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It’s impossible to watch “Chasing Classic Cars” and not fall hopelessly in love with all the amazing cars featured in it. Whether it’s a hot rod, a supercar from the 1970s, or a rarely seen coupe, there’s no denying that Wayne Carini has provided automotive enthusiasts with top-quality content, ever since his show hit TV screens in 2008.
Nevertheless, even though there’s a lot to say about the cars and the people who appear in the show, there’s also a lot going on behind the scenes of “Chasing Classic Cars” which its cast doesn’t want us to know about.
So are these good or bad things? What are the things the show’s current and former cast members have been keeping secret for years? What about the show’s future? Stay here to discover all!
Roger Barr’s Exit From The Show
There’s no doubt that “Chasing Classic Cars” is one of the most popular and loved car-centered TV shows of the last two decades. That’s why the fact that one of its two main stars simply disappeared from the show without an official explanation only caused sadness and confusion for its fans.
Such a thing is what happened to Roger Barr, who was the seasoned mechanic at F40 Motorsports until health issues took him away from the shop and “Chasing Classic Cars” altogether. As revealed in the funding campaign which a friend of Roger started in 2018, he had been injured while working at F40 Motorsports in 2017, but wasn’t reimbursed by the insurance company.
All of that landed Roger in a very tough financial situation, which only worsened as he was terminated without notice from F40 Motorsports not much later, as Roger himself wrote on a Facebook post from 2020. Fortunately, the funding campaign in Roger’s favor allowed him to pay some of its debts, and afford two knee operations, eventually starting a new job at a another auto shop called The Paddock Classic Car Restorations.
Nevertheless, knowing the difficulties that Roger had to go through while the show’s audience was none the wiser, surely leaves a bittersweet taste in the audience’s mouth.
Roger and Wayne Had A Fallout
While Roger Barr’s exit from “Chasing Classic Cars” was unfortunate for many reasons, it seems that it also fractured the friendly relationship that he and Wayne Carini once had.
While one of the reasons Roger Barr was in such a tight financial situation was related to the fact he didn’t receive insurance benefits from his job at F40 Motorsports, he wasn’t even paid for his appearances in “Chasing Classic Cars”, or at least that’s what was claimed on the funding campaign started in his favor by a friend when Roger needed it the most.
With that being said, the working relationship between Roger and Wayne ended abruptly. As Roger wrote on Facebook, in 2018 he had been trying to go back to work without positive answers before finding an unexpected email-sent termination notice from F40 Motorsports.
Due to the complex financial situation he was going through at the time, it wouldn’t be surprising for both men to have no further contact with each other afterwards. That was seemingly confirmed by the fact that Wayne never addressed the reasons behind Roger’s exit, and nowadays Roger refers to F40 Motorsports as ‘the place I used to work at’, as seen in some of the very rare occasions he’s publicly talked about it in the last two years.
In the end, there’s nothing else to do but lament that two of our favorite classic car experts ended up splitting that way.
The Best Part Is Not Selling
Making a living out of buying and selling classic cars seems a dream come true for many automotive enthusiasts. While that also applies to Wayne Carini, the truth is that what he finds most exciting about his business is not the money, the exhibitions, or the recognitions, but something he describes as ‘the chase’.
It’s just the fact of finding a car, discovering what it looks like, and imagining the stories behind what has been fueling Wayne’s decades-long passion for classic cars. The so-called ‘chase’ is what inspired the title “Chasing Classic Cars”, and motivates Wayne to keep going, as he explained in an interview with Hollywood Soap Box: ‘That’s the stuff that really gets me enthused. It’s like Christmas morning. You know what’s sort of in the box, but you can’t wait to open the box,’ he said.
While Wayne also admits that his enthusiasm calms down a little once he discovers which car is the one he has been chasing for so long, there’s no denying that his perception and way of enjoying his automotive passion is somewhat different from what other car dealers do. That could explain very well why Wayne has been in this business for so long.
