Hootie Rashidifard launched the popular Instagram page @valveandpiston in 2016, growing it into a community of over 370,000 car enthusiasts. Known for curating some of the coolest automotive content on the internet, Hootie has forged strong connections with a global audience while also building an impressive personal car collection, including a heavily modified 1973 BMW 2002 Touring. Recently, he expanded his ventures by founding the 24 Hours of Montauk, a Long Island rally that brings together influential figures from different domains, all uniting over their love of cars. Past participants have included visionary artist Daniel Arsham, the Oilstainlab twins, and renowned US collector, Jas Dhillon. Thanks for tuning in! Chapters: (0:00) Intro (01:21) Hootie's Land Rover Recovery Vehicle (03:50) Inspiration behind BMW 2002 & Porsche 993 (09:06) Intention behind Valve & Piston (11:45) How quickly did the account grow? (14:45) Tapping into Nostalgia (17:21) Impact of social media on car culture (21:30) How would you set up Valve & piston today? (27:05) The Montauk Rally (32:53) Online vs Offline (34:22) Automotive trends (37:25) Quick Fire Q's (41:36) Outro @valveandpiston www.custodian.club @custodian.club https://bit.ly/custodiancarinsurance

This week on The Apex we sat down for a conversation with Martin Popilka, CEO of P1 Fuels. They are a company leading the development of 100% fossil free fuel, and are the official fuel supplier for the World Rally Championship.

Their mission is to change the fuel, not the car, and their work extends beyond motorsport and into the world of classic and everyday vehicles.

Sebastian Vettel is also a regular customer, and uses their fuel to run his classic F1 cars! It was an insightful, eye opening conversation that left us feeling optimistic about the future of the internal combustion engine.

Thank you for listening!

Chapters:

0:00 Intro

0:44 Martin's Background

2:13 What does P1 Fuels do?

3:00 The Manufacturing Process

4:00 P1 Fuel vs Normal Fossil Fuel

6:42 Involvement in Motorsport & the WRC

12:11 Pricing

13:09 Common Misconceptions

16:00 EV vs Hydrogen vs Synthetic

17:55 Politics

20:17 Buying P1 Fuel for Classic & Everyday Cars

22:18 When will it be at the pump?

22:51 Quick Fire

24:11 Outro

www.p1fuels.com

@p1fuels

www.custodian.club

@custodian.club

https://bit.ly/custodiancarinsurance

For more than thirty years, Patrick Peter has been a driving force behind classic and contemporary motorsport events. During the 1990s, alongside Stéphane Ratel and Jürgen Barth, he played a pivotal role in revitalising endurance sports car racing through the creation of the widely acclaimed BPR Global GT Series.

His company, Peter Auto, is famous for organising some of the greatest historic racing events globally, and he's also one of the key figures behind the Le Mans Classic, a crowning jewel in the motorsport calendar. Patrick kindly joined us on the Apex this week, and shared with us some incredible insights about his career, the future of historic motorsport, and what it takes to organise events of such magnitude.

Few cars in recent memory have garnered as much attention and admiration as Porsche's prototype 'Half 11'. It's the creation of Nikita and Iliya Bridan, Canadian twins who dropped out of high school at 13 to study car design in Italy. We had the pleasure of chatting to Nikita about the Half 11, modern car design, and what's next for the brothers and their creative playground 'Oil Stain Lab'. 

Our guest this week is Walter Heale, founder of Historic Motor Car Workshops; a firm that specialises in the restoration and race preparation of pre and post war cars, with a leaning towards French and Italian marques of that period.

In our interview, Walter shares the stories behind some of the incredible cars he has worked on, including a rare Lancia Dilambda that raced in Italian Eritrea, the current landscape of the pre war community, and how sustainable fuels can have a positive impact on pre war racing. 

On this week's episode of the Apex, I am joined by Ryan Goodyear. Ryan is a connoisseur when it comes to pre-war motoring and vintage men's fashion. His Instagram page, Suits and Cylinders, has attracted over 58,000 followers, and he represents a source of inspiration for pre-war petrol heads and fashionistas alike.

On this week's episode of the Apex, we are joined by four times Masters Historic Formula 1 champion and Goodwood lap record holder, Nick Padmore. Nick climbed the ranks of single seater racing and excelled as a Works driver in Radicals, before becoming more involved in historic racing. 

