Classic Car Hunters also now on DVD
Ok, so the bizarre is getting more bizarre… Yesterday I found out that Driving Design, a show I directed for The Science Channel, had just been released on DVD.
And then today I found out that another show that I directed for The Science Channel, titled Classic Car Hunters, has also been released on DVD.
Classic Car Hunters focused on the remarkable engineering and treasure hunting that goes into finding and rebuilding a Pebble Beach Concourse D’Elegance winner. If you’re interested, you can check out some free clips pulled from the program on Turbo.com, Discovery’s new broadband channel.
Driving Design goes to DVD
The world works in bizarre ways sometimes. Tonight, while sitting in a hotel room halfway around the world, I just found out that one of the first shows I directed for the Discovery Networks has been released on DVD.
Originally aired on The Science Channel, Driving Design showcases the future of automotive design (circa 2004, I can’t quite remember right now). A few of the highlights from my perspective were interviews with Freeman Thomas (designer of the Audi TT, among other cars) and Geoff Wardel (of Art Center of Design in Pasadena, CA), a look inside Toyota’s Kentucky assembly plant, and several of LA’s top advanced design studios. If you’re into cars it’s a fun watch.
The DVD is now available for sale on Amazon (Direct Link). Too bad I don’t have any points on the backend 
Ienatsch & Colorado
It’s late Saturday evening and right now I’m completely chomping at the bit to get a ride in tomorrow morning. I just got back into town late last night after spending a good portion of the week in Colorado, which I have to say is simply an amazing state. The beauty of the region is completely undeniable and I saw more freakishly good riding roads than can be described. I wish I had had more time to check them out on a bike… Instead I spent my week shooting additional segments and elements for the sportbike show I’m working on and the reason for the trip to Denver was because it’s not only home to the NFL Broncos but also author, CycleWorld writer and former professional racer Nick Ienatsch.
After spending a few days with Nick it’s hard not to want to ride. The man simply knows his motorcycles and has that unique ability to communicate what they’re doing, why they’re doing it and how to minipulate them better. As a rider it’s simply mindblowing to listen to him. But more important than his knowledge of sportbikes is the fact that he’s simply one of the coolest, most down to earth people I’ve ever met. Period.
We shot a number of things with Nick both on the track and in the dirt, here are a few picts. I’ll try to get some clips up later in the week.
Thoughts On Road Atlanta
8:50AM - Right Before the Track Went Hot
So this past week I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a closed-to-the-public AMA testing session in Georgia at the Road Atlanta racetrack. Normally, I tend to try and not write all that much about what I do for a living, but rather try to keep the focus of this blog on my personal passion in life - which of course is riding sportbikes and riding Ducati sportbikes in particular. Yet every so often it seems my two usually divergent worlds collide, as was the case this past week. I found myself standing square at an intersection comprised of both creating a television show and at the same time being in awe of sportbikes.
Early Morning At The Track
I don’t mean this as an indictment of how popular cruisers have become in today’s society, but nothing makes you more aware of how special sportbikes truly are then witnessing them up close for hours on end.
First and foremost I have no idea how professional riders even can do what they do. These guys are absolutely amazing athletes on so many different levels and after watching what they go through during a testing session the fact that the general public has more respect for guys in the NBA or MLB simply boggles my mind. What these guys do is not only far harder; it’s far more dangerous. The speeds at which they do even the smallest little thing is spectacular. From their reaction times to their feel for the smallest changes to their bikes, these guys are simply not normal human beings. They must be machines. I have no other explanation for how someone can come down the back straight at Road Atlanta and head into turn 12, stare straight at a two story high concrete wall with no run off room, set up for the corner, brake, downshift and then drift the rear end from the apex of the turn all the way to curb of the corner repeatedly, lap after lap and hit the same six inch spot over and over again. It’s just unreal.
Team Kawasaki Road Racing Unloading
Add to this the mere length of the schedule and it’s doubly insane. These guys start riding at 9 AM in the morning, take a 1 hour brake for lunch and then go straight until 5 PM in the afternoon on a series of days when the track temperature hit over 100º and the humidity was just below the point of out right rain. I’m running 2 miles a day right now and I was whipped by 11 AM. These guys simply don’t get the credit they deserve. It’s really that simple.
