Vintage Racing Podcast

After almost 2 years, it’s the final lap for Vintage Racing Podcast – this is our last episode. Please download all of our episodes if you haven’t already, and visit http://vintageracingpodcast.com right away, since the web site and media hosting will soon be cancelled. Please check out this last episode for a list of all of our wonderful guests, and a big, big thank you to all of my listeners!

My next guest, Jim Downing, has had a decades-long career in racing, beginning with club racing in the early 1960s, leading into many years as a successful IMSA racer with a long string of endurance races. Owner of Downing/Atlanta Racing, Jim is probably best known by some as the co-inventor and developer of the HANS device, which has become one of the most important pieces of driver safety equipment in existence. We talk about his start in racing, through development of his many cars, as well as many of his co-drivers, engineers, and collaborators over the years, the value of good race driving schools, restoring some of his historic race cars, even the future of rotary engines. Thanks for joining us, and please visit my web site for photos Jim provided that show just a few of his famous race cars – www.vintageracingpodcast.com

Many of you will have heard about the terrible firestorms that have taken more than 40 lives, displaced 20,000 people, burned thousands of homes and businesses. We were fortunate that our house was not taken by either of the two fire reaching towards our home, but we were scrambling to prepare to evacuate, and had packed our two trucks with a few clothes, food, and important business computers and papers. We lived with the expectation of evacuation for a few tense days while winds and flames raged on. We’ve had family, friends and colleagues evacuated, or burned out of homes or businesses. Sadly, the flames, and the heroic fight by 10,000 firefighters to stop them, continues. The day before the fires began, I had completed a great interview with Jim Downing, professional IMSA racer, current club racer, race support business owner, and co-inventor of the HANS device! I hope to get that interview released later this week, so stay tuned. Visit us at: http://vintageracingpodcast.com for more great content, and a link to the North Bay Fire Relief charity website.

Tom Cotter is not just a writer, though he’s on his 16th book, but a director of public relations for Charlotte Motor Speedway, owner of what became the largest motorsports marketing agency in the world, a judge at Amelia Island and many other venues, President of the group that tried to bring Formula 1 to the U.S. some years back, contributor and columnist for auto magazines, tour and event organizer, and star of Hagerty Insurance’s Barn Find Hunter, just to name a few of his accomplishments. More than that, Tom’s been a car fanatic since his childhood, and in this episode, we learn about his 1939 Ford Woody wagon that he’s owned since he was 15 years old, and which serves as a useful tool, that he talks about when we discuss strategies for finding old cars. And that is what many listeners will know Tom Cotter for best; his Barn Find Road Trip book series, and his Barn Find Hunter video series. In this episode, we talk about his books, including several biographies, his previous careers in the automotive and racing industry, where to find old cars, why people hoard cars, how to succeed in buying old cars, the future of car collecting and the driving experience, and I ask him what his toughest challenge has been to date, and his most rewarding. Thank you, Tom, and thanks to you listeners.

Have you listened to Part 1 of my conversation with ex-IMSA racer David Cowart? Then you’ll want to be sure to hear the rest of this great interview. There’s a bunch more we didn’t cover in the first part, so sit down (or get on your bike, Jeff), and listen to the rest of our conversation. In this part, David tells us much more about the successful IMSA career he shared with Kenper Miller with sponsorship from Red Lobster, and goes into detail about the March 82G and 83G cars they developed to run with either Chevy or Turbo BMW engines, thanks to their talented crew chief Jack Darren. With 750 horsepower in a 2000 lb. car, the car was a handful. I also talked with David about his stint as a race driving instructor, and his approach to teaching valuable lessons to aspiring drivers. David and Kenper retired from professional racing in the late 1980s, and then moved into vintage racing, first with an ex-John Surtees Lola T70, and then with another M1, and later, both the Chevy-March, and the Turbo Porsche March. David was inducted into the Sebring Hall of Fame, and was a panelist for BMW’s celebration of decades of racing in the U.S., along with Brian Redman, David Hobbs, and several other famous race car drivers. With partner Charles Menez, David promoted the 12 Hours of Sebring race for about 5 years. And he isn’t just into arcane technology; David tells us about his fascination with the new drag racing technology at the Gatornationals he likes to attend. Join us at http://vintageracingpodcast.com Now on Google Play Music for Android device users.

