Steve Volk joins host Cliff McFadden on The DownShifting Podcast from inside the Shelby American Collection in Boulder, Colorado.

In this conversation, Steve takes us deep into the history of Carroll Shelby, Ford v Ferrari, the Ford GT40, Ken Miles, Phil Remington, and the people who built one of the most important chapters in American motorsports history.

Steve’s connection to these cars goes back decades. As a high-school student in Kansas City, he was already riding in Ford GT40 P/1068 and getting firsthand experience with a 427 Cobra—experiences that helped spark a lifelong passion for Shelby American and historic racing cars.

Years later, Steve became friends with Carroll Shelby and, in 1996, sat down with him to discuss the idea of creating a museum dedicated to preserving the accomplishments of Shelby American. Steve shares Shelby’s reaction, the early days of what became the Shelby American Collection, and stories about the racers, engineers, builders, and personalities who became part of the museum’s history.

We also get Steve’s perspective on Ford v Ferrari—what the film captured well, where Hollywood took liberties, and why figures such as Ken Miles, Phil Remington, and Carroll Shelby deserve to be understood beyond their movie portrayals.

Along the way, we talk about the Cobra, Daytona Coupe, Ford GT40, Le Mans, Shelby Mustangs, Steve’s own history as an entrepreneur and racer, and why preserving this period of American motorsports history matters for future generations.

Steve also discusses the continued growth of the Shelby American Collection, its expanding facilities, and the museum’s goal of becoming an even larger gathering place for enthusiasts and the automotive community.

Support and visit the Shelby American Collection:
https://www.shelbyamericancollection.org/

A sincere thank you to Steve Volk and everyone at the Shelby American Collection for allowing us into the museum before opening and giving us the opportunity to record this conversation surrounded by Cobras, GT40s, Ford GTs, racing memorabilia, and decades of Shelby American history.

If you're into Carroll Shelby, Ford GT40s, Cobras, Shelby Mustangs, Le Mans, historic racing, classic cars, automotive history, and the real stories behind the machines and the people who built them, you're in the right place.

Bringing great stewards of the automotive community together to share dreams.

Nick Kirkham joins host Cliff McFadden on The DownShifting Podcast from inside the fully operational Kirkham Motorsports facility in Provo, Utah.

In this conversation, Nick shares the family story behind Kirkham’s aluminum Cobras, Daytona Coupes, Carroll Shelby, Shelby American continuation cars, and the possibility of a future GT40.

The story begins with Nick’s father, David Kirkham, who was attending medical school while restoring original Cobras to help pay for college. After examining a damaged Cold War-era MiG fighter, David recognized the same basic aluminum-skin-over-steel-frame construction used in a Cobra. He found the factory number on the aircraft, sent a fax to Poland, and received a reply 24 hours later: “No problem.”

David eventually left medical school and traveled to Poland with a toy Cobra and a Polish-English dictionary. Working through a language barrier and using aging Soviet-era machinery, he and a group of gifted Polish craftsmen began building the foundation of Kirkham Motorsports. More than 30 years later, the company has produced over 1,000 Cobras.

Nick explains how he entered the family business sweeping floors, sorting hardware, and learning the work from the ground up. We also discuss the complicated relationship between Kirkham Motorsports and Carroll Shelby, including legal disputes, Shelby’s private ownership of Kirkham cars, and Kirkham rollers being used by Shelby American for continuation and anniversary-series Cobras.

The conversation goes deep into the craftsmanship behind Kirkham’s polished aluminum bodies: hand-formed panels, oxy-acetylene welding, hammer-and-dolly work, filing, sanding, and mirror polishing. Nick also explains how traditional metalwork is combined with CNC machining, CAD, CAM programming, and in-house manufacturing to control quality and reduce overhead.

We also get into Kirkham’s highly exclusive Daytona Coupe program, why a Daytona takes roughly four times as long to build as a Cobra, Nick’s dream of an original-style polished-aluminum Ford GT40 Mk II, and the rare copper and bronze cars created for some of the company’s most exclusive clients.

Recorded inside the working Kirkham Motorsports facility, this episode captures the machinery, craftsmanship, family legacy, and next generation behind one of the most respected names in the Shelby Cobra world.

If you’re into Kirkham Motorsports, Carroll Shelby, Shelby American, aluminum Cobras, Daytona Coupes, GT40s, continuation cars, CNC machining, traditional metal shaping, and the real stories behind the machines, you’re in the right place.

Bringing great stewards of the automotive community together to share dreams.

Mike Hammers joins host Cliff McFadden on The DownShifting Podcast for a conversation about a lifetime in Texas grassroots drag racing.

Mike’s story starts with his dad, who introduced him to racing through dirt tracks, drag strips, car shows, and a family life built around horsepower.

At just 14 years old, Mike got his first 1955 Chevrolet—a rough backyard project his family bought for $300. What began as a way to keep him and his friends busy quickly turned into a lifelong path through hot rods and drag racing.

We talk about late-night garage sessions, making passes at Cedar Creek Dragway before Mike even had a driver’s license, and learning the old-school way: building, breaking, fixing, and figuring out how to go faster with what you had.

