Wrench Nation - Car Talk Radio Show

IMSA Was Born Fifty years ago, a new sanctioning body emerged at a pivotal moment in motorsports history. Racing was on the upswing and new tracks were being built all across the U.S. Imported cars from Europe and Japan were flooding the market, designers were pushing limits and drivers were looking for an opportunity to race for more than just a trophy. Into this void stepped John Bishop with a fledgling organization called IMSA that offered competitive, professional racing in a friendly atmosphere and carried a new message: Racing with a Difference. The Inside Story Now Told In this behind the scenes book, Mitch Bishop and Mark Raffauf tell the inside story of how IMSA became a global powerhouse in just a few short years. It covers John Bishops early life, his years at the SCCA and tells the story of how IMSA grew from humble beginnings in 1969 into the Camel GT Series, a circuit that became the most popular form of professional sports car racing in the world. Interviews with many of the top drivers, tea

  Our Time at the Wheel is Done?! Driving will become illegal, as human drivers will be demonstrably more dangerous than cars that pilot themselves. Is this an impossible future, or a revolution just around the corner? Sam Schwartz, "Gridlock Sam," America's most celebrated transportation expert, describes in his book about the revolution in self-driving cars. The ramifications will be dramatic, and the transition will be far from seamless. It will overturn the job market for the one in seven Americans who work in the trucking industry. It will cause us to grapple with new ethical dilemmas, if a car will hit a person or a building, endangering the lives of its passengers, who will decide what it does? It will further erode our privacy, since the vehicle can relay our location at any moment. And, like every other computer-controlled device, it can be vulnerable to hacking. Right now, every major car maker here and abroad is working on bringing autonomous vehicles to consumers. The fleets are getting rea

The Overwhelm of Tool Box Purchases How are automotive technicians preparing for their career? Are we overwhelmed with technology? What is the requirement of a modern day toolbox? Auto mechanics are consistently buying specialized tools that they don’t use often and not giving them a good return on investment. As a business owner, what is the immediate priority over the next few years for an investment in software\hardware that will enable repairing vehicles properly and bring a good return on investment? So many questions and a serious conversation about how we can arm our service operations for success. Industry Leaders Share Expertise Diagnostic Network is an online community of industry professionals and leading industry stakeholders coming together to create the resource to support technicians of today and tomorrow. Founder, Scott Brown, is an ASE Master Certified L1 Technician with over 35 years of professional service industry experience. As an independent shop owner in Southern California, he under

The Wayne Carini Passion Wayne's passion for cars started when he was a child, working alongside his father on such classics as Duesenbergs, Lincolns, Packards and Ford Model As. Then, at just 9 years of age, he experienced a life altering event: he went for a ride in his first Ferrari, a 1960 Rosso Chiaro 250 SWB to be exact. Wayne was instantly bitten by the Ferrari bug and hooked for life. Automobiles have been Wayne's passion ever since. Wayne learned the art of Ferrari restoration from his mentor Francois Sicard -- a former Ferrari racing mechanic and widely considered to be the foremost Ferrari expert on the East Coast -- and his good friend Luigi Chinetti Jr., whose father Luigi Chinetti Sr. won the 1949 24 Hours of Le Mans race for Ferrari and opened the first Ferrari dealership in the country. Chasing Classic Cars With an emphasis and talent for Ferrari early on, Wayne has built a career of seeking out some of the worlds most rare vehicles of a by gone era, giving way to preservation and beauty f

Journalist's Passion Leads to High Profile Digital Platform A motor racing broadcaster, commentator and journalist, Will Buxton has had the rare pleasure of turning his great passion into something resembling work for the better part of 20 years. His career has taken him around the world countless times to report on everything from Formula 1 to World Rally to Indycar. While the happy mistake of falling into television as a Formula 1 pit-lane reporter in the United States for the SPEED channel and later NBC Sports, followed by his current role as the first Digital Presenter in F1 history, has made him one of the most recognized faces and voices in the sport, his first love was and remains writing. Buxton lives in Oxfordshire, England. Behind the Scenes, Race Car Driver Insights Will's new book, My Greatest Defeat: Stories of hardship and hope from motor racing's finest heroes, is a collection of honest and revealing insights into 20 of the greatest living racing drivers, legends of the worlds of Formula 1,

