Expert Insights

Television host and stand-up comedian Jay Leno is an avid vehicle collector. Housed in Leno's "Big Dog Garage" in Southern California, his collection spans 100 years of automotive history, with antique vehicles, hot rods, muscle cars, steam cars, and electric cars. The collection also has a number of rare cars and over sixty motorcycles, including a turbine motorcycle.

Television host and stand-up comedian Jay Leno is an avid vehicle collector. Housed in Leno's "Big Dog Garage" in Southern California, his collection spans 100 years of automotive history, with antique vehicles, hot rods, muscle cars, steam cars, and electric cars. The collection also has a number of rare cars and over sixty motorcycles, including a turbine motorcycle.

Television host and stand-up comedian Jay Leno is an avid vehicle collector. Housed in Leno's "Big Dog Garage" in Southern California, his collection spans 100 years of automotive history, with antique vehicles, hot rods, muscle cars, steam cars, and electric cars. The collection also has a number of rare cars and over sixty motorcycles, including a turbine motorcycle.

Television host and stand-up comedian Jay Leno is an avid vehicle collector. Housed in Leno's "Big Dog Garage" in Southern California, his collection spans 100 years of automotive history, with antique vehicles, hot rods, muscle cars, steam cars, and electric cars. The collection also has a number of rare cars and over sixty motorcycles, including a turbine motorcycle.

With 400 patents spanning a 50-year career, Stan Ovshinsky, together with his late wife Iris, has developed an array of energy and information-related inventions that have advanced many technologies and industries--all in pursuit of a vision of a hydrogen-based economy.

Even in a family of racing legends, Al Unser, Sr., stood out. He earned 39 wins in national championship races and three national titles. He earned two overall victories at Pikes Peak and an IROC championship. But his defining achievements were his four wins at the Indianapolis 500. The Henry Ford interviewed Unser at the Unser Racing Museum in 2009.

Pierre Omidyar launched "Auction Web," later known to the world as eBay, in 1995. The site connected a buyer and seller together over a shared economic interest. Coupled with a simple concept--a feedback forum that provided an area for community comments both positive and negative-- eBay helped Omidyar establish "reputation economics" as a way for individuals to do business on the web.

Bob Gregorie began his career in yacht design. After the 1929 crash, Gregorie came to Michigan hoping to find work as an automotive designer. In 1932 Edsel Ford hired him and he became the chief of Ford Motor Company's new design department in 1935. The 1936 Lincoln Zephyr, the 1940 Lincoln Continental, and the 1949 Mercury were among Gregorie's best-known designs.

A leader in the field of sustainable design, William McDonough creates strategies for "environmentally intelligent" buildings. His constructions incorporate nature into design and feature daylight, fresh air, diversity, life, and creativity.

Marc Greuther is the Chief Curator and Curator of Industry and Design at The Henry Ford.

Suzanne M. Fischer is the former Curator of Technology at The Henry Ford.

Bob Casey was the John and Horace Dodge Curator of Transportation at The Henry Ford.

Bill Mitchell joined the Art and Colour Section at General Motors in 1935 under Harley Earl who put him in charge of the Cadillac Studio. After serving in World War II, Mitchell returned to GM in 1953. He became Vice President of Design in 1958 and served until his retirement in 1977. The Buick Riviera and the Chevrolet Corvette are among Mitchell's most iconic car designs.

Bob Casey was the John and Horace Dodge Curator of Transportation at The Henry Ford.

From the idea of "aggregating all of your financial services seamlessly" to multiplanetary existence for the human species, Elon Musk is driven by ideas that propose to fundamentally change the way we live. Building on the financial success of his Internet ventures, the entrepreneur-inventor has gone on to take risk, reward and unconventional thinking to new levels entirely.

Inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen owns a private island in Long Island Sound. This self-proclaimed lord of North Dumpling Island has created a completely self-sufficient home powered by a combination of solar and wind technology. Dean Kamen has dedicated his life to improving humanity through technology and engineering. Inventing products since an early age, he has designed everything from medical devices to robots. Kamen is best known for his creation of the human transportation vehicle, the Segway.

A longtime sports car enthusiast, in 1992 Lyn St. James was the first woman to win Rookie of the Year at the Indianapolis 500. She went on to compete in dozens of top professional races worldwide. Over the course of her career she held dozens of closed-circuit speed records and set many other firsts, including being the only woman to win an IMSA GT race driving solo.

Oliver Kuttner is the CEO/founder of Edison2. Edison2's Very Light Car won the $5 million Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize, which went to a car that could seat four passengers, go at least 200 miles on a tank or charge, and meet various other stringent performance standards. Edison2's next phase is to develop their prototype into a car for the consumer market.

Bob Gregorie began his career in yacht design. After the 1929 crash, Gregorie came to Michigan hoping to find work as an automotive designer. In 1932 Edsel Ford hired him and he became the chief of Ford Motor Company's new design department in 1935. The 1936 Lincoln Zephyr, the 1940 Lincoln Continental, and the 1949 Mercury were among Gregorie's best-known designs.

Marc Greuther is the Chief Curator and Curator of Industry and Design at The Henry Ford.

Bob Casey was the John and Horace Dodge Curator of Transportation at The Henry Ford.

Al Unser, Jr., followed his father, Al, and uncle, Bobby, to Victory Lane at the Indianapolis 500 with wins in 1992 and 1994. Unser also competed in the 1993 Daytona 500. In 2009, staff from The Henry Ford interviewed Al Unser, Jr., at the Unser Racing Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as part of the Collecting Innovation Today Oral History Project.

