Horsepower Heritage

"Don't build a racetrack", says Jeremy Porter, but that's just what he did. As a dirt biker and then a kart racer, Jeremy had the need for speed. And he had some big ideas about the race track experience- what he could do bigger and better. As  the Creator and CEO of Atlanta Motorsports Park, he took his business savvy and love for racing and built a playground for fellow speed...

Of all the internal combustion engines ever built,  the Rolls-Royce Merlin,  a 27-liter supercharged V-12 that powered fighters, bombers, boats and tanks, is arguably one of the most famous in history. Developed on the eve of World War II, the Merlin helped win the Battle of Britain and eventually the liberation of an enslaved Europe. It was manufactured on both sides of the Atlantic by two of the...

This week, it's a special "best of" cut with car-guy extraordinaire Bruce Meyer: lifelong enthusiast, entrepreneur, one-time motorcycle racer, and Founding Chairman of the Petersen Automotive Museum. It's an inside look at his incredible  collection of significant machines, with Bruce's thoughts on everything from Hot Rods and Porsches to LeMans and Bonneville. All of it t...

This year we lost four remarkable men who made their mark on motorsport: "Quick Vic" Elford , the fearless British driver with humble beginnings who made his mark in the Porsche 911 and 917; Mauro Forghieri , longtime technical director of Scuderia Ferrari; Nicola Materazzi , turbocharging guru and brilliant designer of the Ferrari 288 GTO and the F40; and Alain DeCadenet , gentleman rac...

For over two decades, photographer John G. Zimmerman covered various automotive-related assignments for magazines like Sports Illustrated, The Saturday Evening Post, Life, and others. A new book, "Auto America: Car Culture 1950s-1970s" celebrates his work in all its Kodachrome and black-and-white glory.  Many of these images have never been published. From the heyday of Detroit to racing...

From the Art Center College of Design to major Hollywood films and companies like BMW and Mazda, Matthew Cunningham has pursued the future of mobility and car culture. Now, he's taking his car designs from the Metaverse to the physical universe with a new project on the cutting edge of design, manufacturing and personal mobility with a car called the Syntax. Matthew Cunningham Design: https:/...

Restoring a car is never easy, and the interior is often one area that gets less attention than it deserves. But old world craftsmanship is alive and well thanks to artisans like Rob O'Rourke and AJ Pink of O'Rourke Coachtrimmers in West Sussex, UK. Rob's spent his life in auto restoration, first alongside his father and then in his own shop, crafting authentic interiors for some of...

The car hobby dies without new blood- but there's a lot to know and it’s easy to make mistakes. So where do you start? Author Robert C. Yeager tackles this subject in his new book, "The NextGen Guide to Car Collecting: How to Buy, Sell, Live With and Love a Collectible Car". From historical insights to marque-specific overviews, valuations and real-world owners stories, Bob lays it...

Maurice is joined by Harry Phypers, host of The Ignition Podcast, for a look behind the scenes of both shows as well as a friendly little competition of the Best of British and American cars from the Ford Model A V-8 to the McLaren F1. The Ignition Podcast aims to inspire people to do more through their cars- to explore what's possible creatively and professionally in the automotive industry....

Automotive art has always been a great way to capture the emotion behind the machines, and the work of Anna-Louise Felstead is a happy, whimsical and breezy interpretation of everything from pre-war cars to the latest LeMans Prototypes. She's become a favorite at car events worldwide for painting live in front of the crowd and many classic car owners commission her work on the spot. In this e...

He might just be the hardest working man in motorsport.  Patrick Long has spent decades perfecting the art and science of racing, stacking up wins at LeMans, Daytona, Sebring and elsewhere. He's also the only American to ever have been selected for a coveted slot as a Porsche Works Driver.  And he's one of the co-founders of "Luftgekühlt" (which means air-cooled in German), whi...

Born at the start of the automotive age, Virgil Exner had almost no formal training, but he was a talented artist who was fascinated by cars. Almost by accident, he became a giant of midcentury American car design with his work at Studebaker and Chrysler, helping to save both companies from cautious but boring styling. This is the story of Exner's remarkable career and his greatest legacy: &q...