$147,000 dollars That’s how much money our guest this week, Chris Balish, saved by making one really smart financial decision. His wife Jennifer, has saved more than $54,000 by making the same decision, thus together they’ve saved $200,000. They are completely debt-free, and within another year or two, they're going to pay cash for a house. How did they do it? By going car free. They occasionally rent cars and frequently ride in cars, they just don't own one -- the fixed costs are too high. There are many benefits to living car free, and the financial windfall is at the top of the list. According to the American Automobile Association, the average cost of car ownership is $8,400 a year -- over $700 per month. Keep in mind that you pay for your car in after-tax dollars. So a $700 monthly car cost eats up approximately $1,000 in salary. Every month. How would you like to boost your income by one thousand dollars a month without a side hustle and without having to beg your boss for a raise? What could you do

The Business of Super Cars With an incredible race history with the performance design and build of the Saleen Mustang to one of the world's most renowned super cars, the Saleen S7, CEO & Founder Steve Saleen has carved out a reputation that truly ranks with the most celebrated performance vehicle designers in history. Mr. Saleen’s entrepreneurial business plan laid the groundwork for an entire new industry of design, engineering, manufacturing, and sales of high-performance vehicles that were race-proven and marketed for sales through showrooms nationwide. His impeccable attention to detail while observing a business acumen is like no other. Additional Builds and Hollywood Other significant accomplishments include the paint and sub-assembly of the Dodge Viper, supercharged Harley Davidson Ford F150 and the construction of the first “running’ Camaro for its introduction in the movie “Transformer”. Numerous Hollywood films have featured Saleen vehicles, including “Fast and Furious”, “Bruce Almighty”, “Trans

Under Hood Rotating Electric While technology is certainly blazing away, there have been some changes to these age old components of your vehicle, the starter and alternator. As the alternator has made advancements in certain vehicle platforms by incorporating the on board computer in circuit as well as clutch style pulley systems, these parts can often be misdiagnosed, creating an in bay comeback or a frustrating weekend at home working on your ride making multiple trips to the parts house.  Back to Basics On this special technical edition of the show, we are going to uncover some of the common areas of alternator and starter misdiagnosis and review some of those technical service bulletins that can help us before we head down the wrong path. With special guests, Jim Crosson of Parts Authority https://bit.ly/PartsAuthorityLocations and Jeff Johnson of Motor Car Parts of America https://bit.ly/MotorcarPartsAmerica come join us for some insight and education on one of the most common automotive repairs goin

The Ultimate Vehicular Hangout There is a quiet movement among car enthusiasts across the country regarding the storage of their prized possessions. Add to that, the serious demand for a club like environment with high end amenities from luxury lounges and service facilities, to an actual racetrack to rev your wheels and vehicular soul. From earthquake proof storage facilities in Los Angeles, to the sprawling acreage to lay out your horsepower inner beast of McLaren, Ferrari or Mustang, welcome the Apex Motor Club in Arizona https://bit.ly/ApexMotorClub, where car condos meet racetrack. One of a Kind. From Rest to Race. The ability to open up the throttle and get to the inner depths of the soul and spirit of a well-crafted rolling machine. The freedom to express all aspects of performance, and your race skill set through your investment, is a release of pride and joy. Teaming up as co-founders of Apex Motor Club are Jason Plotke, a 20-year automotive industry veteran, and Matt Williams, a 14-year automotiv

An Age Old Problem Youth involvement in gangs is a serious problem across the country, whether you’re in a big city or the land of suburbia. You see gang graffiti firsthand, and usually glance over it, becoming numb to the blight and crime. MS-13, the mark of an international criminal gang organization, seems to be in the headlines just about every week as the federal government, and a multitude of states across the country, work to eliminate their presence. From Gang Graffiti to Automotive Repair and Car Customization Police departments are stretched thin for resources, yet officers all across our country create or volunteer to help their community. We are excited to share with you, Dragg Racing Against Gangs & Graffiti (DRAGG)  https://bit.ly/DRAGGTeam. It's not a big ‘ole horsepower run down a street called Broadway in the middle of the night, in all actuality, DRAGG is an incredible after school program for teens. Currently in the cities of Oxnard, CA and Phoenix, AZ, and coming soon to Los Angeles, polic