A Member of Team Jordan Leaves The Pits
Even though I was a fan before this past week started, I find it hard not to feel even more impressed with the sportbike scene after standing just a few feet away from the best of the best on the American road racing circuit during their numerous trips back and forth in and out of the pits. Hanging around the pits during this closed to the public event offered an interesting window into the higher end factory and/or factory supported AMA world. I had no idea how much co-operation and friendliness there was between the teams when it’s not a race weekend. Lots of smiles, laughs and general bullshitting could be heard and seen during off moments during the days. Of course when riders came into the pits it was all business. And equally – if not more surprising – was the amount of tiny adjustments that these guys make to their bikes every few laps. We’re talking single turns of ratchets and then the riders would go back out to see if they liked it better or worse. The level at which they can ‘feel’ their motorcycles is amazing.
Royal takes a break
Of course it helps that the pros have incredible crews backing them. The speed at which guys like Mladin, Duhamel, and the Hayden brothers ride is nothing compared to how fast their crews move. They build, rebuild and tweak bikes in mere minutes. On a usual racing weekend I’m not sure the guys behind the ‘names’ get the credit they deserve either. They truly are surgeons.
All in all being at Road Atlanta was a real eye-opening experience for me. We were granted amazing access, were incredibly close to the action and everyone we interacted with was so much more ‘real’ than the vast majority of personalities that I’ve run into over my professional career.
Early Morning Set Up
Inside The Team Kawasaki Pits
Mladin’s Ride - Post-Interview
More Team Green
Here’s some more info about the event from Superbike Planet and some more picts.
CGW Article on Driving Design
Tonight I thought I’d share a pretty cool first, Michele Hope, a freelance writer for Computer Graphics World, wrote a piece on our last television show that got published this month. The article is titled “Growing Pains” and it details some of the issues that we had to deal with on shows for The Fine Living Channel and The Discovery Science Channel, respectively… Michele got a few facts and technical details wrong, but over all it’s a nice read.
A Day At Steve Beckman’s Shop
Car restoration is a funny thing. When we first started talking to Discovery about creating a television show on classic car restoration, I sort of instinctively knew that there were going to be amazing restoration stories surrounding some of these one of a kind cars and that I’d get the chance to attend and shoot interesting events like Concours D’Elegance at Pebble Beach. What I didn’t expect was that while this patheon of the automotive world deals with extreme amounts of money that edge in the tens-of-millions of dollars at times, almost limitless amounts of time and a slightly odd sense of purpose which usually gets expressed with the phrase, “I’m only the current custodian of this car”, that underneath it all there would be people who’s sole motivation is simply the pure passion for building, rebuilding or tinkering.
We spent most of today shooting at Steve Beckman’s shop near Newport Beach and if there is one person who personifies this boyish enthusiasm it’s Beckman.. Steve is one of the premiere autobody and paint artisans in the classic car restoration business and an absolutely amazing guy to be around. Not only is he one of the most knowledgable and forth right individuals I’ve ever met, but also just one heck of an individual. While some folks in this rarified world insist on telling you how important their restoration projects are, Steve just wants to share his tools, his projects, and his passion! Watching him work is to see a true perfectionist and craftsman in action. Every detail is define and perscribed well before any cut, chop or crack. There are no unwarrented sparks, just very calculated crafting. So, if I ever have the cash to restore a truly classic car - or any car of decent lineage for that matter - Beckman is the guy I’m heading to because after spending yet another day with him I can’t think of a better person to ask for help from.
Early Call Time & The German Autofest
I would have liked to get a ride in this morning, but 5:15AM was my call time for this morning’s shoot, urghhh…As it turned out, it was well worth getting up early because I had one of those wonderful days where you realize that there are some many awesome people out there that are into the same sorts of things you are… I should probably mention that we’re in the middle of shooting more elements for the classic car restoration show and as an aside, one of these days I’ll get the Pebble Beach Picts up!
