If you’ve watched a Barrett-Jackson auction these past decades, you’ve probably seen Steve Magnante on stage going into hyper detail on the classic machines and muscle cars going across the block. While Barrett-Jackson may move 100s of cars on any weekend, Steve’s up to speed and has done his research. His trademark thick black-frame Ray-Ban glasses and distinct New England accent have educated and entertained millions of viewers for over two decades. His ‘Rain Man’ like knowledge of everything from a 1959 Chrysler 300, a 1962 413 Max Wedge, to a 1970 440 Six Pack Dodge Challenger, and just anything that ran on high-octane fuel is scary. Steve’s expertise goes deep, very deep! From the correct voltage regulator style to what the proper wheels and tires the car came equipped with. To say this longtime gearhead is a walking encyclopedia would be an understatement.

Born and raised in Massachusetts, Steve’s father was an optical physicist who designed lenses for industrial and defense applications, while his mother was a graphic designer. But cool cars have been a passion for Steve ever since he was born. It started with Matchbox cars, then Hot Wheels, and would progress to plastic model kits, then the real deal. By 1986, Steve was ready to graduate from college as an English Major with a minor in History. Steve also took computer classes and even acting lessons that would end up serving him well years later. For his final paper, Steve wrote a paper on the 1958 Chrysler ‘Electrojector’ Fuel Injection System. Once Steve left college, he rewarded himself by acquiring a 1968 Charger R/T with a 426 HEMI. While it was a real HEMI Charger, the body wasn’t pretty, and it looked a bit ratty.

“I don’t have that gene in me to have a muscle car with a perfect restoration, I like to drive my cars and not worry about the paint getting scratched.”

laughed Steve. “The beauty was in how it ran. Even with 3.23 rear gears, the HEMI still had a lot of grunt off the line as it ran 13.20 ETs at Lebanon Valley Dragway. It was nice just driving it to the track and having fun seeing how fast it would go. I bolted a pair of slicks on it in the pits and raced it. My HEMI Charger was a fun car, and I loved it. The street HEMI is a nice docile packet, and anybody who says they’re intractable hasn’t driven one.”

“I did a lot of studying on the history of iconic muscle cars that shaped the industry. was something that came very easily, as I was an avid reader of the late Roger Huntington and his writings in various automotive publications in the 1960s. I felt his research on related subjects was great. He’s like he was teaching you and speaking to you at the same time,” noted Steve. “So Roger Huntington was kind of one of my idols, and I’d read CARS Magazine, High Performance Cars, and other publications. I so enjoyed Roger Huntington’s writings; they kind of made me want to become an automotive writer,” said Steve.

But there was a constant yearning for Steve to leave Massachusetts and head west to pursue his dream of becoming an automotive journalist and work for one of the major magazines located in Los Angeles. When a position opened up at Chrysler Power Magazine, Steve jumped at the chance. With his suit cases packed and boxes of vintage magazines, Steve loaded up his 1976 Plymouth Volare Station Wagon headed west.

“The wagon was powered by a 360 two-barrel and had a 2.94 gear in the axle but could still smoke the right rear tire at will.”

laughed Steve. After three years with Chrysler Power, Steve went to work for Mopar Action magazine. It had more subscribers and increased newsstand distribution, and generally a bigger audience. Steve’s byline was now getting noticed by more folks in the magazine business, which led to a call from powerhouse publisher Petersen to become the new Tech Editor of Hot Rod. Now Steve was finally able to put his experience and knowledge to work helping 1000s of readers and enthusiasts.

But as the times were changing, so was the publishing industry, and TV shows centered around the car culture became a big drawing point and Hot Rod magazine was going digital. The formula was simple: use their editors as hosts and pull from their vast archives and current happenings in the hobby for content. Many of the publishers’ seasoned writers, they had no interest in going in front of the camera. “When I was at Hot Rod, there was this thing called Hot Rod TV, and the management said, ‘Hey, save some money, we can use the staffers for the show because we’re on, you know, basically on staff.’ Many of my colleagues, like Jeff Koch and Ro McGonegal, hated doing TV. But I thought I’d give it chance and I ended up liking it,” noted Steve. “This led to me doing some SEMA shows for Speed Channel, which then led to the folks from Barrett-Jackson reaching out. My first event on stage with Barrett-Jackson was Palm Beach 2001. In 2015, Steve and car-girl personality Christy Lee did a series of videos showcasing the Mopar Performance Scat Pack Stage Kits for 5.7-liter HEMI®-powered Challenger and Charger R/Ts. Steve’s talents were also tapped again in 2022 on the new Direct Connection Stage Kit videos”.

But it was his on-stage in-depth details on the hundreds of cool collector cars that crossed the auction block at Barrett-Jackson. For 20 years, Steve distinctive voice and personality become a part of the Barrett-Jackson until he had a recent health hiccup. For Steve, it was much more than a ‘hiccup’ but actually life-threatening. These past few years have had him recuperating from encephalitis, the inflammation or swelling of brain tissue, often causing severe symptoms like fever, headache, confusion, seizures, or cognitive changes, and is typically caused by viral infections. It was touch and go for Steve as the doctors gave him a slim chance of recovering from this horrible condition that was due to a tick bite he obtained while crawling through a junkyard.

“The bite that gave me encephalitis put me in a coma for three-months. I don’t remember any of it, but my stepmom would come in and read car magazines to me every day. I came out of that and took another six months of physical therapy to learn how to walk again, crazy, but true. And it was, I guess they said the doctor said on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being dead, you were at nine!”

Steve’s presence was missed, and his fellow Barrett-Jackson TV personalities posted this get-well tribute video for the speedy recovery of their sick comrade.

Slowly, Steve got his footing back, but was not quite ready for primetime and being on the Barrett-Jackson stage. It’s almost like crawling before you could run, but car collector and founder of the McCandless Collection and Richmond Auctions partner, Mike McCandless, reached out to Steve to see if he would like to host a variety of videos. “I was asked by Mike (McCandless) to come to Bogart, Georgia, and do some walk-around videos of a cool muscle car collection he was auctioning for a client,” Steve said yes and flew down to Atlanta, and was able to give some great historical insight on the numerous rare muscle cars and assorted vehicles the McCandless Collection and Richmond Auctions were offering for the first time. Steve didn’t miss a beat and gave viewers all the nitty gritty details of the cars in the numerous videos.

Steve also continued to recover without pushing it too hard, and soon he was back at Barrett-Jackson at their premier auction, the 2026 Scottsdale event that kicks off the season. “Many people at Barrett-Jackson were happy to see me, and I was happy to see them. So it’s good to be back on the horse. And, you know, people said, you know, glad to have you back and all of that. But I got to say that the other guys, like Mike Joy, Rick De Brule, Tyler Hoover, April Rose, and many other people on the crew, were very supportive. I was glad to be back. I was deeply touched by all of the positive comments on my return to the Barrett-Jackson auction block and being part of the TV broadcast team going forward. I’m humbled by the outpouring of support for Al and me and all of the thoughts and prayers that helped me pull through my bout with encephalitis. Happily, I’m back to good health,” commented Steve.

Steve Magnante is not only a substantial part of the Mopar community, but also a massive collector car hobby. He is a walking automotive encyclopedia and shares the depth of his vast knowledge of vintage cars that go across the auction block, or when he’s unearthing rare metal in a junkyard overgrown with weeds.