The Man Who Decides What Cars Are Worth | MotoMan Podcast #019

What does it take to become the ultimate authority on classic car values? In this special vault episode, MotoMan sits down with Dave Kinney—the founder and the publisher of the Hagerty Price Guide.From a fateful, unfiltered conversation at a New York City Shake Shack in 2006 that completely altered MotoMan's career path, to Dave’s own wild journey of turning a 2.3 GPA and severe dyslexia into a prolific writing career for The New York Times, Octane, and Automobile magazine, this episode goes far beyond simple market numbers.Whether you want to understand market arbitrage, the real difference between fair market value and forced liquidation value, or simply need bulletproof advice on how to navigate the business world without being an a$$hole, Dave Kinney delivers decades of raw, unfiltered automotive & life wisdom.Chapters:00:00:00 - Intro to Dave Kinney and the Man Who Writes the Book on Classic Car Values00:01:04 - Vault Episode Context and the 15-Year Conversation00:01:49 - The Shake Shack Conversation That Changed MotoMan’s Path00:04:36 - Growing Up in Arlington and Learning to Listen00:06:17 - Codebreaker Father, Lincoln Memories, and Winning the Parent Lottery00:08:24 - The Car Wash Lesson Dave Never Forgot00:10:16 - His Mother’s Lessons and a Teenage Cross-Country Van Trip00:15:48 - Becoming a Car Kid Through Magazines, Models, and Family Cars00:18:30 - What Dave Learned from His Father’s Entrepreneurial Side00:20:41 - Working Around Exotic Cars at 1600:23:35 - Five Plymouth Valiants and Dave’s First Car-Flipping Lesson00:25:11 - Avantis, Early Profits, and Finding Value in Weird Cars00:29:14 - Taking Trains to New York with Cash to Buy Cars00:33:31 - College, Unusual Cars, and Early Market Instincts00:41:59 - Coming Home, Real Estate Lessons, and the Parking Lot Business00:45:56 - Contemporary Classic Automobiles and the $25,000 Move-Out Deal00:50:46 - Why Dave Needed to Get Back Into the Car World00:53:39 - How One Appraisal Question Turned Into a Career00:56:09 - Keith Martin, Auction Seminars, and the Start of Automotive Journalism01:01:12 - Auction Writing, Humor, and Making Car Stories Stick01:03:54 - Writing for The New York Times, Octane, and Automobile01:05:35 - Dave Kinney’s Three Rules for Writers01:07:20 - How Cars That Matter Became the Hagerty Price Guide01:10:29 - Monterey, Jay Leno, Michael Hagerty, and the Right Timing01:13:23 - Building the Guide, Taking the Risk, and Stella’s Support01:17:03 - What Hagerty Added: Data, Scale, and a Bigger Team01:19:06 - What Dave Brought: Dealer Instincts and Real Market Conversations01:21:20 - Fair Market Value, Liquidation Value, and Why Every Car Has Many Prices01:23:51 - Bloomberg Terminals, Finance Companies, and the Future of Hagerty Data01:26:42 - Why Price Guides Are a Tool, Not a Crutch01:27:16 - Buying Too Early, Top-Quality Cars, and the Truth About Value01:29:22 - Dave Kinney’s Three Keys to Success and Final Thanks#DaveKinney #HagertyPriceGuide #ClassicCarValues #MotoManPodcast #CarCollecting #AutomotiveJournalism #MarketArbitrageFor driving adventures & car reviews, before sure to visit us @https://www.youtube.com/@MMTVCarsDownload the MotoManTV Podcast @https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/motomantv-podcast/id1836304387https://open.spotify.com/show/0V4AKzLYrZc6rNCF23kwOthttps://music.amazon.com/podcasts/90ba9b31-fe69-4baf-817d-cb3816a33c21/motomantv-podcastConnect with our Short Form content here:https://www.instagram.com/motomantv/https://x.com/MotoManTVhttps://www.tiktok.com/@themotomantvhttp://www.YouTube.com/@MMTVPodcastShortshttp://www.YouTube.com/@MMTVPodcastClipshttp://www.YouTube.com/@MMTVCarsShortshttp://www.YouTube.com/@MMTVCarsClipsHelp us grow the show! If you enjoyed this deep dive into the "grind" of motorsport, please Subscribe and Share this episode on Reddit. If you’re listening on a podcast platform, leave us a written review and tell us who your favorite guest has been.