Once on the road we high tailed it up to the Paramount Ranch on Cornell Road, just off of Kanan Road in Augura, so that we could met up with Freeman Thomas, head of DiamlerChrysler’s Pacifica Design Studio, and a group of 911 owners that he hangs out with called the R Gruppe… They’re a spirited bunch of Porsche enthusiasts that are seriously into owning, building driving, and restoring sport purpose 911’s. So while it wasn’t on a bike, I did get to enjoy a wonderful sunrise over the Malibu Canyons on our way to met up with the group…
Here’s a couple of picts of the sunrise - I was pretty excited to get a few shots from the car since normally I’d be riding this early in the morning…
After meeting up with the ‘R Gruppe’ we set out to follow them to German Autofest in Ventura County, the largest gathering of Porsches in North America. But as it turns out trying to follow thirty odd 911’s through the canyons in a camera truck isn’t quite as easy as it sounds. The ‘R Groupe’ is one seriously spirited bunch of drivers! And also one of the most human and down to earth groups of car enthusiasts that I’ve ever been around. Just a great group of folks…
After what I can only describe as a rally race up the 101, we arrived at German Autofest in Ventura. It turned out to be an absolutely awesome event. Since I was shooting I really didn’t get a chance to check it all out, but there must have been three or four hundred different Porsches, maybe even more if you count all the different hangers that had all sorts of models inside of them. Just an amazing display of German sportscars. I kept wondering what average daily drivers heading up the 101 must have thought as Porsche after Porsche passed them by… What really made the event and the folks special in my eyes is that no one seemed to take themselves to seriously. This was for fun and it was, there was no sense of competition or ego. Just an unusually large group of fans of the marque. How fantastic is that?
Here are a couple of more picts from the morning & if you’re interested I’ve posted more in the Photo Gallery.
Getting Really Excited…
A number of things seem to be coming together as of late. This morning I spent some time at Steve Tillack’s restoration shop in SoCal, a number of people consider him one of the better classic car resto guys. We were starting principal photography on one of our new Discovery Channel Shows, the Science of Classic Car Restoration. At the same time our web designer, Steve, was updating our DVD distribution website, GearheadDVDs.com to include the introduction of our newest DVD, “In Pursuit of Excellence: The Story of Mercedes-Benz”. Perhaps the best way to describe it is as a history of Mercedes-Benz coffee table book come to life on your television. It has all sorts of interesting parts, including the history of MBZ, info on Gottlieb Damiler & Karl Benz, The birth of the Gullwing Series, a section on the Pullman 600 Series, A tour of the museum and my personal favorite, a tour of MBZ’s hidden garages, where they keep the companies personal car collection!
Now, I’ve been working on this particular project off and on for quite some time, probably the better part of the past year in between other projects and television shows, and today as Gaz & I were wrapping out shoot at Tillack’s joint I found myself getting more and more excited to finally be sending the finished materials off to our DVD replicator. It’s not everyday that you get to share your experiences at such a historically significant marque. Frankly I don’t know what a great number of Mercedes-Benz fans will think, we’ve tried to create something that’s unique and special and at the same time take non-MBZ collector level fans to places that they don’t normally get to or don’t have the chance to see. As with many of the projects that I work on, I’m never quite sure how critical reaction will fall. So much of the TV biz seems dependant on what others think and obviously it’s the one part of the process that I can’t control, so I guess it’s just one of those things that you leave up to others. Until the reviews start coming in however I’m not quite sure how to feel. And strangely it’s always the same, no matter what sort of project I’m working on. I’m always on pins and needles until I hear the reviews.
The Martini Shot
Well, we finally wrapped up the NorCal shoot today. I find it a bit ironic that I spend all my time in LA wanting more than anything to get out on the road and shoot, only now to be out on the road and wanting more than anything to get back home. Strange how once you’ve had your fill you’re ready to just get back to your normal routine. It’s been quite an enjoyable trip so I don’t mean to sound down on it, just ready to get on with cutting these shows together… Anyway, when I get back I’ll try to get some semblance of a review of Pebble Beach up. We’ve got some great picts and I had a heck of the time!
