An evening with Dennis Gage!

By Don WebergOn December 6, 2022December 8, 20230 Comments

Growing up on a small family farm in northwestern Illinois. Our guest started tinkering with machines at an early age and purchased his first motorcycle, a 50cc Honda Cub by 12, and his first car, a ‘59 Ford Thunderbird Bird, at age 15. He’s played guitar and trumpet in a variety of rock, folk, and school bands. He continued his automotive interest and, through the course of his college years, owned a number of muscle and sports cars. He also kept up his music, playing in local coffee houses and has opened for acts such as Charlie Daniels, Waylon Jennings and Dr. Hook.

You might be saying to yourself, my goodness… we have a Rockstar in our presence! And in fact you’d be right, we have the Rockstar of the Classic Car World with us tonight on Break/Fix.

My Classic Car, hosted by the handlebar mustachioed host Dennis Gage premiered as a one of a kind weekly series on TNN in January of 1997, and it hasn’t been off the air since! The show captures America’s love affair with the automobile, and we’re here to capture Dennis’ story in this episode.

In our discussion with Dennis, we cover topics like:

Check out the follow-along notes, transcript and more details for this episode at GTM

Let’s talk about the origins of Dennis Gage the petrol-head. Were any of your family members into cars? What attracted you to them? Was there a certain/specific make/model that got you excited about the automotive world?
You went to school at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois where you majored in both chemistry and physics. Then on to to the University of Idaho where you got your PHD in chemistry – What was your plan there? How did you end up in the automotive world? And more importantly transition to Broadcasting?
Many people are familiar with the show, for some of us, it’s always “existed” there’s never been a time without My Classic Car – How/Why was the show born? How do you construct an episode? How do you know what or where to review?
For those that might be learning about My Classic Car for the first time, what is the show’s format, segments, etc
What are some of the “best of” memories from My Classic Car
You were inducted into the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Hall of Fame in 2015. And you serve on the SEMA Board of Directors, as well as a number of academic and industry advisory boards. What are some of the programs and initiatives you’re working on? Preservation of Right-to-Repair? Preservation of Classics / Hot Rods
You’ve owned a variety of cars. What’s in your garage these days? What does Dennis Gage daily drive? Is there a bucket list vehicle (new or old) you’d still like to own or review?
and much, much more!