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Donald Osborne

Donald Osborne

Donald Osborne on Jay Leno's Garage

Donald Osborne on Jay Leno's Garage [1]

Donald W. Osborne is an automotive consultant, historian, Accredited Senior Appraiser, and a member of the American Society of Appraisers. He is also the owner of Automotive Valuation Services and advises on collection building, vehicle acquisition, and sales. Osborne is perhaps best known for his current role on Jay Leno's Garage as a recurring segment host who educates viewers on classic car values.

Early Life

Photo from December 1964, of Donald Osborne (age 9) celebrating after finishing a Lotus 29 model car with his older brother, Art Osborne.

Photo from December 1964, of Donald Osborne (age 9) celebrating after finishing a Lotus 29 model car with his older brother, Art Osborne.

Donald Osborne is originally from Manhattan, New York. His passion for cars started at an early age. Growing up, he enjoyed building model cars with his older brother, Art Osborne. By the age of 9, he was already "completely obsessed" reading Road & Track, Autoweek (Competition Press), Car and Driver and Sports Car Graphic magazines.

Living in Manhattan, Osborne and his family grew up taking public transit, but at the age of 13, his father, Earl Osborne purchased the family's first car. Donald pleaded with his father to buy a Peugeot 404 which he thought was classic and elegant like a Mercedes-Benz but much cheaper. Earl instead decided to a buy a Pontiac Bonneville which according to Earl had more "stylige" a term he coined. As an adult, Donald admitted that his father made the right call.

Personal Life

Donald Osborne lives in Southern California and also has a home in Northern Italy. In addition to being passionate about classic cars, Osborne is also passionate about trains, ships, airplanes, music, art and architecture.

Certifications

Donald Osborne, Baritone, sings 'The Star-Spangled Banner', to open the 2013 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance on March 10, 2013.

Donald Osborne, Baritone, sings 'The Star-Spangled Banner', to open the 2013 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance on March 10, 2013.

Donald Osborne is a member of the American Society of Appraisers, and has earned the society’s “Accredited Senior Appraiser” (ASA) designation.

Singing Career

Prior to working in the collector car industry, Donald Osborne was a classically trained baritone opera singer. His solo career culminated in his debut with the Metropolitan Opera in 1985. While, Osborne left the world of professional singing to focus on the world of collector cars he still enjoys singing for others. For years he has sung the Italian National Anthem at the prize giving ceremony of the Mille Miglia at the Teatro Grande in Brescia, Italy. He has also sang the The Star-Spangled Banner at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.

Automotive Career

Valuation & Writing

Donald Osborne speaking about the Hudson Italia and Nash-Healey which were both covered in his book, ‘Stile Transatlantico/ Transatlantic Style: A Romance of Chrome & Fins’

Donald Osborne speaking about the Hudson Italia and Nash-Healey which were both covered in his book, ‘Stile Transatlantico/ Transatlantic Style: A Romance of Chrome & Fins

Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance: Full Forum: Jay Leno & Donald Osborne at the 2017 Pebble Beach Classic Car Forum

Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance: Full Forum: Jay Leno & Donald Osborne at the 2017 Pebble Beach Classic Car Forum

Donald Osborne, possesses decades of business experience involving the evaluation and valuation of goods.

These include partnership in Garofolo & Osborne Antiques since 1974, work as an Auction Analyst, Contributing Editor and Editor-at-Large for Sports Car Market, consultant for major collector car companies and organizations as well as the purchase and sale of collector automobiles for consulting clients and his own collection.

Donald Osborne first contributed to the magazine, Sports Car Market in 1994 and began working as an Auction Analyst in 2000; he became a Contributing Editor of the magazine in 2004 and Editor at Large in 2014.

Sports Car Market is a magazine that covers the collector car market with an emphasis on auction reporting on an international scope.

Osborne regularly writes profiles on Italian, France, Germany and American automobiles and reports on auctions, reviewing and evaluating all types of automobiles from the turn of the 20th Century to contemporary across the United States and in Europe.

Donald Osborne’s writing on collector cars has appeared in The New York Times, Businessweek Online, Hagerty's magazine, Road & Track, Art & Antiques, Palm Springs Life, The Wall Street Journal Online and in the books “Keith Martin on Collecting Alfa Romeo” and “Keith Martin’s Guide to Car Collecting”, published by MotorBooks International. He also served as editor of Lanciana, the magazine of the American Lancia Club.

In 2016, Donald Osborne authored his first book, ‘Stile Transatlantico/ Transatlantic Style: A Romance of Chrome & Fins’ which was published by Coachbuilt Press. The book tells the story of the creative exchange between Italy and America in mid-century automotive design, using evocative photographs by Michael Furman to showcase some of the most iconic designs from both countries in the period.

In 2004, Donald Osborne founded Automotive Valuation Services offering consulting services to collectors and major collector car businesses across the country and in Europe.

Memberships

Mr. Osborne is a member of the Vintage Sports Car Club of America, Alfa Romeo Owner’s Club, American Lancia Club, Ferrari Club of America, Lamborghini Club of America, Maserati Club International, Zagato Car Club, Shelby American Automobile Club (SAAC), Rolls-Royce Owners Club and Bentley Driver’s Club among others.

