In August, 2017, the last Dodge Viper rolled from the factory, ending the a 25-year run as America’s most raucous sports car. Bob Lutz was the driving force behind the Viper’s birth and in this episode he explains how the Viper came to be and what ultimately sealed its fate.

In late 1959, Chevrolet debuted the Corvair, a family of cars with a rear-mounted air-cooled engine. It was the most unconventional car to ever come out of Detroit. It was also, according to Ralph Nadar, the most dangerous. The ensuing battle between Nadar and GM is now firmly in the rearview mirror and on this episode, we discuss the controversy with GM Engineer and Corvair enthusiast Pete Koehler.

For over 50 years, rumors of an exotic mid-engine Corvette have swirled among enthusiasts—only to be proven false time and time again. Those hopes, however, will finally be realized in 2019 when the next Corvette debuts with the engine behind the driver instead of in front. At least that’s what automotive journalist and industry sleuth Don Sherman claims. In this episode, Sherman divulges his surprising predictions about the next Corvette.

The Ford GT40 looms massively in Ford’s psyche. It was, after all, the Ford that beat Ferrari in the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. Four decades after that win, the company resurrected the storied machine with an all new Ford GT to commemorated Ford's 100th anniversary. Chris Theodore was Ford’s VP of Product Engineering during this time and the man tasked with designing an all-new car that captured the spirit of the original. Here he recounts the thrilling but harrowing story behind the Ford GT.

Do you love hot rods, vintage cars and going really fast?

In this episode, Larry Webster, Editor-in-Chief at Hagerty Magazine, talks about all three with Mark Stielow. An engineer and manager at General Motors, Mark has been called the "Godfather" of the Pro-Touring movement, and he still builds cars out of his garage.

"To me, a pro-touring car is just kind of taking an older car that you like the esthetics of and you harden it...to perform better and be more reliable," says Mark.  "You can do things with it like go on cross-country drives or to track events."

Mark speaks with Larry about building a career that dovetails with his passion. He talks about racing at One Lap of America in a ’69 Camaro, and how he found the car in the pre-internet days for $2500, which launched his hot rod career. The car ended up on the cover of Car Craft Magazine. Hot Rod Magazine voted it one of top 10 cars of 1993. 

Mark also provides tips on buying and rebuilding cars.

In their new book, Cuba’s Car Culture, vintage-car hunters Tom Cotter and Bill Warner traveled to the island nation to find out what decades of Castro rule have done to that country’s cars. The pair returned with fascinating tales of fifties-era American cars still roaming the streets, ever resourceful home mechanics, and rumors of hidden Grand-Prix racers.

Mike Joy is the lead race announcer for FOX NASCAR along with expert analysts and former champions Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Gordon. Mike brings 48 years of motor sports experience to the booth. Prior to joining Fox in 2001, he anchored CBS sports coverage of the Daytona 500 and was previously a TV pit reporter and radio race announcer. 

In this episode, Mike Joy and host Larry Webster talk about the excitement of NASCAR races, how racing has changed over the years, the upcoming stars of the circuit, and the qualities that make a great race car driver. Mike also discusses his love of cars, the secrets of play-by-play and broadcast announcing, and how he became the voice of NASCAR. 

Get an up-close and personal peak of NASCAR and its leading personalities on Hagerty Sidedrafts.

"For me, French automobiles of the 1920's and 1930's represent the pinnacle of 20th century art and design," says businessman, philanthropist and avid car collector Peter Mullin. They have "beautiful, sculptural bodies designed to cheat the wind and be aerodynamic."

Hagerty Magazine's Aaron Robinson, spoke with Peter at the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California. 

This episode looks at Peter's love of art deco design and automobiles. His museum was established as a tribute to French automotive styling. 

Peter Mullin is also chairman of the Board at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles and President of the American Bugatti Club.

One day as a teenager in 1957, John Morton's dad took him to see his first sports car race at Road America in Wisconsin. It was a life-changing event. He knew that he was going to be a racing driver.

"It made such an impression on me on that day I remember thinking this is what I'm doing," John told Hagerty Sidedrafts. "I didn't have a plan. I just decided that's what I was going to do."

After racing jalopies on dirt tracks in South Carolina, he dropped out of Clemson University to attend Carroll Shelby's racing school in Riverside, California. In an extraordinary driving career that lasted more than 50 years, John Morton raced for Shelby, the BRE Datsun team, Nissan, and BF Goodrich and was a nine-time veteran at Le Mans. He is a former movie stuntman, and now a private pilot and scooter collector.