How Everything Started
Though “Chasing Classic Cars” premiered on TV in 2008, the story of how it came into place could be traced back to Wayne Carini’s childhood. As it happened, Wayne’s father Bob was a very dedicated car enthusiast and dealer. That allowed Wayne to grow up surrounded by gorgeous cars, which either entered his father’s shop or belonged to his friends, awakening his passion for cars after he went on a ride in a Ferrari Rosso Chiaro at only nine years old.
Though Wayne’s love for Ferraris has been present since those early times of his life, a different car was the one to start the longest chase of his life. When Wayne was 16 years old, he saw a Hudson Italia in his father’s shop and never forgot it. Wayne patiently waited for years to buy it, but the owner of the car died before Wayne could purchase it. Several more years passed before the new owner of the Hudson Italia finally accepted a deal with Wayne, but the story didn’t end there.
In 2006, The New York Times covered the story of Wayne’s relentless chase of the Italian Hudson, effectively attracting the attention of the future producers of “Chasing Classic Cars” that way. That was the end of that story, but it also marked the start of a new adventure for Wayne on TV.
There’s More Than One Business
While “Chasing Classic Cars” centers around the operations of F40 Motorsports, very few people know that it isn’t the only business owned by Wayne Carini.
Wayne owns a collision shop named Continental Auto Ltd. which takes care of repairing the luxury cars he finds. There’s also Carini Carrozzeria, which only focuses on restoration works, and is by far Wayne’s favorite place to spend his time.
Last, but not least, F40 Motorsports is the business which buys and sells the cars Wayne’s chases lead him to. The name of this business was inspired by the Ferrari F40, which was designed in celebration of Ferrari’s fourth decade anniversary. This specific car was special for Wayne because he owned one at the time he started the business, but the name ended up fitting well due to how simple and easily memorable it was, as Wayne said in an interview with Residual Values.
Besides his automotive business, Wayne’s website WayneCarini.tv has served him well in promoting his other profitable projects, such as his merchandise shop and the automotive magazine The Chase. As well, in early 2020, Wayne started his podcast “Talking Classic Cars”, expanding even further to other areas which he’d never explored before.
Wayne Makes Some Millionaire Deals
Anyone who’s ever watched “Chasing Classic Cars” knows that the cars bought and sold by Wayne Carini aren’t cheap at all. This isn’t surprising, considering how rare and old most of the autos are, but what most of the audience doesn’t know is that Wayne makes even greater deals with his cars than the cameras usually let us see.
The biggest proof of this is the Ferrari Spyder which Wayne pitched for sale in 2013, and resulted in a record-breaking deal.
Nevertheless, the story behind this is even more interesting than the money it was sold for. It all began with Eddie Smith, an orphan from California who grew up in poverty but worked hard to establish a car dealership in the early 1950s. That made it easier for him to collect a wide variety of iconic cars, including one of only 10 Ferrari Spyders ever produced. The car took the attention of big names such as Ralph Lauren and Steve McQueen, but Smith always said no to any offers to sell.
Unfortunately, Smith died in 2007, and his beloved Ferrari Spyder was left forgotten in a garage. That’s when Wayne Carini came into play, as he was the one to put the car back into shape, and ready for auction under Smith’s family’s request.
The Ferrari Spyder was auctioned for an astonishing $27.5 million, becoming not only Wayne’s biggest deal, but also breaking records in the automotive world as well.
The Show Might Not Be Coming Back
Unfortunately, one of the things the cast of “Chasing Classic Cars” has been keeping quiet about is the fact that the show might not be coming back to TV.
While no official statement regarding its cancellation has ever been made by Wayne Carini or MotorTrend, the truth is that it’s been a long time since the last time “Chasing Classic Cars” released new episodes.
The latest season released to date was the 17th, which aired its final episode in late 2021. Since then, the show’s social media have remained inactive and Wayne hasn’t made any mention of the show for a long time either, as he’s instead been focused on promoting his businesses and The Chase Magazine on his social media.
Does this mean the end of “Chasing Classic Cars”, or maybe there’s a new season in the works? Those are questions we can’t answer yet, but one thing for sure is that fans miss seeing their favorite classic cars expert on TV.
