TMCP #516: Ask Rick – Is Removing the VIN Tag a Good Thing or Bad? Bonus Interview with Scott Janson from Woodward – Performance Variant Manager at General Motors

Happy September! Football is here and we can let the Fall celebrations begin. I once again got to catch up to Rick Schmidt from National Parts Depot to ask the burning questions that are on your mind to get his opinion on the burning questions we need to know most. Specifically, pulling VIN tags off of clunkers for a restoration, and Rick’s take on buying a 2023 HEMI car as an investment hedge! (To cut to the chase on the HEMI cars; Rick’s take is to skip the hype and pick up when in a few years. They’ll be plentiful and a better deal.)

TMCP #511: Calibrated GM, MOPAR, and Ford Engine Tuning Via E-Mail! Branden Leeb and Mike Carnahan, Elite Tuned and Elite Tuning School

This week I have the honor of interviewing Branden Leeb and Mike Carnahan of Elite Tuned and Elite Tuning School to explain the process of remotely – and iteratively – tuning fuel injected engines. Their specialty is GM Gen III, IV, and V engines and they recently they have added in both MOPAR and Ford tuning capability as well. Recently I had Elite tune my Chevelle when Zip Simons at Street Metal Concepts told me he used their services often. Man…was he ever right! In my case, they gave better results than I had received from two different shops that ran the car on a dyno. I was amazed at the compete difference in drivability and power delivery after the process was complete and I had to get an interview to find out the secret sauce that made such a difference.

TMCP #446: Holley MOPARTY 2020 Special #3 – Richard Meyers, The Very First Charger 500 – Tim Wellborn, Driving the K&K Insurance Daytona in the Footsteps of Legends – Pro-Touring Update with Larry Callahan

This week is the third of several interviews from the first ever Holley “MOPARTY” event held in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Friend of the show (and Holley marketing superstar) Blane Burnett was able to line us up with some great interviews at the event with some famous people. MOPAR lovers young and old will recognize the names of many of our guests. Since SEMA was a no go this year, I was determined to make the Holley MOPARTY a better than fitting replacement to our yearly special segments live from the event. The episode features the VERY FIRST Charger 500 ever built as well as the world famous (and Bonneville record setting) K&K Dodge Daytona!

TMCP #407: Kevin Hellman – Dodge Challenger Brand Manager and the Future of Halo Cars – Ask Rick, Those Crazy 70’s Cars!

This weeks show is with Kevin Hellman, the Dodge Challenger brand manager.   He was previously on the show in episode 403 as a part of the Roadkill Nights episode but I wanted to find out more about keeping the classic muscle style cars alive in new car packages.

Kevin grew up playing with almost anything with an engine just outside of St Louis Mo. He headed into college knowing he wanted to work in engineering but was not sure what. He added his Bachelor in Business later so he could know how to be a better brand manager. Kevin mentioned that the brand manager position is like being at the center of a wheel where all of the aspects of a brand radiate out and the manager is facilitating the connections making sure everyone communicates.

Classic cars have always been an extension of ones personality and the current line of muscle cars is no different. Kevin noticed that many people make their twitter handles or email addresses a description of their car and think that owners love and identify with their vehicles on a basic level. Dodge is working hard to keep the personal choices coming with eye catching colors like GoMango or Plum Crazy and performance options like the Hellcat and wide body packages.

TMCP #360: Tim Wellborn; The Wellborn Muscle Car Museum’s Amazing Fleet of ’71 HEMI Chargers, Daytona’s, and Fun!

Tim Wellborn; The Wellborn Muscle Car Museum’s Amazing Fleet of ’71 HEMI Chargers, Daytona’s, and Fun! You can get more information about the Wellborn Musclecar Museum at the website www.WellbornMusclecarMuseum.com  or on www.Facebook.com/wellbornmuseum. This is the VERY same museum where Mr. Daniel Boshears provides his Mopar mechanical services (as we discussed in Episode 346). Daniel provided the introduction, in fact!