From small-block Chevy and four-speed combinations to blown engines, nitrous systems, alcohol fuel, and eventually a dedicated dragster, Mike walks us through the progression of his racing career.

We get into Top Gun fogger systems, manually pulling timing at the distributor, track-record runs at North Star Dragway, and a Super Chevy event victory in 1997.

The conversation also looks back at the culture surrounding the tracks—the garages where friends came and went late into the night, the families who built their lives around racing, and the friendships that came from being part of that world.

Mike’s story comes full circle through his grandsons, who are now racing junior dragsters, studying time slips, chasing championships, and carrying the family’s passion into another generation.

On a personal level, Mike and his dad were among the people who welcomed Cliff into the racing scene when he was the younger guy with a street car trying to find his place.

This episode is a reminder that some of the most important people in car culture are not always the ones on television—they are the people who quietly build cars, support families, help others, and leave a lasting mark on their local racing community.

We close the episode inside the dyno cell as Mike’s latest dragster engine comes to life.

If you're into Texas drag racing, old-school hot rods, 1955 Chevys, nitrous dragsters, Super Chevy memories, junior dragsters, racing families, and the real stories behind the machines, you're in the right place.

Billy Williams joins host Cliff McFadden on The DownShifting Podcast.

Billy grew up in Dallas and found his way into cars at an early age, building hot rods long before he ever had a driver’s license. In this conversation, he shares what it was like learning the craft before the internet—when knowledge came from experience, mistakes, mentors, scavenged parts, and simply figuring things out the hard way.

We talk about backyard builds, early street cars, shop life, and the years spent turning wrenches while chasing something bigger. Billy also reflects on work ethic, growing up with very little, and what he calls the “virtues of poverty”—the lessons, expectations, and mentors that helped shape both the cars he built and the life he created.

The conversation also explores the balance between work, family, and passion, and how stepping away from the grind eventually gave Billy the opportunity to reconnect with what he truly loved: building cars, helping others, and staying connected to the people who had been there from the beginning.

This episode is about much more than cars. It’s about friendship, mentorship, hard work, and a kind of automotive culture that was built in garages, backyards, and shops long before social media existed.

On a personal level, Billy played an important role in Cliff’s own automotive journey, and much of what he knows today can be traced back to time spent around Billy in the shop.

We also discuss Billy’s adopted son and the work being done at JZS Customs. Follow their builds here:
https://www.instagram.com/jzs.customs/

If you're into hot rods, classic cars, old-school builds, shop stories, and the real stories behind the machines, you're in the right place.

Bringing great stewards of the automotive community together to share dreams.

Mike Murillo joins host Cliff McFadden on The DownShifting Podcast.

In this conversation, we explore Mike’s journey from growing up in Ohio to becoming one of the most respected names in Texas drag racing. A 16-time world champion and pioneer in True Street and Street Outlaw racing, Mike shares how he went from knowing very little about cars to building some of the fastest street-driven Mustangs in the country.

We get into the early days of street racing, Fun Ford Weekend, and the evolution of turbo and supercharger technology, including firsthand perspective on the rise of companies such as Vortech and ProCharger and the impact those innovations had on modern performance racing.

Mike also takes us behind the scenes of Street Outlaws, discussing the realities of filming, the risks involved, and what that experience was like from the inside.

But the conversation goes far beyond racing. Mike reflects on loss, family, serious illness, a frightening fire at the track, and the experiences that reshaped his priorities. Through it all, he talks about what matters most now: family, legacy, and building something meaningful alongside his son.

If you're into drag racing, street racing, performance cars, forced induction, tuning, automotive history, and the stories behind the machines, you're in the right place.

Bringing great stewards of the automotive community together to share dreams.

Chris Robertson joins host Cliff McFadden for the very first full episode of The DownShifting Podcast.

In this conversation, we dive into Chris’s roots in Dallas-area car culture, growing up around race engines and salvage yards, and his early days burning chips, building MegaSquirt systems, and learning engine management the hard way. Today, Chris works with ECUMaster USA, helping racers, tuners, and builders solve real-world tuning and electronics challenges across a wide range of performance projects.

Along the way, we explore the evolution of hot rodding—from old-school carburetors and early DIY tuning to modern standalone ECUs, CAN bus technology, and the tools shaping the future of performance cars.

We also get into the culture behind it all: dyno days, SEMA and PRI, fabrication, 3D printing, racing, and why the next generation of enthusiasts will continue pushing the automotive world forward.

If you're into performance cars, tuning, EFI systems, drag racing, road racing, fabrication, and the stories behind the machines, you're in the right place.

Bringing great stewards of the automotive community together to share dreams.

Welcome to The DownShifting Podcast.

Join host Cliff McFadden for long-form conversations with the racers, builders, collectors, historians, industry professionals, and personalities who helped shape automotive and motorsports history.

From the machines themselves to the people behind them, The DownShifting Podcast is about preserving the stories, experiences, and history that deserve to be remembered.