They're Back, the 2024 Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale, Arizona| #565

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Alan is at the Barrett Jackson event in Scottsdale. Our guest, Mark Valentino, Director of Business Development at Radford Racing School, boasts highly-skilled instructors who teach driving skills. They are developing a course program for the new Demon 170 to help drivers get the most out of it. Radford offers driving courses to people who do not own a Dodge, a youth driving program, SCCA license program, and an F4 program. They also offer courses for straight-line, drag, and twisting tracks, and have a karting truck. Recently, Radford started a new initiative called the Radford Motorsports Club for people who own a race car and want to race more affordably. The club offers a chance to race on Friday nights under the lights at the Chandler, AZ track. For more information, visit the Radford Racing School website at RadfordRacingSchool.com.

Our next guest is Rick Malone, Chief Driving Instructor of Spring Mountain Motor Resort and Country Club, which is situated about 50 miles west of Las Vegas and is home to the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School, the Cadillac V Performance Academy, and Radical Racing Academy. The facility boasts 9.3 miles of race track and is located on just under 1000 acres of land. The largest track in North America, Spring Mountain Motor Resort and Country Club is one of the most amazing Motorsports facilities in the United States, and is expected to surpass the Nurburgring. The facility also includes a Motorsports Country Club, 40 condos, and a two-day program that includes the use of our cars and equipment, breakfast, and the opportunity to bring along a guest who can participate in the schools.

Next up is Cameron Foremaster, who is in charge of marketing here. Craig Jackson’s Camaro is also here. First, Cameron tells us about Craig’s car and what they did to it. They installed a pro touring subframe with a torque arm rear suspension. This build was done by Barrett Jackson and other companies like Muncie speed for carbon fiber, Dynacorn on the body, and GM performance. The result is a modern performance vehicle in a first-gen body. Cameron mentions that their company, Speed Master Speed Tech, makes chassis and suspension for 1st through 3rd Gen. Camaros, Novas, Chevelles, C10 trucks from 52 all the way up through the end of OBS Ford trucks, E-body Mopar, B-body Mopar, and first-gen Mustangs.

Next is Jeff Taylor, Founder and CEO of Rover Trophy sources classic Land Rover Defenders from Spain, Italy, or Turkey and then imports them to his warehouse in Connecticut. He uses three different drive trains – LS3, Tesla, and diesel – and builds custom models, including a Woody Defender with an electric Tesla Model 3 rear Dr. unit. The starting price for one of his custom Defenders is around $199,000 and can go up to $345,000.

Our next guest is, Phil Smunt is a sales manager at Roadster Shop, a car-building company with over 30 years of experience. They specialize in offering suspension options and production-style chassis for a wide range of vehicles, including muscle cars, trucks, and cruisers. In addition, they also provide custom chassis tailored to meet their clients’ specific design preferences. They offer different chassis designs tailored to meet specific ride stances and design preferences. If someone wants a custom chassis for a car that Roadster Shop has never designed before, the process can take about 10 to 12 months to complete. The company begins by scanning the vehicle and then goes into the design phase to build the chassis to the ride stance, wheel, and tire size requested.

Up next we’ve got Dennis Collins, the President of Collins Bros Jeep, has been in the custom Jeep business since 1984. They offer high-quality parts, accessories, and restoration services for Jeeps. They believe every Jeep that leaves their shop is unique and built to last, with hundreds of restorations under their belt. A few cars they will be selling is, a 67 Corvette Elkhart blue till Stinger restore mode, and Alex Bowling’s 70 Resto-mod Challenger, which he built over five years. Their highlight of the week – their 488 Ferrari Challenge race car.

Richard Norris, the owner of Rapid Dry Towels, used to work on Wall Street but now he’s in the car detailing business. As a child, he struggled to find a towel that would dry his parents’ car without having to stop and wring it out. The synthetic shammy would leave streaks and residue, so Richard decided to develop a fabric that would solve this problem. He found that off-the-shelf microfiber towels from South Korea and China were not designed for proper drying, so he created his own fabric that is now two generations ahead of anyone else who makes microfiber. The fabric was designed to be flat, so that water wouldn’t sit on the car and create streaks.

Joe Petralia from Rare Performance Motorcars talks to Alan about the auction in Scottsdale. He sold and bought two pieces: a motorcycle and a car. They discuss the market and how it’s slightly off from last year. He mentions that original, unrestored cars are super strong right now. They talk about the upcoming auction in October and how it’s good for setting up the groundwork for the big event in January. They also talk about the charity car they sold for the Chip Miller Foundation for $220,000.

Next up is Chris Smith, Founder and CEO of Mr. Smith LLC, shared how the pandemic affected the collector car hobby. Shipping delays from the US to the UK led to warehouses being filled with cars, causing financial difficulties for some dealerships. Clients in the UK still face challenges, and Chris has observed that the hobby seems to be growing every year.

