Muldoon Engineering's Don Alderson's relationship with SEMA dates to 1960, when his company Milodon Engineering was one of the 13 originating member companies of the Speed Equipment Manufacturers Association, the first SEMA.

Known for his technical expertise, Alderson and his company focused on internal engine components. His Milodon girdle—used to strengthen the bottom-end of competition engines—was one of his most innovative products.

Although Bob operated his own rep agency, the Airheart name is well known in the brake industry, notably for industrial and high-speed applications. Trains, buses and race cars have all been stopped by Airheart, a company owned and operated by Bob until it was sold. PWA awarded Bob its Person of the Year Award in 1980 for his outstanding contributions to the warehouse distributors and in appreciation of his conscientious dedication as an individual member of the specialty equipment industry. Bob has also worked for Hurst as well as Cragar as a National Sales Manager.

Matteo Agosta was born in Trapani, Sicily, Italy, before moving to a location in the United States that was a foreshadowing of his future: Detroit.

“As a kid, I was always interested in cars,” Agosta said. “You couldn’t help it, being in Detroit.”

He recalled that his paper route took him past a Jaguar dealership, “and I looked lovingly at the XKE.” As a teen, he made going to auto dealerships on October 1 a regular routine in order to see the new lines of cars. “But my dad was always a Packard lover, so up to 1961, we had only Packards.”