Don’t let David Cowart’s soft-spoken conversation with me fool you; David was one of IMSA’s most successful GT racers in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. David started drag racing his 1956 Chevy, then moved into club road racing in 1969 in what is now an ultra-rare car – a Fiat Abarth Double Bubble. David soon realized that road racing, and in particular, endurance racing, was for him, and he drove through his career in Porsches, including an RSR with Charles Miller, Jr., and most famously, with Kenper Miller in a BMW 3.5 CSL, and then with sponsorship and stunning livery from Red Lobster restaurant company, in a BMW M1 and then March 82G and 83G GT cars. David and I had an hour and a half conversation, so I’ve split it into two parts. We talk about the host of other interesting race cars he’s driven (a couple of them may surprise you), including during his vintage racing exploits; David tells us about his time as an instructor, his favorite tracks, his co-drivers, and much, much more. My thanks to David for a great conversation, and again to his fellow Road Racing Drivers Club member, Vintage Racing Podcast subject and helper, and talented winning race car driver, Jeff Kline. If you have been enjoying these podcasts, please tell your friends to subscribe on iTunes and subscribe to our RSS feed through our web site so you get notified of news and developments. Also, please leave positive ratings and reviews on iTunes. How do you do that? First, launch Apple’s Podcast app, then tap the search tab. Enter Vintage Racing Podcast, then tap the blue Search key at the bottom right. Tap the VRP graphic, then the Reviews tab. Tap Write a Review at the bottom, enter your iTunes password to login, then tap all 5 Stars to leave a rating. You can enter title text and content to leave a review, and then tap Send. I know, it’s a lot, but you only have to do it once to show a little love for all the effort it takes to bring these to you. And now, Part 1, with David Cowart.

My guest today is Ed Swart, who began his race career in the mid-1950s driving in International Rallies and karting in his homeland of the Netherlands, He was soon racing in road races at Zandvoort, and by 1964, Ed started his own racing team – Scuderia Auto Swart, which ran in FIA-Touring Car Challenge events in Europe, racing Fiat and Fiat-Abarth race cars. Ed won many FIA touring car races in 1964 and 1965, at which time the name was changed to Racing Team SAS, and that opened the door to factory support by Abarth. In 1969, with team member Rein Zwolsmann, the team won commercial sponsorship from pirate radio station Radio Veronica, and the team became Team Radio Veronica. Later, again with Rein Zwolsmann, Ed started the Canon Racing Team, with major sponsorship from the Canon company. Ed tells us of the hundreds of vintage and historic races he’s driven here in the States, as well as Europe, and South Africa. Ed has raced at 87 different tracks in 20 countries, in over 50 types of race cars, including Fiat-Abarths, various Chevrons, Ferraris, Lola T400 F5000, Shadow DN9B, and more. Ed shares the strong organizational skills that his father used to organize Dutch rallies, and which have served him well through his many roles as Race Director, Clerk of Course, Chief Steward for the FIA, Chief Steward for SVRA, and owner for 13 years of HSR-West. Ed is completing a book about his history and racing life and experiences, which should hopefully be released early 2018. In this conversation, we also talk about some of his favorite race cars, examples of his “never give up” attitude, and his penchant for mixing his hobbies with business. Visit: http://vintageracingpodcast.com and www.apexspeed.com  