Alongside his impressive resume, Nick is also one of the world's leading driver coaches, and holds the unique ability to transfer his knowledge and experience to other drivers. He joins us today to discuss his career highlights, that iconic Goodwood lap record, and to share some of his coaching insights.

On this week's episode of the Apex, we are joined by the legendary Tiff Needell. Tiff has competed at Le Mans 14 times, climbed the single-seater ladder all the way to F1, and competed in touring cars, British Rallycross and the 24 Hours of Daytona. He also commentated alongside Murray Walker and entertained the nation with his work on Top Gear and Fifth Gear.

He joins us today to talk about his life in cars, the ins and outs of competing at events like Le Mans, and what it was like to race in such an incredible era of motor sport.

On this week's episode of The Apex, we have the pleasure of welcoming a seasoned racing driver, coach, stunt driver and commentator. Having competed at the top level of the junior formulas, Oliver Webb has gone on to win the European Le Mans Series, the Dubai 24 hours and the Gulf Historic Grand Prix in James Hunt's race winning Hesketh.

He joins us today to talk about his career highlights, his involvement in historic racing, and what it was like being a stunt driver for the Mission Impossible movies.

After a hiatus of almost two years, we are relaunching the Apex podcast! Our guest for this week is Karun Chandhok. He's competed at the highest levels of motorsport, racing in Formula 1, at Le Mans and in Formula E. Karun is also a renowned commentator, analyst, writer and historic racer.

He joins us to talk about his journey into the world of racing, life in Formula 1, and what it’s like to race a 250 GTO at Goodwood.

Our guest this week is Gord Duff, who holds the impressive title of Global Head of Auctions at RM Sotheby's and one of the few people trusted by an exclusive clientèle to buy and sell the world's finest cars, often sight unseen, over the phone. Gord joined us to talk about what it's like being one of the world's leading car specialists and to give us some insight into the thrilling, mysterious and often intimidating world of collector's automobiles. Thumbnail credit to Pawel Litwinski

If you’ve ever dipped your toes into the fascinating world of driving simulation and software, you might be familiar with the phenomenally successful Assetto Corsa, one of the most popular and versatile simulators on the market. Our guest this week is Marco Massarutto, the co-founder and executive manager of KUNOS Simulazioni, the developers behind Assetto Corsa. Arguably one of the people responsible for making the digital race track as much a part of motor sport and car culture as the real thing, Marco joined us this week for a fascinating discussion about his life in cars, the work which goes into creating class-leading driving simulators, and what makes a company like KUNOS tick.

William I’Anson specialises in the sale and acquisition of some of the most iconic historic racing cars ever made. From Grand Prix Bugatti’s, to Jaguar D Types and Group C legends, the calibre of cars is truly extraordinary. He’s also raced a bunch of them, and has lived and breathed the car community his entire life. So if you’re into your classic cars and love historic racing, Will’s insights are invaluable. 

Chapters - 

(0:00) Intro

(0:45) Goodwood Festival of Speed & Ascari’s Ferrari 

(3:54) Event Eligibility & Impact on Values 

(8:20) Will’s Racing Exploits 

(10:14) Selling Historic Racing Cars

(14:25) Buying a Car as an Investment 

(16:34) Working for the Auction Houses 

(17:23) Thoughts on Current Car Market 

(19:27) Provenance & Historical Research 

(24:28) Quick Fire Questions 

(28:15) Outro 

Check out Will’s stock on The Showroom here - https://bit.ly/williamianson

Written Interview  - https://apex.custodian.club/william-ianson/

Thanks for tuning in! 

-----------------

Custodian: 

Insurance - https://www.custodian.club/features/insurance

Showroom - https://app.custodian.club/showroom

Instagram - custodian.club

William I’Anson: 

Website - https://williamianson.com/

Instagram - williamiansonltd

This week's guest is a familiar face to us at the Apex, and just maybe a familiar voice if you were lucky enough to catch our first editions way back in the mists of time! Charles Clegg is a passionate car guy and historic racer, as well as having a day job as the CEO of Custodian, the online platform and app for car enthusiasts. He joined us to talk about his life in cars, the ins and outs of competing at events like the Goodwood Revival, and what it's like to try to break a land speed record in a 1200bhp fastback Mustang.

Praga Cars is a company with 114 years of engineering excellence behind it, although it still remains somewhat unknown to British motoring enthusiasts. As luck would have it, our guest this week is Mark Harrison, managing director of Praga Cars UK - just the man to tell us more! With his significant experience in launching performance vehicles into a competitive marketplace, and knowledge of just what it takes to keep a motoring brand focused on its customers, Mark joined us to talk Praga, past, present and future - from historic vacuum cleaners to the fantastic R1 racing car, sim racing and more...

