Audrain Group and the creation of Audrain's Motor week in Newport, Rhode Island.
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TCC Team: Wayne Carini, Jay Ward & Matt Strauss
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