Tom Cotter

The title on Cotter’s business card reads: Certified Car Geek. The entrepreneurial raconteur and promoter is a passionate historian, collector, racer and restorer of vintage vehicles. Most recently he’s become known as a “barn finder”. His nine books include five on automotive archeology and several racing biographies with co-authors like Jay Leno, Peter Egan, Bruce Meyer, Don Prudhomme, Ken Gross and Ken Martin. Beyond car geek, Cotter is a 30-year veteran of the auto racing industry. As PR Director for Charlotte Motor Speedway, Tom is a graduate of the Humpy Wheeler school of promotion, launching the Cotter Group in 1989 which he grew into the country’s largest motorsports management agency. Cotter’s client list included Mercedes-Benz, Lowe’s, Sears, FedEx, UPS, NASCAR, McDonalds, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Mazda, Ford, Dodge, John Deere, Kraft, Miller, General Foods, BMW, SPEED and Ingersoll-Rand among others. Cotter co-chaired the Amelia Island Concours for several years and was President of the Formula One Grand Prix of America at Port Imperial. He now teaches public relations at Belmont Abbey College, writes a book a year, is a regular contributor to Road & Track and races his beloved Morris Minor in vintage events. And just for grins, Cotter and wife Pat host an annual “Woody Party” at their home in Davidson, N.C., attracting vehicles from the ordinary to the exotic.