Here Come the Holidays: What’s on your wish list?
Holiday music is now reverberating throughout retail stores and television commercials are lighting up rooms with holiday gift ideas such as children’s toys, jewelry, home décor and clothing, but we have even better ideas for our holiday wish lists. We asked various gear heads to share what they’d like to find under the tree this year.
Mckeel Hagerty, president of Hagerty Insurance, told us that other than some sunshine in which to drive his cars (along with having more time to work on them), he would love a really top-notch racing simulator for the Hagerty garage. Not only would he enjoy it, but so would all of the visitors.
Wayne Carini, host of “Chasing Classic Cars,” fell in love with a Ferrari 250 SWB at the age of 10 and it has always been on his wish list. Santa has always been a few bucks short every year, which is totally understandable, so he has narrowed his list down to a Allard J2X or a BMW R 69S, or perhaps just some seatbelts for his Chevrolet pickup so his daughter, Kim, can go for a ride. But when it comes right down to it, a good and healthy Christmas day with the family.
Davin Reckow, parts finder at Hagerty Insurance, has always had a constant wish to be taller and live in good health to age 110, but he would also love a blown Donavan engine for his Dragster, a 1966 GMC or Chevrolet Suburban and (we told him to dream big) to be able to time travel to the 1960s to test drive all the cool cars on the dealer lots.
Ken Lingenfelter, owner of Lingenfelter Performance Engineering, is so passionate about cars and the automotive industry, racing and collecting, that trying to name a specific item was a real challenge. Ken loves anything that has to do with Corvette, Camaro, Ferrari and Lamborghini, but then he just couldn’t choose which he liked most! He would be happy with any quality item of apparel, such as a good leather jacket, with one of his favorite brands mentioned above.
Matt Lewis, Social Media Analyst at Hagerty Insurance, hopefully has been good this year, because his dream is to have the AMS TDX package for his Mitsubishi Evo. It is the ultimate performance package and is capable of tripling his car’s power, leading to an 850-horsepower street-driven supercar.
Jessi Combs, a host on “All Girls Garage” on Velocity and the women’s land speed record holder, wants to take a course at Team O’Neil Rally School in Dalton, N.H. Other items on her list include an ARB fridge/freezer, vise grips (because you can never have too many), grinders (lots of them, and not the cheap ones) and a Pullmax machine. Dreaming a little bigger, Jessi also wouldn’t mind having a Dodge Challenger Hellcat and a new four-wheel-drive race car, but above all else, she longs for more time in her days and a real vacation.
Rob Sass, Vice President of Media Content for Hagerty Insurance, told us that classic bedroom/dorm room wall posters of the 1980s are perfect for the garage mahal.
Tom Cotter, president of The Cotter Group and contributing editor to Road & Track magazine, has a desire for a fridge in the garage stocked with craft brews, that way he would always be ready for friends to visit. Also, a big-screen television would allow him to watch races or barn-find TV shows while he is fiddling around with his cars. One bigger item that Tom longs for is a setup like Jay Leno’s kitchen in the Big Dog Garage in Burbank; anyone visiting during lunch or dinner is invited for a delicious Jay Leno-prepared meal. One the other hand, that means Tom would need to learn to cook, which he said is unlikely, so he would settle for a garage kitchen and a chef. Last but not least, a couple more car lifts would be handy; he has one, but two or three more would allow him to drag home more cars.
Doni Langdon, from the women’s hot rod magazine “Throttle Gals,” is working on her 1959 Chevrolet and would love chrome plating on the rear bumper, fabric for new seat covers, new gauges, interior carpet and a new steering wheel. Tools and gear are also on her list, such as: an upright toolbox, a new cordless impact driver, another cordless Sawzall, a cordless shop light, Mechanix gloves, Coveralls and a nice pair of warm boots.
Cody Loveland, owner of performance parts fabricating company, LoveFab Inc., recently began the move back to his home shop, and just wants that to be over! Itemized things include parts to finish his latest Pike’s Peak project, the Enviate: a 100-yard roll of carbon fiber with matching resin, a certified custom fuel cell, vacuum bagging and an air pump, and all the time in the world to finish the build and test it.
