Key dates in Steve Myers’ automotive story — each one backed by the pages and press coverage linked along the way.
2004 — While studying mechanical engineering at Iowa State University, Steve buys his first classic car — a 1969 Austin-Healey Sprite — and restores it with his father. A rescued MG Midget and a pair of Sunbeam Alpines soon follow. The full founding story →
2007 — The collection reaches thirteen cars.
2008 — Invited to show his Sunbeam Harrington Le Mans at the Salisbury Concours d’Elegance in Des Moines. He later joins the board — its youngest member — and creates the concours’ popular exotics class.
The 2000s — Working as a web designer, Steve founds Skoolie.net and builds it into the largest online community for school-bus conversions, later selling the site. He also races SCCA autocross, 24 Hours of LeMons, and ChumpCar endurance events, and serves on the boards of the Iowa British Car Club and Road Rally Charities.
October 2010 — The Des Moines Register’s Juice magazine puts Steve on its cover: “My whole life is cars.” The collection stands at more than 40 vehicles.
November 2011 — Steve leaves his web-design career to turn the hobby into a business.
December 12, 2011 — Skunk River Restorations opens its doors at 709 Airport Road in Ames, Iowa.
October 2012 — When John Nikas’ charity Austin-Healey “Grace” breaks down mid-way through a cross-country tour for Drive Away Cancer, the shop becomes home base for the repair as 40 volunteers rally — a story covered by the Des Moines Register.
2014 — The shop converts a 1958 Grumman Olson step van into a battery-powered coffee truck for Ames coffee company Burgie’s — covered by Kyle Munson in the Des Moines Register, KCCI-TV, and the front page of the Ames Tribune.
August 2016 — At Bonneville Speed Week, Steve earns his rookie license and breaks a class land-speed record driving Tom Donney’s two-stroke Saab Sonett II, with GPS measures showing 124 MPH.
February 2017 — Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car tells the Bonneville story in its four-page feature “Super Sonett Transport.”
2018 — The Goodguys Hall of Fame Road Tour makes Skunk River Restorations a featured stop on its Utah-to-Texas run, published in the Goodtimes Gazette the following spring.
April 2019 — The Muscle Car Place podcast interviews Steve on restoration, the business, and racing.
June 8, 2019 — The first This Week With Cars video goes up: an unrestored 1929 Willys-Overland Whippet at a local Cars & Coffee.
2025 — This Week With Cars becomes a major sponsor of the Austin-Healey Conclave, the largest annual Austin-Healey gathering in North America — renewed for 2026.
2025–2026 — Under the Skunk River Restorations name, Steve releases LastDrive, the garage app for collectors, followed by Fuel Pre-Pay Estimator, TachoSpeed, RaceCarLogBook, and GearRatio — with WireForge in development. The full app lineup →
2026 — The channel passes 100,000 subscribers and 35 million views.
The whole story in one place: About Steve Myers