The Avants Podcast
Avants
Updated 6 days agoJoin hosts Dan Putnam and Nick Bergeron as they get to know industry leading guests beyond just what they drive. The Avants Podcast is never scripted and never predictable, but it’s always a good time and full of surprises. You won’t find any boring reviews that sound like reading off a pre-planned info sheet, ”history of” shows that are reworded Wikipedia articles, or advertisements for the next new foam mattress here! The Avants Podcast focuses on making sure guests are always authentic, just like your hosts.
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Episodes (447)
From Offroad Panigales to High Mileage Ferraris with Arun Sharma
This week we talk with Arun Sharma, General Manager of Ferrari Newport Beach. More than selling cars, Arun has a long history in the motorcycle world when he ran Motorcorsa. Arun has some great insights on the past, present, and future of Ferrari as well as some really fun stories of his time in the business. Explicit, unfiltered content warning
Going Even Bigger in 2023!
We welcome our long time friends STEK USA as an official sponsor of the Avants Podcast! 2022 was a great year for us and we had some amazing guests, but we think we can do even better in 2023 with their help! Avants has more events, more partners, and we’re growing into even more places. Adam and Krissy join us for this episode and we share our favorite memories of 2022 and share what you should be looking forward to most for 2023.
The Motorsports Photographer Every Photographer Aspires to Be: Jamey Price
You don’t have to be a photographer to really love this episode with Jamey Price, but if you are, you are in for a real treat! Jamey is one of the most successful, talented, awarded, and well known photographers in motorsports today. We get Jamey’s fun story of moving from Steeplechase Horse Racing all the way to his incredibly successful career as a motorsports photographer. You probably know Jamey’s work, so now it’s time to get to know Jamey!
Acclaimed Artist and Driver Stefan Johansson
Stefan is one of those people who just never stops amazing us. From racing Formula 1 and Endurance Driving and then going on to become the incredible artist he is today, he seems to have that golden touch. Stefan starts us off with his stories of racing at the most hardcore time in history to his decision to move to full time artist. Stefan will have a section in an upcoming edition of the Avants magazine for you to see his latest work, but also has a studio you can go visit down in California! We plan to take him up on that generous offer as soon as we can.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and You Probably Want an RC Car
It’s almost Christmas and we hope you are enjoying the holidays! If you’re still looking for some last minute gifts, we’ve got a few ideas for any budget, but on this episode we have a chat about our Christmas lists and hopefully you’ll get a few ideas from us.
Artist Lyn Hiner is as Fun and Friendly as She is Talented
Thanks to Avants Chief Editor Karl Knoakes, we had the pleasure of interviewing the exceptionally talented Lyn Hiner. Lyn is a truly incredibly artist; her paintings would be as at home in a luxury garage as they would be in an executive office or your living room. If you’re looking for the perfect addition to top off your collection, this is definitely your stop. Check our the gallery attached to this episode page and see more of Lyn’s work on her webpage or Instagram.
Demystifying Licensing Your Vehicle with Michael Lencioni
Michael Lencioni of Canyon Park Vehicle Licensing answers all of our many questions about the unfortunate mystery of vehicle licensing. You would think it would be pretty easy to register a car or know what you need to sell a car, but if you're buying out of state, buying a car with damage, or buying a car with a lien holder, you may have some questions. Lucky for you, now you have a resource to call who can help you through the entire process. Contact Michael at Canyon Park Licensing: https://www.canyonparklicensing.com/ *Correction on the Florida fees - Florida has the highest documentation fees in the United States, with an average document fee of $670. Florida has no cap on how much dealerships can charge for this service, but it is not because they handle all licensing, they just are not regulated in this doc fee area.
