Horsepower Heritage

Four little letters: SEMA. This simple acronym helps drive the 300 million dollar US automotive aftermarket industry.  Every year, thousands of companies descends on Las Vegas, Nevada to showcase their latest and greatest products- everything from exhausts and lift kits to lighting and detail supplies.  The Specialty Equipment Market Association was founded in 1963, originally to promote "spe...

"All my heroes are in black and white" goes the lyric of a John Mayer song. It's also how Max Minshull thinks about motorsport, racing drivers and sportscars.  Max Minshull has a fascination with the exploits and the thrill of vintage machines from the Fifties and Sixties. He races a Porsche 356A coupe and he's on a mission to bring together a new generation of enthusiasts who...

Not long ago, three Los Angeles car enthusiasts decided to organize a new event celebrating the best Italian machinery in a distinctive location. Mike Baum, Bronson Page and Dorian Valenzuela are friends, collectors, and the creatives behind MACCHINISSIMA.  MACCHINISSIMA III comes to Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, September 27.  Horsepower heritage host Maurice Merrick joins Team Macchi this ye...

The manual gearbox is an endangered species. We all know the battle cry "Save the Manuals"- but Ahmed Raza decided to do something about it. He bought a Mazda Miata without knowing how to shift gears, but promptly learned and became a car enthusiast.  Being an entrepreneur, Ahmed and a friend started a business called "Manual Driving Academy" to teach others the essential skill...

On a narrow street in Tokyo, there's a nondescript little workshop known as Naito Engineering, where some of the world's most desirable sports and racing cars are cared for by a small team of men.  Founded by Shinichi Naito in 1952, it's now a third generation business where, on any given day, you might find a Ferrari 250LM on the lift or a Porsche racing engine being rebuilt. Shini...

One of the most historic racing circuits in the United States has a new helmsman. Mel Harder is a motorsports management veteran who began his career at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and went on to manage Circuit of the Americas and the Chip Ganassi Racing Team.  In this episode, Mel talks about the past, present and future of Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca and shares his insights on decades of...

In the early 1960s, Lincoln Small fell in love with the perfomance-tuned FIATs built by Abarth. Soon he was obsessed with them, leading to a business venture with a pair of backyard-engineer brothers, John and Geoff Anstead, in which the three became the Abarth agents in the United Kingdom.   Under the Radbourne Motors banner, they imported, prepared, sold and raced the whole range of Abarth cars....

Few people speak more passionately about cars than John Nikas. He's a longtime vintage racing driver, an author of dozens of books, and a sought-after public speaker on automotive subjects.  His first love was for British sports cars in all their crudeness and stubborn tradition, but that was only the gateway to a lifetime spent behind the wheel and the writing desk.  In this conversation, Jo...

Cultivating the next generation of automotive restorers and specialists is essential to the survival of the car hobby- whether your classic was built in 1900 or 1990. Blake Swingle is one of these next-gen tradesmen. Soon to graduate from McPherson College (which offers the only Bachelor's degree in this field in the United States), Blake has learned the fundamentals of research, metalwork, m...

"Sweet and fast" is a good way to describe the character of many classic Italian cars. Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia, Ferrari, Maserati and other auto makers created enduring machines infused with the national culture.  In this episode we explore what makes them so special: things like design philosophy, emphasis on beautiful shapes, and performance-oriented engineering. Recorded live at the...

The "Golden Age of Auto Racing" began after World War II and lasted until the early Seventies. It's a period that is frequently romanticized.  But that thin veneer was shattered at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on the afternoon of June 11, 1955, when a catastrophic collision caused the deaths of Mercedes-Benz driver Pierre Levegh and at least 83 spectators. Here's the story of that t...

Combining his background in internet tech and vintage cars, Juan Diego Calle launched CLASSIC.COM to bring the collector car market together under one digital umbrella.  The website has seen tremendous user adoption and growth and it's become a prime destination for many people who want to buy or sell a special car.  Its useful data on market trends, pricing and past sales has become a valuab...