Our guest this week is prolific entrepreneur, businessman, and car guy David Brown. Proudly drawing on Britain's automotive heritage, his car company David Brown Automotive has grown significantly since its founding in 2013 and now works with over 70 British based suppliers, combining small scale manufacturing with a bespoke coach building to produce limited edition automobiles for discerning clients. We managed to catch David for a discussion about his career, love of cars, and some of the exciting machines handbuilt by David Brown Automotive, including the beautiful Speedback GT.

No stranger to life at the highest level of the classic car game, our guest this week is Peter Wallman: entrepreneur, experienced auctioneer, and classic car authority. With a background in advertising and decades of experience in and around the world's finest cars, Peter is uniquely placed to navigate the choppy waters of this exciting market. He joined us to talk about his life as a classic car specialist, his beloved E-Type, and why motor boats deserve as much praise and attention as your favourite automotive gems...

Our guest this week is Jaguar E-Type specialist and restorer William Heynes, widely considered to be one of the most knowledgeable restorers on the scene; hardly a surprise when you realise that William can trace his connections with the Jaguar marque all the way back to his grandfather Bill Heynes, Jaguar’s legendary Chief Engineer and Technical Director from 1935 - 1969. From the ideal E-Type spec to what to look out for on the concours lawn, if you're curious about what it takes to restore and preserve one of the most beautiful cars ever made, you’ll want to take this week’s interview for a spin!

When it comes to cars, the phrase “race on Sunday, sell on Monday” is never far behind, and there is probably nobody in the vintage, classic and competition car market who embodies it more fully than our guest this week: Gregor Fisken, of Fiskens Fine Historic Automobiles. Some of the world's greatest cars have passed over the cobbles of Gregor's premises in London's Queens Gate Place Mews, and Fiskens is universally recognised as one of the most important dealerships in the collector’s car landscape. But that's not all - when he can spare a moment, Gregor is also a bona fide racing driver with multiple Le Mans appearances to his name, including time as a works driver for Courage in the LMP1 class and racing a factory-backed Larbre run Aston Martin DBR9 GT1. He really has done it all, and we were thrilled to have him join us to talk about his early days, the joys of endurance racing, and his perspectives on the market.

Most if not all of us got into cars and car culture through magazines, almanacs and car reviews written by talented writers. Fittingly, our guest this week is Matt Prior, who holds the enviable title of Editor-at-large at Autocar magazine. Autocar has been going since 1895 and is one of the world's oldest car magazines, with a rich history of publishing demanding car tests from the finest automotive journalists. Having been in the industry for over 20 years, it's safe to say that Matt is one of the leading authorities on anything and everything to do with the consumer automobile in all of its guises. He’s also a car guy through-and-through, and spoke to us about the automotive media scene, life at Autocar and some of the unlikely candidates for the best cars ever...

If you've driven a consumer automobile in the last 20 years, or argued about the aesthetics of modern cars with friends, you've been engaging with the world of our guest this week, automotive designer Chris Bangle. Having started his career at Opel and Fiat, in 1992 Chris was named the first American chief of design at BMW. Over the next 17 years he went on to carve a legacy of distinctive, sculptural designs which set out a new paradigm for the premium car segment. Today Chris is managing director of Chris Bangle Associates, a design studio in the Piemonte Region of Italy which turns its skills to everything from luxury yachts to drinks bottles, and earlier this year, Chris was awarded the 2021 American Prize for Design, recognising his immense contribution to transportation design. He spoke to us about his experiences at BMW, the pitfalls of modern car development and his radical suggestions for the future of transportation. Read the interview here: https://apex.privatecollectorsclub.com/chris-bangle/ Learn about Custodian here: https://custodian.club

If you’ve ever tried to get just a bit faster on track, or spent your time looking for ways to squeeze the very last tenths of a second from your race car, you'll love our guest this week: Ross Bentley - performance coach, racing driver and accomplished author. Ross is known in the performance driving world for ‘Speed Secrets’, his fascinating series of books and podcasts which have inspired scores of enthusiasts to improve their own track driving. He joined us this week to talk about his career, the finer points of racing performance, and all things fast driving.

