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Jamie Kitman, a lawyer, is an award-winning journalist who writes about cars, the automobile industry for Automobile Magazine, for whom he has written a monthly column (Noise, Vibration, and Harshness) for 25 years. The former US editor of England’s CAR and Top Gear magazines, he’s contributed to dozens of other publications, including The New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, The Nation, GQ, Harper’s, Men’s Journal, and Newsweek. His report on The Secret History of Lead (gasoline) for The Nation won the IRE medal for investigative magazine reporting and his column for Automobile won the National Magazine Award for commentary, the only time a car magazine or car magazine author has ever won an award from the august editors’ group who choose winners. The owner of dozens of old cars, Jamie is particularly fond of old Lotuses, Lancia, Rovers, MGs, Jaguars, Volvos, and Peugeots, but also owns a ’68 International Travelall, a Saab and a Morris Minor pickup. Jamie recently set up a business that supplies cars (not just his own) to movies and television programs shooting in New York, working recently on director Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed film, The Post. For the past thirty years, Jamie has also served as president of The Hornblow Group USA, Inc., a full-service music management company.
SHOW SPONSORS
Covercraft • MetronGarage • Bonanza • Christopher Kimball Financial Services
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE
In baseball, if you hit 3 out of 10 at-bats, you’re a star. In other words, you’re not going to succeed all the time. You have to be resilient and keep going forward.
CAREER & LIFE CHALLENGES
In 1982 when I was 24, I was employed as the press secretary to the president of the New Jersey State Senate. I headed back to Brooklyn where I had been living prior to going to work in Trenton. While driving my 1967 MGB, I was passing a tractor-trailer on the George Washington Bridge at night and I ran into the back of a stalled Chrysler in the passing lane. It had seven people in it and nobody was really injured except me. My face hit the after-market steering wheel, and all my teeth were knocked out, my eye sockets were shattered, my jaws were broken, my nose was pulverized, and I was on the table for 16 hours being put together again. Afterward, I was told I would be in the hospital for months; however, I was fortunate to be dismissed after sixteen days. The surgeon must have served in Vietnam because he told me he utilized techniques he learned during that time. In fact, I was told I would have died if they had not done what they did during surgery. After undergoing several additional surgeries, I became much more cheerful as a person and more serious as a student. The accident happened in March and I was able to begin law school in September. I was a very fortunate guy and I certainly became more serious about a lot of things.
FIRST SPECIAL VEHICLE
The very first car I got when I was 14 was an MG-A that had been in a fire and I bought with three of my friends for $50.00. We each paid $12.50 each. We were trying to rebuild the car when someone offered to cut the car into pieces, and we actually all made a little bit of money by selling the car.
BEST AUTOMOTIVE ADVICE
When it comes to restoration, whatever you think it will cost, it will cost triple that. A driving tip is to look as far down the road or to the corner as you can.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
I use the Internet to search for many things. Also, car clubs can be great resources.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Enzo Ferrari: Power, Politics and the Making of an Automobile, by Luca Dal Monte
PARTING WORDS OF ADVICE
I look at old cars as being sort of a mediocre savings account.
WHERE TO FIND JAMIE
Your opinion matters and I will greatly appreciate your support.
If you enjoyed this show, please go to Apple Podcast and leave me a five-star review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and help others to be inspired by Cars Yeah.