Thursday, Aug. 15, 2:00PM

Moderated by Ken Gross With Geoff Hacker, Stewart Reed & Gautam Sen

Wedge cars epitomize motion at rest, optimize aerodynamics at high speed, and arguably paved the way for supercars. Join us as we take a deep dive into the history, concepts, designers and philosophies behind these fascinating machines.

Ken Gross - Moderator

Ken Gross served as Executive Director of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. His fourteen critically acclaimed automobile exhibitions have appeared at major Fine Art Museums across the United States. A 33-year Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Chief Class Judge and a member of the Selection Committee, Ken is a founding member of ICJAG (The International Chief Judges’ Advisory Group), and the Chief Judge for the Greenwich (Connecticut) Concours. He judges at many North American and European Concours. The author of twenty-five books, and countless magazine articles, Ken has received The Automotive Hall of Fame Distinguished Service Citation, The International Motor Press Association Ken W. Purdy Award, The Motor Press Guild Dean Bachelor Award, and the Lee Iacocca award.He lives with his wife, Trish Serratore, in Hamilton, Virginia.

Geoffrey Hacker – Panelist

Geoffrey Hacker has pursued rare and unusual cars since his teen years when he discovered an exotic, fiberglass-bodied, two-seater concept car called the “Shark” in Clearwater, Florida — a car that he still owns today. He has pursued this interest for more than 45 years and has built a team at his company, Undiscovered Classics, that researches the history of handcrafted American sports cars. The cars they find, the restorations they complete and the work that they do has been seen on Jay Leno’s Garage, Ray Evernham’s AmeriCarna on the Velocity channel, Discovery Channel, Hagerty TV’s Barn Find Hunter and more. Their research and writings have been shared in Hemmings Motor News, Old Cars Weekly, Autoweek, Classic & Sports Car (UK), Octane, Magneto and more. You can follow the work of Geoff and his team on their website UndiscoveredClassics.com

Stewart Reed – Panelist

Stewart Reed’s wedge-profiled model for GM’s design competition won him a scholarship to ArtCenter College of Design. Now, after 20+ years with his alma mater, he’s seen more than a few wedge-shaped vehicle proposals. He delayed taking a position with one of the "Big 3" in Detroit to design the angular, scissor-doored Manx SR, which is also pretty wedge-y, for the legendary Bruce Meyers of dune-buggy and off-road racing fame. He has led design projects for Toyota, Chrysler, and various heritage brands, as well as low volume specialty vehicles and even a few defense vehicles, including Lockheed’s JLTV concept. Favorite independent projects include the 12-cylinder Cunningham C7 with Briggs Cunningham III and Bob Lutz and the respectfully near-finished Type 64 Bugatti body, thoughtfully exhibited with mahogany body buck, with scholar Peter Mullin. Having served automakers, US & European Tier 1 suppliers, and ArtCenter as its Transportation Design Chair for the last 18 years, his inventive mindset keeps him yearning for creative challenges. He now speaks and consults through Stewart Reed Design Studios.

Gautam Sen – Panelist

Founder-editor of India’s first newsstand car mag Indian Auto in 1986, followed by Auto India in 1993, and the Indian editions of auto motor und sport and the BBC’s TopGear magazine, Gautam Sen has also been directly involved with the automobile industry in India and Europe (Maruti, Hindustan Motors, Mahindra, San Motors, Tata Motors, and others). He led the design of India’s first sports car, the San Storm, and has worked on design projects with Gerard Godfroy, Tom Tjaarda and Marcello Gandini. Sen has been a Vice President with FIVA (Federation Internationale de Vehicules Anciens) since 2015, and a member of the jury at several top-level concours events, including Chantilly Arts & Elegance, Le Mans Classic, Dinard Elegance, Sinaia, Yangqi Concours d’Elegance. He has also authored more than a dozen books, including The Maharajas & Their Magnificent Motor Cars, Marcello Gandini: Maestro of Design, The Bertone Collection, Ballot, Lamborghini: At The Cutting Edge of Design, and Bugatti: The Italian Decade.

Forum panelists subject to change.

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