This past year we lost 8 of the Inspiring Automotive Enthusiasts™ that appeared on Cars Yeah. All made their great impact on the automotive world and will be missed by family, friends, and anyone who had the honor of knowing them. Their voices will forever be recorded to enjoy here on Cars Yeah.

John Buck is the owner and producer of Rod Shows, which puts on the West Coast’s premier indoor hot rod and custom car shows, including the Grand National Roadster Show, the Sacramento Autorama and the Grand National Truck Show. Each year, the country’s top designers, builders and fabricators bring their newest and freshest hot rods, customs, motorcycles, and classics to show off to delighted guests and fellow car lovers. The Grand National Roadster Show, once known as the Oakland Roadster Show, will celebrate its 74th year this coming February 2^nd through the 4th, and is the longest running indoor car show in the world. You’ll see over 500 vehicles compete for a variety of awards, including the illustrious America’s Most Beautiful Roadster and Slonaker Awards. 

John Hames is a television producer and actor who created the series titled American Car Prospector, a show he started in 2013, that aired on Discovery Channel. His early career was in the financial sector as a stockbroker. He was also a land developer however his passion and enthusiasm for cars and acting took him down a new road. John and his team are building a new TV series that will be available mid 2024. The show will feature episodes exploring unique and exciting land, sea, and air transportation. They will air on an all new social media channel and on YouTube. Updates and private channel strategy will be coming in 2024. Stay tuned!

Today I spend Christmas morning with Jay Leno. Jay brings along Donald Osborne and we spend Christmas morning talking cars, and the upcoming New Year. Jay Leno and Donald Osborne need no introductions. Both are quintessential car guys with lifelong passions for classic cars. You’ll see them appearing together on Jay Leno’s Garage, Audrain’s Mansions and Motorcars, and at automotive events and concours across the country. 

Michael Cotsworth is the Founder and President of Car Connections, the President of Automotive Consulting Network, and the Executive Producer at ACP Productions. He has been an automotive enthusiast for over 50 years working as a publisher, writer, speaker, radio personality, driving instructor and an automotive consultant. He’s been active as an automotive collector, restorer, and vintage racer since 1977. Michael is the Founder and past President of Rocky Mountain Automotive Press, past President and Director of Ferrari Owners Club and Classic Sports Racing Group and previous host of the weekly internet radio talk show Automotively Speaking. He was the Contributing Editor of Modern Gladiator Magazine and was a licensed Colorado Independent Automobile Dealer. Michael earned the Tom Senter Award, Glen Snyder Award at the Monterey Historics and the Bill Morton Spirit of the Hill award as well.

Robert Nagle is one of the most in-demand stunt coordinators and drivers in Hollywood, having worked on nearly 90 film and television productions over the past 21 years. This includes the much anticipated Michael Mann releases, on December 25, Ferrari, staring Adam Driver. Roberts movies include: Ford vs Ferrari, Baby Driver, Captain Marvel, John Wick, Mission Impossible to name just a few. He’s worked with and trained top actors and directors, driven numerous vehicles from street cars to race cars, new and vintage and on commercials and TV shows. If you’ve seen automotive stunts, Robert was probably involved.

Imagineer Bob Gurr has always been a man on the move. And for nearly 40 years, he’s helped move many a happy Disney theme park guests aboard vehicles and ride conveyances of his own design. As he has often quipped, “If it moves on wheels at Disneyland, I probably designed it.” He developed more than 100 designs for Disneyland from Autopia to the Matterhorn Bobsleds. Bob’s authored books, raced cars, flown airplanes, and had a hand in a multitude of automotive designs including cars, trains, trams, monorail trains, the list goes on and on and on. In 1999, Bob was honored with the Themed Entertainment Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award (THEA). The Walt Disney Company honored him in 2004 as a Disney Legend, again honored in 2008 with a Disneyland Window on Main Street.

Bob Hall is an automotive industry consultant who specializes in issues of corporate, product, and design strategy with major manufacturers. He’s worked at a variety of companies as Director, Product Planning, Acting Manager of Design, Vehicle Programs Integrator, and executed product concept studies for multiple new vehicles including Proton for 7 years. Bob’s worked as a Journalist as an Editor for automotive magazines from Wheels, Automotive News, for Crain Communications, Petersen Publishing, Motor Trend, Autoweek, and others. He was Assistant to the Manager in the Design Division at Mazda Motor Company responsible for vehicle styling, concept, engine, powertrain and other systems in new vehicles. Many call Bob the "Father of the Miata". 