Alan’s final guest is Gary Patterson, President of Shelby. They discuss the speech he gave about a program called the Youth Initiative. He did a great job, but he acknowledged that a lot of it is about building relationships, being the go-to person, and taking ownership. They also talked about the movie Ford vs Ferrari, which many auto enthusiasts have seen. In this movie, key characters like Carol Shelby and Henry Ford were shown, but it was the engineers, drivers, and all the people behind the scenes that made the race win. Therefore, Gary’s advice to those people was to build relationships as they build their career and be the go-to person to gain respect and succeed.

Closing the show today with Alan is BJ Killeen, a contributor, automotive journalist, and voice of reason, She’s here to give a little recap of the highlights of Barret Jackson. During the show, a custom built race Hummer was sold for an astronomical amount of $825,000. The highest selling car was a 56 Gullwing Mercedes 300SL that was sold for $3.41 million. The second highest was a 2000 Bugatti Veyron that went for $2.97 million. Other notable mentions include a 37 Mercedes-Benz 540K special roadster that went for $2.42 million and a Ferrari F-12 that sold for $1.34 million. The GT4 GT 2019 went for $1.375 million. However, the Ferrari LaFerrari, which belonged to Sammy Hagar and had a reserve on it, did not sell. The pre-war vehicles did not sell for as much as the muscle cars did, but they were still sold for a lot of money.

Vin 0001 Dark Horse sold for $350,000, and a 69 COPO Yenko Camaro sold for $330,000. The 2005 Bentley Continental GT sold for $33,000, a great deal. The Buick Invicta won the Jackson Cup. Dodge Demons sold for $176,000 and $275,000. Also, a little tidbit before BJ goes: Ford will continue building the Mustang. Hyundai, Toyota, and BMW are moving towards hydrogen vehicles. Alan reminds everyone that Barrett Jackson is happening again in Scottsdale from October 10 to 13.

[00:00:00] – Mark Valentino
[00:07:07] – Rick Malone
[00:13:00] – Cameron Foremaster
[00:20:50] – Jeff Taylor
[00:30:17] – Phil Smunt
[00:37:21] – Dennis Collins
[00:44:11] – Richard Norris
[00:51:27] – Joe Patralia
[00:57:12] – Christ Smith
[01:05:02] – Gary Patterson
[01:14:35] – Contributor BJ Killeen
[01:21:31] – Barrett-Jackson Highlights

CREDITS

Host: Alan Taylor
Producer: Dave Milligan
Copy Editor: Colleen Mahi

Special Guest: Mark Valentino
Special Guest: Rick Malone
Special Guest: Cameron Foremaster

Special Guest: Jeff Taylor

Special Guest: Phil Smunt

Special Guest: Dennis Collins

Special Guest: Richard Norris

Special Guest: Joe Petralia

Special Guest: Chris Smith

Special Guest: Gary Patterson

Contributor: BJ Killeen

EXPLORE MORE WITH HELPFUL LINKS:

Special Guest: Mark Valentino | Director of Development at Radford Racing School
Special Guest: Rick Malone | Head instructor of the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School at Spring Mountain
Special Guest: Cameron Foremaster
Special Guest: Jeff Taylor | Founder and CEO of Rover Trophy
Special Guest: Phil Smunt | Sales Manager at Roadster Shop
Special Guest: Dennis Collins | President at Collins Brothers Jeep
Special Guest: Richard Norris | Founder at Rapid Dry Towels
Special Guest: Joe Petralia | Rare Performance Motorcars
Special Guest: Chris Smith | Found and CEO of Mr. Smith LLC
Special Guest: Gary Patterson | President of Shelby American.
Contributor: BJ Killeen | Automotive Journalist and Voice of Reason

Vehicles Discussed:

2023 Dodge Demon 170, 2006 Chevrolet Corvette, 1971 Z28, 1970 challenger RT 446, C8 Corvette, 1967 Corvette Elkhart Stingray, Alex Bowling’s 1970 Restomod Challenger,

OUR SPONSORS & SUPPORTED CHARITIES:

• Austin Hatcher Foundation
• AutoTempest.com
• Brembo
• Dodge
• Foundation of Human Understanding
• Shell
• Subaru

About THE DRIVE with Alan Taylor

THE DRIVE with Alan Taylor puts you in the driver’s seat for a unique, fast paced look at today’s automotive industry. This is your pedal-to-the-metal, two-hour thrill ride devoted to the latest car news and test-drive results, how-to tips, car maintenance tips, auto show coverage, expert insights and behind-the-scenes race day action. Don’t miss exclusive interviews with top auto executives, athletes, celebrities and prominent newsmakers from around the world.