My guest today is Ed Swart, who began his race career in the mid-1950s driving in International Rallies and karting in his homeland of the Netherlands, He was soon racing in road races at Zandvoort, and by 1964, Ed started his own racing team – Scuderia Auto Swart, which ran in FIA-Touring Car Challenge events in Europe, racing Fiat and Fiat-Abarth race cars. Ed won many FIA touring car races in 1964 and 1965, at which time the name was changed to Racing Team SAS, and that opened the door to factory support by Abarth. In 1969, with team member Rein Zwolsmann, the team won commercial sponsorship from pirate radio station Radio Veronica, and the team became Team Radio Veronica. Later, again with Rein Zwolsmann, Ed started the Canon Racing Team, with major sponsorship from the Canon company. Ed tells us of the hundreds of vintage and historic races he’s driven here in the States, as well as Europe, and South Africa. Ed has raced at 87 different tracks in 20 countries, in over 50 types of race cars, including Fiat-Abarths, various Chevrons, Ferraris, Lola T400 F5000, Shadow DN9B, and more. Ed shares the strong organizational skills that his father used to organize Dutch rallies, and which have served him well through his many roles as Race Director, Clerk of Course, Chief Steward for the FIA, Chief Steward for SVRA, and owner for 13 years of HSR-West. Ed is completing a book about his history and racing life and experiences, which should hopefully be released early 2018. In this conversation, we also talk about some of his favorite race cars, examples of his “never give up” attitude, and his penchant for mixing his hobbies with business. Visit: http://vintageracingpodcast.com and www.apexspeed.com  

Up next is part 2 of my long interview with the entertaining, talented, and interesting John Higgins. If you listened to part 1, you will have heard a bunch of great stories about John’s pro racing years, and transition into vintage racing. In part 2, John and I bop around from topic to topic and back; we talk about his favorite aspects of racing during the day, and vintage racing over these past many years. Then, John shares his thoughts and interests in vintage car collecting. We cover Triumph TR4s and TR6s, Lotus Elans, motorcycles, and more. We discuss pros and cons of vintage car auctions, investing in vintage cars, and the modern trend towards self-driving and all-electric vehicles. John shares his plans for upcoming races at the 24 Hr. of Daytona in the Fabcar Porsche, GT3 Cup Car, and a Carrera, and then he shares a funny story about a vintage race at Daytona a couple of years ago that epitomize the passion behinds the grassroots level of vintage motorsports! After that, it’s stories about Bobby Rahal, Tommy Kendall, Judy Stropus, and I talk about the many commonalities and connections so many Vintage Racing Podcasts guests share with each other, and John shares how he feels about the importance of these long-term relationships. We also talk about John’s inductance into the Road Racing Drivers’ Club. You can see why it took two episodes to cover the wide range of topics John Higgins had to share with all of us. I want to thank John again for taking the time to join us here at the podcast. Thanks for listening, and please tell your friends and colleagues about Vintage Racing Podcast, and please rate us highly on iTunes. Please visit: http://vintageracingpodcast.com and www.apexspeed.com  

My guest for this episode is John Higgins. John’s races include a bunch of IMSA events, 12 or 13 Daytona 24-hour races, at least that many events at Sebring, Camel Light races and many, many more. For many of those years, he and Chip Mead were co-drivers, but John shared wheel duties with a list of other professional and amateur drivers (John tells us a funny story about a certain celebrity driver). By his calculation, John has driven in 573 race and vintage race events, often in more than one class per race! His long list of races is almost equaled by his long list of race cars, just a few of which include the Fabcar Camel Light car, a bunch of Porsches, including the 1969 LeMans winning 910 now residing in the Bruce Myers collection. John still races one of the only 6 center-steer 718 RSKs ever built, in which he and his cohorts have won dozens of vintage races, and which also won a best in class award at the Amelia Island Concours. John is also a car collector, and he shares his philosophy of car selection that many of us can relate to. John spent almost two hours talking with me, sharing some of this rich history, some funny stories of life on the racing circuit, and the importance of building friendships and associations throughout his life. I’ve split our conversation into two parts to be released about a week apart, and I am confident that when you listen to part 1, you will not want to pass over part 2 - you’d miss too many fascinating stories about some of the most interesting people in racing. I also recommend you listen when you can go online to look at many of John’s race cars. Visit our website: http://vintageracingpodcast.com and check out: www.apexspeed.com  