It's arguably the greatest event in motorsport- The 24 Hours of LeMans. A grueling trial of men and machines, and for many drivers, the race they most want to win. Its roots are as deep as the history of the automobile. This is the story of how it all began. DOLCE è VELOCE AT THE PETERSEN MUSEUM: https://www.petersen.org/events/dolce-e-veloce-2025 BECOME A PATRON: https://www.buymeacoffee.com...

After World War II, the American auto industry became obsessed with power and performance, and Chrysler Corporation's Hemi engines became legendary.  This is the story of the Hemi like you've never heard it before. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/hpheritage SUBSCRIBE to Horsepower Heritage on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@horsepowerheritage FIND US ON THE WEB: https://w...

Veteran writer Tony Thacker has spent decades covering the world of hot rods and motorcycles for multiple magazines in the U.S. and UK, and is the author of over thirty books. His latest work is "Hot Rod Mavericks", which profiles the key builders, engineers and racers in the history of the hot rod movement. BECOME A PATRON: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/hpheritage SUBSCRIBE to Horsepower...

Gasoline, Diesel and even jet fuel made out of thin air- it sounds like science fiction, but it's now a reality.  Rob McGinnis and his team at Prometheus Fuels in Santa Cruz, California have developed a way to extract the elemental building blocks from the atmosphere and turn it into synthetic hydrocarbons that can then be formulated into just about any fuel you want.  They say they'll b...

One of the biggest trends in the upper echelon of car culture is the development of private racing circuits... where members can really take their machines into "the zone" and exploit the performance of today's most sophisticated supercars. The Concours Club is one such facility, a state-of-the art "motorsport country club" with all the amenities- a highly versatile circui...

Let's be honest: we all spend way too much time online looking at cars for sale, right? It's irresistible. It's almost as if we're building a "virtual" car collection.  And that's the whole idea behind this episode- pick some cars to suit a few different needs and see what it might cost to put them all in your garage.  But an unlimited budget would make this easy...

This is the fascinating true story of the most mysterious car collections ever assembled, a tale of international intrigue and relentless pursuit on a scale so grand that it sent shockwaves through the classic car world for decades.  BECOME A PATRON: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/hpheritage SUBSCRIBE to Horsepower Heritage on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@horsepowerheritage FIND US ON THE WEB:...

From the monster TV hit "Overhaulin'" to the Mecum Auctions and more, Chris Jacobs has been able to combine his car passions with a long and successful career in front of the camera.  He's a die-hard MoPar guy and loves high performance, but also a family man and a true media professional. In this episode Chris and Maurice talk American muscle, career, and car culture. Enjoy! W...

Ahh, Paris! Every February, the classic and collector car world converges on the City of Lights for Rétromobile- a massive assemblage of the best offerings in every category of automobilia.  It's also the site of Bonhams Cars Grand Palais auction, which has something for every taste, from the horseless carriages of the 19th Century to the supercars of today.  In this episode, Eric Minoff of B...

From its beginning as a simple email newsletter to becoming the new paradigm of classic and collector car buying, Bring a Trailer has always had community at the heart of its success.  Alex Porter was such a fan of the website that he joined the team. He's seen it all as Bring a Trailer has grown, and in this episode, Alex shares his insights on the dynamics of buying and selling, trends in t...

Anyone who's ever had a project car has a vision of the finished product in their mind's eye- but living up to the dream can be a challenge. Luckily, there are shops like Griot's Motors that take pains to do a proper job. Forrest Davis is the shop foreman at Griot's and he's obsessive about the details that set a project apart from lesser efforts. From nuts and bolts to pa...

Daniel Sexton Gurney (1931-2018) was a Southern California Hot-Rodder who became one of the most successful racing drivers in the history of motorsport, with wins in Saloon Car, Sports Car, NASCAR, Indy Car and Formula One. Gurney raced for the Arciero Brothers, Luigi Chinetti's North American Racing Team, Ferrari, Brabham, BRM and Porsche before teaming up with Carroll Shelby to found All Am...

The rearing horse emblem of Ferrari is meant to suggest a taut, muscular thoroughbred, straining at the reins, snorting and ready to bolt. After all, that's what you want in a race horse: and pure specimen on the edge of control. And for years, that's what Ferrari's customers got when they were handed the keys of a new road car- under that sexy coachwork was a race-bred machine. But...