If you said that the ultimate 911 is not necessarily made by Porsche, most people would raise an eyebrow. However, if you're in the know, there's a good chance you would immediately think of our guest this week: Alois Ruf, head of RUF Automobile. Combining maximum performance, personality and the very highest standards of German automotive engineering, RUF has been operating in its modern guise since the 1970s, with a long family history before that. Having boasted a number of the world's fastest production cars in its lineup over the years, and with its vehicles loved by sports car enthusiasts the world over, RUF is the very definition of a cult car manufacturer. We spoke to Alois about the legend of the CTR Yellowbird, life at RUF, and what he thinks is most important in a modern sports car...

Michał Fidowicz is the man behind the incredibly popular Instagram page, @candyshowroom. It’s a page that has grown rapidly over the last 6 months, with Mike producing highly entertaining videos of quirky and interesting cars, alongside his best friend and cameraman Matt Martin. 

Prior to jumping in front of the camera, Mike spent the last 10 years photographing and writing about cars, often for publications like Speedhunters. 

Years of hard work are paying off, and as Mike’s video-journalism career starts to take off, we caught up with him to find out more about his early years, his fascination with 90’s BMWs, his future plans, and why the FSO Polonez has a special place in his heart. 

Head over to our YouTube channel @custodianclub to see the full tour of Joe Macari.

You can find Mike at: 

Instagram: Candyshowroom / Fidowicz 

TikTok: Candyshowroom

Website: https://candyshowroom.co.uk/

You can find out more about Custodian at:

Instagram: Custodian.club 

Website: https://www.custodian.club/

Custodian Insurance - https://www.custodian.club/features/insurance

Special thanks to:

Alex Babington

Moe Abdul Aziz 

Haider Imitiaz

Thanks for watching! 

The Apex interviews car enthusiast & media personality, Sam Fane, the driving force behind the hugely popular automotive YouTube channel Seen Through Glass. Alongside road trips, car spotting, and giving subscribers an insight into the curious world of supercars, in 2019 Sam embarked on an epic adventure entitled Drive The World, rooting out the most interesting elements of global car culture for viewers at home. We managed to catch up with him about the curious life of a YouTuber, his experiences travelling the world in a Porsche 911T, and strange things you can do with Alfa Romeos on camera...

The Apex interviews Nicholas Mee, an esteemed Aston Martin specialist & dealer for over 25 years. Nick is one of the leading names in the Aston Martin community, and with the help of his expert team at Nicholas Mee & Co. provides everything from regular maintenance to full restorations of these wonderful cars, not to mention a constantly replenished stock of fine examples for sale. Nick joins us this week to talk about his beginnings in the car business, his work with Victor Gauntlett, and his favourite cars - with some James Bond mythbusting along the way, and why you should never take the autoroute on the way to Le Mans...

This week our guest is Rémi Dargegen, one of the best known photographers in the classic car world. With an enviable client book featuring the likes of Porsche, Lamborghini and Bugatti, as well as countless iconic photo shoots for some of the most prestigious motoring magazines on the market to his name, it's no exaggeration to say that Rémi's work is one of the touchstones for modern automotive photography.

The Apex interviews F1 driver, Le Mans winner, artist & designer Stefan Johansson. We hear about F1's turbo era, 408 km/h at Le Mans and his life in art world.

This week on the Apex we interview Randy Nonnenberg, the co-founder and CEO of Bring a Trailer, one of the most popular auction sites for collectible cars on the internet and one of the main reasons for car enthusiasts staying up way past their bedtime. He joined us this week to give an insight into his life in cars, the online auction market, and wayward Volkswagens...

This week on the Apex our guest is engineer, classic car specialist, photographer and journalist Laura Kukuk. With a background in high-level sports car development at McLaren and a fascinating job as an expert authenticator of some of the world's finest vintage automobiles, she's a Nürburgring native who also enjoys getting hands-on in the workshop with her own restoration projects. We spoke to her about her forensic work, the joys of a Fiat 600, and what makes for a truly authentic car...

Our guest this week is Hedi Sersoub, a multi-talented photographer, model and founder of the automotive jewellery and lifestyle brand The Mechanists. He joined us to give an insight into the more creative and artisanal side of the car community, and to tell us about his journey in the scene.

This week we are excited to interview one of Britain's most promising racing talents, rally driver and Red Bull sponsored athlete Catie Munnings. Catie shot to fame in 2016 after winning the FIA European Rally Championship Ladies’ Trophy, becoming the first Briton to win a European rally title for 49 years. She's since gone from strength to strength in the WRC, and is at the cutting edge of FIA-sanctioned offroad racing, having recently joined the Andretti United Extreme E Team for the inaugural 2021 season. She talked to us about her career so far, the dynamics of driving a rally car properly, and why electric motorsport is perfect for petrolheads.

