Founding Partners
Mike and Dawn Fisher
Mike and Dawn Fisher, owners of MFD Classic Motors, have enthusiastically embraced the Collectors Foundation because of what the Foundation and its supporters are doing to encourage young people to learn important life-skills through motorsports. Mike was previously involved yacht racing before discovering a passion for racing vintage cars. Both Dawn and Mike are active on the vintage car racing circuit, with Dawn doing extensive racing and driver instruction.
Hemmings Motor News
Strong and consistent advocate for collector cars and their owners, Hemmings Motor News and its four publications has chosen to partner with the Collectors Foundation because of a shared belief that the future for all collector enthusiasts and related businesses lies with well educated and trained young people.
Paul E. Andrews Foundation
The connection between Paul E. Andrews, Jr. Foundation and the Collectors Foundation begins with Paul’s life-long appreciation for automotive history and technology and his personal commitment to give back. As a result, the Paul E. Andrews, Jr. Foundation has chosen to support the mission of the Collectors Foundation and its proven success in serving both young people and the future of collector vehicle community.
Passport Transport
Since its founding in 1970, Passport Transport has safely carried thousands of treasured vehicles with their state-of-the-art equipment. Passport Transport is proud to join the efforts of the Collectors Foundation as together we educate and train the next generations of collector car enthusiasts.
Hagerty Plus
Hagerty Plus is a membership benefits organization for collector vehicle owners, and associated with Hagerty Insurance. With more than 300,000 memberships, Hagerty Plus is the largest collector car community in the world. A portion of the membership fee each year is donated to the Collectors Foundation.
National Motor Club
Formerly known to Collectors Foundation supporters as Auto-Net Roadside Services, National Motor Club has a long standing tradition of providing protection and security through its travel-related services. Many people already familiar with NMC may not know that NMC owns a variety of other familiar brands including Coach-Net, Auto-Net and EquiPass – that offer emergency roadside assistance for vehicles such as auto, trucks, RVs, and horse trailers. National Motor Club was founded in 1956, and is one of the largest independently owned motor clubs in the nation. Supporting Collectors Foundation as a “Founding Partner” resonates with their long-term strategy of providing excellent emergency service to their customers for generations to come.
Coker Tire
Coker Tire Company, based in Chattanooga, TN manufacturers and sells obsolete Michelin, Firestone, BF Goodrich and US Royal bias-ply and radial tires for collector automobiles. Corky Coker, president and CEO of Coker Tire Company is a member of Collectors Foundation Board of Directors.
Robert and Betsy Jenkins
Robert and Betsy Jenkins are committed to the purpose and growth of the Collectors Foundation. They see the Foundation as an umbrella organization that funds a number of organizations that they would want to support: cars, boats, education, and car museums. The Foundation’s emphasis on hands-on education and passing on knowledge to the next generation makes this a cause worthy of their support.
John D. Groendyke
John D. Groendyke is owner, Chairman and CEO of Groendyke Transport Company, based in Enid, OK. An avid car collector, John is a well known and appreciated presence and leader within the collector vehicle community.
Claudio Ballard
A member of the Collectors Foundation’s Board of Directors, Claudio is a serial entrepreneur and inventor. In fact, Mr. Ballard was named “2010 Inventor of the Year” by The United States Business and Industry Council, a national organization of business owners and executives dedicated to improving the U.S. domestic economy. Claudio has chosen to work closely with the Collectors Foundation because of his own interest in challenging and inspiring young people to preserve and appreciate history and at the same time develop their own creativity to add to the American story.
David and Sharon Hewitt
A life-time of finding, collecting, fixing, selling, trading have given the Hewitt’s the means to reach out to the Collectors Foundation to help them expand their sphere of influence of their real passion – helping at-risk and disadvantaged youth. As motorcycle enthusiasts, the Hewitts have been seeing and hearing the results of what some collector vehicle enthusiasts have been doing with young people through good mentoring relationships around cars, boats and motorcycles – with financial backing from the Collectors Foundation. They want to help the Foundation grow and continue its important mission - reaching out to even more young people through the allure of machines.
Buck Kamphausen
Buck has been an RM Auctions partner for nearly ten years. He makes his home in Vallejo, CA, and it is in that community where Buck’s passion for cars can be clearly seen. He’s restored two historic buildings, which housed Buick and Cadillac dealerships, and turned them into museums for his personal collection. He has placed the remarkable display of vintage vehicles within dioramas to give them historical perspective and to create special learning experiences for kids of all ages. And that’s why Buck supports the Collectors Foundation – it funds education and training to pass along America’s love affair for the automobile to the next generation.
David H. Kinney
Dave is the founder of USAppraisals and actively involved with cars well before he could legally drive. For over twenty-five years, Dave has owned hundreds of different collector vehicles as well as participating in the sales, repair, and valuation of all types and kinds of automobiles. He says he chose to become a Founding Partner “because I like what the Foundation is doing for the future of the hobby and for young people.”
Eugene Selden
Eugene Selden has been a collector of cars since age 3, when he began cutting out pictures of cars and pasting them in scrapbooks. As he grew older, his love affair with collecting pictures of cars took the form of collecting every new car promotional brochure he could get his hands on. Now in his 80’s, he still has all those old scrapbooks and brochures. But he has something more. When he retired, some 20 years ago, Gene began collecting real cars and caring for them as enthusiastically as he did as a 3 year old cutting out the pictures of bright, shiny new cars. He is the proud owner of 7 American classics from the 1940’s into the 1960’s. He chose to become a “Founding Partner” because he believes in the importance of preserving the past and wants to help build the future for the collector vehicle community.
