Bob Varsha - Motorsport Analyst & TV Personality

For 22 years Kevin was a creative leader at Team One working on Lexus as a designer, art director, and creative director. He, most likely, created more images of Lexus vehicles than anyone, having led countless photoshoots and CGI creations, and has been the lead art director for 10 vehicle launch campaigns. He was CD on the team that fulfilled Lexus.com with content and was the primary creative on all Lexus visualizers. www.kevinandrewmitchell.com

Take a listen to Dwight and Greg as we talk about the early days of the scooter scene in SoCal, how they both connected, and how one is a die-hard Vespa fanatic and the other a hardcore Lambretta expert!

Like many successful car racers, Justin Bell nurtured and developed his passion for speed and competitive racing at an early age. With natural talent and the encouragement of his father Derek Bell, a five-time Le Mans 24 hours winner, he started out fast and got faster, and soon began carving his own place in history. Since beginning his career in 1988, Justin has achieved many significant racing accomplishments, including the 1997 FIA GT2 Championship, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans GT2 class in 1998 and second-place finishes in Le Mans and Daytona, and a pair of SCCA Trans-Am wins. Along the way he raced for major car manufacturers including Saab, Peugeot, Porsche, BMW, Dodge and General Motors. For Dodge Viper, he won the 1997 FIA GT2 world championship and the GT2 class at Le Mans in 1998. In 2000 Justin signed with General Motors as a driver for the factory Corvette Racing team, finishing second in the Daytona 24 Hours, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Petit Le Mans. Justin co-founded Torque Media Group in 2018 with Tommy Kendall and Jason Jacobson. Breaking with the traditional TV model the trio created The Torque Show as a branded Livestream Show to support Michelin in the IMSA Series. Evolving into a vibrant chat show style format, JB and TK interview the highest profile people in the Sportscar world, attracting a huge audience on their Facebook Live channel. Another series integrated into The Torque Show is 'The Love of Cars' presented by Hagerty, which has seen guests such as Jay Leno, Patrick Dempsey and Danny Trejo. Drawing on their vast experience in Live sports broadcasting, and led by the producing talents of Jason Jacobson, the company branched out into live event hosting with the Audrain Newport Concours and Motorweek and the incredibly prestigious honor of hosting and producing the livestream for the Pebble beach Concours d'Elegance in 2021. After all this, Justin still felt like something was still missing. The medium to express himself and the world as he saw it. But when he saw a Hasselblad medium format camera he knew he had found it! Learning the craft was fun and frustrating and led him to the world of Leica cameras, where he really found his footing. He likes to focus on portraits of the men and women who inspire him in the world of speed. He is not a technical photographer (although he is learning all the time) but he thinks because of his skills as an interviewer, people open up to him and he simply transition that trust and access into the images you see on his Life. with Legends website. Life.With Legends is an intimate collection of his conversations with fascinating people that arguably are legends in the world of racing, cars and speed. These portraits are all taken at the time of the recordings and are unique to the shared moments between artist and subject.

Listen to Kat tell us about her goal to rebuild the DeLorean name and brand into the company her father always dreamt of it becoming. www.dngmotors.com

John is a life long car guy. All of his favorite toys had wheels. Growing up on the north side of Chicago, two of his favorite early memories includes drives down Lake Shore Dr. in an MGA with the top down, (which really started his love of British Sports Cars) and when the orange pedal car was brought downstairs for a sidewalk drive. That was officially his first car. His second was a fairly ratty, but still loved red 1960 TR3. There were a variety of cars in the early days, foreign and domestic. A 1969 Road Runner, a 1973 Grand Am with a four speed, and a 1972 MGB were among a few early cars. Later came a long string of practical and sporty BMW 3 and 5 Series cars. Somewhere in the late 80 and early nineties was a 944 Turbo.In 1996 John bought a 1963 Austin Healey BJ7 3000. He met his long-time friend Mark Baker when Sport and Specialty did some much-needed maintenance on the car. Re-bitten by the British Car bug, and deciding it was “now or never” John found a 1960 Bugeye race car and brought it back to racing duty. Next, he joined North Suburban Sports Car Club and went to his first driving school in 1998, and received his Novice Competition License. He has held a competition and instructors license since 1998. He also holds a Chief and Operating Steward’s license from Midwestern Council and serves as the Vintage / Historic Racing Chair and Vintage Motorsport Council delegate. He campaigns his lovely yellow 1969 Alfa Romeo GTV and BMW 2002 with MCSCC and the Vintage Sports Car Drivers Association (VSCDA) in general vintage races and the B Sedan Trans Am series. He also runs his track and street ready1983 Caterham Super Seven when the occasion arises.After a long and successful career in sales and marketing and general management, John knew it was time to do something he truly loved. After the passing of his friend Mark, the business that he knew so well through his friendship with Mark was in danger of shutting down. The business had a talented and dedicated crew and good business basics in place, so after helping the family operate the business in 2012, he began discussing some purchase options to keep the business alive and growing. At the end of 2012, he purchased the business and hasn’t looked back. He couldn’t be happier, he works with a talented crew, gets to go racing when he can, and has successfully turned his passion into his livelihood! What could be better?

