May 2021 003

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ISO RIVOLTA IS BACK

years ago, we realized that the memory of the original celebration for this family brand, and we have been
A3/C, not a Grifo nor a Bizzarrini, was fading away. positively surprised with the welcome the market
gave to the new Iso Rivolta — a brand that had a great
“The two original A3/C cars manufactured with this impact on the GT manufacturing world in the 1960s.
shape, chassis BO 201 and BO 202, are still around,
but they raced all their life and have been restored “We thought everybody would like a fast Italian GT
several times with updated configurations,” Negri that can be comfortable to live with too.”
said. “With the approval of the Rivolta family, we
decided, backed by customer and dear friend Gerd In Italian, we would say, “Ottimo lavoro” — good
Eckstein, to recreate BO 201 — the 1963 Turin show job!
car, with its unpainted look, starting from an original,
shortened Iso Rivolta chassis.

“We found one of the original blueprints for
the chassis, and we had a lot of pictures to use as
references for the body,” Negri said. “It was, anyway,
a big task, and in the process, we did realize that
A3/C and the Bizzarrini 5300 share just one single
component: the rear windshield.

“Since this car, manufactured in 2009, we have built
another eight units, and we still have a couple of cars
to do before stopping any further manufacturing.”

When you see the replica A3/C and the Zagato
IsoRivolta GTZ together, it is easy to see the direct
resemblance, and the very similar sizes, which is a
great achievement, considering the more-stringent
homologation processes the GTZ had to undergo.

Rare out of the gate

The new Zagato IsoRivolta GTZ will not be easy to
find — or buy.

“We planned to manufacture 19 cars of this
first model,” said Marella Rivolta. “It is a sort of

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A Future Collectible?

AT FIRST GLANCE, it appears Iso Grifos simmered on the a 1970 Iso Grifo GL Series II car runs of C-Type and E-Type
that the new Zagato IsoRivolta back burner in the collector-car at RM Sotheby’s 2020 Amelia continuation cars as well, built
GTZ has a strong case for being market for years, but they’ve Island Auction to $346,000 in-house. They’re not alone
a future collectible. recently seen a sharp rise in for a 1967 Iso Grifo GL at RM in building new examples of
prices. Collectors appreciate Sotheby’s 2021 Scottsdale classic designs, from GTO
First, it’s the car that brought the beautiful Italian styling Auction. Engineering’s Ferrari 250 SWB
back the famous Iso Rivolta (from the pen of Giorgetto through the Pur Sang Bugatti
brand, and Zagato — a famous Giugiaro at Bertone) and the A 1965 Iso Grifo A3/C Type 35. Regardless of your
Italian carrozzeria — built the easy-to-maintain powertrain. Bizzarrini sold at $1,182,500 stance on originality versus
car. The combination makes for a at Mecum’s 2021 Kissimmee usability, there is a market here.
great GT car. Auction.
Second, only 19 of the cars In the end, the Zagato
will be built. Yes, Iso Grifos are a thing Now, there’s a big difference IsoRivolta GTZ will have to
right now. Turn to p. 172 in between a 2021 Zagato stand on its own merits — as a
Third, it’s a gorgeous car Linkage 002 to read Stephen IsoRivolta GTZ and a vintage driver and as a object of desire.
from a famous Italian design Serio and Chuck Wray trade Iso Grifo or Bizzarrini, but Watching all this happen — or
house and builder — and it opinions on these grand the current interest in the not happen — is one reason
continues a historical trend tourers. Serio, a seasoned older cars may also drive why car collecting is so
of mating Italian design with veteran of the collector-car interest in the revived brand. interesting.
powerful American drivetrains. world, says Iso Grifos are one of Jaguar has announced limited
the top three GT designs of the
Finally, the new IsoRivolta 1960s.
may well benefit from the
strong rise of vintage Iso Grifos That’s saying something.
and Bizzarrinis. Recent sales of vintage Iso
Grifos range from $500,000 for
Iso Grifos were built from
1965 to 1974, and about 412
were made. The Italian-built
cars were fitted with Chevrolet
or Ford V8 engines.

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NOTE FROM EUROPE

Brexit’s Earthquake

The UK’s future as the world’s trading hub for vintage cars
is in jeopardy — and more shock waves loom for U.S. and
European collectors

by SIMON KIDSTON

LIKE MANY ECCENTRIC pastimes, the “old car hobby” started in cent of the vehicle’s value associated with it — the authorities don’t
England. want a valuable Ferrari to disappear once it crosses the border. The
big transport firms, such as Cosdel and CARS, have all this in hand,
For decades, the UK has been at its center, as car collecting grew but it clearly adds a layer of cost in terms of time, money and sheer
from a cranky world frequented by “young fogies” unable to afford a aggravation that wasn’t there six months ago.
modern car, to a multi-billion-dollar business attracting private banks
fishing for new clients, the top international (but mostly British) Owners of classics have been assured that what is clearly a holiday
auction houses, major event organizers, and of course, an ecosystem to Le Mans or the Mille Miglia in a treasured old car won’t be treated
of dealers, restorers, logistics specialists, lawyers and publishers. with heavy hands. A driving license, insurance document and honest
face should suffice. With COVID-19 restrictions still in place, this has
Since 1993, there has been free trade with mainland Europe, but all yet to be tested.
that changed on January 1, 2021. Why? Brexit.
So trading cars across the Channel, either way, is lot more
Five years after the constitutional earthquake caused by British complicated now, potentially expensive and almost akin to the
voters deciding to leave the comfort zone of the European Union situation in Switzerland where “Swiss registered” carries a premium
(EU), the aftershocks can still be felt. Items on nighttime news are (or the reverse, depending on the direction of travel).
now no longer categorized “despite Brexit” (usually good news) or
“due to Brexit” (generally bad). The warring political tribes have Upsetting the flow of cars
mostly reconciled their differences: the country has left the EU; there’s
no going back. The challenges posed by Brexit don’t stop with taxes. The classic
automobile ecosystem is a delicate one. Language, rule of law, a
For the UK, the early signs are that its preeminent position in the profusion of expertise and opportunities to race or show cars has
world of collector cars, in both the geographic and economic sense, created an industry in the UK worth £7.2 billion — and employing
is under threat “due to Brexit.” In simple terms, the favorable customs
arrangement — where goods are traded freely within the EU and with
only minimum paperwork — ended on 31 December 2020, when
Brexit finally came into force.

New costs and complications

For newer cars (think Ferrari 550 Maranello, recent Aston Martin
Zagatos, Porsche GT2) — all younger than 30 years old — Value-
Added Tax is now chargeable at the full local rate (currently 20% in the
UK) on sales made into EU member countries and vice versa. Older
cars — ones strictly labelled as those with “a significant history” — are
subject to VAT at a reduced rate. That’s still 5% in the UK, but it rises to
as much as 10% in Sweden and the Netherlands.