Concours

Donald Osborne has served as a judge for multiple internationally recognized concours events.

He has served as the Consultant Director, judge and Master of Ceremonies with the Fairfield County Concours d’Elegance in Westport, Connecticut as judge at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, Concours of America at St John’s and Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance in Michigan and Radnor Hunt Concours d’Elegance in Pennsylvania. He has been Master of Ceremonies at the Carmel-by-the-Sea Concours on the Avenue, Greystone Mansion Concours d’Elegance in Beverly Hills, Forest Grove Concours d'Elegance in Oregon, Santa Fe Concorso and On-field Commentator at Meadow Brook.

Television

Fom 2011-2012, Donald Osborne was a co-host on two seasons of the nationally broadcast TV show ‘What’s My Car Worth’ on Velocity (TV network) which is owned by Discovery Communications.

Since the premiere of Jay Leno's Garage on CNBC in October 2015, Donald Osborne has featured on the show as a regular segment host, commenting on collector car values and the attributes of value that contribute to their market appeal.

References

[1]
Citation Linkyoutube.comJay Leno's Garage: Jay And Donald Osborne Access Cars That Run On Anything But Gas | CNBCPrime
Jun 26, 2018, 5:25 AM
[2]
Citation Linkautomotivevaluationservices.comPage on Donald Osborne's credentials on the Automotive Valuation Services website
Jun 25, 2018, 4:56 AM
[3]
Citation Linkywqaugeunhowzrcj.public.blob.vercel-storage.comDonald Osborne on Jay Leno's Garage [0]
Jun 26, 2018, 5:25 AM
[4]
Citation Linkywqaugeunhowzrcj.public.blob.vercel-storage.comPhoto from December 1964, of Donald Osborne (age 9) celebrating after finishing a Lotus 29 model car with his older brother, Art Osborne.[21]
Jun 26, 2018, 5:31 AM
[5]
Citation Linkyoutube.comPebble Beach Concours d'Elegance: Full Forum: Jay Leno & Donald Osborne at the 2017 Pebble Beach Classic Car Forum
Jun 26, 2018, 5:34 AM
[6]
Citation Linkyoutube.comDonald Osborne, Baritone, sings 'The Star Spangled Banner', to open the 2013 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance on March 10, 2013.
Jun 26, 2018, 5:37 AM
[7]
Citation Linkamazon.comDonald Osborne's first book ‘ Stile Transatlantico/ Transatlantic Style: A Romance of Chrome & Fins ’ for sale on Amazon.com
Jun 25, 2018, 5:26 AM
[8]
Citation Linkyoutube.comJay Leno's Garage: Appraiser Donald Osborne And Jay Leno Assess Great Movie Cars | CNBCPrime
Jun 26, 2018, 5:41 AM
[9]
Citation Linkyoutube.comJay Leno’s Garage: What Are Jay Leno And Donald Osborne Dreaming About Now?| CNBC Prime
Jun 26, 2018, 5:43 AM
[10]
Citation Linkyoutube.comJay Leno’s Garage: Jay Leno And Donald Osborne Check Out Collectible Off-Road Cars | CNBC Prime
Jun 26, 2018, 5:44 AM
[11]
Citation Linkyoutube.comDonald Osborne speaking about the Hudson Italiaand Nash-Healeywhich were both covered in his book, ‘ Stile Transatlantico/ Transatlantic Style: A Romance of Chrome & Fins ’
Jun 26, 2018, 5:46 AM
[12]
Citation Linkyoutube.comBlackhawk Museum: Donald Osborne, curator of the exhibition Transatlantic Style, explains how Harley Earlled the way in automotive design with the 1938 Buick Y-Joband the 1951 Buick Le Sabre.
Jun 26, 2018, 5:49 AM
[13]
Citation Linkyoutube.comTransatlantic Style – Italian and American Design
Jun 26, 2018, 5:49 AM
[14]
Citation Linkyoutube.comGM Concept Cars - Transatlantic Style
Jun 26, 2018, 5:49 AM
[15]
Citation Linkyoutube.comBest Supercar Appreciation Over Five Years | CNBC Make It.
Jun 26, 2018, 5:50 AM
[16]
Citation Linkywqaugeunhowzrcj.public.blob.vercel-storage.comDonald Osborne and Jay Leno speaking at an event during the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance [19]
Jun 26, 2018, 5:56 AM
[17]
Citation Linkywqaugeunhowzrcj.public.blob.vercel-storage.comDonald Osborne and Jay Leno on Jay Leno's Garage [8]
Jun 26, 2018, 5:56 AM
[18]
Citation Linkywqaugeunhowzrcj.public.blob.vercel-storage.comHead shot of Donald Osborne [23]
Jun 26, 2018, 5:57 AM
[19]
Citation Linkimdb.comDonald Osborne's IMDbprofile
Jun 25, 2018, 6:08 AM
[20]
Citation Linkautomotivevaluationservices.comAutomotive Valuation Services website
Jun 24, 2018, 8:57 PM