Being at a Car Resto Shop
This afternoon we spent some time at Nino & Paulo Epifani restoration shop in Berkeley California - as has been the case at the vast majority of the higher quality resto shops we’ve been at, this one was exceptionally clean, neat, well organized and filled with amazingly beautiful cars. What I wasn’t expecting was the three generations of Epifani’s around the place and the utter lack of any American Chopper aesthetic. This place was quiet and peaceful.
Hanging around the Epifani shop really got me thinking about what has become a new personal fantasy - my own personal restoration project. Obviously it will never be at their level or the level of cars that they work on, but I believe it would be both fun and perhaps relaxing. So all day I’ve been ruminating over what might be a fun future project to undertake. Unlike some of the classic car collectors that frequent Pebble Beach, I’ve got no theme to work from (Only Zagato bodies or Lampredi engines, etc…) so I sort of feel this strange freedom in the choice. Granted this is all hypothetical, but it’s fun to think about…
When I started thinking about what might be a fun restoration project, I was thinking of an old BMW R69S simply because a) I think a bike would be both relatively simple to work on, b) takes up less space and c) because the R69S has a great shape to my eye. But after hanging around all these cars I find myself thinking more seriously about cars instead of bikes. So now I’m thinking about perhaps kit cars (Shelby Cobra perhaps?)…
Of course I have no real idea about what I’m talking about, so I’m thinking that a list of fantasy requirements might be a good idea… So here’s the first draft of this hypothetical exercise from this afternoon;
a) no fuel injection - I want to play with the engine
b) simple electrical components - I don’t want to be running wires all over hell
c) something sporty - not 70s muscle
d) large horsepower that actually gets to the ground
e) fast when finished
f) perhaps a convertable
g) easy to reach all bolts, brackets, and mounting points for various pieces
h) manual transmission
i) 8, 10, or 12 cylinders
j) relatively light weight
k) nothing that’s 1 of 1 or 1 of 1 million - somewhere inbetween
So that’s my ramble for tonight…
Still on the road
It’s funny but in some ways this is the strangest business trip I’ve had in quite some time because I’m neither half way around the world or even in a different time zone and I’m also around some of the areas that I most enjoy escaping to when I’m taking time off. So I guess it shouldn’t be surprising to me that I find my mind running off towards riding while I’m up in NorCal. I keep finding myself thinking about how much I want to come back up here and ride while at the same time thinking ‘man, I’ve been on the road long enough, it’s time to go home’. What a strange contradiction. Luckily I’ve only got a few more days up here and then I’m back to LA and riding. Of course after all this traveling around the Bay Area and shleeping gear in and out of the car, I’m physically whipped. So much in fact that I’d be surprised if I went riding this coming weekend… Perhaps there’s nothing worse than having the desire to ride and not the physical strength.
Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance 2004
What an experience! I think it’s quite possible that after going to Concours I might have screwed myself for all future car shows. This was simply unlike any car experience I’ve ever had. Amazing cars, wonderful - if slightly high society - people, and perhaps the greatest car show venue ever. We shot for most of the morning and got some great stuff. I have a very strong feeling on the Car Restoration show now. It’s always hard to shoot your ending before your beginning, but in this case it happened that way due to the timing conflicts involved and thankfully worked out fantastically well. I don’t know if I’ll ever get back to Pebble Beach for another Concour but after today I would like to!
Hopefully when I get back to LA I’ll have some time to really put my thoughts down on paper, but right now I’m whipped.
Weekend in Monterey
I had been hoping to keep the blog more up to date while I’ve been on the road, but as it turns out between a lack of time and a lack of a good internet connection, it’s been surprisingly tough… Anyway, we’re now in Monterey, Ca. for the Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance Classic Car Event for the second Discovery show. Thus far it’s been an absolute blast. The weather hasn’t completely cooperated, several overcast mornings that seem to last forever, but overall what an amazing collection of events and cars!
I’ll do a full write up once I get back to LA, but until then here are some picts from the weekend’s shoot so far…
Me in front of the KGO News Helichopter in Fremont, CA - this baby is awesome! And the camera on the front is really quite amazing…
Driving Design Premieres
“Driving Design” airred tonight on the Discovery Science Channel (sometimes referred to as “The Science Channel” on about half the cable systems in the country). It was yet another exciting night in this strange journey through the television landscape. (more…)
