The MuscleCar Place

Love is in the air and Valentines day is upon us. This time on Ask Rick, we dive into a subject we love .... and that is (potentially) buying more old gasoline powered classic cars. Rick recently attended the Kissimmee Mecum auction with good intentions of bidding on a few examples. He remarked that the prices were huge and the numbers blew right past what he planned on and kept skyrocketing. In previous episodes Rick said he believes that gas powered collectible cars will go up in value as new options start to dwindle being replaced by silent electric offerings.

This week marks the return of an old friend and former co-podcaster, Tony Whatley. Tony has the street cred most us seek first: he has great taste in cars! That said, Tony likes reeeeeaallllyyy nice cars (and trucks) and he likes growing his own businesses to be able to enjoy the spoils thereof. He's not shy about cutting to the point: if you want to have big car (or any) dreams that require a lot of money to acquire, you'd better find a way to generate a lot of money! More importantly though, Tony's focus on his own (and now other people's) businesses is taking something that's growing to the next level. He's used his own principles on himself, and his latest "fun car" (a new RAM TRX) is proof.

Happy New Year! Long time listeners know that I like to start each year with a great passion to career business story. My goal for this episode was to identify a company manufacturing their own small volume "niche" parts and to discuss their process entirely, with lessons learned. This year I got to meet Peter Bergman, the owner and creator of Bergman Autocraft. Peter's company develops niche parts (I bought one) vets and resells other components, and performs restorations. He has a niche business, completely by choice. He was the perfect candidate!

Happy New Year! It's time to start of the year with some new goals for yourself, and to start the year with another great Ask Rick with another thought provoking question, "Would you do a complete restoration on a car you really want or wait until you find a great survivor?"

It is the end of 2021, and the Christmas episode of TMCP is live and features the most sought after guest (internationally) for this time of year: Santa Claus! This his his record breaking 13th year in a row, in fact. He makes it a point to come on this show every Christmas and marks this as the ONLY official media interview he does each year. That's right...The MuscleCar Place has the exclusive! 

The SEMA Show is back for 2021 and I decided to send two guests hosts out to Vegas for a week to get  interviews. This decision has resulted in some interesting and diverse guests quizzed by these two "wanna be" podcast stars. As a reset, this will be the first of several podcasts we'll release through December featuring great interviews from SEMA. Our two interviewers were Kirk Hansen and Scott Stap. You know Kirk Hansen as a long time show friend and supporter, as well as Scott Stap show writer from previous shows. These two hit the booths at SEMA and met up with old friends of the show as well as some great new companies to talk to. Armed with a mic and a camera they brought back content just for you from the wilds of Las Vegas!

It is the first week of November, Thanksgiving is upon us, and it's time for another great Ask Rick segment! Rick and his father Jim curated an impressive car collection by purchasing what they liked more than what was "in demand," but in this discussion we'll learn that their first desire was to buy the best car possible, not the best one available. There's a difference! We also have one last interview to present from the Holley MOPARTY event a few weeks ago. Garrett Daniels at RND Fab Works came on to discuss how he created the totally functional; "General Lee Hoop" roll bar. How does one make a functional 2 point roll bar suitable for race belts? Easy....make it a 4-point bar with a removable cross bar as well!