Luca Dal Monte is a Senior Public Relations executive for luxury brands in the automotive sector turned best-selling and award-winning author with top-level experience in Communication for Ferrari and Maserati. A key member and the Communication strategist of the team that brought Maserati back to the United States and later re-launching it worldwide in what was one of the most dramatic company turnarounds in recent automotive history. He is the author of thirteen non-fiction and three fiction books. Today Luca shares his book Enzo Ferrari: Power, Politics, and the making of an automotive empire, published by David Bull Publishing.

Rodney Kemerer is a lifelong, automotive enthusiast. His writing has appeared in Garage Style Magazine, Hemmings Classic Car, Rolls-Royce Flying Lady, BMW Roundel, The Petersen Museum Finishline Magazine, Vintage Road and Racecar, Bentley Drivers Club Review, Old Cars Weekly and the Los Angeles Times. His first book is titled Tales From The Garage and it’s a journey through the garages and the enthusiasts who want to share their passion, their cars, and time spent in the biggest room in the house, their garage. Beautifully designed with fun, illustrations, part memoir and part memories, and formatted like an owner’s manual.

Tom Jensen is the Curatorial Affairs Manager at the NASCAR Hall of Fame where they honor drivers, all-time great crew chiefs, team owners, broadcasters, and other major contributors to competition within the sanctioning body. He is a veteran of more than 25 years of writing about auto racing and cars. Tom formerly served at Motorsports and Automotive Industry Editor-in-Chief for FOXSports.com. He is the author of several books and his work has appeared on numerous newspapers and website in North America.

Dr. Mark Davis is a retired Chiropractic Physician and Real Estate Developer who lives in South Carolina. His love for Corvettes began in 1960 when he was only 5 after spotted his first Corvette. Mark has gone on to own around 150 Corvettes over the past 51 years and is well known as a Corvette aficionado and collector of primarily low milage, all original Corvettes. On January 12, 2024, he will be auctioning 3 of the best all original Corvettes in the world to the famous Mecum Kissimmee auction. These 3 cars quite possibly represent the absolute best, all original examples of the first 3 generations of Corvette. 

Nigel Tunnacliffe is the Co-Founder and CEO of Coastline Academy, a next-generation driving school on a mission to end all car crashes. In just six years, Nigel bootstrapped the company from a small startup into the largest driving school in the country and the 6th fastest-growing education company in America according to Inc.com. Nigel studied as a Skoll Scholar at the Said Business School at the University of Oxford and has founded numerous successful tech companies. A proponent of combining modern technology with rigorous standards for instructors, Nigel has used his passionate commitment to driver safety to architect the company and change the way we think about driving education. To date, Coastline has provided top-quality education to over 100,000 driving students across 500+ cities, with its DMV-approved courses and lessons receiving 55,000 5-star reviews.

Frank Loughridge has been a hot rod and custom car enthusiast since he was a small boy. His interest was cemented when his father took him to a Darryl Starbird Rod and Custom show in the 1980s. Upon Meeting his friend Chris the two began to revive the South Gate Gaters, a club in which Chris’ father and cousin had been involved in during the 1940s. Chris still has the “Pyle Special” which was one of the original Hot rods of the club. Today, Frank and the Gaters SCTA are dedicated to building and growing the hot rod spirit by producing period hot rods and hosting events including the “Bias Ply Drags” December 9, at the newly minted Street Legal Dragway in Perris Ca.

Antonio Melegari is the Media Production Manager at Audrain Automobile Museum & Collections. In 2018 he started volunteering at the Audrain Automobile Museum and quickly became an intern and was hired full time in 2020. His first task was to start the Audrain Museum Network YouTube channel. He now runs the film department that creates 2 to 3 long form videos a week that get posted on the network inspiring 45,000 subscribers. Antonio was born in Brescia, Italy and moved to the US with his family at a young age. 

Peter Zaidan is a Scottsdale, Arizona based luxury Realtor who has blended his lifelong passion for automobiles with his Real Estate business. He owns Homes4CarGuys at Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International and specializes in finding and selling garage centric properties in Scottsdale and nationwide. Enjoying the amazing car scene in The Valley, Peter saw a need for specialized consulting. He created Homes4CarGuys and specializes in selling homes with large garage space that cater to car collectors and people who need a bit more space for their "toys". Most homes are not set up for these car collectors or track enthusiasts, and that’s where Peter comes in.