We start off the new season with Paul Montesano, current President of the HB Car Club, and past President of the Orange County Mustang Club, and he probably has the coolest day job around, as the Director for Supply Chain at Meyers Manx.Paul shares with us the latest news around the release of the all-electric Meyers Manx 2.0 which has folks in a frenzy!!! Take a listen for this and much more from Paul as we discuss the car culture in SoCal and beyond.This podcast is brought to you by Arango Insurance Services.  Please visit us at https://www.arangoins.com To learn more about the topics we discussed, please visit:https://meyersmanx.comhttps://hbcarclub-carsandfriends.comhttps://www.ocmustangclub.org

Akash Cheeda started his career working for one of the largest Porsche parts suppliers in the UK, becoming a restoration parts specialist. Having built a strong network of restoration companies nationwide, Akash then moved on to work with an independent Porsche specialist learning the hands-on side of the industry. Akash established Marc Brunel Recruitment in 2016, with a clear goal to service the automotive and classic car industry and to give both upcoming and proven candidates the opportunity to work in their dream jobs. As for Marc Brunel Recruitment’s clients, Akash and his industry-leading team aim to offer an efficient recruitment process and provide the best candidates possible. With significant experience in the automotive and classic car industry, Akash understands each and every one of his clients’ requirements and looks to build long-term working relationships. https://marcbrunel.com.

Zoë Whittaker is a racing and rallying professional. She is now pursuing her dream and has begun to tour some of the most beautiful and unnoticed countries in the world with Driving With Zoë. Born in the UK, Zoë’s father brought home his first classic car when she was 12 years old, a 1966 Corvette Stingray. His passion for classic cars then began. Zoë spent a great deal of her teenage years attending classic car rallies with her father where she navigated for him in UK and European rallies such as the Alpine Challenge and Paris to Marrakesh. From that day forward, Zoë was inspired by her father’s zest for cars and racing and decided she too wanted to sit behind the wheel. Zoë achieved this goal as soon as she got her license and took part in classic car rallies by the age of 19. Though Zoë experienced some track racing, support her father at many race meeting, when he raced single seaters in the Formula Ford series, Zoë realised her true passion was rallying. Zoë found the sound and feel of the vintage engines captivating and the differentiating terrain inspired her to want to participate in as many rallies as possible, not only to quench her thirst for driving classic cars but to also experience and discover new destinations. As much as Zoë loved her previous jobs, she was becoming frustrated being behind a desk all day and desperately wanted to be on the road, rallying and racing cars. www.zoewhittaker.com.

Dave Kunz has been an employee of ABC7 for a quarter-century, becoming the Eyewitness News Automotive Specialist in February 2001. In addition to his duties as a photographer and editor, his on-camera work makes ABC7 the only station in Southern California with a dedicated reporter covering automobiles and related topics. Growing up in the San Fernando Valley, Dave always gravitated toward the Southern California car culture that was all around him. His television career started in an unusual way, however. Dave was offered a "temporary, part-time job" at KABC-TV while in college as a business major. Though business would always be something to fall back on (keeping his family happy), broadcasting was continually calling his name. He went on to a formative career in television, first at KTLA and then back at KABC. Eventually, Dave was able to merge his career in television with his passion for things with wheels, and now gets to experience just about anything that runs on gasoline (or increasingly, clean new cars that don't use any), and bring them to Eyewitness News viewers. He is a member of both the Motor Press Guild and the Society of Automotive Historians. Dave also volunteers as an emcee at local vintage car shows such as The Friends of Steve McQueen Car and Motorcycle Show, the Palos Verdes Concours d'Elegance, and the Art Center Car Classic. Dave spends his free time with his wife, Suzanne, who helps him keep a small collection of classic cars in (usually) running order. Follow Dave on social media: Facebook.com/abc7davekunz Twitter.com/abc7davekunz Instagram.com/abc7davekunz

Keith Martin has been involved with the collector car hobby for more than 30 years. As a writer, publisher, television commentator and enthusiast, he is constantly on the go, meeting collectors and getting involved in their activities throughout the world. He founded the monthly Sports Car Market magazine 32 years ago, and it has developed into the authoritative voice of the collector car hobby. Martin’s columns on collecting and reviews of exotic cars, including the Ford GT and the Bentley Continental GT, have appeared in the New York Times. Noted for his onstage wit, warmth and deep knowledge of collectible cars, Martin has been an emcee at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the Concours of America, Concorso Italiano, Legends of the Autobahn, the La Jolla Concours d’Elegance, the Atlanta Concours, Keels and Wheels and many other events. He has been honored as a recipient of two of the most prestigious awards in the collector car hobby – The Lee Iacocca Award and the Edward Herrmann Award. He has also been inducted into the Concorso Italiano Hall of Fame. He has hosted numerous television specials, and was the co-host of “What’s My Car Worth” shown on the Velocity channel. He served as Chairman of the Meguiar’s Collector Car Person of the Year Award, is on the Board of Trustees of the LeMay Museum and has served on the faculty of the Collier Museum symposium on Connoisseurship. Martin brings an eclectic background to his passion for cars. His academic background includes the study of Intellectual History at Reed College, in Portland, Oregon, and study as a Dance Major at the Juilliard School in New York City. He founded the first professional ballet company in Oregon, Ballet Oregon, was awarded an Oregon Art’s Commission Individual Artist’s Fellowship for new choreography, and was director of dance for the Portland Opera. He is currently on the Board of Directors of Oregon Ballet Theater and a patron of the Portland Art Museum. Martin lives in Portland with his son Bradley, a budding teenage car collector who already has had his first car, a 1960 Bugeye Sprite. His daughter, an enthusiast herself, Alexandra, graduated from Oregon State University and is a support specialist for Daimler Trucks North America. She can be seen driving her 2006 Lotus Elise, and blogs occasionally for SCM.