FEATURE INTERVIEWS: Holley Moparty 2021 - Special Episode #2:   Sunset at Moparty 2021 Today's guest is a lot of friends that we got to catch up with at the Second Annual Holley Moparty event in Bowling Green Kentucky. Justin "Corndog" Cornette, my cohost on the Kibbe and Friends show, and myself attended the event and captured the feeling of the gathering in some great interviews with old and new friends.  Dylan McCool YouTube Barn Finds: I first met Dylan at Moparty 2020, and he was next to his barn find Challenger that he had swapped a 5.7l 3rd gen Hemi into. Little did anyone know, the car did not run at the time. It was very similar to a SEMA build where it looked good but not totally functional. During that event he figured out what wire was off and brought all of his hard work to life. He has since driven it almost 4,000 miles, and even in the Hot Rod Power Tour. Corndog and I caught up with him at this years Moparty event to see how things are going and how has his creation working out for him. You can check out Dylan on YouTube at YouTube.com/c/DylanMcCool. Bill Tichenor Holley Director of Marketing: Every great event has a promoter behind the scenes pushing all of the buttons and making things happen. Bill Tichenor was present at the second annual Moparty event and was loving it. I asked him how the gather of Chrysler Corp cars and trucks was different than the other events that bookended this one. He said the people were the major difference and the fans were there to support their brand no matter Ford, GM, or Chrysler. The Holley support staff are at the grounds most of the month putting on the three massive shows each featuring a different brand. Bill does have his favorite moments though and he definitely rubbed in the fact that he got to ride in Bigfoot while it had Vaughn Gitten drifting around below. Mr Norm Jr: Last year at the Holley Moparty, I had the opportunity to meet and interview Mr Norm, who was undisputedly in the middle of the boom of the muscle car era. He was directly involved with many ground breaking changes in the industry and was one of the most recognized names in muscle car sales even to this day. There are still vehicles made with his name on them and are on the level of Shelby or Yenko. Mr Norm passed away very soon after the interview to the loss of an industry. This year, I met and interviewed his son, Lee Krause, otherwise known as Mr Norm Jr. Lee talked about the tremendous response from people around the world mourning his fathers passing. He said he is going to carry on the legacy and continue to promote Mr Norm stories and memorabilia as long as he can. Mike Musto and Kevin Wesley - PRO-TOURING UPDATE: Holley Moparty is a gathering place for people who love cars. Mike Musto loves cars, so of course he was found wandering the show admiring the many beautiful Mopars. Scott Stap was able to spend a few minutes with Mike talking about his old shows and his new web series by Hemmings where he and Elana Scherr purchase an old barebones square body suburban and road trip it. One the show the highlight the various stops at suppliers across the country who upgrade the vehicle and then the duo give live feedback on the improvements. Mike was there with his friend Kevin Wesley of Wesley Motorsports, LLC in Lansing MI who is currently installing a Hellcat RedEye engine into "Mr Angrier" to give it a huge boost in horsepower. Kevin detailed his suspension plans for the car and said he is just going to keep it simple. Thanks Holley for putting on Moparty in 2021! -Rob Kibbe ======================================== Kibbe's New Invention: The Magic Tee The Magic Tee! And now for something completely different. Rob and his buddies spent the last ten years creating, designing, testing, investing, patenting, and everything else it takes to bring a new product to market. It's called The Magic Tee....

This week will be a very short show as I am occupied with an event that I hoped would never come, but knew it someday would. My father, Dallas Kibbe, passed away from multiple issues that eventually the doctors could not overcome and he left this world to be with my God and my mom. I loved the time I spent with my dad and he left his mark on my life and his grandkids lives as well as many around him. He always encouraged my passion for vehicles and loved the shows I created with my friends. The last couple days were a special gift and I did get to use the Chevelle to bring back memories for him even if he was not strong enough to take one last ride.  Thank you listeners, for the amazing support in this time of grief. The show will be back soon and on track so thank you for this short intermission as I spend time with close family and friends. Thank you Dad, for all of the lessons in life and for being my best friend! -Rob Kibbe

Today's guest is a lot of friends that we got to catch up with at the Second Annual Holley Moparty event in Bowling Green Kentucky. Justin "Corndog" Cornette, my cohost on the Kibbe and Friends show, and myself attended the event and captured the feeling of the gathering in some great interviews with old and new friends. 

It is October and time for the spooky boys and girls to get their costumes ready for some trick or treating fun! It is also time for another impactful and insightful Ask Rick segment with our friend Rick Schmidt. In this episode we broach the exciting topic of what exactly is Rick's favorite candy bar? Other topics include the upcoming SEMA show attendance and why the 1993 Ford Mustang Cobra R model is so sought after.

Larry Callahan is back for the fall quarterly Pro-Touring Update for 2021! Good News:  Larry's '68 Camaro named MotiV8r is finally coming home. The iconic Camaro has been down and getting updated for quite awhile. Larry admits it has been down longer than he wanted it to be and is taking more parts than was planned. It is currently having an LSA E-Rod engine and transmission being installed.  Bad News: 2021 SEMA Dinner Is Still Cancelled. Larry will be at the show....just nada on the dinner.  Good News: There are many (Many) many events left to go for the season...see the list below or visit Pro-Touring.com! 

Today's guest is Buddy Cram. He might just actually be living the life I thought was too good to be true: he operates a business called General Lee Chargers, and their one and only mission in the world is to build General Lee's for Dukes of Hazzard loving fans! While that's cool, Buddy's background in NASCAR - and love of MOPAR - both combined to bring him to turn a childhood desire into full time business. He's currently building his 56th customer car, and two more are already on order! Here's the story behind the story.  

It is September and time for another "edge of your seat interview" with Rick Schmidt! This is the episode where we finally discuss the topic of whether electric cars will completely kill the classic car hobby.  Short answer: they won't......and least not for a long time.

This week, we present an action packed episode featuring 6 big time interviews! We'll begin with a full update on the #KibbeLee roll bar upgrade by Garrett Daniels, now in process at RNDFabWorks in northern Kentucky. Following that we'll head to the Roadkill Nights event in Detroit. Detroit, Michigan hosts one of the most famous car cruises on the planet, the Woodward Dream Cruise, and it draws millions of people every year. This episode contains interviews literally from the side of the road at Woodward Avenue on the property of the M1 Concourse.