Please and Thank You  Mom always said from our early years say "Thank You" and "Please," a staple of the basics towards being neighborly and thoughtful of the people around us. Over time, many of us have lost that principle of life to certain degree and in some cases all together, especially when driving our vehicles. Can we blame the time constraints of our crazy schedules that have us running around without taking time out to remember to slow our thought processes down and focus on this important activity, particularly when we are behind the wheel of what could turn into a maniacal road rage incident or worse yet, a disastrous collision with the loss of precious life? You’re Not Alone  The fact is we are all culprits of distracted driving to some degree or another and the multitude of things that we can perform behind the wheel that can create an annoying or selfish act towards our fellow road warriors has unfortunately gotten worse. Is this attributed to technology, that is actually designed to help us,

The Need for Design & Speed When we think of speed and the movement of horsepower and race vehicle designs on the track, history has proven that many can truly compete and dominate. From the early years of 1867, races were organized to prove time trials among man and machine, and ultimately progressed to competition with manufacturers, as specialist cars were designed for maximum speed. Throughout race history, from Sprint Cars to NASCAR, to IMSA, and the famed Monaco Grand Prix, this common mantra runs through the racing bloodline across the globe. Porsche Life: The Racing Intensity & History of Bruce Canepa  Among the storied history of race legends and designs, there exists a common pursuit of attention to detail and the drive for an impeccable approach to win. From the 2001 Truck Hill Climb of Pikes Peak record breaking run, to pairing up with motorsports icons Rick Mears and Monte Shelton at the 24 Hours of Daytona, then co-driving with Gianpiero Moretti in the famous MOMO team Porsche 935 at Daytona, M

A Multitude of Car Brands & Chinese Electric Vehicle Growth.  As the behemoth of the automotive marketplace, China has an impressive amount of vehicles on the road, as well as vehicles sold on a yearly output basis. The population and middle class  boom of recent years has set an unprecedented rate of growth and development of infrastructure to keep up with demand. The vehicle marketplace, specifically in the electric vehicle space, has exploded and China has taken the world stage with how it decides to provide a more efficient way moving forward for the future of transportation, pollution and global commerce. The Vehicular Streets of Beijing.  At one point in time, the Chinese elite and wealthy were the privileged few to actually own any major mode of vehicle transportation. With the advent of China's years past economic boom and growth, it is more common place for the average person to own a vehicle, which ,like many cities across the world, has contributed to heavy traffic, congestion and pollution. The

From Sea to Global Shining Sea. A Worldwide Energy of Automotive Culture. Many feel that the center of the world for all things automotive and culture is right here in the good old United States. The abundance of automotive creativity and reinvention is never-ending and seems to continually progress from generation to generation, inspiring and invigorating all from coast to coast, and globally. A worldwide movement churning ideas and invention from creative builds and designs, to the color and vibrancy of renowned artists who painstakingly translate rolling pieces of art to wonderful works translated on canvas. Her Royal Highness and Automotive Artist Vidita Singh  One of the first automotive artists to represent the beautiful, fascinating and diverse country of India, is Princess Vidita Singh of Barwani, India, https://bit.ly/ViditaAutomotiveArt, who represents stunning works of vehicle art that has been showcased across the globe. She was raised in a family of automotive enthusiasts. Her father H.H. Rana Ma

The Timeless Family Classic, the Road Trip. We often think of road trips as a time to get away, visit relatives and friends and set off for the freedom of the road. Packing items that will keep the kiddos occupied and a few snacks while maybe having a mechanic glance at a few things like the basics of tires , oil level and condition, and a few safety items like brakes and all exterior lighting. But is this truly enough? The Deep Discovery of Mechanical Concerns. While receiving an oil service and basic inspection is a great start, is this enough? More importantly, what are you truly looking for from vehicle to vehicle during certain mileage intervals? The owner's manual does a pretty good job of laying out a road map of what items should be checked off at specific mileage points, but how many actually read it? Then there are the vital recall and service bulletins that may affect upcoming repairs, or that latest program to the onboard computer that could affect the operation of a multitude of systems, includin