For vehicles merely “visiting” an EU country from the UK for an
exhibition, concours or race meeting, each one now requires an ATA
(Access/Temporary Access) Carnet. This vehicle passport might
cost a few hundred pounds, but it has a returnable bond of 40 per

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34,000 people across some 4,000 businesses. Around £946 million of the cost has already increased by 20 percent. Couriers now work on
that annual spend comes from overseas. the principle of “if in doubt, bill it” — and ask for payment before
delivery. Companies can claim that money back — but enthusiasts
At the top, the world of motoring events depends on cars traveling working in a garage at home cannot.
from outside Europe.
Coping mechanisms kicking in
The UK’s role as a gateway to Europe for U.S.-owned cars to be
enjoyed on the continent has been upended — perhaps forever. Great On the bright side, the long lines at the port of Dover seen in
Britain was always the stopping-off point for such visitors eager to early January have disappeared. Big business always copes. Extra
enter the Mille Miglia, Tour Auto or Villa d’Este concours. paperwork is steadily being replaced by computer systems and, for
now, a pragmatic approach by customs officials has meant the flow of
Experienced agents handle air freight and customs formalities, goods slowing only a little.
while shippers are well-practiced in delivering cars anywhere in
Europe safely, reliably and under British jurisprudence. But many small companies on both sides of the English Channel
have given up selling into each other’s market; it’s just too much
Coming the other way, the Goodwood Festival of Speed, The trouble.
Goodwood Revival and the Hampton Court Concours of Elegance
rely on entries from owners in the U.S. and Europe. Ironically, the UK’s great success with its vaccine program,
unencumbered by the red tape of the EU, is in no small part “due to
Many North American collectors own UK-registered cars that Brexit.”
until now were considered EU-taxes-paid and could be driven freely
on continental events or sold unencumbered by the possibility of Perhaps the global classic car industry will receive a shot in the
additional duties. This is probably a thing of the past, until test cases arm when UK and EU legislators see sense and relax the rules. It can’t
in the courts establish precisely where everyone stands. happen soon enough.

For those importing parts to the UK from Europe for restoration,

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FUNNY THAT YOU ASKED

Collecting Great
Stories

Cars with interesting histories often find their
way into my garage

by JAY LENO

FOR SOME REASON I’ve always bristled at the title of “Collector.” “I’m not really looking for a ’67 Chrysler Imperial,” I said.
To me a collector is someone who merely collects. After all, I drive “I am the original owner,” he said. “And every couple of months,
a man from Chrysler comes to my house to service the car. I also
and use all my vehicles for their intended purpose. bought a ton of spare parts in case I ever had an accident, and they
I tell myself I am preserving history, so others may benefit from all go with the car.”
Okay, now the story was getting intriguing.
my largess, blah, blah, blah, but I now realize, okay, I am a collector. One-owner, all-original cars are the Holy Grail of car collecting.
Actually, I came to this realization a number of years ago Still I wasn’t sold. I didn’t feel like driving a couple of hours to look
at an Imperial, so I was looking for an excuse not to buy it.
— I believe it was the mid-1980s — when I bought my second I asked him where the car was located, hoping it was the Bay Area
Lamborghini Miura. They were cheap then, and I bought it because or San Diego or some other faraway place.
what if something happened to my other Miura?

When I had three Vincent Black Shadows, I bought a fourth
because what if something happened to the other three?

If you watch the “Hoarders” TV show and you say to yourself, “I
don’t get it. These people seem fine to me,” then admit it — you’re a
collector.

However, if you were to walk into my garage, I think you would be
hard pressed to figure out exactly what it is I collect. There doesn’t
seem to be any rhyme or reason to my collection. When people ask,
I usually say anything that rolls, explodes and makes noise fits into
my collection, and that seems to placate them.

Collecting the stories

It was only recently I came to the realization of what it is I collect,
and it is the stories.

If a car or motorcycle comes with a great story, that’s enough to
make me buy the vehicle right then and there — even if it’s one I
don’t really want.

One day — over 20 years ago — I got a call from a very elderly
gentleman.

“Jay Leno, I’ve got a car I think you should buy,” he said over the
telephone.

“What is it?” I asked.
“A 2-door 1967 Chrysler Imperial Crown coupe with dual air
conditioners,” he said.

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“I live on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, just a block or two Standing next to him was a slightly younger man who appeared to
from the Beverly Hills Hotel,” he said. be in his mid-70s.

He was less than four miles from my house! Convinced that this “This is my mechanic, who wants to retire,” the older gentleman
was kismet, I went searching for the address he gave me. Although said.
I had been on Sunset Boulevard literally thousands of times, I had
never noticed the hidden, overgrown entrance to this estate. “He can answer any questions you may have. Let me show you
around the house while he pulls the car out of the garage.”
Feeling like William Holden in the 1950 classic film “Sunset
Boulevard,” I pulled in and headed up the winding driveway. He took me into this magnificent home, which appeared to be
Waiting for me at the top of the drive was a 93-year-old, white- frozen in time right around 1948. The lamps, couches, chairs and
haired former movie producer impeccably dressed in a smoking light fixtures were exactly what my grandparents might’ve had when
jacket and an ascot. I was a child.

A painting of a strikingly beautiful woman hung over the fireplace.
“Who’s that?” I said.
“That’s my wife,” he proudly said. “Would you like to meet her?”
“Sure,” I said.
We then went to his bedroom, where he knocked on the door and
said, “Honey, Jay Leno’s here and wants to say hello.”
“I can’t do it right now!” she said. “I’m not dressed to meet
people.”
Looking at me rather sheepishly, he gestured in the general
direction of the painting and said, “I gotta be honest with you
Mr. Leno, she doesn’t look like that anymore. Let’s go back to the
garage.”
The mechanic had pulled the car out, and it looked magnificent! It
was gold with a black vinyl top, and I had to laugh because it was an
exact copy of the one the banker Mr. Drysdale drove on “The Beverly
Hillbillies” TV show back in the 1960s.
I bought it right there on the spot, In fact, immediately after
paying for the car, I pulled out of his driveway turned left and drove
3.2 miles up to 750 Bel Air Road — the address of the very house
where “The Beverly Hillbillies” was filmed. I pulled in the driveway
and quietly laughed to myself — until the security guard asked me
to leave.

Search in wealthy neighborhoods

Here are three collector-car tips that have served me well over the
years:

Find the oldest gas station you can that has service bays — and is
independently owned and operated. Ask the owner what interesting
cars he or she used to service — and if those people still come
around. It’s amazing how many people just stop driving their
Cadillac or Mercedes and just park the car in the garage.

Retirement communities are great places to find low-mileage
classic cars because chances are they weren’t classics when these
people bought them.

Finally, the trash rich people throw away is better than the trash
poor people throw away. Search the wealthiest communities you
can — Palm Springs, The Hamptons, and as I did, in Beverly Hills,
and who knows?

You just might get lucky — and find a great car with a great story!

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AMERICAN MUSCLE

Setting the Tone was suspension or axle work. Regardless, school was
in session, with classic rock on the radio and grease
How you collect is as important as what you collect, but there’s a destined for my fingernails.
sweet sound when you’re in a good place
In this lurid, old school environment, I met my first
by JIM PICKERING car collector.