The Apex interviews passionate car enthusiast, Concours judge, market specialist and music producer Duccio Lopresto about his life in cars and his family's famous Lopresto Collection.

Our guest this week is a man of many talents: a leading international male supermodel, muse of Dolce and Gabbana, entrepreneur, clothing designer and, most importantly, an avid car enthusiast always ready to promote British manufacturing. It is of course Mr David Gandy, who joined us to discuss his adventures in motoring and share some of his experiences of owning and restoring his beloved fleet of classic cars, as well as trimming hedges in a Peugeot 106...

Luna Bondesan is the Marketing Director for the Petersen Museum, which is quite literally the number one automotive museum on the planet. She was born and raised in Italy, and grew up in Italy's leading American car dealership, where her father introduced the country to Jeeps and their off-roading capabilities. Early on in Luna's career, her work as a journalist earned her recognition from the brand that she loves so much, and she went on to spearhead Jeep's marketing strategy. She's also worked with Luftgekuhlt, Porsche, Maserati and Petrolicious, where she produced the Homologation Specials series. You can find out more about the Petersen Museum and their exhibitions here - https://www.petersen.org/ Custodian - https://www.custodian.club/ Custodian Insurance - https://www.custodian.club/features/insurance Instagram - @petersenmuseum @luna__bond @custodian.club Thank you for watching!

Our guest this week is one of the world's most renowned and influential designers – Frank Stephenson. If you've ever longed for a modern McLaren, admired the rear wing on a Ford Escort RS Cosworth, or just found delight in a modern MINI Cooper or Fiat 500, you will probably know what it feels like to encounter his elegant work. He joined us this week to tell us a bit more about his inspirations and design philosophy, and to share a few insights from a tremendous career.

Our guest this week is Richard Noble OBE, a man who, in his own words, comes from an extraordinary age when Britain and her brilliant, risk-taking engineers led the world in aerospace developments. His relentless pursuit of success saw him bring the World Land Speed Record back to Britain in 1983 behind the wheel of Thrust 2 at 633.468 mph (1,019.468 km/h), and 14 years later lead the Thrust SSC team to the first supersonic land speed record. An inspiration to speed racers the world over, Richard sat down with us to tell the story of the Thrust records alongside the trials and tribulations of bringing other innovative projects into reality on land, at sea and in the air - often in the face of resistance from the most unlikely quarters.

The Apex Interviews Episode 16: Sam Hancock by Custodian

The Apex Interviews Episode 15: Max Girado by Custodian

The Apex Interviews Episode 14: Jim Glickenhaus by Custodian

The Apex Interviews Episode 13: Peter Sutcliffe by Custodian

The Apex Interviews Episode 12: Amy Shore by Custodian

The Apex Interviews Episode 11: Ted Gushue by Custodian

The Apex Interviews Episode 10: Ben Mather by Custodian

The Apex Interviews Episode 9: Andrew Frankel by Custodian

Jarrah Venables spent 8 years at Goodwood orchestrating car content for the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Goodwood Revival, before he branched out and set up the Endurance Racing Legends Series (ERL) in collaboration with Peter Auto. He knows everything there is to know about historic racing, and has a particular passion for 90’s and 00’s cars. 

As the ERL series opens up a new GT3 category, we caught up with Jarrah to discuss his early career at Goodwood, the evolution of ERL, as well as his own racing experiences at Le Mans, his take on modern Formula One, and an insightful trip to Nascar valley! 

Jarrah also sells some of the finest competition cars on the market, which can be viewed on Custodian’s marketplace here - https://bit.ly/jarrahvenables

Jarrah Venables - https://www.jarrahvenables.com/

Endurance Racing Legends - https://www.enduranceracinglegends.com/

Custodian - https://www.custodian.club/

Insurance - https://www.custodian.club/features/insurance

Instagram -

@jarrahvenables

@enduranceracinglegends

@custodian.club

Thank you for watching! 

The Apex Interviews Episode 8: Ian Callum by Custodian

The Apex Interviews Episode 7: Katarina Kyvalova by Custodian

The Apex Interviews Episode 6: Dylan Miles by Custodian

The Apex Interviews Episode 5: Graeme Hunt by Custodian