Tom Cotter has been involved in nearly every end of the automotive and racing industries over the span of his career. From mechanic and auto salesman to heading the public relations department at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Cotter formed his own racing and automotive PR and marketing agency, Cotter Group. The agency represented some of the largest clients in NASCAR, IndyCar/CART, drag racing, and road racing. He has written biographies of the legendary Holman-Moody race team, Tommy Ivo and Dean Jeffries, but is best known for his series of barn find books, such as Cobra in the Barn, 50 Shades of Rust, and Barn Find Road Trip. Cotter appears in the Barn Find Hunter video series, which is distributed by Hagerty Insurance. He teaches public relations at Belmont Abbey College, sits on the advisory board of McPherson College’s Auto Restoration program, and is a member of the Road Racing Driver’s Club (RRDC). He lives in Davidson, North Carolina.McKeel Hagerty is a lifelong car lover and the Chief Executive Officer and driving force behind Hagerty, the world’s largest specialty automotive insurance provider. Under his leadership, Hagerty has grown from a local insurance agency operating from his parents’ basement in Traverse City, Michigan, to a global market leader. Hagerty is the leading provider of specialty insurance protecting nearly 2 million classic and enthusiast vehicles. In 2017, McKeel broadened the company’s mission to saving driving and growing the car community for future generations. To support those goals, the company has made a series of strategic partnerships, acquisitions, and expansions including the Hagerty Drivers Club (620,000 members), Hagerty Drivers Club magazine (600,000 circulation), Hagerty YouTube (1.3 million subscribers), DriveShare (peer to peer rentals), the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance, and the industry gold standard for vehicle values, the Hagerty Valuation Tool. His favorite car is his first, which he drives to this day—a 1967 Porsche 911S that he found in pieces in snowbanks behind a barn near his boyhood home and restored with the help of his dad.