Carroll Shelby is synonymous with performance automobiles. His Cobras, with Ford V-8 engines dropped into lightweight British AC sports cars, took the racing world by storm in the 1960s. His collaborations with Ford and Chrysler continue to inspire auto enthusiasts. The Henry Ford interviewed Shelby in 2008 as a part of the Collecting Innovation Today Oral History Project.

Donna Braden is the Curator of Public Life at The Henry Ford.

Bob Casey was the John and Horace Dodge Curator of Transportation at The Henry Ford.

Bob Casey was the John and Horace Dodge Curator of Transportation at The Henry Ford.

Suzanne M. Fischer is the former Curator of Technology at The Henry Ford.

From the idea of "aggregating all of your financial services seamlessly" to multiplanetary existence for the human species, Elon Musk is driven by ideas that propose to fundamentally change the way we live. Building on the financial success of his Internet ventures, the entrepreneur-inventor has gone on to take risk, reward and unconventional thinking to new levels entirely.

Jim Hall is a race car driver, developer, and team owner. Educated as an engineer, Hall was one of the first to apply aerodynamics to race car design and he was the leading proponent of that technology for a decade. Jim Hall's Chaparral Cars, based in his hometown of Midland, Texas, was among the most innovative cars in racing.

Ann Marie Sastry is a professor of engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, as well as CEO of a battery start-up company, Sakti3. As an engineering professor, Sastry directs the research of graduate students who are studying advanced lithium-ion battery systems. Their research efforts are supporting the work of Sakti3 to develop an improved lithium-ion battery for new electric vehicles.

Donna Braden is the Curator of Public Life at The Henry Ford.

Bob Casey was the John and Horace Dodge Curator of Transportation at The Henry Ford.

Suzanne M. Fischer is the former Curator of Technology at The Henry Ford.

Alex Tremulis began his automotive design career at the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Company in 1933. He was chief stylist when the company failed in 1937. During World War II, he worked on advanced aircraft concepts for the U.S. Army. Preston Tucker hired Tremulis to design the 1948 Tucker Sedan. Tremulis worked for Ford Motor Company in the 1950s until he founded his own consulting firm.

A.J. Foyt began racing midget cars in the 1950s and quickly moved up the ranks. He won the Indianapolis 500 four times. In 1967, Foyt and his partner Dan Gurney drove the Ford Mark IV to victory at the Le Mans race in France. Foyt is the only driver to win the Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500, 24 Hours of Daytona, and 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Alex Tremulis began his automotive design career at the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Company in 1933. He was chief stylist when the company failed in 1937. During World War II, he worked on advanced aircraft concepts for the U.S. Army. Preston Tucker hired Tremulis to design the 1948 Tucker Sedan. Tremulis worked for Ford Motor Company in the 1950s until he founded his own consulting firm.

Bill Mitchell joined the Art and Colour Section at General Motors in 1935 under Harley Earl who put him in charge of the Cadillac Studio. After serving in World War II, Mitchell returned to GM in 1953. He became Vice President of Design in 1958 and served until his retirement in 1977. The Buick Riviera and the Chevrolet Corvette are among Mitchell's most iconic car designs.

Bob Casey was the John and Horace Dodge Curator of Transportation at The Henry Ford.

Bob Casey was the John and Horace Dodge Curator of Transportation at The Henry Ford.

Bob Casey was the John and Horace Dodge Curator of Transportation at The Henry Ford.

Unser had automobile racing in his blood. His brother and uncles all raced, and two of them -- his Uncle Joe and his oldest brother, Jerry -- lost their lives in racing-related accidents. A driver as well, Unser's father was a respected mechanic with a garage on Route 66. From his earliest days racing modified passenger cars on dirt tracks near Albuquerque, Unser learned how to make things work on a shoestring and without buying the newest or best parts. This skill prepared Unser well for a career of continuous experimentation and refinement of virtually every aspect of automotive performance.

Bob Casey was the John and Horace Dodge Curator of Transportation at The Henry Ford.

Obsessively dedicated to computing and software since his student days, Bill Gates became galvanized by the advent of an early personal computer, the Altair, which appeared in 1975. His passion for seeing what the computer could do was so great, in fact, that he took a leave of absence from Harvard and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, home of MITS, the Altair's parent company, to write code for it. Capitalizing on this initial success, Gates and his team went on to write the programs in BASIC for the IBM PC that proved instrumental in launching the personal computing revolution.

Inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen owns a private island in Long Island Sound. This self-proclaimed lord of North Dumpling Island has created a completely self-sufficient home powered by a combination of solar and wind technology. Dean Kamen has dedicated his life to improving humanity through technology and engineering. Inventing products since an early age, he has designed everything from medical devices to robots. Kamen is best known for his creation of the human transportation vehicle, the Segway.

Marc Greuther is the Chief Curator and Curator of Industry and Design at The Henry Ford.

Alan R. Mulally is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Ford Motor Company.

Marc Greuther is the Chief Curator and Curator of Industry and Design at The Henry Ford.

Marc Greuther is the Chief Curator and Curator of Industry and Design at The Henry Ford.

Marc Greuther is the Chief Curator and Curator of Industry and Design at The Henry Ford.

Marc Greuther is the Chief Curator and Curator of Industry and Design at The Henry Ford.