Mike Yager is the founder and owner of Mid America Motorworks. Photo: MID AMERICA MOTORWORKS
VR: How did you first get started with cars? I assume it was probably at a young age.
MY: The long story and the short story, all in one, is I’m the youngest of nine kids. I grew up in a small town in Central Illinois and had older brothers in the ’50s and ’60s who were into cars, everything from restoration to making street rods. As a young impressionable nine-year-old kid, I hung out in the garage with these cars and in 1962, one of my older brothers showed me a picture of a Corvette that he bought, a 1960 Corvette. Gosh, I could end the story there. I fell emphatically in love with Corvettes and fast forward 40 plus years and here I am. So, it all started with older brothers. By nine I was helping restore a ’40 Mercury, a ’28 Dodge, a ’36 Hudson Terraplane. On the other side of the garage I had a brother chopping and channeling a ’32 Ford pickup truck. And if you can kind of read between the lines, of two brothers, one into restoration and one into chopping and channeling, there was always a little bit of finger pointing of who was doing the right thing.
Become a Member & Get Ad-Free Access To This Article (& About 6,000+ More)
Access to the full article is limited to paid subscribers only. Our membership removes most ads, lets you enjoy unlimited access to all our premium content, and offers you awesome discounts on partner products. Enjoy our premium content.
