The Team
South African-born Smale started his professional motor journalism and photography career back in 1994, but if truth be told, Glen has had a driving passion for all things motoring since a tender age. In 1997, Glen launched Autosport & Classics, a classic motoring and historic motorsport magazine covering the local scene in SA. Two years later, having sold his share in the magazine. Between 2004 and 2016 Smale has authored thirteen books covering sports cars and motor racing. In 2007 he received the Laurin and Klement ‘Design Writer of the Year’ award for his book Jaguar E-type: Portrait of a Design Icon. In 2012 his book, Porsche at Le Mans: 60 Years of Porsche Participation in the World’s Greatest Motor Race, was shortlisted in the British Sports Book Awards. Of his thirteen books, no less than seven have been on Porsche cars, perhaps suggesting where his passion lies. Glen first started writing for the only magazine dedicated entirely to the Porsche 911, namely Total 911, as far back as 2005 and still contributes to this magazine on a regular basis. He has also written for the well-known Porsche magazines in America, Excellence, for a number of years. In addition to this, Glen has contributed to the Porsche Club of North America monthly publication, Panorama, as well as a host of other titles over the years in Europe, the UK and South Africa. Away from the race track, Glen was an aspiring golfer in his younger days and represented his province in the under-18 age group for a number of years. He went on to win his University Championships and represented Rhodes University for five years, as well as playing club league golf for ten years. With both children now out of the house and working, Glen lives with his lovely German wife, Elke, in the beautiful county of Carmarthenshire in West Wales. Glen has been a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers since 1995.
In 2005, Porsche released a commercial featuring a young schoolboy who is distracted from his geography lesson when he looks out the window and sees a new 997 passing on the street. When the dismissal bell rings, he races on his bicycle to the local Porsche dealership. The salesman shows him the new car and he ends up sitting in the driver’s seat, barely able to see over the steering wheel. He asks for the salesman’s business card and promises to return in about twenty years. That schoolboy might as well have been Kevin Ehrlich. Kevin grew up with an interest in cars, scouring magazines long before he could drive. Patient parents helped pave the way to auto shows and short oval tracks around the area of both the paved and dirt varieties. Once armed with wheels, Kevin haunted garages and car dealerships across the Pittsburgh area in the State of Pennsylvania in the United States. Road cars had their allure but somehow the cars with the numbers on the doors, rollcages, and aerodynamic spoilers were always just that bit more interesting. After relocating to Los Angeles in 2004, the natural next step was to acquire a black 1997 Porsche 993 cabriolet with which to enjoy the Southern California car culture. Fortunately, providence decided along the way that Kevin should not wander race tracks alone. His bride Mary has an inclination towards cars and racing (perhaps not at clinical levels) and has been the perfect co-pilot on their adventures. Together, they have trekked across the globe to the most iconic endurance race tracks, including Le Mans, Daytona, Watkins Glen, Bathurst and Road America among others. They have been regular visitors to the Nürburgring 24 and its very moody weather changes through snow, fog, rain and bright sunshine. Kevin’s primary passion is endurance racing and its history, with a particular interest in Porsche.
Like many boys of my generation I was a car fan spending far more time with my nose in the latest copy of Autocar than in my schoolbooks. As a young man I remember ogling the Porsches in Hendon Way Motors, but they all seemed to cost about £3500, as much as I earned in a year. I had to settle for a BMW 1600. A commercial career and family life rather took over during the next two decades and a succession of company or family cars provided transport. As I headed for 50, I bought a 9-year old Porsche 911 and people who didn’t understand, talked about ‘mid-life crisis’. Good luck to them, I said, but you can’t own a Porsche without being fascinated by the company and I started contributing a back page column to a Porsche magazine. This gradually expanded as I learned more and writing articles and features gradually took over my time as a by now self-employed individual. I began writing for other mostly classic car magazine.
With so many writing about Porsche I have concentrated on historical aspects and interviewed many retired Porsche figures which has helped me to get into Continental and US magazines. As a largely historical writer I feel strongly that we need to take more care of archives. While company resources such as Porsche’s are secure, other private resources are being lost, for example much of the incomparable Haymarket archive at Teddington when the company moved a few years ago; I so wish my father had kept his 20-year Autocar collection. As a largely historical writer I feel strongly that we need to take more care of archives. While company resources such as Porsche’s are secure, other private resources are being lost, for example much of the incomparable Haymarket archive at Teddington when the company moved a few years ago; I so wish my father had kept his 20-year Autocar collection. Bicester Heritage for example has offered to house motor club archives often too big for members to store.
Lucian, a French-Romanian citizen, lives in Paris, France. He developed a strong interest in motor racing, especially sports cars and endurance racing, which dates back to the early ‘90s. He was involved in many projects, racing programs and championships in Europe and the US with different racing teams. These included the German Porsche privateer team, Seikel Motorsport, and the French motorsport group ORECA. His roles have progressed from media and marketing manager, to more operational functions including, race strategist, data engineer and also team manager.
Lucian also works as a specialist commentator for EUROSPORT (Romanian version) during the Le Mans 24-Hours. A long time Porsche enthusiast (Le Mans 24-Hours, Porsche Carrera Cup, GT championship, and endurance racing), Lucian has had the chance to diversify and work with other sports car brands including Lotus, Lamborghini (French GT vice champion with Ruffier Racing) and Ferrari (Ferrari Challenge Europe 2012 and 2013).