BACK IN THE early 2000s, I was just out of high Pickled Mustang
school and working a small auto shop. The place
— Keith’s Auto Service Centre — felt right out of I don’t remember the guy’s name, but I do
the 1970s, from the cigarette haze that hung inside remember his familiar face. He worked at our
the wood-paneled office to the greasy old shop neighborhood grocery store, and for years, I’d seen
equipment, faded from the afternoon sun streaking in him stocking shelves and working the meat counter.
through dirty old glass. So I was surprised when one morning, he showed up
in front of the auto shop in a pristine, national-show-
As the youngest member of the team, I was the level restored 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 in Grabber
boss’s de facto right-hand man, and that meant Orange with reflective black stripes. It needed an oil
leaving the newer cars to the others and working change, and my boss dictated that he was the man for
on the muscle cars and classics that he found most the job — which really meant I was.
interesting.
I jumped in the car to pull it inside. I hit the key
“Jimmy,” he’d bark as he lumbered in the door and the solid-cammed 302 barked to life, settling into
each morning, with an unlit Marlboro under his a clattery idle. The other techs all stopped what they
moustache and dark tinted aviators in hand, “today were doing, watched me and polished their tools.
you’re going to learn…”
The car was pristine down to the proper paint
Sometimes it was body and paint repair, markings on the driveshaft and red oxide floorboards.
sometimes it was carburetor tuning and sometimes it “This thing is really clean,” I remember telling the
car’s owner as I greased the ball joints. His reply was
flat. “Yeah,” he said. “I don’t drive it.”

He meant it, too. Three months later, he brought it
back for another oil change. It had gone precisely four
miles since the last — just enough for the drive home
and back. I was baffled. Why own a high-revving,

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solid-lifter Boss that you never experience?
The last time I saw him, right around the time I’d

finished college, I finally asked all my questions.
He’d won the car in a drawing, and it was purely an
investment to him — and his tone suggested there
was no joy in his ownership. The car only ever saw
sunlight when it came to me for its oil change, and
other than him, I was the only person to drive it. He
called it a “collector’s item.”

Was it for sale? No. Would it be? When the market
was right, he said. “How will you know?” I asked. He
shrugged.

Drive and glory

Life goes on, things change and your collected
experiences shape you. I lost track of the Mustang,
and the old auto shop closed years ago. It’s now an
antique store.

I’ve met a lot of car collectors over the years, and I
know now that Mustang owner wasn’t standard. Most
collectors drive their cars and have a passion for the
experience. But that hidden-in-the-shadows Boss
has stuck with me anyway, as has the classic rock that
wafted through that old shop — and that daily routine
of trying to learn something new.

Lately, that’s translated into a new ’67 Chevrolet
truck resto project in my home shop, and oddly
enough, learning how to play the music that defined
my wrenching years. A guitar is a lot like a classic car
— in how it looks and what it can achieve.

I’ve learned that there’s something terrifying
about a bright stage and the first few bars of “Hotel
California.”

I’ve learned to love the smooth neck of an
American-made Fender Stratocaster.

And I’ve learned about the inner terror of a dark
crowd watching you sweat — it’s even scarier than the
hot blue tip of a worn-out oxy-acetylene torch and an
instructor with a marginal commitment to safety.

But without music, a guitar has no point — much
like a Boss 302 with an owner who never apexes
anything or runs it close to redline before dropping
into second gear. The glory is worth the risk.

Last month, a friend mentioned that he knew of
a nice PRS Custom 24 guitar for sale. It had a Floyd
Rose tremolo and a flamed maple neck — striped
like a cat’s tail and reflective — but only in the sun. It
belonged to a collector who had kept it in its case for
years. He never played it. The color? “Orange Tiger.”

I blame the Mustang guy for what happened next.
I paid too much to own it, but the guitar screams
when pushed hard, and its nickel parts glint in the
afternoon sun on my living room wall next to my old
Stratocaster.
It calls on me to be a better player than I am, and
it constantly reminds me — every time I pick it up —
that the experience is only worth the effort put into it.
Two guitars now. I suppose that makes me a
collector.

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TALKING FAST

Fast Times in May

The Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 mean a
lot to McLaren’s past — and future

by ZAK BROWN

THE MONTH OF May is awesome. I think the same thing happened to our new F1 driver Daniel
Find me a racing fan who doesn’t agree. The season kicks into Ricciardo, when he saw me at Paul Ricard several years ago with
Dale Earnhardt’s No. 3 1984 Wrangler Chevrolet stock car — which
gear this month, and we’re spoilt with two of the world’s biggest is also part of my car collection. Daniel is a huge Dale Earnhardt fan,
races: the F1 Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500. They and he’s been pressing me for a chance to drive the car ever since.
count towards motorsport’s “Triple Crown,” along with the 24 For now, I’ve given him a model of it — call it a signing-on bonus —
Hours of Le Mans, which takes place in August this year because of but I’ve agreed to let him drive the real thing when he gets his first
COVID-19 restrictions. podium for McLaren. Knowing Daniel, I’m not sure he needs any
extra motivation, but I know how much the experience would mean
Every race is special, but of all the tremendous events in the to him.
motorsport calendar, Monaco and Indy — and Le Mans — have the
greatest potential to attract new fans and turn even the most casual McLaren has been home to many of the best drivers in the
of those into passionate supporters. world, and this year is no different. We have an exciting blend of
youth and experience in the shape of rising stars Lando Norris and
The world is always watching when you’re on the elite sporting Pato O’Ward and proven race winners Daniel Ricciardo and Felix
stage, but for McLaren, it’s never more so than during these Rosenqvist. And, of course, Juan Pablo Montoya joins us for Indy. All
two races. Both are perfect opportunities to grow our fanbase, these guys are extremely fast, and they share the same energy and
particularly in North America. ambition to compete hard and push McLaren forward.

Both are a celebration of what makes our sport so amazing — and Teamwork and hard work
both are a key part of our history.
Speaking of our people, it will come as no surprise that May is an
Starts and triumphs incredibly busy time for everyone in the team; just getting to both
races is an achievement in itself — a challenge made harder by
Monaco was the scene of McLaren’s F1 debut in 1966, with our COVID-19. Despite the unprecedented challenges we’ve faced over
founder, Bruce McLaren, behind the wheel. The team has since the past year, the determination, teamwork and bravery of all the
gone on to win more grands prix in the Principality than any other men and women at McLaren has shone brighter than ever before.
team, while we’re also no strangers to success at the Brickyard,
having won the Indy 500 three times. They are my greatest source of inspiration and, together with the
fantastic support of our partners and fans, we’re ready for what’s to
Legends are born at Monaco and Indy: Senna, Hill, Schumacher, come at Monaco, Indy and beyond.
Fittipaldi, Andretti, Foyt, Rutherford — the list goes on.

Senna’s hair-raising race

Of those names, Ayrton Senna was, and always will be, one of
my favourite drivers. His tally of six Monaco Grand Prix victories
remains unmatched, and this year marks the 30th anniversary of his
win in 1991 at the wheel of the MP4/6 — a car that I now own. It was
the first McLaren to be powered with a Honda V12 — and the last
F1 car to win a title using a V12 engine and a manual gearbox. That
same gearbox left Ayrton’s hand red raw after more than 3,000 gear
changes at Monaco.

Go online and watch the onboard footage of Ayrton from that
weekend. It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up every
time I watch it.

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LEFT & BOTTOM  McLaren’s team of
mechanics in Bahrain
BELOW Brown and F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo
at Silverstone

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BUILDING A STORY

It All Started with
J. Edgar Opel

An entry in a “Car and Driver” contest led to a decades-long
career creating project cars

by RICH TAYLOR

PAGE 57 OF the January 1971 issue of “Car and Rich Taylor in 1971,
Driver” magazine was headlined “The Eighth Annual “Car and Driver”
Car and Driver Readers’ Choice Poll (and one-and- managing editor and
only chance to win J. Edgar Opel).” occasional fashion model

I eagerly checked off my favorite cars, filled in my license plate on J. Edgar Opel for the weekend, so
name and address and mailed the page back to the Jean and I could drive it to Hyde Park, NY and leave
magazine. the car with my parents.

