This is a story about corporate contacts that evolved into friendships; the harmonious marriage between luxury bags and luxury cars; and ultimately how camaraderie and coincidences brought designer Nancy Gale’s JAMAH Motorcar Collection to the Robb Report, the foremost publication in the luxury market. In other words, this is a story about connection.
The story begins not with the Motorcar Collection or even with JAMAH, but with AMBITION, Nancy’s nonprofit entrepreneurial program for disadvantaged high school students. Back in 2016, Nancy found an incredible community in Alder, a group of forward-thinking leaders who share the same drive to do good that inspired Nancy to found AMBITION. At one Alder event in 2017 at Pirelli in Century City, Nancy met and immediately bonded with vivacious Alder member and car enthusiast Parisa Fishback, who unbeknownst to Nancy was already a fan of JAMAH. So when Peter Nam of Gunther Werks started lamenting to Parisa that he couldn’t find the perfect weekender to fit the frunk of the Porsches he was remastering, she marched Peter over to Nancy. At the time, Peter was designing a 25 series remastered Porsche 993 and Nancy answered his call with a custom limited edition of the JAMAH Porsche Edition Frankie bag that perfectly complements these Gunther Werks cars. That was how the first bag in the Motorcar Collection came to be.
But the story of the weekender that Nancy designed for Gunther Werks doesn’t stop there. For a woman who loves cars, it is ironic that Nancy herself gave up her car years ago and now takes Uber all over Los Angeles. That’s how Nancy found herself in the back of an Uber in 2017, chatting about the Gunther Werks and JAMAH collaboration with her driver, who was driving for Uber while he navigated a career change in publishing. The two exchanged contact information, but when Nancy heard from him several weeks later, she noticed a new domain name on his email address: he had taken a job at Modern Luxury. Nancy's Uber driver made a connection that resulted in a full page spread in the magazine about the collaboration between JAMAH and Gunther Werks and he even went on to become a mentor for AMBITION. Thanks to a conversation that happened from the backseat of a car, Nancy found that those in the car world were noticing her bags.
More time passed, the pandemic arrived and ebbed and in March of 2022, Nancy attended an Alder event at the BMW Performance Center West at the Thermal Club, owned by Tim and Twanna Rogers. As Nancy sauntered onto the track and slid behind the wheel of a BMW 850i competition next to her friend and Alder member David Sudeck, she smiled to herself, because none of her Alder friends knew her secret: even though she brags about taking Uber everywhere, Nancy really loves cars and speed. She’d always been drawn to the sleek design of a beautiful automobile, but in that moment she was most excited to gun the gas pedal; it makes perfect sense that someone whose hobbies include skydiving and extreme skiing was rearing to speed laps around the racetrack.
Photo by Tim Hill
And it was on the course at Thermal that day that Nancy met and fell into a comfortable friendship with Bill H. Lyon, who went on to commission a custom bag for his wife Nichole that complements the 1965 Alfa Romeo GTZ2 that the two drive together.
Nancy went to work on the bag, but for the time being, she and Bill kept it secret from Nichole; they were waiting for the 2022 Monterey Car Week to present it to her.
Photos by Scott Williamson/Photodesign Studios
Feeling energized after driving at Thermal and designing a bag for the Lyons, Nancy decided to reach out to Cristina Cheever, SVP, Live Media, at Robb Report. Nancy had met Cristina at a Musings event hosted by Robb Report in May of 2018 and immediately developed a friend crush. Knowing there was no better person to offer advice on the Motorcar Collection, Nancy asked her to lunch. It was a busy spring for both of them, so the earliest lunch they could schedule was over a week out. But that afternoon Nancy received a text; it was Cristina…she had an idea: Would Nancy and her partner Michael like to join her at the 2022 Robb Report California Coastal Rally — from Santa Barbara to Napa Valley — which would be taking place the next week? “Instead of lunch?” Nancy asked. “It’s better than lunch,” Cristina responded. “Indeed!” Nancy replied, “Sixteen meals together is absolutely better than one!” Although the logistics seemed impossible on such short notice, “Yes!” was the only option! Those words would change the course of Nancy’s week and of the Motorcar Collection.
