Charlie Vogelheim has 30 years of automotive industry experience including roles as VP at and J.D. Power and as executive editor at both Kelley Blue Book and Motor Trend Auto Group. He is the principal of Vogelheim Ventures through which he is involved in a variety of initiatives including Motor Trend Audio, TPC Management, DrivingSales, RyanTech, and Webcars China.

James Caldwell lives in Menlo Park, California and is an automotive artist who’s been focusing on painting cars since 2007 although he’s painted since he was a young boy. A graduate from Rhode Island School of Design, he followed in his father Jim’s footsteps, a renowned landscape painter. James passion for automobiles runs deep and his goal is to capture the complex reflections and distortions of light and color in the intricate surfaces. He’s been on Jay Leno’s garage, his art hangs in private collections around the world, and I discovered James at Concorso Italiano in Monterey during Car Week where he’s their official artist creating magazine covers, posters, and calendars.

Carlos Salaff is Founder and Creative Director of SALAFF where they design and make high-performance hand built cars. Working at Mazda Design Americas from 2003-2012, he was instrumental in the creation of several concept and production vehicles. His works have been recognized by the Louis Vuitton Classic, LA Design Challenge, and the Grand Prix Du Design awards.

Cameron Evans is the President of Red Line Synthetic Oil, a division of Phillips 66. He grew up in a family with a passion for racing and his late father was Steve Evans, motorsports broadcasting legend. Cameron was the editor of Popular Hot Rodding Magazine and host of their television show. He’s managed NHRA Pro Teams and worked for years in television production at Diamond P Sports. He’s raced motorcycles, sports cars, Formula Mazda, and today races in the BimmerWorld/Red Line Oil ChumpCar, NASA, SCCA, BMW CCA, and others.Cameron Evans is the President of Red Line Synthetic Oil, a division of Phillips 66. He grew up in a family with a passion for racing and his late father was Steve Evans, motorsports broadcasting legend. Cameron was the editor of Popular Hot Rodding Magazine and host of their television show. He’s managed NHRA Pro Teams and worked for years in television production at Diamond P Sports. He’s raced motorcycles, sports cars, Formula Mazda, and today races in the BimmerWorld/Red Line Oil ChumpCar, NASA, SCCA, BMW CCA, and others.

Twas the night before Christmas, and upon my garage bench,
Not a tool was a spinning, not even a wrench.
The cars were all parked in their stalls with great care,
In hope that St Nicholas soon would be there.

••• 

This car guy was nestled all snug in my bed,
While visions of sports cars raced through my head.
And my wife in her overalls and I in my driver’s cap,
Had just parked our booties for a long winter’s nap.

••• 

When out on the driveway there arose a valve clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the garage I flew like James Hunt,
But I tripped on a floor jack and had quite a shunt.

••• 

The moon on the paint of my shiny car’s hood,
Had the luster of fresh paint on cars that are good.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a train of cool sports cars with a driver so dear.

••• 

He was a spirited old racer, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than racers his cars they all came,
And he honked, and blipped throttles, and called them by name!

••• 

"Now Porsche! Now, Ferrari! Now, Ford and Chevrolet!
On, BMW! On, Bugatti! On Aston Martin from the UK!
Drive Jaguar! Drive McLaren! Drive Lamborghini and Audi too!
Shift Tesla! Shift Morgan! Shift Mercedes and boy how they flew!"

The smell of spent race fuel lingered thick in the air,
And the marks of burnt rubber on my driveway were there,
So on to the driveway the marques how they flew,
It was a sleigh pulled by cars, driven by St Nicholas too.

••• 

And then, all a revving, I heard in the garage
The distinct double clutch of a red Viper Dodge.
As I poked in my head, he was turning around,
And in to my garage did St Nicholas pull up with a bound.

••• 

He was dressed like a racer, from his head to his foot,
And his race suit was tarnished with oil and black diesel soot.
A bundle of car parts he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a mechanic opening up his tool sack.

••• 

His eyes-how they twinkled! His dimples how quaint!
His cheeks were like chrome and his nose like metallic paint!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as a headlight’s glow.

 •••

The exhaust from his tail pipes drifted through the night’s air
And he shut down the engines with a quick blip and a care.
His smiling face looked out, of his Bell helmet all round,
He shook when he laughed, like a V12 making sound!

••• 

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old racer
And I laughed when I saw him, like a barn find car chaser.
A wink of his eyes were like the sparkle of chrome stars,
And I knew that this old jolly fellow really loved cars.

••• 

He spoke not a word, and delivered his treats,
He filled the glove boxes, the trunks and bucket seats.
And laying his wrench aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, in to his car he arose!

