The MuscleCar Place

Holley Performance puts on some amazing events that people look forward to every year, all of which kicked off with the "OG" event called LS Fest. At that event any vehicle that had a General Motors LS engine was allowed, regardless of make, model, creed, color, or religion! Other events soon followed including LS Fest West in Las Vegas and this year LS Fest Texas at the Texas Motor Speedway! Luckily for us we were able to send out the dynamic duo of Producer Bernie McPartland and YouTube star and performance vehicle magician Cody Young from Cody Crafted. The boys had only one goal: get some great interviews before the heat melted them to the asphalt. They had success and we have three feature interview to present in this week's show: SAM Tech Automotive Machining School - Mike Hepp Top Fuel Racing With A Cause - Blane Burnett, Creating a New LS Fest!

Happy July and Happy Independence day! It is finally time to spend lots of money and blow up stuff in celebration of this country's birth! Rick Schmidt is back again for an all new Ask Rick segment and this time we dive deep into Rick's thoughts on the economy, inflation, and government rebates to the upper class on electric cars. This is one of those episodes were Rick unloaded both barrels, reloaded, and did it again. And then again!

The official start of summer is next week and what better time for a new Pro-Touring Update with Mr. Larry Callahan! This week I get to find out what he has been up to over the last three months. It is always an education in technology and fast cars and I look forward to each quarterly get together.

Brian Gade is the creator of the American Iron Racing series here in Iowa, a series that specifically puts old style oval dirt track cars back on the track to compete again. The goal of the series to to be cheap, easy, and fun with an emphasis on utilizing plenty of American iron!

Happy June and Happy Fathers Day! Rick Schmidt is back again for an all new Ask Rick segment and this time it is a smorgasbord of questions regarding all aspects of the automotive market. When got into everything from OEM stock trading to understanding which car is his personal "spirit animal!"

Many years ago I was in the middle of a surreal experience of realizing the dream of building my parents car, that I grew up in, into an auto-cross machine that was made better than I ever imagined. I met lifetime friends that donated time to make the dream happen. Street Metal Concepts turned the metal handiwork of  Jeff Allison, into the gleaming, flawless paint, perfectly gapped, SEMA Show car that it became. Almost 10 years later my Chevelle is back at Street Metal Concepts for a few tweaks and updates so I wanted to check in with Street Metal Concepts to see how things are going, what life lessons they have learned, and to catch up with my buddy Zip Simons!

Every spring, when the weather starts to get warm, I like to talk to Rick Love, President of Vintage Air about new cold air products and technical details of the add on systems. Rick is an amazing resource and a leader, not only in air conditioning but in the automotive aftermarket as a whole. At the 2021 SEMA show he was inducted into the SEMA hall of fame for his lifetime of work in the industry!

Happy May! Rick Schmidt is back again for an all new Ask Rick segment, this time devoted to the future of new American performance cars .... specifically the Corvette and the Mustang.  Both of those iconic cars have a new "electric" version available along with an amazing gasoline variant....at least for now. American buying habits started changing long before the high gas prices and inflation surges we are experiencing now. As Rick pointed out, in the case of the Mustang (the "Mach-E" SUV, specifically) it's only crime is bringing many new first-time customers to Ford! At the same time, it would appear that the gasoline powered Camaro's, Challengers, and Chargers are all on borrowed time. What does the future hold?

Every fifty episodes or so I check in with my great friend and automotive brother Jeff Allison. Over ten years ago Jeff offered to build my family Chevelle into something spectacular. Since then his shop (Allison Customs) ha grown and he's become a famous YouTube star to boot. Believe it or not, but he can even cook! This interview is a catch-up on my favorite renaissance man.

This week I spoke to Colby Martin of the SEMA Action Network to get all of the nitty gritty details on the Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act. The news of the act finally being able to move forward after 7 long years of it becoming law has been huge! Specifically, it now means that a licensed replica vehicle manufacturer can build up to 325 replica "classic" cars per year! Unlike current replica and "kit" cars, the customer can purchase it fully completed (running/driving) and register it in their own state accordingly. It'll look and feel just like the original, but there is one catch; it has to be emissions compliant with "modern standards!" Clear as mud, right? Colby was here to sort out the minutia of it all. 

Happy April Fools Day! Believe it or not, but we don't have any fun pranks to pull for you this year....but it absolutely IS time for another insightful, thoughtful, and surprising edition of Ask Rick! This time took a deep dive on the topic a LOT of you want to know more about: the SEMA Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act. The law itself was passed in 2015, but it took over six years (and a second SEMA lawsuit) to get the NHTSA to finally give the ruling needed to make it a reality. It now us, and manufacturers can begin the process of producing up to 325 cars per year.....legally, at least.

Our guest this week is once again the man who is the master of changing his life to do amazing things, Jon Chase! Jon is a well known name in the auto-verse and I must admit that I was a little shocked when he announced he was leaving HOONIGAN to resume his own art brand, DSTROYR. The goal though was specifically around raising awareness for children's mental health. I asked him on the show to shed some light, and he agreed!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! With the launch of a new month it's time to bring Rick Schmidt back on for another session of Ask Rick. As you may have noticed, in the premier marketing event of the year (i.e. the Super Bowl) all of the car companies focused solely on advertising their new electric offerings. Chevy went quite far on their new EV Silverado with some - admittedly - really engaging advertisements (we are suckers for Austin Powers). As this trend seems inevitable, and with the proliferation of new electric car brands popping up all over, and I wanted to get Rick's opinion on whether we were about to see a new round of automobile manufacturers join the market as they did when electric cars existed with various companies in the early 20th Century. History does tend to repeat itself, right? Should we make a speculative bet on buying and holding any of these new cars for future collector value?

Our guest this week is Bob Broderdorf. Bob is the Director of North American Dodge Operations and an all around Mopar performance guy! Dodge has been sharing and promoting the "Never Lift" campaign where over 24 months they will show where the brand is headed and why it is great to be a Dodge fan. In this interview he'll give the details on what it is, how it works, and how you can get HIRED for a one year gig with a huge paycheck, a Hellcat to drive, and all the Dodge events you could swing a stick at! Daytona 500 Movie Prep: Talladega Nights! Note: In prep for the upcoming Daytona 500 we are including a rebroadcast of our review of the movie Talladega Nights. This was originally presented in Episode 120 of the Kibbe and Friends Show. 

Our guest this week is Chris Holstrom from Chris Holstrom Concepts. Chris is a long time friend of the show and his shop is known for creating some of the most beautiful, award winning, and subtle muscle cars and customs around. He recently represented a client's gorgeous 1964 Corvette at the Barrett Jackson auction in Scottsdale.....and in his words he "learned a lot" from it in regards to how the process of selling at a highly watched auction works! In this episode he's going to share the lessons he learned, good, bad, etc. as well as what he plans to do when he does it all again (and he's going to).