John Larson is the CEO of Bestop, the largest manufacturer of soft tops for Jeep Wrangler and CJ’s in the world. They are the sole supplier of factory soft tops for Jeep Wranglers since 1986. They have a long history of innovative and high-quality products. John worked at General Motors Corporation in several significant positions including General Director of Finance for U.S. Sales and General Manager of the Buick, Pontiac, and GMC Divisions. He was the CEO of Escort, a leading manufacturer of radar detectors and other automotive electronics accessories. John’s lectured at Purdue’s Krannert School of Management’s Executive Leadership series and is a guest lecturer at Northern Illinois University’s School of Business. He also serves as the Lead Director for the Board of KAR Auction Services, voted a top public company in Indiana.

Bill Atalla is the founder of Autoinformant, a social network for automotive enthusiasts. Often referred to as the “Facebook for Cars”, Autoinformant is building a powerful and growing community connected by a passion for cars helping others grow their interests. You create your own profile, build shareable pages for your cars, discover customized content based on your individual interests, and connect with like-minded automotive enthusiasts. Bill is also the Chairman and CEO of Tristrata, an internet software security company that provides comprehensive information security solutions for Fortune 500 corporations and governments worldwide. His 35 plus year career has focused in starting, building, and leading companies in diverse industries. Bill is also a life long classic car and auto racing fan.

George Levy is a Boston native whose name rhymes with Chevy. He’s a lifelong racing fan and his first car was a BRE-styled Datsun 510. He owns a number of Shelby Mustangs and lists among his major life achievements as dodging death by the hands of an international drug-smuggling cartel while visiting Carroll Shelby’s home in Mexico… while on his honeymoon. George is the former editor of Autoweek and sits on the board of directors of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. His latest venture is his new book titled Can-Am 50th Anniversary. The photography for this book is by Pete Biro, yesterday’s guest here on Cars Yeah.

Pete Biro is a photographer and journalist whose 50 plus year career started when Road & Track magazine asked him to supply them with a story on the Barneson Special, a custom-made sports car. The iconic David E. Davis Jr. discovered Pete’s work and gave him assignments for Car and Driver magazines. Pete and David traveled the world covering races including Le Mans, Grand Prix’s, and most major races and he shot for Sports Illustrated, Time, Life and many others. He met and became friends with many of the great drivers including: Dan Gurney, Phil Hill, Bruce Mclaren, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart, A.J. Foyt, Richard Petty and many others. He worked for Dan Gurney as a public relations guy during the time Bobby Unser won the Indy 500. His latest endeavor is supplying photos for the new book Can-Am 50th Anniversary collaborating with author George Levy.

Bogi Lateiner is a master mechanic and owner of the award winning auto repair shop, 180 Degrees Automotive in Phoenix, Arizona. A writer, a speaker, and a teacher, Bogi is passionate about improving the reputation of the automotive industry and changing the way women, in particular, feel about cars and the automotive repair experience. Bogi teaches automotive basics to women around the country, consults and teaches classes to repair shop owners and other small business owners, and appears as one of three female mechanics on All Girls Garage on Velocity Channel.

Mike Skinner’s racing career spans more than 40 years. He started racing in 1975 in a wrecked Plymouth Road Racer. He ran on dirt tracks, winning three championships, racing at night while holding down a day job to pay for his track time. He’s raced stock cars to NASCAR trucks both in the U.S.A. and abroad and in 1995 he was the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion. Mike’s worked in television and radio as a personality and today you can find him racing his NASCAR Trucks up the hill at Goodwood Festival of Speed, running in vintage racing events, and cohosting Skinner Round-Up on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Mike supports charities through the annual “Skinner Round-Up For Charity” event, and serves as a spokesperson for Hope For The Warriors, a military nonprofit dedicated to restoring self, family, and hope for post-9/11 service members, veterans and military families. In 2013, Mike was inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame. Currently he's the American "Stig" on the new Amazon series The Grand Tour with Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.

Jim Carpenter is the owner of Italian Design and Racing in Mesa, Arizona. He's been modifying Ferraris since 1987 helping his customers fulfill their dreams. He and his team modify Ferrari bodies, chassis, engines, exhausts, gearboxes, and much more. He has designed and completed numerous convertible conversions for the Ferrari 308 models plus adding spoilers and accent parts. Racing though is Jim's true passion and he has completed many 308 model conversions to fully compliant SCCA race cars. His clients enjoy their cars in SCCA, historic, Ferrari club track and racing events. A recent build involved modifying a 330 GT 2+2 chassis using a Ferrari P4 style body plus a Ferrari 550 Maranello engine.

Nick Candee is the Vice Chair and Historian of the Aston Martin Owner’s Club East serving eastern Canada and the US. He is the former editor of The Vantage Point magazine, an Aston Martin Club publication and he is the Principal of Candee & Company with over 30 years of expertise in international corporate planning, specializing in Latin American markets. Nick just published a new book, co-authored with Stephen Archer titled The Aston Martin DB4GT published by Palawan Press in the United Kingdom. This 544 page book with over 800 photographs and illustrations examines in detail the history of every DB4GT manufactured including the design and development of the car. It is a definitive collectors book telling the brilliance and craftsmanship required to build these magnificent cars. 

Philip Caggiano is an automotive designer who combines his passion for luxury and collectable automobiles with his love of creating custom furniture where good design is the common thread. He is a designer, fabricator, and the President of his Design Firm in Westchester, New York. In addition to building custom cars and individualizing supercars Philip is a multi-disciplined designer, artisan, engineer, and fabricator who has mastered old world craftsmanship in the construction of his contemporary furniture where he holds multiple patents. He has refurbished classic cars and worked for Ferrari, Porsche, and BMW helping their motor sports teams. You’ll find him published in numerous magazines from Sports Car Market to Cavallino and the recipient of many design awards.

Neil Pitt is the President of Speed Digital in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is an experienced business and information technology leader who has worked in a variety of industries including retail, financial services, telecommunications, transportation, and information technology. Speed Digital creates proprietary software and digital platforms for a range of enthusiasts in the automotive and classic car industry. Their focus and commitment is dedicated to helping dealers increase profits through powerful, custom web and marketing solutions keeping their customers on the forefront of technology.