TMCP #447: Packing Chutes at 300MPH – Live NHRA Event with Clay Millican; NPD’s Ask Rick – Should an Election Outcome Change Your Business Strategy?
Presented with Holley! Holley has two insane contests going on right now, and you can enter! Click here to enter to win a $20,000 small block Ford AND David Freiburger’s ’66 Buick! http://bit.ly/TMCPHolleyRoadkill and http://bit.ly/TMCPHolleyFord
This week is another LIVE FROM THE SCENE interview and this time from our show producer Bernie McPartland. He was able to attend the recent AAA Texas Fall Nationals this past October and record a track side interview with Clay Millican himself!
Also in this show: NPD’s Ask Rick on whether or not to change business tactics after the election.
TMCP #429: The Real Scoop with NPD’s Rick Schmidt: How Will The Covid-19 Shutdown Affect The Automotive Restoration Business Economy?
Happy May 2020! With some of the country starting to re-open I thought that this episode would be appropriate for a special edition all “Ask Rick” show with Rick Schmidt from NPD. Rick’s monthly segment has been highly popular with so many of you due to his straightforward approach to all questions asked, and I specifically wanted to hear how COVID-19 is affecting the automotive aftermarket and restoration economy. The short answer is…things aren’t exactly as you think they might be!
Holley, with the help of Prestige Motorsports, Dart, and TorqStorm, have concocted a 427 cubic inch, twin-supercharged combo that is capable of sending absurd levels of good old-fashioned V8 horsepower to the pavement! The retail value of all of the components totals up to $23,364.44 and all you have to do to get a shot at winning is to SIGN UP HERE! Here is the direct link to use: https://bit.ly/KAFS-Holley-LS-Sweepstakes
TMCP #401: The Best Car Buying Trips Ever with NPD’s Rick Schmidt
This weeks episode features a full show dedicated to a catch up on e-mails as well as our popular “Ask Rick” segment to discuss the two best things in car life: road trips, and buying cars on road trips!
That led to the discussion of purchasing two of his dream cars as well; his ’67 GTO and his 1969 Boss 429 Mustang. In the case of the Boss, it was his lifelong dream car. He had a feeling that prices were only going up so he borrowed some cash from his sister and put the deal together. Listen in to find out how prophetic that decision was….for both the GTO and the Boss!
TMCP #398: Vintage Air’s Rick Love – A/C Systems and Troubleshooting for Every Muscle Car; NPD’s Ask Rick – Tools That Sell, Toys that Don’t, and Fireworks on the 4th!
Happy 4th of July, 2019! This week our guest was Rick Love, the executive vice president of Vintage Air, manufacturer extraordinaire of cutting edge air conditioning retrofit products. Listen in to hear how and why they make everything – even their plastic – in house! Plus, hear what the NUMBER ONE issue that occurs after a Vintage Air installation (hint – it has to do with the way the system is charged).
TMCP #395: Tommy Lee Byrd, Coker Tires for Classic Muscle and Everything else – Ask Rick; See You at the Races?
This week our guest was Tommy Lee Byrd,Marketing and PR Coordinator for the Coker Tire Company. He is from Tennessee and was referred to us by Mike Finnegan. He grew up around drag cars and racing so when he went off to college he just wanted to be around cars. Tommy’s dad even sold everything he could to buy him a 64 Corvette coupe as a gift. He also owns a 1964 Chevelle that is his “Grandma car” and just plain fun to drive around in.
Coker tire got it’s start in 1960 when Harold Coker purchased a BF Goodrich dealership in Chatanooga TN and got access to the manufacturer of tires. He started ordering special build tires for antique vehicles made from antique tire molds. He either had the rights to use the name of the old tire manufacturers are he simply put Coker on the sidewalls and a brand was born. The family would go to car shows and advertise the tire at events catering to that market. Coker built up it’s collection of old tire molds after they were discontinued by the manufacturer.
Tommy Lee Byrd with his daughter and his 64 Corvette
By having contacts at the major tire manufacturers, they were able to make agreements to continue using the brand names on the tire made with these old molds. Tommy said that the radial tires with wide white walls that look like originals has really been Coker’s trademark over the years. Modern radials have better ride and tire life and really enhance the old vehicles in comfort and safety. The original Coker radial was the companies own design to be like the classic tires customers were looking for. Coker’s American classic tires are made in the USA using Coker molds.