Extra Episode! Our Worst Car Mistakes and Some Winter Project Updates
This extra episode is all about our mistakes and of course our potential for more of them as we start our winter projects! Recently an R34 GTR made the rounds on Bring a Trailer, and after some sleuthing by the community it was determined to have quite the problem history of an extensive list of repairs that were undisclosed by the seller. This sparked the thought of what was our most expensive car mistake? Dan discusses a former 2011 C63 AMG and 1993 RX7 while Nick shares his toasty Subaru adventure. None of these were bad cars be design, but much like the R34 GTR, mods and a questionable history led to their demise. Worst of all, we probably could have avoided all of our problems! Tune in and share our pain.
Rocking Out With Rick Dore
We partnered with our friends at LeMay - America’s Car Museum to do a live podcast with legendary designer Rick Dore. Rick is most famously responsible for being the man behind the collection of Metallica front man, James Hetfield, and his designs have made front pages and centerfolds for just about every automotive magazine in the industry. Tune in to learn all about his design process and be sure to check out the extensive gallery, courtesy of Jake Welk at LeMay.
The Incredible Collection of Larry Vollum
This week we got a chance to talk with collector and racer Larry Vollum. Avants Charter members have had the chance to see this collection first hand, but the stories are as cool as his collection! Larry Vollum has been collecting rare and unusual cars for decades. Larry’s fascination with importing vintage rally cars and his past racing experiences has provided him the opportunity to acquire some unicorns. His stories of acquisition are almost as cool as the cars themselves. He’s also probably our only guest who knows how to take the wheels off a 959, because he has one.
Rally With The Rimmers
This special episode was recorded live in front of almost 100 of our Avants Charter Members at the incredible Rimmer family warehouse! We welcome Steve, James, and Josie Rimmer to the show as we get to know the family behind DirtFish Rally School and their stories. Alternative working titles for this episode are "Whatever Josie Says" and "Josie Rimmer and her Dad and brother."
The New Vintage of Vintage Underground
This week we talk to Joe Potter, founder of Vintage Underground in Eugene, OR all about the fine art of converting vintage Jaguar E-Types into modern, electric masterpieces. Vintage Underground may be based in Eugene, OR, but this is no mom and pop restoration shop. Vintage Underground is a cutting edge restoration shop that specializes in British and European cars and is now a pioneer in the electric conversion business. Tune in to hear all about them and their current work and the exciting work around the corner.
Going to Plaid with Steve Bortolotti
This week on the show we welcome Steve Bortolotti, General Manager of the IMSA winning team Pfaff Motorsports! You probably know the Pfaff livery even if you don’t follow IMSA racing since they have the best looking Porsche on the track in it’s clearly Canadian plaid wrap. Steve tells us all about the high and lows of racing, modding his Time Attack RX8, and a whole lot more. We can’t wait to see what Pfaff does in 2023 in the new 992!
Michelle Miller Can Teach You All the Right Racing Moves
Continuing our trend of long overdue interviews, this week we have Michelle Miller! When she’s not busy co-driving for Lucy Block at Hoonigan, Michelle is an instructor with our friends at DirtFish. Listen in to hear all about her exciting life in both the driver and passenger seat.
The Long Overdue Interview With Matt Bell of The Shop
In this interview that’s about 5 years overdue, we talk to Matt Bell, founder of The Shop Clubs. Matt talks about being able to “scratch all his creative itches” with The Shop Clubs, his expansion to Texas, motorcycle trips through Europe, and so much more! Matt is a true enthusiast who does a lot for the car community and a great partner for Avants that you should know. Be sure to check out The Shop at https://theshopclubs.com/.
Motomods! An Episode for Our Friends on 2 Wheels!
We drive everything here at Avants, but a lot of us ride everything too! Dan’s been riding basically his whole life, and even worked in the industry for a while, and Nick’s done just about everything you can think of to his Monkey and CRF450RL, so on this episode we discuss some of our favorite and least favorite mods. We think you can use this episode to get some fun Christmas ideas too. We recommend a Grom or a Monkey since they fit comfortably by the tree.
