Scratch It Off the Bucket List
By: Jon Stalnaker
AKA The Studebaker Dude
Most tough-main motor vehicle fellas are informed of the Tv clearly show My Vintage Motor vehicle. It is hosted by Dennis Gage, who is most effective identified for his handlebar mustache. Dennis has a PhD in Chemistry and was a Merchandise Enhancement Scientist for Procter and Gamble at the time they had been acquiring the Pringles Potato Chip. Dennis swears that the mustached character on the Pringles can was not modeled just after him, but the Pringle potato chip is a perfectly-recognised case in point of his work. Dennis enjoys cars and is not only well-informed about them but is quite personable and straightforward to chat to. He commenced My Typical Vehicle as a car online video journal in early 1996 on the Nashville Network (TNN). It produced into a preferred vehicle display, and he travels the earth on the lookout at awesome vehicles and hangs out with motor vehicle men like Jay Leno. Most of his viewers envy him and lust immediately after his work. I know I have. Dennis is effectively known to be a Studie dude like me and has been a member of the Studebaker Motorists Club (SDC). He is pictured on the address of the January 1998 edition of the SDC journal Turning Wheels.
I drove my bullet nose Studebaker to The Dalles Oregon to go to a car or truck display alongside the Columbia River. That trip took me by way of two a lot more states and Dennis was there filming his My Common Automobile Television present that day. Though I did discuss with him and showed him my Studebaker, I was not lucky ample to have my vehicle selected as a aspect vehicle of the episode. That was alright, it was the fourth time I had an option to chat with him and my wife took a wonderful image of me demonstrating him my car. As most individuals that have fulfilled him will attest, he is incredibly helpful and talks to you like you are old significant school mates. I will tell the tale of the other 3 situations I spent with him, as a couple of them are really fascinating, IMHO.
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The to start with time I met Dennis was at a fulfill and greet booth at the SEMA present in Las Vegas. The SEMA present is the final car show, and you have to be in the business or know somebody who is, to even get inside of. I utilized to recurrent Las Vegas when the SEMA present commenced, and I was keeping there when it was going on. I experienced heard terrific items about it but did not know it was an unique party. I walked in the entrance door and was quickly escorted out. A several a long time afterwards, I was on a Docent tour with the California Automobile Museum, and we have been invited in. That is exactly where I achieved him for the to start with time. Our regional Studebaker Club was having a zone meet up with in a handful of months and I invited him to show up at. He declined but gave me an autographed image to choose home. There will have to have been countless numbers of individuals cued up to speak with him that weekend and I figured that I was not somebody he would don’t forget talking to, even though we did converse about Studebakers. I would discover out a handful of yrs later that was not the case. He will have to have an remarkable memory as I would discover out the up coming time we fulfilled.
I believe it was late in 2011 when Dennis was invited to be the keynote speaker for a fund-raising party at the museum. I initially didn’t program to show up at. Knowing he was a Studebaker dude I shared a couple of items I realized about him with our neighborhood SDC Chapter Vice President who was organizing to go. I questioned her to publish a tale for me to contain in the e-newsletter I was modifying. She took it a move additional and the up coming factor I knew, Dennis was heading to travel her Studebaker into the celebration for a remarkable entrance. This was just likely to be too cool to overlook, so I made a decision to use my press pass, and write the tale myself. I’m guaranteed glad I did mainly because when Dennis arrived, we were there to meet up with him and to my shock, he remembered me from SEMA. I did not inform him I talked to him there, he told me he remembered conversing to me at SEMA. I was blown away. I’ll have to inform you a lot more about that evening future 7 days.