I won J. Edgar Opel, and it changed my life. J. Edgar was a 1970 Opel GT that Buick had
In May of 1971, Manhattan-based “Car and Driver” supplied to “Car and Driver” for a long-term test —
held a Readers’ Choice luncheon at the Tavern on and wisely decided not to take back.
the Green in Central Park. Statuesque Linda Vaughn
—“Miss Hurst Golden Shifter”— handed out trophies Not knowing what else to do with it, Executive
to various car companies. Vaughn handed me the Editor Pat Bedard had turned it into a magazine
keys for J. Edgar Opel — and added a kiss. “Project Car.” He hired former “Car and Driver”
At the time, I was a penniless graduate student employee Jack Cowell, who now worked for
with an Ivy League bachelor’s degree from Brown Competition Research, a sports car shop in Blauvelt,
and a master’s degree from Indiana University. I was NY, to transform the car.
just finishing up my PhD in Architecture History at
the Institute of Fine Arts in Manhattan, where my J. Edgar was powered — and I use the term loosely
advisor was the legendary Henry Russell Hitchcock. — with a 1.9-liter, 4-cylinder Opel engine that was
My dissertation was “Islamic Influences on 18th optimistically claimed to make 102 horsepower,
and 19th Century British and American Domestic thanks to minor upgrades and a deafening side
Architecture.” exhaust. A 4.22:1 limited-slip differential kept the revs
near bursting point — especially at 60 mph on the
What I am going to do with this car? highway.

I was a newly married graduate student who lived Originally a lip-pursing Lemon Yellow, J. Edgar had
in a $68-a-month illegal sublet and walked across been painted white with a flat-black hood and rear
the Upper East Side to school. So, the last thing I panel. It sported absurdly oversize E60-15 Wide-Oval
needed was an Opel GT with a cutesy name. We were tires on 7x15 Minilite wheels. Even with hammered-
scraping by because Jean, my wife, had graduated out fenders, the oversize tires consistently rubbed.
from the Rhode Island School of Design, and at 24, Crude homemade anti-roll bars made it feel like there
had already spent two years as Art Director of the was no suspension at all.
Indiana University Press and was now at Macmillan.
The crowning touch was a pavement-scraping front
Meet J. Edgar Opel spoiler sourced from a Ford Mustang. I’m pretty sure
the magazine decided to give the car away because it
The publisher of “Car and Driver” was a charming was impossible to sell.
sales guy with the wonderfully melodic name of
Orison B. “Chuck” Curpier. At the end of the Tavern As Jean and I roared and bounced and scraped
on the Green lunch, he agreed that I could keep the

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our way from Manhattan to Hyde Park, J. Edgar broke “Let’s go talk to Brown,” Curpier replied.
down repeatedly. The car had to be push started. The Editor Bob Brown wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about
exhaust and shift lever fell off during our 100-mile trip. this editorial suggestion coming from the advertising
sales department, but he didn’t say no. He eventually
What I’d envisioned as a romantic weekend driving agreed that I could take a battery of psychological
our cool new sports car through the scenic Hudson and intelligence tests administered by an executive
Valley turned out to be a traumatic farce. search firm that Ziff-Davis Publishing had been using
for years.
Suddenly, a job
Passing the tests
On Monday morning, I brought the license plate
back to the “Car and Driver” offices at Park Avenue Let’s review. At this point, I had been in school for
and 31st Street. 19 of my 24 years. I had near-perfect SATs, a Regents
Scholarship, a Merit Scholarship and an NDEA
Orison B. “Chuck” Curpier kindly made Title IV Fellowship. I was a 4.0 student at the most-
conversation. While we were talking, it came up that prestigious graduate school in one of the most arcane
the magazine had two positions to fill. They had hired subjects in the world, where my nickname was Das
an entry-level associate editor, an artist from upstate Wunderkind. In other words, I was a highly trained,
New York named Jim Williams. professional taker of tests.

Car and Driver was looking for a more-experienced Plus, I didn’t care. I was on a career path to be an
Feature Editor. Chuck and I talked and talked. art historian, and this whole magazine thing was just
a lark.
Finally, I said, “Instead of a cheap Associate Editor
and an expensive Feature Editor, why not hire two I scribbled my way through three days of tests.
cheap Associate Editors and hope one of us turns into The psychologist who graded the papers called Bob
something?” Brown and said, “These are the most fun-to-read tests
I’ve seen in 30 years. Hire this guy!”

Never a dull day

Jim Williams, Don Sherman and I started at “Car
and Driver” on the same day in June 1971. I was paid
$8,500 per year, which was only $500 less than I’d
been offered as an Art History professor at Hobart &
William Smith Colleges.

Jean, who had now moved up to Art Director at
the incredibly erudite Oxford University Press in
New York, thought I was crazy. My fellow graduate
students thought I’d somehow gone over to the dark
side, although they weren’t sure what was the dark
side of my new world.

My father, a mechanical engineer at IBM R&D,
had given up on me years before when I switched
my Brown University major from Engineering to Art
History. The only one who understood, curiously
enough, was my PhD advisor, Henry Russell
Hitchcock, who turned out to be a closet BMW
collector and avid reader of “Car and Driver.”

He asked if I could get him a free subscription.
Thanks to J. Edgar Opel, I joined “Car and Driver”
precisely 50 years ago, starting an amazingly
varied career that, among many other things, has
ironically included building dozens of project cars for
magazines.
Was it the right decision?
Well, as Jean assures me now, “You would have
made a mediocre engineer, and the world doesn’t
need another mediocre engineer. You never would
have survived the brutal politics of academia. And at
least it’s never been dull!”

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MOTION CAPTURED

Motoring in Style

Razzia’s elegant series of posters for
Louis Vuitton-sponsored concours and car tours
are sought-after collectibles

by JACQUES VAUCHER

LOUIS VUITTON IS a well-known name — it was modern-day “poster artists.” During the Golden Age
originally recognized for the luxury luggage with the of posters — from the late 1800s to the early 1900s,
famous LV monogram. well before television and computers — advertisers
employed the best artists they could find to make
For a golden time, Louis Vuitton was a major player interesting and unique renderings of their products.
in the concours and vintage touring worlds.
A good poster could shift the market. A strong
The Louis Vuitton company’s “Art of Travel” poster made a product stand out from the
philosophy led to sponsorship of Christian Philippsen competition.
and Antoine Prunet’s 1988 The Parc de Bagatelle
Concours d’Elegance outside of Paris. Philippsen and
Prunet started the concours to show the crème de la
crème of automobiles created for traveling.

Vuitton began organizing other concours and
vintage car tours around the world. At the same time,
they hired an artist to create posters promoting those
events.

This is when Razzia appeared.
Razzia’s given name is Gerard Courbouleix-
Deneriaz, and he was born in Paris.

From photography to graphic design

Razzia is an artist at heart, and he started as a
photographer in his teens. His inspiration came from
British music groups, such as The Rolling Stones and
The Beatles. He spent many years photographing rock
musicians.

His passion then shifted to graphic design and
creating posters. He is truly a self-taught artist.

Razzia created his first poster in 1979 for Carolyn
Carlson, a dancer and choreographer. It was a
mixture of photography, design and paint.

