"Dream Car Garage"

[Dave Rifkin]

Seeing the post on the Corvette Bronze Yenko for sale at Legendary reminded me of a question I had regarding Peter Klute of Legendary. I watch Dream Car Garage all the time and am always amazed at this guys talent and knowledge. Do any of the members here know him and how did he get to be so talented and knowledgeable?

[Don_Lightfoot]

I believe Peter (think it's Klutt?) did a lot of racing in his early days. I would say his best knowledge is in the Shelby arena which I think he raced and maybe still does. In the early 90's, and probably in the 80's as well, his business was called "The Shelby Shop". They primarily concentrated on restoring Shelby Mustangs and Cobras. He obviously has branched out from that. I have never met the man myself.

My personal opinion of him unfortunately went downhill earlier this year when he did his end of show feature on Dream Car Garage about the 69 L78 Lemans Blue 300 Deluxe Post Car. At the time of that shooting the car was in his inventory and he "hyped" it up big time. What he was saying about that car and the production numbers were, to put it bluntly, way out in left field. From my standpoint he came across as just another used car salesman. I guess I am saying that due to my knowledge of the specific models he was talking about.

Having said that, there is no doubt in my mind he knows the resto business. Just my two cents worth.

[427TJ]

And then his buddy Hnatiw (?) bad-mouths the BMW M3 and the STi while he's trying to sell the Superformance Cobra kit. Yeah, I know, you're invested in the Superformance venture and you'll say anything to hype/sell more of them--I GET IT. But the M3 and the STi can certainly hold their own against the Superformance Cobra, at least in average street driving conditions and ESPECIALLY if Hnatiw is driving the Cobra.

Yes, as an STi owner I'm a little biased, but don't tell me that my "panty hose will get bunched up" climbing into the Cobra because it's so "fast." Hnatiw with his too much birthday cake stomach couldn't even get into the Ferrari F40 and had to let Klutt do the test on that one! I do like it when Klutt pokes fun at Hnatiw for being too large for certain cars. It would be a much better show with just Klutt.

Just my two cents.

[nuch_ss396]

I have often wondered about this subject as well. Peter
Klutt strikes me as very arrogant. He does certainly come
off that way. He is a vintage racer to be sure. One thing
interested me very much this season. I saw the episode
where Peter & Tom took their L-88 restored project car up
to race it. They got tagged ( slightly ) on the length of
the side headers ( they were cut too short ). I would have
expected better research from a guy that runs his mouth so
much. Just goes to prove that no one is perfect.

On the other side, you certainly do have to give them their
due. Peter knows the restoration game fairly well. This
program holds my attention much more than My Classis Car.
That host only wants to get a ride in a "cool car" before
the show ends. I guess it would be hard to refuse giving
him a ride if I could get my car on TV. We all have our
price - don't we?

Steve

[Hylton]

The guy has talent alright......oh, and he's a pretty good car restorer too!

[Keith Tedford]

Sounds like the American Musclecar post farther down the list. It might be of help if these guys consulted with knowledgeable owners/builders of specific cars before doing their shows. These guys can't possibly know everything about every car out there. Having owned a '69 Chevelle from new, I'm pretty familiar with these. Don't ask me about a Hemi Cuda. There is enough poor/bad information out there without adding to it. L89 300 Deluxe SS396 cars were rare. The L78 versions were common and from what I've seen, over half of the 300 Deluxe SS396 cars that I know of are L78 powered. Biggest power at lowest cost.

[TimG]

I called them on a yellow 1970 Z28 they had for sale. Peter seemed very straight forward with me. I told him what I wanted in a car and he told me this was not that kind of car. The car apparently had some issues.