Robert C. Yeager‘s love for cars began as a 16-year-old high schooler when he purchased a “raked,” baby-blue 1940 Ford two-door coupe for $250. Other cars of his youth included a 1948 Cadillac 7-passenger sedan and, in college, a red 1957 Studebaker Silver Hawk. As an adult, Yeager has owned a series of award-winning vintage Alfa Romeos. His current “fun” cars include an all-original 1972 Mercedes Benz 450 SL—recently awarded a Silver Star Preservation Award by the Mercedes Benz Club of America—and a 1996 Lexus SC 300. For the past decade-plus, Yeager has written about collectible cars for the New York Times. Other previously published credits include Readers Digest; Family Circle; Woman’s Day; Encyclopedia Britannica; and others. His byline has also appeared in the Chicago Tribune, New Orleans Times-Picayune, and the New York Times Service. In 2013, Yeager’s novel, The Romanov Stone, won an Independent Publisher’s “Ippy” for suspense/thrillers, and an IndieReader Discovery Award for General Fiction. Yeager resides in Oakland and at The Sea Ranch, both in California. 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.