Joining Greg this time is Jeff Kline - hugely successful past professional race car driver, and now active vintage race car driver - and previous guest in January of this year. This time around, Jeff shares his experiences at the Weathertech International Challenge with Brian Redman at Road America at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. However, this time around, Jeff’s fortunes at the race ended early with a failed engine, and Jeff will tell us about that. Jeff and Greg also catch up on general classic car talk, so be sure to listen in. Thanks for joining us, and please visit http://vintageracingpodcast.com

Joining me today is Roger Mandeville, one of IMSA’s most dominant racecar drivers in the 1970’s and 1980s, and raced professionally for 26 years. Roger began his professional career in 1971, starting with an Open Kadett, then a Ford Pinto, even an AMC Pacer, but became inextricably linked with Mazdas. Roger has been known not only as a winning race driver and team owner, but as an eminent rotary engine builder for 40 years. Roger spent most of his career in endurance races, with a few longer sprint races whenever they occurred on the IMSA schedule. At his race team’s peak, Mandeville Racing Enterprises ran two cars and several drivers, and during his professional career, Roger has raced in around 200 events. In this episode, we learn about Roger’s start in racing, his early years racing Mazdas which later developed into some factory support, as he moved up the ladder from RS-2s to RX-7s, and ever-increasing horsepower and road speeds. Although he is modest about his contributions to the development of the Mazda rotary engine, listeners will get a good idea in this episode just some of his accomplishments that keep Roger in demand as a rotary race engine builder. We go into some technical detail about 2 rotor, 3 rotor, and 4 rotor engines. After retiring from professional racing, Roger drove vintage cars from the Briggs Cunningham collection; he tells us about his favorite race car from those years, and he also tells us about some of his many co-drivers, some of his toughest competitors, and his favorite tracks. My web site includes a number of links to Roger’s race cars and racing career, and Roger and his wife Nancy kindly supplied several photographs you’ll want to see, so please visit: http://vintageracingpodcast.com where you’ll also be able to find all of our podcast episodes, and much more. Thanks for joining us! And visit: www.apexspeed.com

My guest this time on Vintage Racing Podcast is a master fabricator and top-level restorer, Joe Cavaglieri. Joe’s 50 years of experience began with his many years working on an impressive array of race teams and builders that include Peter Brock, Brad Friselle, Ryan Falconer, Frank Garcia and others, preparing cars for top level race drivers that include previous guest, John Morton, as well as Al Unser Jr., George Follmer, James Hunt, Leila Lombardi, John Hotchkis, Robert Kirby, and more. Joe spent those years in high-intensity learning mode on F5000 cars, the Frisbee Can-Am car, Indy cars, managing race cars, race teams, handling mechanical and fabrication duties, and more. This experience provided the foundation for Joe when he started his restoration business in 1984, first restoring a Lotus 19, with more work being referred by clients and colleagues since that first day. Joe and I spoke for over an hour about many of the details of his early years in racing, through to beginning his restoration business, in which he has become known as a top-level master craftsman with a focus on ultra-rare and unique Porsches for wealthy car collectors and celebrities. Joe and I talk about the range of Porsche Spyders he has restored, and we discuss some of his philosophy on the degree, and the point of a car’s history to which it should be restored. We also get a little technical, with a discussion about panel forming in aluminum, tools he uses and prefers, and metal shaping techniques, and Joe shares his favorite aspects, and most notable challenges with his work. Visit my web site at: http://vintageracingpodcast.com and: www.apexspeed.com for a great racer's forum and resource.