His racing hero is a French driver, Francois Cevert, who had a very promising career but who died while qualifying for the US GP in 1973. Francois was different from the other drivers of his time, especially the French drivers of his generation, because he learnt from the best as to how he should progress his driving style and simultaneously build a career. His mentor was Jackie Stewart who said about Cevert, that the French people could not imagine what an ambassador Cevert was for France, in the world.
Lucian’s most memorable racing ‘souvenir’ memory was when he travelled to the Sebring 12-Hour race with the Seikel team in 2004. In 2006, Lucian worked with Daniel Droit Racing, a small French Porsche privateer team and professional driver Christophe Tinseau in the French Carrera Cup, for a challenging racing season.
From the age of seven, and with the aid of numerous cushions, Richard starting driving on his dad’s 45-acre small-holding in a 1948 Chevrolet Coupe Imp. His dental-surgeon dad was also very mechanically-minded and taught Richard everything he knew about car maintenance and about German engineering.
At least one VW has been in the family ever since 1951 and to this day, there are two Golfs in the home garage while son James has three VWs and daughter Sarah, a VW and a Skoda.
In between an obsession with motorcars, Richard spent 35 years in the same advertising agency in Harare but much of his spare time was devoted to writing about his passion for motor cars and motor sport.
He has provided a weekly motoring column in a Harare business paper for 22 years and was enrolled as a member of the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists in 2000. Today, Richard freelances for various on-line and print motoring titles based in South Africa and is a regular contributor to Top Gear South Africa and to a monthly motoring mag, Motor, published out of Cape Town.
He acquired a new 911 Carrera Sport in 1989 and in the absence of any dealership in Zimbabwe, he fully maintained this car over 19 years of most happy ownership. Adjusting valve clearances was not his favourite task, though!
His passion for Porsches was nurtured at a young age and accounts for why he has attended no fewer than 25 Le Mans 24 Hour events and numerous endurance races from Spa to Road Atlanta. The presence of Porsches in the field was the lure but in a related field, so too was Michael Schumacher which accounts for why Richard has attended 20 F1 races but none since MS left Ferrari at the end of 2006.
I attended my first race in 1967, an USAC Indy car event at Trenton Speedway, and the race was won by AJ Foyt. I subsequently attended my first sports car races at Daytona and Sebring in 1971 as a spectator while I was still in college. Both of these races were won by the great Porsche 917. Later I joined the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) and became a tech inspector at the local races. This then led to volunteer work as a Tech Inspector with IMSA when they first started, my first races with IMSA were in the 1973 season. After college I worked as an engineer with Bechtel building power plants. Further college studies ensued, resulting in an MBA which has led to a long career at IBM as a Systems Engineer…with time off for racing of course. I worked on and off as a Technical Inspector for IMSA through 1977, and then in 1978 I started with Dick Barbour racing (Garretson Enterprises) in Mountain View, California, as it was just a half mile from my house. Typically, I spent my days working at IBM, and the nights at the race shop. This continued through until 1984, working with Bob Garretson and Wayne Baker. This was followed by working with various teams racing a 962, sometimes for a whole season, or sometimes just for a few races as required. In 1991, I took a one year leave of absence from IBM and worked full time at Alpha in Japan in the Japanese Group C championship. Notable sidelights in 1984-86 seasons included working on the Carlsen Porsche team running 944s and 944 turbo cars in the IMSA Firehawk and SCCA showroom stock championships. Further racing efforts followed through the 1990s and on into 2015 with Kevin Doran and Doran Racing, supporting Gianpierro Moretti and Fredy Lienhard Ferrari 333 projects, Dallara’s, Grand Am Prototypes, as well as various vintage racing activities.
Published photographer and writer with credits in numerous Ferrari and Porsche magazines, including Cavallino, Excellence, Road & Track, etc. An ambassador of Stuttcars and Sports Car Digest, Rex covers most West Coast vintage automobile events, like Monterey Car Week, Luftgekuhlt, etc. He also keeps busy as Editor of the 356 Club of Southern CA.
I am an Aussie boy, born and raised in Sydney who has now been living in my adopted hometown of New York since 2004. I never say NO to beer or pizza and love my wife and our three little boys. I'm an obsessed car nutcase. I talk about cars all day long. I have been into Porsches, Ferraris and every other cool carmaker since as far back as I remember. Back in 2013 I partnered up with some friends to acquire and operate some of my favorite automotive sites on the planet and Stuttcars was one of those sites. I hope to be a great steward of the brand.
John Starkey is a self-confessed racing fanatic, has owned many different sports cars, and has competed in hill-climbs, rallies and vintage sports car races. John Starkey began life in Birmingham, England. After school, with dreams of “rock stardom” in mind, he played guitar in several bands, along the way opening for the Beatles in 1963, before becoming Jasper Carrott’s manager. His father’s love of fast cars had passed down to him and, starting with a Jaguar XK120, bought in 1966 for £120, he started discovering this heady world. After a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta, life was never quite the same again, and the racing bug bit hard when he first drove a Porsche RSR. In 1997, John moved to America, where he began writing, naturally, about racing and cars.
Sean is brings over 25 years of photography experience. Starting in the fashion and beauty industry, he shot for numerous magazines, catalogues, as well as advertising agencies.
Redirecting his focus on automotive photography, he has worked with a number of European & American magazines, and all the top auction houses in the US.
He continues to enjoy shooting fashion and beauty, but his passion is in shooting cars, and if the two can be mixed together, even better.