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**Big Announcement! All Youth Judges at the Audrain Newport Concours d’Elegance will get their own copy of The Enthusiast’s Guide To Collector Cars thanks to your generosity and the support of Broad Arrow Auctions! If you would like to support my “See A Kid, Give A Book” campaign, just reply to this email to learn more**

Family History…According To The DMV

I love collector cars because every car has a story. But my friend Chuck has taken that idea to an entirely different level.

Chuck has been a mechanical engineer with GE for more than 35 years, although he’s always had one professional regret: he never worked in the automobile industry. Apparently, he has spent the last 35+ years compensating for that by maintaining extraordinarily detailed records of the automobiles that have passed through his extended family.

Most families preserve their history with old photographs, scrapbooks, wedding announcements and maybe a carefully researched family tree.

Chuck uses license plates.

And I don’t mean he has three old plates nailed to the garage wall next to an STP sign. Chuck has assembled an entire wall of license plates from cars that have been part of his family’s history. Tennessee, Ohio, Wisconsin, Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Georgia, New York, Utah—even Mexico and France are represented.

And where does this magnificent monument to family motoring reside? In the family room. Not the garage. Not the basement. The family room.

Which tells you two things about Chuck: He really loves cars. And he married extremely well.

But Wait…There’s Documentation

Remember, we’re dealing with an engineer. Chuck didn’t just hang the plates on the wall. He made a chart. Of course he did.

The chart explains who owned each plate, what car it was attached to and where they were living at the time. So that random Ohio plate hanging on the wall? It might have been Tammi’s 2006 Honda Odyssey. Another belonged to Chuck’s 1977 Honda Civic.

There are Accords, Rabbits, an Acura TSX, Camrys, a Pontiac Bonneville, a Chevy Silverado, a VW GTI, an Isuzu I-Mark and enough other family transportation to recreate several decades of Motor Trend comparison tests. There’s even an international chapter involving France and Mexico.

This isn’t a license-plate collection. It’s a vehicular genealogy project.

Or possibly what happens when you give a mechanical engineer a family tree and 35 years of unresolved automotive-industry ambition.

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And Here We Have Your Great Uncle’s Buick…

Imagine future generations visiting Chuck’s house. A normal grandfather might pull out an old family album and say, “Here’s your grandmother on our wedding day.”

Chuck will point toward the wall and say, “See Ohio GSB-203? That was the Sienna.”

“What’s a Sienna, Grandpa?”

“Sit down, kid. This is going to take a while.”

And heaven help the family member who asks why there are multiple plates from the same car. That’s when Chuck reaches for the chart.

The Cars We Remember

#CollectorCars #CarCulture #LicensePlates #FamilyHistory #AutomotiveHistory #CarMemories #CarStories #FamilyCars #CarEnthusiast #AutomotiveMemories #CarsPeoplePlaces #LifeOnFourWheels #TheCollectorCarPodcast #ancestryDMW

“See A Kid, Give A Book” Campaign

One of my favorite parts of The Enthusiast’s Guide project is my “See a Kid, Give a Book” campaign. The rules are pretty simple: at select car shows and events, if I see a young enthusiast genuinely checking out the cars, I may hand them a free copy of the book. There are, however, a few important rules. The kid must actually be there.

No phone calls, emails, or carefully rehearsed stories about your 12-year-old nephew who loves collector cars and would just happen to really appreciate one for Christmas. Nice try. That’s not the campaign—that’s called Christmas shopping, and fortunately, I know a guy who sells the book:) The goal is to reward the kids who show up, wander the field, ask questions, and remind us that the future of the collector car hobby might be standing right next to us.

The Enthusiast’s Guide to Collector Cars is available here and online through Amazon, Walmart, and Barnes & Noble, making it easier than ever to encourage the next generation of enthusiast. Stay Driven, Greg Stanley

New Podcasts Every Thursday

435: I Toured the AutoBahn Collection—and Wanted to Take These Cars Home

This week, I head to Savannah, Georgia, for a special tour of The AutoBahn Speed Collection at Hagerty Garage + Social—a fascinating collection that celebrates

Porsche performance, history, and enthusiast culture. And this isn’t just a room full of cars.

Among the standouts are a 1958 Porsche 356A 1600 Speedster race car, a 1971 Porsche 914/6 GT Brumos Tribute, a 1986 Porsche 944 Turbo “Weissach” SCCA Showroom Stock race car, and a very unusual 1980 Porsche 924 Turbo GT “Monte Carlo.” But the cars are only part of the story.

The collection also dives deep into Porsche culture with Porsche bicycles, competition wheels and seats, steering wheels, scale models, vintage posters, books and factory literature, workshop items, parts and accessories, and an entire assortment of Porsche Club memorabilia.

It’s the kind of collection where you can spend as much time studying what’s hanging on the walls and sitting on the shelves as you can looking at the cars.

Come along as I tour the collection, pick out some of my favorites, and explore a side of Porsche collecting that goes well beyond simply owning the cars.

Explore The AutoBahn Speed Collection on Hagerty Marketplace.

New To This Newsletter?

Then catch up on some of my previous blogs:

• The Headaches with Auctions…don’t be Gregless!

• We Lost A Great Car Guy 

• Meet My Grandma Mustang

• The Fernandina Find

• The Painful Truth About Porsches

• Chevy Novas are the Brussel Sprouts from my Youth

As always, thanks for listening, watching, reading, liking and sharing fun automotive content. I will talk to all of you this Thursday on The Collector Car Podcast.

Greg Stanley

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