TMCP #399: Seth Withers, Our New Muscle Car Place Network Sales Director – Pro-Touring Update with Larry Callahan

This week our guest was Seth Withers, our brand new sales director for The MuscleCar Place Network of shows. After ten years of building our network shows the shows to an amazing level of production and content, I knew that to achieve our goal of “big time” it would require a full time Sales Sales Director to place over the entire network. This person had to have a sales track record, be a real car guy or gal already, be a fit with out existing team, and (most importantly) be a true believer in our podast network already. As always, I asked my existing listeners for help….and Seth was the fit we needed. He is a long time listener of both The MuscleCar Place and the Kibbe and Friends show and he is anxious to start working with the team. He began a few months ago and we’re now going public with it!

Pro-Touring Update with Larry Callahan: Good Guys Columbus and Des Moines results, APOLLO Astronaut Corvette’s, and the never ending saga of his ’68 Camaro!

TMCP #394: Mike Paul: Liquidating a Massive Buick, Olds, Pontiac Collection of Documented Rare Cars Needing Restoration – Pro-Touring Update with Larry Callahan

Liquidating a huge collection of Buick, Olds, and Pontiacs:

This week our guest was Mike Paul, the host of the Motor Madhouse Podcast and life long muscle car fanatic. His love of cars goes back to his upbringing and he has learned a lot from his father where he helped him curate a collected of Buick, Olds, and Pontiac muscle cars that were all well documented (and rare enough) to warrant a restoration. Many have highly rare option combinations, or in one case ONLY go fast options and nothing else. Mike told the details and gives some history on some of the cars which was fascinating on many levels. While they did have the chance to restore many cars, but there’s only so much time in life and the reality was they’d never see them all done. This discussion is all about liquidating the collection and moving them on to new homes!

TMCP #391: DIY Alignment: TMCP Listeners Get 15% All QuickTrick Alignment Tools with Checkout Code “QTMUSCLE”! – April’s “All Electric Speed” Pro-Touring update with Larry Callahan

This week I talk to Gil Winningham from Quick Trick Alignment products. You may remember hearing the name before as I had Tess Winningham on the show back in 2015. Gil has stepped in since then has been working hard on social medial and promotions ever since. He is also a racer and spends weekends at the track with the QuickTrick Honda Accord and also helping out other racers with alignments.

Gil’s step dad Gary created the system to help him change alignment settings at the track or at least to save himself from hauling his race car to an alignment shop every week. People at the track saw this invention and wanted one for themselves and a business was created. Gil says that QuickTrick is always adding new products that enhance the portable alignment tool and save customers time and money.

TMCP #388: 5 Years And Counting of Building Hot Rods at Street Metal Concepts – March Pro-Touring Update with Larry Callahan

In this episode I talked once again to my dear friend Zip Simons, co-owner of Street Metal Concepts in Orlando Florida. Zip and Don Endonino put the paint and finishing touches on my Chevelle in 2016. It is hard to believe that it has been that long since they have been on the show even though I talk to them often since then.

Street Metal Concepts Humdinger on Diesel Power Magazine cover
Zip and Don have been working on cars for a very long time now and I wanted to get some behind the scenes info. He said that one of SMC’s biggest features is it’s record keeping. Every “valuable” hour is documented with what work was done and what decisions were made. This information is then provided back to the customer so they are comfortable with what is being done to their treasured vehicle. Zip says a lot of time is spent on project planning and documentation but in the long run it is all worth it. They also provide photo documentation on an ongoing basis and many customers look forward to the pictures of how the process is going. It keeps them involved and interested instead of becoming a drop it off and forget it relationship. Zip wants them to understand what is going on and what is involved.

Butch Poes ’63 Chevy II by Street Metal Concepts
Creating a custom vehicle is an emotional roller coaster and the guys want the customers to know this right up front. Quite often they get unfinished projects from other shops and this is usually due to the lack of a relationship. These vehicles are not a necessity and emotionally driven and the emotions run out before the project gets finished. Zip and Don want the customer to be comfortable and know the ball is in their court.

TMCP #385: Gray Fredrick of Advanced Fuel Dynamics, A Simple Way To Get Affordable E85 Power with an E85 Engine Tune! – 2019 Pro-Touring Kickoff with Larry Callahan

In this episode I spoke to Gray Fredrick, the sales director for Advanced Fuel Dynamics. AFD’s entire goal is to maximize the affordable power-adder benefit available in E85 fuel…but without the need for an E85 specific engine tune. Why? Because E85 fuel is an inconsistent blend pump-to-pump and state to state. With that said however, they have found a way to let the ECM do the job needed to gain that happy wonderful octane supplement  and this discussion is all about that very process. The OEM’s have found a way to utilize E85 well enough with fuel economy in mind….but performance is the objective of AFD.

TMCP #373: Holy Fiberglass, Batman! Mark Racop of FiberGlass Freaks; Making Screen Accurate and Brand New 1966 Batmobiles; Pro-Touring Update with Larry Callahan

This weeks interview is with Mark Racop, founder and owner of Fiberglass Freaks, builders of 1966 Batmobiles that are Officially Licensed by DC Comics!

At a young age Mark was fascinated by the Batmobile and knew he had to have one of his own someday. This was no passing fancy or little boys dream, it was a definite passion. During high school Mark and his friends decided to create a fan fiction batman episode and of course they had to have the ultimate prop to do it with. Using very limited resources and a 1974 Monte Carlo the boys built from scratch the car now known as Bat-One. Later on the television studio finally re-released the entire Batman series and Marks dad recorded all 160 episodes on VHS. Mark spent many many hours watching, pausing, and replaying the tapes for clues on how the vehicle was built. There are pictures of him at car shows posing next to the show vehicles and even these family photos got pulled into use as reference points.

TMCP #370: Dave Hall from Restore A Muscle Car on Trans Ams, The Restoration Business, and Working with Burt Reynolds; Pro-Touring Update with Larry Callahan – Good Guys Colorado Results

Today’s show is with Dave Hall, founder of Restore a Muscle Car, lover of Trans Am (and all muscle cars), and even a past show guest (episode 38). Restore A Muscle Car is an impressive restoration business that he and his wife have built together that restores all muscle cars, but is always the one I think of first when it comes to the “Bandit” Trans Am. They also had a close relationship with Burt Reynolds (The Bandit) himself!

TMCP #367: Brotherly Love at it’s Best – A Pontiac Firebird Restored in Memoriam; The Pro-Touring Update Featuring Larry Callahan’s 21st Century 6-banger ’55 Chevy

Today’s show is perhaps one of the most important we’ve ever done at TMCP, and frankly speaking – it’s the real reason this show started in the first place. Our guest is Brandon Bailey, a man I’ve never met in person but one that I was convinced my my great friend Kirk Hansen that I needed to know. Brandon had just purchased Kirk’s Firebird in order to restore it as the feature car for a very-soon upcoming fundraiser to raise money in memoriam for the family of his best friend Daniel. This is the story of that journey.

Branden Bailey had a best friend, Daniel Reed and they met at a sandlot baseball game before they were teenagers. These two became best friends as close as brothers and did everything together. They grew up riding bikes, playing football, and watching Smokey and the Bandit enough to wear out the tape. When Daniel was offered a 1980 Firebird his dreams of a car like in the movie came true. The boys spent many hours changing motors and fixing on the Firebird and driving around having a great time. Daniel was struck by a car while riding his motorcycle to work and passed away. Local friends and relatives put together a memorial run to raise money for his 8 year old son and wife that he left behind. Branden said around 70 cars showed up for the drive and everyone had a great time.