TMCP #392: Sean Holman of The Truck Show Podcast; Loud, Proud, and Sometimes Annoying – Ask Rick, Why Isn’t All Shipping “Free?”
In this episode I spoke to Sean Holman, half of the Lightning and Holman duo that hosts the hit podcast “The Truck Show” for Motortrend. Mike Finnegan introduced us and the two shows have collaborated on a few things over the last year. Sean has always been fascinated with automotive topics and trucks but his start is not the typical story. Early on, Sean obtained a degree in criminal justice and wanted to be an officer. Unfortunately he did not like the bureaucracy and started looking for alternatives to his chosen career. On Sept 11, 2001 he was working in a Boeing factory working security supporting the Shuttle missions and had to make sure the plant was shut down and secure right after the attacks. Employees were watching the skies and listening to silence, unsure of what would happen next. Sean made the jump out of security right after that, by making contacts at Primedia and working his way into being the associate editor of Truckin’ magazine.
TMCP #389: AMC Expert Wayne Davis on Rare AMX’s and his Mark Donahue Trans Am Javelin Replica; NPD’s Ask Rick, The Ebb and Flow of The Restoration Market and Cool Mid 60’s Thunderbirds
Feature Interview: In this episode I spoke AMC muscle car expert, friend, and former article writer, Wayne Davis. It has been many years since Wayne was on the show so I wanted to catch up on life, cars, and fun! Wayne was attracted to AMC muscle cars at a young age through a relative and has developed a reputation for performing highly detailed restorations on them over the years. His portfolio of previous projects include some of the most rare optioned vehicles of the line. His current project though is his favorite so far: a highly accurate AMC Javelin Mark Donohue Trans Am tribute car, complete with period AMC race engine. Unlike his other restorations, this is a car he has no problem driving and taking to the track! The car is loud, fast, obnoxious, and gets attention wherever it goes.
On this edition of Ask Rick: I asked the long wondered listener question of “Is your hold music from the Dudley Moore movie, Arthur?” He did not immediately know, but we will find out in the next episode!
On a more serious note, one listener did want to know whether the aftermarket industry has experienced a downturn this year, and whether NPD has seen that as well. He hasn’t seen that for NPD and we discussed the attributing factors.
TMCP #386: Mike Fadel of Streetside Classics; Consigning Cars and Beating the Auctions – Ask Rick; Is There Value of Having Your Car Judged?
In this episode I spoke once again to friend of the show Mike Fadel, Director of Sales and Consignments at Streetside Classics. Streetside has made a major impact for both buyers and sellers of collector cars, muscle cars and otherwise by going strictly consignment and by utilizing massive amounts of data to fine tune where cars cab be bought and sold. And….it’s working! In just the last few years they’ve been growing at a rapid rate and I wanted to see if he could give me the hottest look at what 2019 holds.
Ask Rick: On this edition of Ask Rick Rick shared the final results from the recent AACA show in Ocala and regarding the judging of his 1955 Pontiac Star Chief specifically. He told me it passed with no issues! He went on to say that prior to AACA judging he did correct quite a few things with the car and he would be proud to enter it even into a Pontiac specific show. The vehicle specific shows are a bit different than AACA since the people that judge are specialists in those cars specifically where an AACA judge has a breadth of knowledge regarding all makes and models. The AACA shows do a great job of judging overall quality of a vehicle as a collector car and is something to look for when purchasing a car.
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 #383: Auction Insights! Bret Voelkel from Ride Tech at Barrett Jackson, and NPD’s Ask Rick Segment on the Growth of Mecum
This episode marks a fun trip to the January auctions! Our intrepid show producer Bernie McPartland was our man on the scene at Barrett Jackson in Scottsdale Arizona and while there caught up with Bret Voelkel of RideTech. To follow up with that, we had Rick Schmidt on to get his opinion on the auction world as a whole, both from a marketing perspective for NPD and as a buyer and seller of cars. I also really wanted his opinion on the higher-than-normal sales prices of “Resto-mod” Corvettes at the Barrett Jackson auction (which he does watch annually) vs their fully restored counterparts.