CarStories

Heath Cofran is a pretty interesting dude. He is a racer, a cameraman, a marketing guy, and most of all a motorcycle enthusiast. Kyle sat down with Heath recently and discussed his somewhat unique path through the motorcycle industry as well as his transition from backroad burner to racing enthusiast by way of the Foo Fighters. They also talked quite a bit about Heath's day job at Alpinestars and the current state of motorcycle safety gear including Alpinestars' new TechAir personal airbag systems.

Camilo Pardo is famous for having been the lead designer of the 2005-2006 Ford GT supercar but as it turns out, he's one of the most dynamic and fun and eccentric car designers we've talked to and we had an incredible time conversing with him. He is a bit of a renaissance man, with interest and skill in not only car design but also painting, furniture design, fashion design and more. He's an awesome guy and we're thrilled we got hang out with him. 

Henrik Fisker is one of the most famous and best regarded automotive designers in history. His work with vehicles such as the BMW Z8, the Aston Martin DB9 and V8 Vantage and the Fisker Karma is both well documented and widely admired as being some of the most beautiful modern automobiles. Henrik is a fantastic guy with an incredible eye for design and we were honored to have him stop by the Petersen Museum to talk cars. You're going to love this one!

Chris Cantle is one of those rare journalists who not only does everything but is good at everything. His career, first with Cycle World then Road & Track and now The Drive, has been filled with incredible adventures and we, as readers, have been lucky enough to vicariously take part with him. He took us along when he raced a 300+ horsepower jet-ski from Long Beach to Catalina and when he attempted to scientifically determine whether wearing one's facial hair in the style of Graham Hill would make one faster around a race track. This was Chris' first visit to CarStories but we had a blast and we can't wait to have him back!

We met Abhi at one of our Breakfast Club Cruise-In events after having seen him several times on Jay Leno's Garage. Abhi is a genuine, dyed-in-the-wool motorcycle enthusiast and his website, Bike-Urious is like catnip for anyone with an interest in two-wheeled transportation. We had an amazing conversation with him and we can't wait to have him back!

Michael Baum is a collector of Italian, French and German cars as well as a Checkered Flag 200 member. We met Mike when his gorgeous little Lancia Appia won Best In Show at our November Breakfast Club Cruise-In event. He turned out to be a fascinating guy and great to chat with. We know you'll like this episode.

Nicolai Sclater aka Ornamental Conifer has built a career as an artist and sign painter, working with brands like Edwin, Lucky Brand Jeans, Deus Ex Machina and Alpinestars. His incredible work seeks to poke fun at many of the masculine stereotypes associated with motorcycling and with car culture through the use of bright colors and tongue in cheek humor. James and Kyle are huge fans and they were thrilled to have him on for his first ever podcast appearance to talk about art, slammed Citroen 2CVs, and making a living as an artist in LA. Enjoy!

James and Kyle decided to get up early a few weeks ago and attend the 2016 LA Auto Show press days. They were able to snag a few great interviews in between stops at the many coffee stands in various manufacturers booths. In this episode you'll hear interviews with:Brad Cracciola, Assistant Director of BMW DesignWorksTodd Hill, Subaru NAIan Callum, Jaguar/Land RoverRoss Miller and Shaun Westbrook, AcuraEnjoy!

Jack Riddell is the proud owner of the world's highest mileage Lamborghini. His 1967 400GT 2+2 has traveled nearly 275,000 miles in its 49 years on the planet and Jack has been its caretaker since the early 1970s. Jack has literally written the book on rebuilding the famous Bizzarrini V12 and traveled to Monterey's car week an incredible 35 times. He's an incredible guy and he didn't hesitate one bit to hop in the Lambo and drive to Los Angeles from his home in San Diego. This is a good one!

Bruce Meyer has had more to do with the success of the Petersen than almost anyone else. He served as the first Chairman of the museum's board of directors and founded the famous Checkered Flag 200 club. He's also widely regarded as one of the world's foremost car enthusiasts while also having one of the most historically significant collections anywhere in the world. We were thrilled to finally have him on the podcast to talk about the history of the Petersen and his passion for cars.

Here it is, the second and final piece of our SEMA special. This one is a little shorter than last week but it's no less radical. This time James and Kyle sit down with:Dave Schardt of Forgeline WheelsSteve Strope of Pure Vision DesignCorky Coker of Coker TireJessi Combs SEMA is always a marathon but this year was fantastic, we had a bunch of fun and we hope you enjoy listening to these interviews as much as we enjoyed making them.

We at the Petersen are huge fans of BMW. They have been building exciting cars that make us what to get out and drive for a hundred years now. It's pretty rare to meet someone who's even more excited about Bimmers than we are but that was definitely the case with Marc Norris from Bavarian Workshop. Marc is arguably one of the best BMW mechanics in America and has some awards to back that up. He runs the Bavarian Workshop making people's cars run right but he also builds some pretty epic custom projects. We had him on the podcast to find out what fuels his obsession with the roundel!

We sent our podcast hosts, James and Kyle, to Las Vegas for SEMA and they managed to line up some interviews with some truly awesome automotive personalities. Rather than trickle these interviews out, we're going to give them to you in two big chunks. This first chunk features interviews with:Lance Stander of SuperformanceMelanie Hellwig White of Hellwig ProductsJack Chisenhall of Vintage AirJason Engel of Classic RecreationsDave Kindig of Velocity's Bitchin' Rides and Kindig-It DesignMike and Jim Ring, aka RingbrothersJames and Kyle recorded all of these interviews from the Ringbrothers' 1000hp Happy Camper Winnebago Brave in the Prestone booth. We hope you enjoy.

Jamie Robinson has been many things in his career but the one constant has always been motorcycles. He started out riding bikes on his family's farm in England and graduated into professional road racing in Europe as well as a trip to the Isle of Man TT. Eventually, he moved to America and embarked on a career in motorcycle journalism through MotoGeo, though leaving it at that is an understatement. Jamie is a hardcore moto-evangelist and we were thrilled to have him on the podcast!

Ken Lingenfelter is a good friend of the podcast and we were happy to have him back for the hat trick. Three visits is a big deal, he's been on CarStories more than any other guest. He's a great guy, a huge automotive enthusiast and a big-time philanthropist. We were super excited to hear him explain some of the foibles of Bugatti ownership, the hazards of receiving the daily BringATrailer email when you have an above average budget and lots of other exciting topics.