You’re getting ready to listen to Part 2 of my long conversation with longtime, accomplished and talented race car driver, Rick Knoop. In Part 1, you learned a little about Rick’s early days in racing, and heard me introduce s sample of the race cars and race series in which Rick drove, either solo in sprint races, or as part of a high-powered team in endurance races. We pick up where we left off, but in this part, Rick covers a lot of ground as he winds his way through the decades, weaving in and out to talk about racing partners, his favorite cars, favorite tracks, and what he considers important to keeping a car in one piece throughout a race that lasts 6, 12, or 24 hours. It’s an unstructured, easygoing conversation, with Rick covering a lot of ground. If you haven’t already Googled Rick and checked out the many web sites, videos, and information about his career, do it while listening to this episode. Visit: http://vintageracingpodcast.com

By now, many Vintage Racing Podcast listeners have heard Part One of my conversation with Rick Knoop, longtime professional race car driver. Rick’s passion for all things mechanical, and all aspects about race cars and racing have helped propel him through a successful career, which we have started to learn about in Part One, and will learn more about in Part Two of our conversation, which will be released soon. Produced by Rick Knoop and Dean Kirkland as a tribute to Fred Knoop, Racing Through the Forest is a documentary filmed over about 3 years, and is packed with 50 interviews with luminaries including Sir Stirling Moss, Bill Pollack, Jim Hall, Phil Remington, Pete Brock, Jim Hall, and many, many more. The documentary provides a concise, engaging, and fascinating look at early American sports car racing in California, and is at times funny, poignant, and surprising. Racing Through The Forest is available online at: http://racingthroughtheforestmovie.com/home where you can learn more about the documentary, look at photos, and even a trailer. Look for Part Two of my conversation with Rick Knoop, coming soon. http://vintageracingpodcast.com  

With a career spanning 5 decades, my conversation with successful race car driver, Rick Knoop, is only the tip of the iceberg. Here we learn about many of the wide variety of race cars he’s driven, many of the co-drivers with whom he’s shared a cockpit (Rick is at home with sprints as with endurance races), and Rick shares some of his philosophy on racing, and importantly, keeping a car on the track and in the race until the finish. Rick presents little sidebars and story gems that help paint the picture of his racing days, past and present (be sure to search the internet for videos of Rick driving the 1972 McLaren M8F, and his Pikes Peak Hill Climb footage). This is a long conversation, so I’m splitting it up into two episodes. If you listen to part one, you will definitely want to also listen to part two, because there is a LOT covered in each episode. Please visit our website: http//vintageracingpodcast.com and stop in at: www.apexspeed.com

Returning for a conversation this time is Locke de Bretteville, President of the California Sports Racing Group. Today we’re talking about the upcoming David Love Vintage Car Road Races at Sonoma Raceway, from March 31 through April 2. Locke reviews the history of this race and its namesake, David Love, a co-founder of the CSRG, now in its 50th season. We talk about the race schedule, run groups, including new and expanded groups, and about the somewhat later cars now admitted to the club’s races. This race is a tie-in with two other 50th anniversaries – Formula Ford series they’re calling the Crossflow Cup, and the Continental Series, the original series for Formula B and Formula A, later F5000. Locke and I talk about how CSRG reaches out to younger members, and discussions by the club on admitting later some later race cars, and Locke shares his thoughts on the future of vintage and contemporary auto racing, including Formula E, and virtual auto racing. I ask Locke how the club’s expansion of Group 8 is coming along, which sparks a discussion about handling larger run groups when turnout can be inconsistent from race to race. We also talk about participation by spectators, as well as local car collector’s groups and driving clubs, and we get into a discussion about several of the fastest drivers in the CSRG, such as Dan Marvin, a previous guest on Vintage Racing Podcast. Thanks for joining us, and hope that some of our listeners will be heading out to the beautiful Sonoma Raceway for the upcoming event.