Turning Accidents into Art with Christi Schimpke of Crash Jewelry
This week we talked with the very talented Christi Schimpke, owner and designer at Crash Jewelry! Crashing your car rarely is a good feeling outside of a figure 8 at your local track, but Christi has taken tragedy and turned that twisted metal into jewelry you'll actually want to wear. She sells special items she has curated herself through her connections in the autobody industry or you can work with her to design a special piece from your own crash or restoration. Christmas is coming, so here's a great idea for all of our listeners looking for something special and different.
Euroadtrip!
If driving around Europe isn't on your bucket list, it definitely should be. Dan spent almost a month doing just that and has some great tips to make your life a little easier as you navigate around hidden speed cameras, tolls, roundabouts, and other things it may take you a little while to warm up to in Europe. He also talks about learning how to blow from a tall, beautiful Viking and really likes Chamonix.
If You Love Events At DirtFish As Much As We Do, You’ve Got Brian Dallas To Thank!
We work a lot with Marketing and Events Manager Brian Dallas at DirtFish. From Avants Off-Road, to WagonFest, to the DirtFish SummerFest, and MANY more, it seems like we're always at DirtFish and we wouldn't have it any other way. We get to know Brian a little better and talk about his love for Minis, cycling, and of course all things Rally. We even got a few surprise visits from some other friends at DirtFish while we were there!
BaT + Avants = Love
In this very special episode of the Avants Podcast we team up with Bring a Trailer Co-founder and President Randy Nonnenberg to announce a very special partnership with Avants! Randy shares his favorite BaT memories, his cars, the Covid car buying boom, and more on this surprise episode!
The Keys to Success with Daniel Chae of Formawerx
If you're looking for that perfect finishing touch for your car, then prepare to be a fan of Daniel Chae and his company, Formawerx. Formawerx creates keys for cars, but not just simple replacements. Think of Formawerx keys as like buying a luxury watch for your car, and once you see them you're going to want one. This was no accident though, Daniel took his success from working and designing at Oakley to designing these beautiful keys, which all have a story that fits the cars they are designed for perfectly. Formawerx makes keys for everything for FJ40s to McLaren F1s, so be sure to check them out at https://formawerx.com. We had a few audio issues while recording this episode unfortunately, but it's still definitely worth a listen or a watch on YouTube.
Betim Berisha of BBI Autosport Comes Back to Talk About The Future
On this special episode of the Avants Podcast we get to catch up with Betim Berisha, owner and creator of BBI Autosport. Three years ago, on episode 95, we got to talk to Betim about his start here in the Pacific Northwest where he grew up with John Kleven, owner of Metropolitan Detail, and working with our friends over at Park Place Motors. In this episode Betim discusses building incredible Pikes Peak winning cars, building cars from scratch for Hoonigan racing, pushing the technology and development envelope of performance parts, and what the future mandate to move to electric cars means for the performance industry.
Auto Conduct - A Fresh, Artistic Take on Car Shows and Car Storage
This week we talk with Ezekiel Wheeler, the head of Auto Conduct. Ezekiel gives a long overdue fresh approach to car shows and a car storage facility, with an appreciation for all things automotive that those of us at Avants can certainly align with. Auto Conduct takes a fresh, artistic take on car shows that differentiates them from the standard “cars and coffee” we’ve all grown a little bored with by incorporating art, food trucks, entertainment, and more.
It’s Time to Start Planning Your Road Trip!
Did you know the best time for a road trip in the US is the last 2 weeks of September? That means it's time to start planning your next adventure and we're here to help you do it. Dan and Nick talk about their favorite road trip adventures, share a few tips and tricks, and remind you that Drive Everything isn't just the Avants motto, it's a way of life!
Chad Maglaque of ReCell EV Answers Every Question We Could Think of on EVs, Batteries, and Charging
We put out the ask to find someone who could really clear up the click-bait headlines and talk to us about EV batteries, charging, power grid problems, recycling, and more on EVs and Chad Maglaque really stepped up the plate. Chad in PNW native who moved down to Texas to start ReCell EV, one of the few companies tackling replacing and repairing EV batteries outside of the dealers. He is wealth of knowledge of all things EV and power and gives us some great answers.