Chasing Classic Cars is one of the more popular shows on Discovery’s Velocity channel. Wayne Carini is the host and his now famous F40 Motorsports restoration shop is located Portland, CT. The good news for viewers is that Chasing Classic Car just extended their contract with Discovery for two more years.
Over the years I have met Wayne many times at various local press events. He has invited me to his shop as many times, offering a private tour, and all I had to do was email him to see if he was available. Despite the fact that I drive between Boston and New York City often, the timing to visit F40 Motorsports is never right; I was either with my family, driving at night, or in a hurry. Except for a few weeks ago on a recent Friday, when I was driving from Boston to New Jersey Motorsport Park for the Lemons race. I was early, alone, annoyed by traffic, and in the middle of the day.
In recent years Wayne has remodeled his showroom, added on to his shop, and moved his garage. Unfortunately when I got there Wayne was not available, so I just walked around the showroom, snuck a peek into the garage, and snapped some pictures.
Above, Wayne’s office is behind the doors to the right.
The small showroom was full of wonderfully restored cars.
There were also a few toys, such as this pedal-powered Morgan Threewheeler. If Alex Roy ever has a son, this must be on his list.
That says “1968 NEW YORK AUTO SHOW DISPLAY FERRARI 365 C/4 ENGINE 4.4 LITRE 350HP”
Awards, and a LEGO Technic Ferrari F1 racecar top of the display.
Some dashboards of the cars inside the showroom. And the Cobra, which was outside.
It looked spectacular, I am not sure of real if real or replica.
Workers in the garage were having lunch when I got there and I did not want to bother them.
Someone’s toy arrived while I was snooping around.
Side parking lot. I am not sure if I’d rather have the Defender or the Wagoneer.
Not all cars that are for sale are old.
Front lobby is full of interesting pictures.
One of these days I’ll go back for a full tour of the shop.
By Kamil Kaluski
East Coast Editor. Races crappy cars and has an unhealthy obsession with Eastern Bloc cars. Current fleet: Ford Bronco, Lexus GX 470, and a Buick Regal crapcan racecar.
Mercedes Lilienthal
I used to drive through the general area on business. Always wanted to schedule an extra couple hours to stop by. Never did.
The Cobra is a replica, albeit, a good one (check engine bay pics) built in 1993:
http://www.f40.com/inventorymanager.php?action=view&Id=855726
Met him once. Guy can be a bit of a jerk.
I met him at the Hershey Concours de Elegance a couple years ago and he was pretty friendly. He didn’t talk to my friend and I for long but I think that’s because were acting like fanboys. Mostly because we were surprised to see someone we knew from TV.
Really it shouldn’t have been a surprise given the value of the cars at that event.
I used to like the show, but its HD only now and w 7 tv locationsI I’m too cheap to pay for HD. Put it on non HD and viewers would skyrocket.
Didn’t Velocity start life as an HD Only Discovery network called HDNet or something?
I live in Providence RI, and about 2 years ago a couple of buddies and I decided to drive over there. Wayne was not there, but it was one of the least pretentious high-end car shops I’ve ever seen. Nice sales guy in the showroom who spoke authoritatively about all the cars. Lot was full of cool and interesting stuff. Garages were full of cooler and even more interesting stuff. It’s not too far off the beaten track, and, a quick run down to New Haven for some Pepe’s Pizza made the day complete.
I love that show, but haven’t watched it much in the last couple of years since cutting the cord. Come on, Hulu! Carry Velocity shows, please.
PS: A quick, though not foolproof, way to check if the car is original is to find the VIN. It will be CSXnnnn. The 4-digit number after the CSX (or COB for Cobras sold in UK or COX for Cobras sold in Europe) should start with a 2 (small block cars) or a 3 (big block cars). Shelby did produce some continuation cars in the 90s using CSX4nnn and CSX6nnn serial numbers. Some of these had fiberglass bodies.
It’s not foolproof, because there are several cars that use an original chassis, but have been rebodied.
Interesting…only an hour from I work and about the same from where I’ll be living as of a few weeks from now. Guess I’ll have to make a trip myself!