Ambition and Greed The fascinating, and at times, poorly understood life of one of the most scandalous stories in automobile manufacturing history has John DeLorean sitting perched high atop the list of tragic outcomes. The story of the General Motors rising executive who would ultimately go on to pursue his dream of creating a cutting edge car company, DMC (DeLorean Motor Company), is riddled with accounts of both ambition and greed. Who was the man behind what generations of car enthusiasts have come to know as the mysterious "Back to the Future" car? DMC Factory Employee #16 Tells All Author Nick Sutton, The DeLorean Story - The Car, The People, The Scandal, https://amzn.to/2ML7nNv, worked for the Belfast plant of DeLorean from the start of the program in 1978 and finished two weeks before the DeLorean gates were locked for good in January 1983. His role was to coordinate design release and supplier selection from Lotus Cars who had agreed to develop the DeLorean under contract between John DeLorean and Co

Fastest Woman on Two Wheels What drives an individual to chase incredible speeds to attain a world record or two…or eight?! The fastest woman on two wheels who has an unwavering passion for setting some serious land speed records, the talented Valerie Thompson https://bit.ly/ValerieThompsonRacing does and she will join us in studio this week. Valerie is the “World’s Fastest Female Motorcycle Racer” and an eight-time land speed record holder with membership in the Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame, seven 200 MPH Clubs and one 300 MPH Club. In 2018, she piloted the famed BUB 7 Streamliner to a record speed of 328.467 mph and is the only female rider featured on the “Top 10 Fastest Motorcycles in the World” list. She was recently included on the Dealernews “Top 100 Leaders in Powersports” list. Preparations for World Land Speed Record In addition to pursuing the fastest motorcycle title of 376.363 mph, Valerie has assumed driving duties of the Treit and DavenportTarget 550 Streamliner in 2019 for her first land s

Sniveling Sore Loser.  When some of us lose at competing head-to-head, we walk away and consider it a done deal. A few of us will down right argue up the fact that everything by way of that competition was not aligned in our favor for whatever reason(s). The heat of competitive passion ensues with a few choice words, emotions, and a serious intention to strike back for a redemption rematch. Welcome Grudge Racing.  The art of winning a race competition involves a serious amount of time, and for the most part, an investment of sponsors to support that journey professionally. Much is at stake here and at the end of the day, no one wants to lose. Behind the wheel of just about any motorsports race vehicle are drivers and their teams who will not stop at anything to attain that big ‘W.’ That striped finish line is the goal and the work behind the scenes to accomplish that can be grueling and undoubtedly drum up serious emotions on and off the track. Grudge racing, legal or illegal, can bring some of the most inten

Drift Racing Global Attraction. Drift racing originated in Japan in the mid ‘90's and has taken a foothold across the globe, including the Middle East, as a popular sport competing for style, tire smoke, line and angle strategies, speed and showmanship. Think of traditional motorsports like NASCAR and NHRA similar to boxing, and drift racing very much like the transition to the more colorful UFC. Many can equip their favorite rear-wheel drive setup with an LS1 engine, grab a few sponsors and they are off and running. Noor Daoud - Palestinian Female Drift Racer Brings It. Gender equality in the Middle East has been a critical issue for many years, and the woman who have faced an abundant amount of challenges also refuse to accept limited lifestyles and conditions. Noor Daoud is from the town of Ramallah, West Bank. Deeply rooted in traditions of family roles and structure, she has never wavered from her passion and freedom of drift racing as a serious competitor. Taking Top 10 positions at many Middle Eastern

Safely Connect Me Please.  As a society, we are truly connected to data and information. In some occasions, this connectivity can leave us open to the risk of a cybersecurity nightmare. Can our vehicles pose that very same security risk with advancements of automotive technology? We have all heard and seen the widely reported incident of a Jeep vehicle purposely hacked to prove the point of how vulnerable we can be behind the wheel. Was this a "one-off" situation to prove a point by determined hackers or a viable case that could pose a more dangerous situation en masse as a potential nightmare? The Battle for Vehicle Security. What You Need to Know.  With so many questions, and quite frankly a topic that has seen its fair share of hyped up news, we seek out answers about vehicle cybersecurity. Our guest this week is Bob Redding, Washington, D.C. representative of the Automotive Service Association, https://bit.ly/2Q4Bjlw, and since 1993, President of The Redding Firm, a legislative consulting and advocacy