From dragsters and motorcycles to hot rods and European sports cars, Bruce Meyer has loved them all. As a kid growing up in Los Angeles, he immersed himself in the car culture and for over sixty years he's been living his automotive dreams. Along the way, he forged friendships with some of the most famous names in the car world. As the founding chairman of the Petersen Automotive Museum, Meye...

You're about to learn the secrets of what made Bugatti and Alfa Romeo so great. However you choose to translate it- be it "pure blood",  or "thoroughbred"-  Pur Sang can only mean the best;  a winning combination of engineering and artistry. Pur Sang Argentina builds precise replicas of legendary cars including the Bugatti Type 35 and the Alfa Romeo 8C using the original t...

The Rolls-Royce 40/50 Horsepower was the standard bearer of the famous English marque for twenty years, and came to be known as the Silver Ghost. Power, comfort, and durability were the hallmarks of these cars and their near-silent operation conjured the image of a ghostly machine effortlessly gliding along. Alan Clendenen  and his daughter Ivy are caretakers of 1914 and 1926 Silver Ghosts, respec...

In the 1930s,  an obsessive genius named Phillip Vincent captured the attention of racing riders and well-heeled rebels when he transformed the HRD motorcycle company into a maker of the world's finest two-wheeled machines. From The Isle of Man Tourist Trophy to Bonneville speedway, the Vincent impressed riders with its  power,  maneuverability and dashing good looks. In this episode, Filmmak...

From the dirt oval racetracks in 1950s Nebraska to his many years as a contributor for Automobile Magazine , Ronald Ahrens has spent his life observing  American car culture. His latest project is a book entitled "The American Automobile From Flivver to Furious", a comprehensive history of the industry and its innovators.  In this episode,  Ronald shares  humorous recollections of his st...

Take a deep dive into the world of  fine artist Nicolas Hunziker, whose captivating automotive art is coveted by collectors world-wide. Art and racing are his twin pursuits. But underneath his skill & success was an undiagnosed brain disorder and a daily struggle with his mental health. Nicolas talks candidly about this challenge and how it’s shaped his personal and professional life.  SUPPORT...

As a boy in Stuttgart, Germany, René Staud had two fascinations: the fantastic cars he saw on the road, and the world of photography.  His passions converged in a career as a highly successful studio photographer with a long list of auto industry clients, and René has also published an impressive collection of books on various cars from Jaguar to Porsche. His latest title is the newly-revised &quo...

Ed Justice, Jr. is a longtime motorsport photographer whose family has been involved in racing for over seventy years. Their story begins in the midwest before World War II where Ed's father and two uncles, Zeke and Gus, built a midget racer. Eventually they moved to Southern California where they built race cars for Frank Kurtis of Kurtis-Kraft and soon became the entrepreneurs behind the Ju...

Andy and Mercedes are a husband and wife team of automotive journalists who got hooked by Japanese Domestic Market 4x4s and now have a fleet of Pajero and Delica workhorses that take them into the wild on a regular basis. In this episode we talk about their writing, off-roading and the simples joys (and frustrations) of being gear heads. SUPPORT THE POD: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/hpheritage SUP...

For decades, the name "Vasek Polak" was practically synonymous with Porsche in the United States. This is the story of  Vasek's incredible journey from war-torn and oppressed Czechoslovakia to America- and the remarkable life he led as a mechanic, racing team owner, and the first independent Porsche dealer in the country. SUPPORT THE POD: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/hpheritage SUPP...

After a long and successful career as a heavy equipment manufacturer and serial entrepreneur, car enthusiast David Brown set out to create something different: he took all the things he loves about classic automobiles and combined them with modern comfort, safety and reliability. The result was a car called the Speedback GT.  Following this ethos, David Brown then approached the classic Mini in th...

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 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 terrible day and its afterma...

If you like wild and wooly motorsport, look no further than flat track racing. Flying a tight field of motorcycles around a dirt oval goes back to the earliest days of the motorcycle. The legacy of the current organized and sanctioned sport traces back to the 1950s and it's still going strong. Gene Crouch, Chief Operating Officer of American Flat Track, gives us a glimpse of the people, machi...