Razzia taught himself how to paint, so he could
create posters for concerts, movies, album covers,
fashion shows and magazine covers.

He quickly became famous.
In an age when most poster art is computer
generated, Razzia is one of the world’s few

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In most cases, the artist produced a painting,
which would be lithographed in a larger size with
appropriate text.

Razzia is one of the only poster artists who still
paints an image that he creates — and turns it into an
attractive and captivating advertising poster.

Painting the dream

Since 1985, Razzia has created posters for Vuitton’s
concours and vintage car tours. Vuitton gave Razzia
carte blanche on all the images he conceived for
them — a dream for any commercial artist.

Razzia also created images for the Louis Vuitton
Cup, which were prestigious boat races — and served
as qualifying races for the America’s Cup.

Producing poster images for Vuitton established
Razzia as an automotive artist — to his delight, as he
is an automobile and Formula 1 enthusiast. Razzia
owns a few Porsches, Mini Coopers and Triumphs.

Since 1985, Razzia has created almost 30 different
automotive images for the Louis Vuitton rallies and
Concours d’Elegances they have organized around
the world.

The spectacular images that Razzia created
for Louis Vuitton are popular, and they live on
as a legacy. Razzia found his niche by creating
compositions that blend perfectly with vintage
advertising posters.

Razzia has also created art for Stetson Hats, Lancia
Automobiles, L’Oréal, International Prêt à Porter
Féminin (France), Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Harrods,
the Nice Jazz Festival, the City of Deauville, several
brand names of Champagnes and several restaurants
in Paris and New York.

Elton John, Jackie Collins and Michael Caine
collect his posters. His work has been shown in every
major city around the world and is highly collected.

Vuitton management changed, and they no longer
sponsor the Vuitton Cup or classic car events. Razzia
no longer creates posters for Vuitton.

In 2007, Razzia produced a beautiful book — “25
Years of Poster Art.”

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MOVERS AND SHAKERS

caption

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A New Car World Physical distancing was Bill Warner
the theme of 2020 during
How will 2020’s legacy change things moving forward? the pandemic, and for those Founder and Chairman,
of us that love cars, it meant Amelia Island Concours
CHANGE IS CONSTANT in the more solo and family car time d’Elegance Foundation, Inc.
collector car world, but we’ve instead of the usual crowded Jacksonville, FL
never seen a year quite like gatherings. I don’t think that
2020.  our interest in seeing a bunch There has been a huge
of cars and owners together has run-up in car values in recent
How did the car experience decreased at all, it was just put months. I am amazed at the
change in 2020, and what does on hold. prices some cars are bringing,
that mean for the car world as a but then at my age, I remember
whole moving forward? Early indicators are showing when…
us that people are very
Is the car world less about anxious to get back to larger What is driving all this? I’ll
community and more about and more social events. The give you my opinion — not
individualism now, or has the online community experience necessarily based on any study
online world simply shifted and video communication or facts, but based strictly on
where car people gather at the was a great bridge for those years of observation.
moment?  restricted months, but they
have not replaced the need For the most part, the cars
The car world has always Randy Nonnenberg to connect face-to-face. The I own are cars I lusted after
been about gathering BaT Community is continually as a teen or young adult.
— but after 2020’s Co-Founder and President, asking us when we will have Buying a collector car is
digital revolution, those Bring a Trailer more BaT Alumni Gatherings based on emotions, potential
gatherings may change. San Francisco, CA and driving opportunities profitability, value and
But how? together. We are so excited to nostalgia.
Digital capability and be bringing those back for late
community has transformed 2021 and 2022. There has been a shift in
the way special cars can be the car culture with a move
bought and sold, but the way We have all had time to think to cars of the ‘70s and ‘80s,
we use those cars and gather about what is important to us in with the long-hood Porsche
with fellow fanatics will always this hobby and in life. For me, 911s leading the way. So what
rely on in-person experiences. driving with friends, working is driving the market? In my
You can’t just give your friend on cars together in our garages, opinion, it is a combination
a video of the new car you and taking advantage of the of low interest rates and an
bought. You need to take them great efforts that so many event artificially high stock market,
for a ride in it — or let them organizers put forth to create new younger buyers in the
drive it. fun experiences are what I look market, investors who have
forward to most of all. cashed in on the stock market
(from 6,000 to 30,000-plus),
I have fine-tuned the bucket tangibles perceived as being
list. I didn’t realize how much a safer investment than the
I wanted to drive on European market and banks paying
roads until that option was virtually nothing on money.
restricted.
How long will this run last? I
While I can’t be doing all fear not very long.
that I want to be just yet, I am
focusing my efforts on getting
cars ready for a burst of activity
in the coming months. That
feels great, and I think the
conversations and enthusiasm
among car friends and
communities will be as vibrant
as ever once we are in person
again.

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MOVERS AND SHAKERS

The move to online sales has kept the
market moving — but will we leave it
behind, or is it our new reality?

The current administration is Keep your powder dry. There enjoying cars privately — at scratching the itch during the
printing money at a record rate. will be opportunities as the least, for me, anyway. COVID era.
The head of the Federal Reserve market adjusts.
and the helicopter economy, in I think the car community The hole left by tent auction
my opinion, will lead to inflation Doug DeMuro will come back better than ever cancelation was filled by an
and the devaluing of the dollar. in a post-COVID world; I, for expanding online auction
Founder, Cars & Bids one, look forward to making world. Bring a Trailer is hard to
That being said, perhaps YouTuber, Author, Columnist up for lost time once the world beat — they have more than a
collectibles and real assets are reopens, and attending car decade of brand building, over
where the money should go. The changes in 2020 were events once again. 450k users and 200k registered
pretty substantial: cars bidders, and over a million
In short, I’ve seen this bubble and coffee went away, and Admittedly, some changes unique page views per day.
before (in 1990), and it can get we also lost organized car might be permanent — such as Anyone trying to take a share
ugly. shows, concours events, and a bigger shift to online car sales, of the market needs to bring
even major international and even increased dealership something new to the table.
One part of the market I truly auto shows. The community sales that don’t actually take
do not understand is the Resto- certainly went online — and on place at a dealership. Cars & Bids was one of the
mod genre. Being a purist, I just individual drives or off-roading first competitors to really take
don’t understand how a hot- expeditions where social But from an enthusiast’s a stab at entering the online
rodded 1963 Corvette coupe distancing was easy. perspective, my sincerest hope auction world, and it seems
can bring twice the money of is that 2020’s changes to the like it’s performing well in this
a properly restored one. I call But I don’t think it’s a car world are merely a memory market.
these Resto-mod cars, “coffin permanent change. We’re in a year’s time — and soon
cars,” as these big-buck buyers social creatures, and car we’re all back at car events, In contrast, Radwood
will be buried in them. ownership is as much about participating in races and launched their Rad for Sale
community as it is actually visiting fantastic museums. platform in the beginning of
As my friend and noted March 2021 but had some
collector, Pat Ryan, points out, Sara Ryan trouble gaining traction.
“Just like the stock market, Likely, their first mistake
the blue-chips always recover. Auto Writer and Photographer was announcing a launch
Generations will come and go Vancouver, WA date of March 1 — and then
and the cars they collect for postponing for a few days,
sentimental reasons will ebb As the summer of 2020 which dampened some of the
and flow. But the best of the approached, it became clear excitement. They launched
best will always be in demand that nearly all of our favorite with a pretty small collection
and will always be good long- car events were going to be of ‘80s and ‘90s cars, but they
term investments.” cancelled. It was obvious eventually began to grab
that the tent auction world in interest from bidders.
In short, I am not optimistic particular was going to have to
about the immediate future. shift their strategy. Gooding and Company
launched their “Geared Online
Collectors will stop at Auctions” program as well.
nothing to buy, sell, and chat They managed to carve out a
about cars, and sites like Bring unique approach in order to
a Trailer were essential for compete. Gooding’s online
events run for several days, but
they also require that sellers
store their vehicles at the
company facility so they can be
inspected by bidders before the
auction. It’s sort of a marriage
between virtual and tent, and
it could revolutionize high-end
automotive auctions moving
forward.