In this episode, John talks about his life on the track, including the hair-raising details of a devastating crash in 1988 at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut. 

"The car just aerodynamically lifted, flipped over and landed upside down and then started tumbling and caught on fire," John told us. "I was lucky to survive it." 

Sam Posey raced with the greats—Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, and Mario Andretti to name a few—and had a front-row seat during racing’s golden era. Along the way he notched his own triumphs before applying his creativity to writing, painting, and the broadcast booth. A man of many passions, we talked with Posey at his beautiful painting studio in Sharon, Connecticut.

History has largely forgotten one of America's most influential motorcars, the 1932 Graham Blue Streak. Designed by Amos Northup, the Blue Streak pioneered numerous features including a low-slung frame and aerodynamic body. The Graham was one of the most copied cars of the 1930s, but is largely a footnote today. The President of the Historic Vehicle Association, Mark Gessler, tells the tale of this fascinating automobile.

Our guest is former championship driver, successful track owner, and philanthropist, Skip Barber— a well-known personality in the sports car world.

For this edition of “Sidedrafts”, host Larry Webster traveled to Lime Rock Park, the challenging track in Northwest Connecticut that Skip has owned for 35 years. “Every time I come here, I’m blown away by how beautiful it is,” says Larry.

In this episode, Skip talks about his passionate interest in racing and sports cars, his time behind the wheel as a driver, and what makes Lime Rock special for drivers.   

In the mid-1960s, Skip won three Sports Car Club of America national championships in a row. In 1969 and 1970, he won two Formula Ford National Championships. Later, he took part in the United States, Monaco and Dutch Grand Prix races.

Skip also talks about starting his well-known racing school in the early 70’s. “I discovered two things,” he says. “I really liked the process of being in business and more importantly, that you could really teach people how to drive a race car.”

"Literally, he opened this trunk and saw his life set before him," says Hagerty West Coast Editor at Large, Aaron Robinson, in this fascinating episode about Brian Blain of the Blain Motorsports Foundation--home to a remarkable collection of pre-World War One racing cars in Visalia, California. 

The trunk that Aaron tells us about was full of mementos of Harry Sprague's time as a race car driver in California, more than one hundred years ago. Sprague was an older friend of the Blain family, who had no children of his own and died in the 1980's. As a young man, Blain inherited Harry's trunk. 

"He opens the trunk and he finds all of this stuff," Aaron tells us in this episode of Sidedrafts. "... An old racing license that's been expired by more than sixty years. He finds these gauntlet gloves, big goggles, photographs, some old yellowed newspaper clippings, and he finds a red jersey and across the front of it is the word "National.""

That discovery led Brian on a lifelong quest that is the subject of this podcast. 

"Blain owns and operates a stable of pre-World War I race cars that he puts in front of the public whenever he can," writes Aaron in his latest Hagerty article. "With the offer of a mechanician’s seat in a 106-year-old car as it circled a 109-year-old speedway, I went."

Autonomous cars are coming, but what does that mean for those who love driving? And what do we know about the upcoming transportation revolution? To discuss the topic, Hagerty held a forum at the Penske museum in Scottsdale Arizona. The panelists included auto-industry veteran Bob Lutz, aficionado Wayne Carini, and entrepreneur McKeel Hagerty who are all passionate about automobiles and present a compelling case for why cars—and driving them—matters.

Before taking the reins at the International Motorsports Association, John Doonan built Mazda's motorsports program from the grassroots level to racing at Le Mans. No one understands the relationship between car manufacturers and racing better, making Doonan the ideal individual to discuss why racing still matters.

How many of us know someone with a long-dormant project car sitting under the garage flotsam? Rob Siegel and host, Larry Webster, are both well versed in the fun, learning, and challenges of a project car. In this episode, we'll share war stories and tips for making sure those projects get back on the road.

For 10 years, a boutique design house from Southern California has defined its own relentless pursuit of excellence through the enhancement and optimization of the air-cooled Porsche 911. In this livestream, we’ll speak with Singer Vehicle Design Founder and Executive Chairman, Rob Dickinson, on why everything is important to the Singer brand and their delicate art of handcrafted, bespoke restorations.

With over 100,000 driving miles logged, Brad Phillips is our resident expert in tours, rallies, and other shenanigans using your vintage car. Join Brad and Ramsey Potts, Automotive Specialist at RM Sotheby's, as they discuss the joys, trials, and tribulations that they have experienced on the road, plus get tips on how you can get in on the fun.