Connecting with Cristina at California Coastal proved to be a stroke of unparalleled luck for Nancy. Immediately, Nancy was drawn to Cristina for her charisma, her zest and her thoughtfulness. It was clear from the beginning that Cristina was dedicated to supporting and amplifying Nancy and JAMAH. At the final dinner, Cristina craftily sat Nancy next to Viju Mathew, the earnest, attentive and connected Automotive Editor at Robb Report. They spoke about Nancy’s work and by the end of the evening Viju was already imagining a submission to the Robb Report about JAMAH’s Motorcar Collection.
Nancy had two hours to collect the collateral that Viju would need for his pitch, but that task was easy thanks to Nancy’s genius graphic designer Tony Camarata, who happens to be a car aficionado. Nancy and Tony asked Scott Williamson, world renowned automotive photographer and now a dear friend of Nancy’s, for permission to use the images he had taken of Bill Lyon’s Alfa Romeo. Once he agreed, Tony photoshopped the bag that Nancy had designed for Nichole onto a picture of the car. Nancy suggested that he do a version that includes the chain that comes with the bag, but Tony nixed the idea immediately; even if it was just by photoshop, car people would shudder at the idea that someone had put a metal chain on such a beautiful car! When Scott and Bill heard this story, they chuckled and noted that Nancy was working with the right guy.
This trail of connections that Nancy was weaving through the car world all led to one place: 2022 Monterey Car Week. Earlier that year, when Bill decided that the bag Nancy had designed for Nichole would debut at Pebble Beach at Concours, Nancy called Peter Nam at Gunther Werks to let him know that she would be in attendance. “Well, if you’re going to be there, let’s make a bag!” Peter replied. Just as he did the first time they collaborated in 2017, Peter gave Nancy free reign to design a bag to complement the remastered Porsche 911 that Gunther Werks would be debuting at The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering. Nancy worked hard to satisfy Peter’s decree that she bring Porsche to JAMAH, instead of bringing JAMAH to Porsche, designing a sleek and luxurious alligator bag framed by the same orange honeycomb quilted leather that Gunther Werks was using inside of the car.
Photo by Scott Williamson/Photodesign Studios
As Nancy drove up to Monterey on August 18, she had a quiet moment to reflect on all of the excitement of the past few months: not only would she be attending some of the most exclusive events in the world of automobiles, but two of her bags would be debuting in front of thousands of car lovers. She realized that none of this would have happened without the support of all of the people she’d connected with since that fateful Alder meeting back in 2017: from Parisa to Peter; the serendipitous connection with her Uber driver; meeting Bill at Thermal and ultimately befriending the enchanting Nichole; connecting with Cristina, who brought her to Viju; Tony and Scott with their artistic and technical support…Nancy would never have been on the road to Monterey without the dedication of these colleagues-turned-friends. It was truly a love story that had led her to where she was that day. Nancy was all smiles that weekend at Pebble Beach and she was thrilled to really connect with Cristina, who carried a yellow anaconda JAMAH bag throughout Monterey. As she led groups of people through town, it became the phrase of the weekend that everyone needed to “Follow the Yellow Bag!” Yet again, the thoughtful Cristina was propping up Nancy.
But the story doesn’t end there, because Nancy was about to connect with one of the most formidable figures in the world of luxury cars. That weekend, Robert Ross, the brilliant, wise and revered automotive editorial consultant at the Robb Report, was making the rounds at The Quail with photographer Scott Williamson to select the 10 cars he would profile in his article for the Robb Report. When he laid his eyes on the harmonious union of the Gunther Werks Porsche and the JAMAH bag, Robert Ross knew this collaboration was a perfect fit for the Robb Report.
Beyond tales of luxury, the Robb Report offers its members experiences that lead to long-lasting relationships. A testament to its impact include Nancy’s friendship with Kamie Kirschner of Lugano Diamonds and recent adventures with other extraordinary members of the RR1 community. The crowning moment of the summer took place at Karen and Craig Stull’s majestic home in Arizona, now dubbed “The Love Shack,” where Nancy’s partner Michael surprised her by proposing!
As Nancy gets back to work designing more bags in the Motorcar Collection, she holds space in her heart for all of the connections that have brought her to where she is today. She is so honored and grateful that her Motorcar Collection is being featured in the September 2022 print and digital issue of the Robb Report. It would never have happened without each of the friends who supported her along the way.
Learn more about the JAMAH Motorcar Collection here.