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COLLECTOR SPOTLIGHT

What Drives
Your Collection?

There is no wrong way to enjoy cars, but each
collection demonstrates the owner’s tastes
and goals

by MILES COLLIER

PEOPLE COLLECT AUTOMOBILES because such Photos courtesy of Revs Institute ABOVE Miles Collier in the
things interest them. That interest can range from the victory circle, Watkins Glen,
casual dipping of a toe into the activity to wholesale organizing principle in the collection is the collector, 1949.
immersion. the “me.” The collected objects are important only
because of their relationship to the collector. RIGHT Tamiami Freightways
But, in any case, there are three fundamental lot awaiting shipment to
psychic drivers that determine what cars the collector The collector decrees them important, and the very Watkins Glen, 1949.
will pursue. These are nostalgia, fetishism and selection of them makes them so. The objects are
collecting with a point of view — call it didactics. subordinated to a romantic vision of the essential self.

In private collections, these three types of psychic In my collection, I have my father’s 1949 Ford-Riley
drivers often exist simultaneously — or appear road-racing hot rod with which he won the Watkins
sequentially as the collector’s motivations and focus Glen “Grand Prix.” While the car has some modest
change. value to other collectors, it is safe to say that its
value to me is considerably greater because of the
The first two drivers, because they are memories I have of both the car and of my father.
psychologically based, are logically and structurally This, then, is one kind of nostalgic object.
inexplicable. More significantly, they don’t have the
logical basis that comes with presenting a specific
point of view. Because it has a point of view, the
didactic approach is typical of institutional curation.
It is narrative-driven and attempts in some way
to order that portion of the world that the specific
collection addresses.

Let’s take a look at these three collecting
orientations.

Nostalgia

In nostalgia-driven collecting, the thing collected is
defined by its relationship to the collector. Collecting
where personal memory is impounded in the
object collected shapes many collections. Nostalgia
connects the collector to his or her own past, which is
often seen as a better — perhaps even golden — time.
The nostalgia collector creates a “museum of me”
through the collection.

In other words, the central significance and

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COLLECTOR SPOTLIGHT

Photos by Peter Harholdt for Revs Institute

Fetishism

The second collecting orientation, fetishism,
is the opposite of nostalgia. The collector’s sense
of power, of self, of validation, comes from the
objects collected. By owning, and having dominion
over a specific automobile — or selected group
of automobiles — the collector is psychologically
completed by the “magic” of his or her romanticized
objects.

We call this fetishistic collecting where the term,
“fetish” is used in the anthropological sense as a thing
of worship inherently infused with transformative
and magical power.

The recent $3.7m sale of the Bullitt Mustang that
was featured in Steve McQueen’s movie, “Bullitt” —
or the recent sale of legendary Pink Floyd guitarist
David Gilmour’s “Black Strat” guitar for a hammer
price of $3.3m are obvious fetish object candidates.

We cannot divine the internal motivations of the
buyers, but the aura surrounding these objects —
which comes from their celebrated original owners
using them in extraordinary ways — must surely
have had a part in the sum realized. If my father’s

78  Linkage 003

Courtesy of Revs Institute, Eric della Faille Photograph Collection

ABOVE Bahamas Speed Week, December 6, 1964


Ford-Riley is nostalgic, my Abarth Simca 2 Mila Corsa Courtesy of Revs Institute, Alfred Cosentino Photograph Collection
competition car is arguably fetishistic — because
owning the thing just makes me happy. I enjoy it, not tube-frame, plastic-bodied racing Porsches. The ABOVE Abarth GT
because of memories, but because of something else, point of that exhibit is to show the engineering Two-Litre Homologation,
which I am at a loss to articulate. development of these cars from 1964 through January 9, 1964
1971. Such a topic is, if nothing else, the height of
Let’s just say it gives off good vibrations. didacticism.

Didactic collecting — the urge to The matter/motion perspective
explain
There is another important way to think about
Third, is the object — or objects — collected for collectors and collecting. And that way depends upon
explanatory reasons; to express a point of view. understanding that automobiles lie on a continuum
ranging from “Matter” to “Motion.” Cars are pieces
Consider collections focusing on aesthetic or of the physical world, stuff from the past, in short,
technical development, social influence and so aging lumps of matter. Simultaneously, they are also
on. Didactic collections are founded on external phenomena. They operate, run, make noise, corner,
rationales that are understandable in the normal
world and are attested to through observation and
objective experience.

Such collections engage the audience in a
conversation — and those seeing the collection can
agree or disagree with its point of view.

The didactic collection is narrative-driven and
attempts in some way to order that portion of the
world addressed by the specific collection. Didactic
collections deal with sequences, types and variations
— and object similarities and differences and other
extrinsic properties.

Chronology is either a primary or secondary
ordering scheme. Much of my collection is founded
in the urge to explain. Consequently, a visitor to Revs
Institute will discover a chronological sequence of

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COLLECTOR SPOTLIGHT

brake and accelerate. When they are driven, they are
motion made into experience.

Every collector mentally places each car in their
collection somewhere on that matter/motion
continuum. Depending on which end the collector
tends to group their objects, the collector sees their
cars more as matter or as motion.

In essence, some automobile collectors tend
towards experiencing their cars through motion and
all its extensions, such as touring, racing or just going
out for a drive. Other collectors experience their cars
as relics from the past — as historical matter with
important attributes of authenticity, history and
provenance.

These two factors, matter and motion, determine
a collector’s interests in specific automobiles, and
have a very strong influence over the size and other
properties of the collection.

Experiential and contemplative
collecting

Experiential collectors primarily own their
automobiles to drive, work on and interact with.
Contemplative collectors primarily enjoy their
cars for their beauty, historical importance and
originality. This is not to say that experiential
collectors don’t care about history or authenticity,
nor that contemplative collectors don’t care
about driving their cars, but that the fundamental
engagement by these collectors is either experiential
or contemplative.

Experiential collectors are those collectors who
say, “If I haven’t driven a car in my collection at least
once a year, I sell it in favor of something else.”

Contemplative collectors, on the other hand, will
happily own all kinds of rare, fragile, or difficult-to-
use cars because their interest lies in non-operating
qualities, such as historical significance, originality
and so on. Because of these fundamental attitudes,
contemplative collections tend to be both larger and
more varied than experiential ones, as operating
practicality is not a concern.

Likewise, experiential collections cost more
to maintain given the perpetually “ready to run”
requirement, with its attendant need for tuning,
fettling and generally being faffed about.