Vintage Racing Podcast listeners seem to share my goal of making the episodes interesting to a wide range of listeners, including professional mechanics and race car preparers, ex-professional racers, relatively uninformed spectators, current vintage racers, and vintage car lovers and collectors. Some listeners have asked for more conversations with famous ex-racers or professional race prep shop operators, while others have asked for interviews with the regular folks who race vintage cars for fun, having never professionally raced, or maybe not even club raced during a car’s production era. I think that’s because we can appreciate and learn from the pros, but we can relate to the amateurs like ourselves. One of the recurring themes of the conversations on Vintage Racing Podcast is how to keep vintage cars and vintage racing relevant to younger generations. With the rising costs of vintage race and street cars, parts, and preparation, and the rising costs of getting to the track and competing, coupled with the aging of professionals who maintain, rebuild and repair these cars, it’s reasonable to assume that vintage racing will have to include later cars, and in some cases, more acceptance of later modifications. My guest this episode is Kevin Corrigan, from Michigan, near Detroit. Kevin was recommended to me by Rich, a listener who shared suggestions for contemporary racers of vintage cars. Kevin could just as easily be club racing a spec-Miata or other late production car, but for a variety of reasons he shares, prefers to vintage race an Alfa Romeo GTV2000. Kevin works in the automotive industry, and although he may not be able to share decades of racing experience with listeners, he does share is his viewpoints and enthusiasm as a young participant in the sport, which I think is something that vintage race organizations need to encourage. Thanks for joining us on Vintage Racing Podcast, and please be sure to check out our web site at http://vintageracingpodcast.com where you can download all of our episodes, see great photos from the track and the shop at Dave Vegher's Veloce Motors West, pictures of listeners' cars, and find some great links to vintage racing resources. Also, please be sure to visit: www.apexspeed.com  

My guest this time on Vintage Racing Podcast is John Morton, a man with many accomplishments that include movie stuntman, mechanic, fabricator, and of course, talented, winning race car driver who has secured many championships in a dazzling array of race cars throughout a career that spans almost 50 years. He is perhaps best known for his stint with BRE, racing a Datsun 510 and a 240Z, winning National Championships in SCCA C Production and the 2.5 Trans-Am, but until retiring from professional race car driving in 2001, John was a class winner at Road America and LeMans, and outright winner at Sebring, and raced in IMSA GTP in a variety of scary-fast cars. In the years since retiring as a pro, John has driven an assortment of vintage race cars for their owners and teams. Our conversation today touches on the highlights of John’s rich career. John tells us about his start in racing, moving quickly into the winner’s circle, as well as the years in club racing, F5000, IMSA, Can-Am, and talks about what it’s like to drive cars that differ so much from one another. John shares his thoughts about short road course races compared to long endurance races, both of which he has much experience with. We also talk about vintage technology vs. race cars today, his partner, novelist Sylvia Wilkinson, and we end with some of John’s upcoming vintage races he’s got planned. I’ve included a list of a bunch of web site URLs that cover various parts of John’s career, his cars, and even other interviews with John, so make sure you check out www.vintageracingpodcast.com for more information. Thanks for joining us!

Today I am very pleased to present Conrad Stevenson, of Conrad Stevenson Restorations in Berkeley, California. Conrad is a real car nut with serious skills as a restoration artist, has hand-fabricated vintage Alfa Romeo bodies, and brought many Alfas and other Italian cars to concours beauty. Conrad is also a participant of many famous vintage car rallies, and has provided mechanical support services for the California Mille since 1991. Don’t let that lead you to believe Conrad is a snob; he is also an enthusiastic participant in the 24 Hours of LeMons in his Ecurie Ecrappe Alfa Spider. In our conversation, Conrad shares his early influences leading to a life of cars, and talks about his friends, collaborators and valued clients who share his goals and vision for his high standards of workmanship. Conrad tells us about his experiences in the La Carrera Panamericana, and why he has so thoroughly enjoyed this event. We also talk about the future of vintage car racing and collecting, how to elevate the interest and involvement of the younger generation, and how we can get the most out of our own experiences with our cars. Visit http://vintageracingpodcast.com