• Wayne Carini is a car restorer and a TV personality, born in 1951 in Portland, Connecticut.
• He grew up in the family business with his father, and began restoring classic cars at an early age.
• He is best known for his show “Chasing Classic Cars” which has ran for 13 seasons and 181 episodes.
• He is married with two daughters, and enjoys travelling, country music, and blues.
• His current net worth is over $20 million.
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Who is Wayne Carini? Wiki Bio
Wayne Carini was born in Portland, Connecticut USA, on 13 October 1951, so holds American nationality and his star sign is Scorpio. Wayne is a car restorer, and a TV personality best known for starring in the “Chasing Classic Cars” TV series.
Early life and education
Wayne was raised in Portland and Glastonbury in Connecticut by his parents Robert ‘Rob’ and Rosemary Carini. His father Rob served in the Second World War, and partly thanks to his mechanical abilities, he became the driver of an Army general.
Rob had his own collision repair and auto restoration shop in Glastonbury, which is why Wayne spent a lot of his time growing up there. Rob died in 2016 at the age of 84. At the age of six Wayne became interested in cars, especially vintage which he could see in his father’s shop, and he spent most of his weekends with his father attending car shows or admiring the cars his father worked on.
He drove his first car at the age of nine, a 1960 Rosso Chiaro 250 SWB Ferrari and by the time he turned 14, Wayne had already set plans for himself to study for a college degree in architecture, and to later become a teacher.
However, after his father decided to leave the shop to him as a gift, Wayne chose to focus on the family business instead.
Career as a TV personality and a car restorer
One can say that Wayne launched his career at a very early age when he first began helping his father in his shop and some of the first classic cars he had a chance to work on were Duesenbergs, Packards, and Lincolns, among others.
Thanks to their fame in Connecticut, Wayne, his father, and Wayne’s daughter Lindsay served as grand marshals at Klinberg Vintage Motorcar Festival in New Britain, Connecticut for many consecutive years, while Wayne has also been part of several charity organizations and programs, such as Autism Speaks which is the largest autism advocacy organization in the US. There is a short book written about Wayne entitled “We Survived The Crash”.
Wayne has appeared in several TV shows throughout the years, including “My Classic Car” – which talks about classic automobiles, is hosted by Dennis Gage, and since 2019 airs on Motor Trend – and “Overhaulin’” reality TV series.
Wayne has expanded the family business in Portland, and is currently the owner of three car dealerships, which are Carini Carrozzeria, Continental Auto Ltd., and F40 Motorsports which is the only one among these three that deals with vintage cars.
In the first half of 2008, Wayne was noticed and approached by Jim Astrausky who is the chief of Essex Television Group Inc. and who offered him a chance to star in his own show entitled “Chasing Classic Cars”.
The two agreed on the idea for the show, and the first episode aired on 3 June 2008 on Motor Trend. The show follows Wayne Carini and his F40 Motorsports car dealership, as he looks at classic cars from all eras and works on restoring them (and possibly selling them afterwards). Some of the cars Wayne works on have not been seen in public for several decades. The main focus of the series is to show the restoration process as well as how auctions are conducted, and that not all of these are successful and profitable in the end. Each episode of “Chasing Classic Cars” lasts for around 30 minutes, while the show so far counts 13 seasons and 181 episodes.
Love life and wife
Wayne met his wife Laurie Carini in the early ‘80s – it’s believed that she was one of his customers when he had just started working on vintage cars on his own. The two married in the mid-‘80s, and are parents to two daughters – the younger was diagnosed with autism at a very early age, which made Wayne interested in raising awareness about autism, and giving money to charity organizations which work on finding a cure.
The family of four is living together in a cabin which was built in 1973, while Wayne has renovated the house several times over the years. There were some rumors circulating the internet that Wayne might have cheated on his wife with a woman who was appearing in the “Chasing Classic Cars” TV show, but true or not, it doesn’t appear as it has affected Wayne and Laurie’s marriage.
Hobbies and other interests
Wayne has been keen on travelling since he was a teenager, firstly with his father when the two went on to go all around the USA to attend various car shows and exhibitions. Wayne would later continue to travel with his wife, and they have been to many European countries, including England, France and Italy among others. Wayne enjoys listening to country music as well as blues, and has been to many concerts of these two genres organized in Connecticut.
His wife is interested in watching TV series and occasionally movies, and Wayne admitted during an interview that she occasionally gets him to watch TV with her. Some of her (their) favorite actors and actresses are Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, and Emilia Clarke, while the TV series they enjoy watching the most together are “Game of Thrones” and “Vikings”.
Appearance and net worth
Wayne is 68 years old. He has short gray hair and blue eyes, is 5ft 6ins (1.67m) tall, and weighs around 136lbs (62kgs). His net worth is over $20 million as of early 2020.