Of course, there is no one correct way to look
at collecting. The approach that confers the most
pleasure and satisfaction is the correct one for the
collector in question. But, perhaps these two ways to
look at collecting will give you some useful insights
into developing and enjoying your own collection.

Photo courtesy of Revs Institute

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PRIVATE BUSINESS

photos by MICHAEL POEHLMAN

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Saving Driving and Car Culture

McKeel Hagerty started out with a great collector-car insurance company. He’s thinking a
LOT bigger these days

by DONALD OSBORNE

MY ASSOCIATION WITH Hagerty began as a client Although Hagerty as an organization has traveled
— I first took out a Hagerty policy for a collector car a great distance since 2006, it is very telling to read
of mine in 1998, only eight years after the company your column because you say specifically, “Hagerty
first offered vintage car coverage. It took on a much is a problem solver, a service station for lovers of
more direct form after I met McKeel Hagerty, the son great cars, making the hobby even more welcoming
of founders Frank and Louise Hagerty, around 2005. and satisfying.” So what specifically are the ways
Shortly thereafter, I began to work with the firm on that you’ve grown the business has helped better
their venture into informational seminars under the achieve that goal?
rubric “Smart Collecting.”
We’re not the only one, but just that, after doing
Hagerty has come a very long way since then — in multiple non-profits around the space between
words taken from their website, “What began as the Collector’s Foundation and, the HVA (Historic
a niche insurance agency has evolved into an Vehicle Association), and all the different things
automotive lifestyle brand focused on the love of cars that we’ve done, no one is going to save their way
and driving.” Just how did that happen and why? For to seeing the car world be great and vital and happy
this issue of Linkage, which focuses on collecting, and in a good spot 50 years from now. It’s going to
I thought it would be instructive to sit down with take some real enterprises — and more than just the
McKeel and see how it happened and why. car-club-type mentality that we used to have.

One of the things that is so indicative of how But now, that’s what it’s all about, and I’m sure
things have changed was that we all had a very there are people who have toys, and they take good
big concern back in 2006 about how much we care of them. And, you know, we’re there to help
communicated with people — was it too intrusive? them make the magic there. But, you know, part of
Now, of course, it’s all about information. And I the kind of preamble I’m definitely seeing is that big
was also looking at the very first issue of Hagerty shift, where there was so much opacity in the market
magazine and your editorial in it. The title was, “I’d around the transactions, you know, whether it was
rather be driving.” auction companies, whether it was dealers, whether
it was, that weird cottage industry of dealer, restorer
Yeah — it’s been pretty fascinating. And, you know, and auction company who used to kind of —out of
I kind of think about it. My [parents], long before I ran nowhere — produce or discover cars that were going
this thing in the late ‘90s, had sort of chosen this path to be the, you know, whatever the long-lost thing
to find a business around something you liked. And was and with a lot of opacity. Right. And, you know, I
there were just some kind of simple ideas at their core remember when eBay first came into the market — in
— people take good care of their toys. But this idea that about the time you and I were getting to know each
when you have something that, you know, maybe you other a little bit.
sacrificed a little bit to get that you take good care of it
is the kind of core concept underneath everything that And, you know, we tried to say to them, look, we
we did — and still do for the most part. can help you with data, you know, we can help people
understand, we could really be a truer source of
And as different as it may seem now, it hasn’t valuations and things like this at a mass scale.
changed that much has it?
And their reaction?
And, you know, it wasn’t until much, much later
that we got bigger and bolder talking about, you They said, “We have zero interest in that.” I was
know, well, what are the big things, what are the big told explicitly that will slow down the velocity of
themes that we ought to be paying attention to as transactions if people know what they’re actually
we grow the organization and hopefully store the worth. That was the leadership back then. Keep
resources of our members really well. And that’s you people in the dark. And, you know, I think that
know, it wasn’t until even just a couple of years ago everything you and I worked around and circle
when we said, “Hey, look, how do you do that?” And around and, you know, others were certainly not
you go all the way up to let’s be the company that the only ones have been about, you know, helping
saves driving and car culture for future generations. people be better informed — entertained is great
too — but better informed because I just happen

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PRIVATE BUSINESS

to believe that a better-informed collector — even clubs, organizations, other kinds of businesses to say,
if they buy something that isn’t a very good car by great, you know, we believe in the same things. What
some objective standard — they’re happier because can we do?
they know what it is or what condition it is or where it
came from. To your point about not galvanizing, developing
and reaching people with this message about what
How has this movement toward providing more the collecting hobby can be through the media,
general information moved Hagerty away from but rather through experiences, is that one of the
being “just an insurance company,” and is that an reasons why the company has branched out in the
issue? ways it has with the acquisition of the Greenwich
Concours, the California Mille, things like that? Is
Well, I mean, really set insurance aside because not that part of a way for Hagerty to encourage people
a lot of people see insurance as a valuable part of an out into cars more often and do that sort of thing?
ecosystem. I think you can view it that way. But that
can be kind of rose-colored glasses. You got to have Yeah, absolutely. I mean, realizing that the car
it. And I think we do it a lot more of it — and a lot world is filled with great automotive experiences
better than anybody else. I say that with confidence. of all sorts, from Cars and Coffee all the way up to
But, you know, first, early on, it was that idea of, you the Pebble Beach Concours or Goodwood. I know
know, what’s the intellectual high ground in any
space, and in the world of kind of collecting anything.
Again, valuations, trying to create a data framework
by which you could start seeing real statistically
valid data around the market consolidated into one
spot that was more than just auctions. Because, you
know, I think that is one of the biggest things that we
struggle with.

Early on, as everybody was, I was following
auctions as if it’s the market, and you know that
it’s a part of the market — it’s actually a very small
part of the market because when you realize that
most peoples’ entry point into enjoying cars is far
away from anything that sold at auction — it’s just
something fun that they can afford.

Is there a way in your vision forward — as the
company grows into many different areas far away
from insurance — that you can help to gather other
organizations into the tent to help on this laudable
goal of saving “classic” driving?

But, you know, to me, it’s this larger mission that
means kind of knitting people together because, you
know, YouTube is not going to make a better driving
environment. It’s just going to be a free place where
people can go watch, you know, generally poorly
made videos — except for yours and ours, we’re
spending more money on them!

It’s a great way to get attention. It’s a lousy way to
really galvanize any sort of involvement.

What we’re going to do is knit it together, but do
it in a really industrial-strength way. In the United
States, if you look at the 30 million to 40 million
people that actually own the kind of a car that falls
in our world, we’re so far away from knitting a
meaningful percentage of them together, but we need
to try, and it just has to be done at a different scale
than it’s ever been done before.

And that’s not going to be done through media.
You know, our model is hopefully what people will
find is, you know, pretty easy to kind of replicate.
Find some path in and then just be as collaborative
as possible, you know, whether it’s partnering with

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you run a wonderful event (the Audrain Newport It’s not then, reinventing events but interpreting
Concours & Motor Week). We know that events are them in a new way?
a big part of the car world. We’re going to celebrate
them. And we sort of made the decision that as I happen to believe, for example, that a Concours
delightful as many of them are, they remain kind of d’Elegance is a language. It’s a language of the way
mom-and-pop organizations. They actually are, you cars are presented — and the types of cars that are
know, pretty thinly capitalized — it’s hard to make presented. And I don’t think I’m elitist in it, but I just
money out of them, so volunteer driven. It’s kind of think, you know, to me, it’s where you go to a leafy,
hard to envision them weathering too many storms beautiful place on a Sunday morning, and you see
like a COVID (pandemic). And, so our view was some of the greatest cars in the world, and they’re
what we need to create is not just sponsor events, lovely. And, you know, it’s kind of, “Put on your
but hosting them ourselves. That’s going to be a big Sunday best” thing.
part of our future that we needed to try. And then we
needed to figure out how can we make light touches I don’t think you have to dumb down a Concours
on some of the old models to make them even d’Elegance to bring other people in. I think there are
friendlier to the next generation as they come along. other ways around it to make it friendlier. I think that
kind of the older folks right now in our generation,
the last of the silent generation and the older baby
boomers, they run a little bit of risk of not being super
open to the 40-year-old that would love to play in
their game.