 •••

The cars they all fired up with a glorious roar,
And away they all drove right out my garage door.
How he yelled with excitement, as he drove out of sight,
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

Thank you to Clement Clarke Moore for your Christmas inspiration.

James Colborn is originally from the United Kingdom who resides in the United States. He’s a racer who after spending four years of high performance driving event (HPDE) days, his good friend, and fellow Cars Yeah guest Don Kitch, owner of ProFormance Racing School in Seattle Washington, handed James the keys to a BMW E30 PRO3 race car and said “Take a few laps.” James was hooked. Since then he’s raced all over the US. The past two years he’s developed the new SPEC E46 class on both the East and West coasts. He’s competed at the professional level in the Continental Tire Series, in the ST class with team BimmerWorld and Compass 360.

David Schaeffer is the Executive Director at World of Speed Museum in Wilsonville, Oregon. His role is to oversee the museum’s mission of education and entertainment through the celebration and preservation of American motorsports. Before joining the museum David worked for the Children’s Cancer Association as the Chief Development Officer and he’s also worked in the headquarters for the American Cancer Society, Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Chris Gennone is the Managing Partner and Co-Owner of The Stables in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Stables is a premium storage facility where they help their customers sell, acquire, collect, and care for fine automobiles. Chris was a professional driver in the IMSA endurance racing series where he was also a chief driving instructor. From there he built the automotive consulting company CDI and raced in vintage racing events in many different race cars. Chris has been collecting, selling, and restoring classic cars and motorcycles for over 30 years.

Shin Yoshikawa is a world-renowned cutaway artist, fabricator, photographer, and a concert pianist. His drawings are exacting details of the interior of automobiles down to every nut and bolt. He’s appeared on Jay Leno’s garage and his art hangs in shops, home, garage, and galleries around the world, including mine. In his automobile workshop titled Studio Time Capsule Shin is a master fabricator. For over 40 years he’s been involved in numerous automotive builds including concept cars, Toyota 2000 GTs, Panhards, Toyota FJs and more. Shin is a man of many talents including his skills at the keyboard as a concert pianist.

Rachael Clegg is an artist who designs and creates unique motorsports themed nude calendars with a focus on racing, both the Isle of Man TT race and the famous Nurburgring race track. Her quirky, bold, artistic, and revealing calendars and prints have been featured in the German national daily newspaper Die Welt. Her Milestones calendar has become a cult piece and is a visual celebration of the renowned TT motorcycle event. Her Nurburgring calendar’s back-stories are detailed and historic and the images are witty, silly, and evocative. Her other art, Sound Stories, are paintings with a nod to motorcycle racing history. Rachael captures motorcycle sound waves translating them to paint on a canvas.

Eric Shea owns PMB Performance in Sandy, Utah and started his business with a single pair of Porsche 914 brake calipers. His company rebuilds and restores brake calipers to their original state, using the same methods as when they were factory built. Intimately familiar with the correct plating techniques, his process brings parts back to their original condition. Eric restores parts for his customers and supplies exceptional resellers and restoration experts including: Stoddard, Ferrari parts for T. Rutlands, that Porsche guy Magnus Walker, Tony Samojen, and Max Sluiter with calipers for their customers and cars. The motto at PMB Performance is: "We don't rebuild... we restore".

Mark Lewis spent 14 years as the Public Relations Representative and Special Events Coordinator at the Daytona International Speedway. Today he is an educator at a private school in Daytona Beach Florida and an automotive fine artist. His favorite subjects to paint are race cars and racing scenes. His art represents sports car racing at the highest professional level from Formula 1, Moto GP, historic racing cars and endurance racing where his unique style represents speed, color, light, and motion.

Sal Fish is the retired CEO and President of SCORE International, the leading sanctioning body in the sport of desert racing. The SCORE race series includes the Baja 1000, Baja 500, San Felipe 250, Primm 300, Laughlin Desert Challenge and Las Vegas Terrible's Cup. He first raced in Mexico in 1970 and then started his entrepreneurial career in desert racing in 1973 when he was recruited by the late Mickey Thompson founder of SCORE International. Fish brought innovation to SCORE, organizing class rules, implementing safety procedures, and transforming the Baja 1000 into one of the most recognized motorsports events in the world.

Patrick Long has been a Porsche factory driver since 2003. He is a three-time ALMS GT driver’s champion, class winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans. He is the only North American employed as a factory racing driver by Porsche and a class winner at the 2013 SCORE Baja 1000. In 2015, he raced with Patrick Dempsey in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and he drove with Team Falken Tire for selected events in the Tudor United Sportscar Championship. With California roots and a European racing pedigree, he is one of the top sportscar drivers of his generation.

Hurley Haywood’s racing career goes all the way back to 1969 when he raced with Peter Gregg at Watkins Glen. They won that first race together that started a path in racing that’s unmatched. He built his career behind the wheel of a #59 Brumos Porsche, racing for the Jacksonville, Florida-based team that’s lasted over 40 years. The number of major race wins and championships he accumulated in his career makes him the most successful endurance racing driver in history. That record still stands today. Hurley has won IMSA Championships, The Daytona 24 Hours, Sebring 12 Hours, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the list goes on, and on. Awards include the Motorsports Hall of Fame, Florida Sports Hall of Fame, and many others.

Ron Huegli is the Curator at World of Speed Museum in Wilsonville, Oregon. At World of Speed Museum, he and his team are dedicated to education and entertainment through the celebration and preservation of motorsports. As curator at World of Speed, Ron is responsible for the entirety of World of Speed’s motorsports collection. He acquires, cares for, develops, displays, and interprets the museum’s exhibits. He also works with a talented team on archiving, marketing, fundraising, volunteering, and educational programs. He’s raced nitro dragsters and Top Fuel racing and he drives the Tiki Warrior funny car.

Nathan Riddle is the owner and host of the off-road adventure show, KrawlZone, which aims to take the adrenaline of extreme rock crawling and pump it into the vein of the off-road community. Nathan also has an acting background, works as a video game animator, is a professor at the University of Utah and is currently developing several additional off road shows as well as his first feature film. At a young age he learned to be a grease monkey and gained a love for classic cars from his father.

Mike deJonge is the owner of Restoration Design, in Ontario Canada. The company designs and manufactures high-quality replacement sheet metal for vintage Porsche automobiles. There he and his team make replacement parts for Porsches including the 911, the 356, and the 914 models. They recreate hundreds of original parts for use when restoring older Porsche cars that range from body panels to gas tanks, door lock posts, and full hoods. In addition to new sheet metal parts they also sell original panels and mechanical parts for older Porsches with hundreds of parts in their growing inventory.

Simone Schedoni is the President of Cuoio Schedoni Leather in Modena, Italy. He is the fourth generation of a family with a legacy as rich as the fine leather products they have produced for over 130 years. The Schedoni leather company began in 1880 when Celso Schedoni opened a small workshop in Formigine, Italy to make fine leather footwear. Fast forward to the mid 70s when the company was making fine luggage for Ferrari owners that lead to a relationship with Ferrari F1and a relationship that’s continued over 35 years. Today their leather goods can be found in marques including: Ferrari, Bentley, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce, Pagini, Audi, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and more. 

Alan Taylor is the owner of Alan Taylor Company located in Escondido, California. They are a full serviced automotive restoration business specializing in European and American models from the prewar era through the 1960s. Alan and his team are known for their work on Alfas, Aston Martins, Avions Voisin, Bugatti, Delage, Delahaye, and many other great marques. Their reputation for creating award winning automotive masterpieces with a focus on details and perfection is known worldwide. You’ve seen his work on concours lawns from Pebble Beach to Amelia Island. With over 50 years in the business, Alan has seen most every marque ever made roll through his shop. His motto: The impossible we do immediately. Miracles take a little longer.

David Fetherston is the president of Fetherston Publishing in Sebastopol, California. He has evolved from journalist and photographer, to automotive history specialist to prolific author and publisher. David has over 40 book titles to his credit including his 1999 Automotive Book of the Year for American Woodys. His creations include, Heroes of Hot Rodding, Chrysler Concept Cars 1940-1970, Bonneville - A Century of Speed, and Fetherston's Treasure Box of Classic Woodys. Whether it's on paper, web-based or hands-on with a race team, David has contributed to automotive history and culture in a diligent effort to keep the facts straight.

Jeremy Grenier lives in Charles Town, West Virginia and spends a lot of his time in his shop at Summit Point Raceway. He started racing in 1998 at the age of 23. He’s worked with an amateur Trans Am team and then a Grand Am AFT team. He’s been at Ski Motorsports since 2003 where he drives, builds, engineers, and redesigns all kinds of race cars from Formula Vee, Formula Ford, Formula Mazda, and a variety of customer cars. He’s received numerous racing awards including the 2014 Mark Donahue award from the Road Racers Drivers Club.

Alexander Bermudez is a photographer with a passion for automobiles. He studied graphic design in England and photography at the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California. He’s been on assignments with Werks II Motorsports documenting their IMSA GT3 Challenge and ALMS campaigns and he’s spent lots of time shooting at many of the great road courses in America. He’s an avid racer in Porsche Owners Club events and won the coveted Rookie of the Year Award in their Cup series driving a Porsche Boxster. You’ll find him documented at Petrolicious in his Porsche 964 based hot rod 911 known at The Growler, where he also contributes to their road trip series.