A semi-tough question for you. You mentioned
that insurance was there in the background, but
it’s not very important. Of course, throughout my
career as an appraiser and consultant, I’ve tried
my best to convince people that insurance is vitally
important, and they should always remember
it — and think about it — because they don’t
think about it until it’s too late. But do you think
that with all that you’ve accomplished, all that
Hagerty accomplished, do you think that being an
insurance company has made it more challenging
to attain some of the goals that you’ve reached?
Because people think, why is an insurance
company doing this?

Yes, for sure. From a brand standpoint, because,
you know, it’s like people say, you know, Hagerty
Insurance, when they think of the name, I mean,
deep down, somewhere in our organization, there’s
probably an LLC called Hagerty Insurance. But, you
know, the brand is Hagerty, like Bloomberg is the
brand Bloomberg. It’s not Bloomberg Data Services,
you know, which is what he started as. And, you
know, that’s in a way sometimes that’s like one of
the ideas — how could we fashion ourselves more
like something like that? And it is a family name. It’s
my family name. But yeah, that the brand side of it
has been challenging, but I just decided, who cares,
you know, because as long as we’re growing the way
we are and willing to invest in all of the automotive
sides of the house, people will learn.

And, you know, so the messages I get is, “I
can’t believe all this cool stuff you do for the car
world.” And if somebody says, “I can’t believe
this is happening from my insurance company”
and it’s like, well, actually what’s happening is it’s
happening from our membership organization
because you can’t do a lot of that stuff from a
regulatory standpoint, as an insurance organization,
you’re just not allowed to do it.

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PRIVATE BUSINESS So for us, you know, being a member organization, critical mass for a lot of things, and it’s going to take
86  Linkage 003 creating the events and all that stuff is really essential a lot of great talent and, you know, fun problems to
to getting the word out because in the big insurance solve.
world, and as you get bigger and bigger and bigger
— if you are only in insurance, then you’re playing an If McKeel Hagerty is at an event where people are
advertising game. driving their cars, then I think he wants to see my
car being used.
It’s been convenient to bring people in through an
insurance lens, but then introduce them to this bigger Yeah, well, there’s nothing worse to see than cars
car world. As you know, what started off as, “Do you that aren’t used, you know. We started talking about
want fries with that?” Now, that’s how we lead. The collecting and how it’s changed. I think that the age of
real iteration for our world is the only way you buy the encyclopedia collector, you know, the one that’s
anything from us is for you to log in and create an still filling up a building with cars, the big age of that
account. You’re going to get a newsletter, going to is gone. But, you know, I don’t see a lot of younger
hear from us, and you’ll be able to download an app people say, “Gee, I sure wish I had 80 or 90 of those.”
that you can do a lot of stuff with, including buying
insurance if you want to. Or every variation of a Ford V8 in 1936.

So from the from your clients or members side, are And I would say that, again, not to denigrate any
you feeling the amount of communication from car collector, but, you know, the person who buys
them that you had hoped to get, the amount of every version of a brand-new supercar and parks
engagement from them to you? it with two miles on it, thinking it will someday be
worth a lot. I think that’s a really sad car, too. And by
Yes. Well, you know, we would love to have more, of the way, those cars do not, as you know, do not do
course! But, you know, when I think about how much well sitting around. They just fade away.
engagement some of the big standard automotive
media companies actually get back from their I have never, as you know, worshiped at the altar
readers, it’s painfully little — because they need to of the undriven car. And I find it strange those that
know really who their readers are. The advantage we do. But having lost that election as Emperor of the
have is, I know exactly who everybody is. World, I cannot seize those cars in the name of your
next great non-profit that you need to start —The
I know who you are, where you live. And I know Collector Car Police, the collective volunteer police
what you drive. squad. We’ll have great badges, really flashy in
enamel, and we’ll be able to knock on people’s
I know what you drive. Yeah. You know, to do what doors and say, “Excuse me, sir, ma’am, this car,
we want to do, we have to — we’re going to have a we’re taking it in the name of The Collecting
People!” And so maybe that’ll be the next big
announcement out of Traverse City.

(Laughing) Yes, there we go. And by the way, I’m
going to charge you plus 10 for not driving.

I had a friend, and I kept traveling to various
conferences with him. And whenever we had a few
minutes, he was watch shopping — he was big into
watches. And there’s one watch which he refused to
buy. And after the third store we went into — in the
third country, looking at the same watch, I said, “I’m
buying it, I’m buying it and I’m charging you plus
10. So you either buy it today, or I’m never looking
at it with you again. So do you want the invoice, you
know, you’re walking out of here with that watch on
your wrist or you could pay for it and save 10 percent.”

Well, thank you very much McKeel. Once you are
traveling again, not perhaps 140 days a year, we
have to get you to Newport. We’d love to have you
here and show you around.

One of my favorite spots. I’m going to take you up
on that. So yes, later in the summer, maybe.

Absolutely!

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SNO*DRIFT RALLY 2021

THE ANNUAL SNO*DRIFT RALLY starts off the American Rally Association’s
season with the only snow-covered stage active in North America. Taking
place in mid-March in the northern heart of Michigan, this year’s rally
was limited to only organizers, volunteers, media and competitors, all
there for a single day of competition.

This year was devoid of spectators and the fan spectacle known as
Bonfire Alley, where gasoline is poured on huge fires as competitors race
by. Even so, the event still brought competitors from across the nation.

This rally can be one of the most challenging of the season, with nearly
90 miles of stages and transits within a 10-hour window, roads winding
through trees and rapidly changing elevation. On top of that, racers must
adapt to changing conditions as the roads ice up into the night stage.

As if all that wasn’t tough enough, the Sno*Drift Rally is also one of the
few events that prevent the use of studded tires. But that just provides
another challenge and even more glory, attracting home-grown rally
competitors and manufacturer-backed racers alike.

photography WILL WESTON

SNO*DRIFT RALLY 2021

Brandon Semenuk and John Hall in a factory-sponsored 2020 Subaru STi

90  Linkage 003

RIGHT Performing a final check before sending
off of a highly modified Ford Fiesta as part of a
model restricted class

BELOW A FB RX-7 in line for Tech

Mark Rokus and Michael Claiborne in a 1985 VW GTi

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SNO*DRIFT RALLY 2021

RIGHT A MK2 GTi sporting period-
correct rally lighting in preperation
for the night stage
BELOW Kyle Cooper and Matthew
Brettschneider in a 1992 VW Golf

Barry McKenna and Leon Jordan in a 2011 Ford Fiesta

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Kevin Schmidt and Kyle Roberts in a 1986 Mazda RX-7

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