Dennis grew up on a small family farm in northwestern Illinois. He started tinkering with machines early on and purchased his first motorcycle, a Honda Cub 50, at age 12 and his first car, a ‘59 T-Bird, at age 15. He also played guitar and trumpet in a variety of rock, folk, and school bands.

He went to North Central College in Naperville, Illinois where he majored in both chemistry and physics. His undergraduate research in quantum physics received an American Chemical Society award. He continued his automotive interest and, through the course of his college years, owned a number of muscle and sports cars. He also kept up his music, playing in local coffee houses.

After receiving his Bachelor’s degree, Gage took up the pedal steel guitar and started playing in country-rock bands in the Chicago area. He has opened for acts such as Charlie Daniels, Waylon Jennings and Dr. Hook. However, after two years, Gage decided to retire from the music scene to go to graduate school.

He attended the University of Idaho, where he received a Ph.D. in chemistry. While there, Gage became an avid climber and winter mountaineer. He also finally married his high school sweetheart, Ellen.

After receiving his doctorate, Gage accepted a position as a product development scientist at The Procter & Gamble Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. There he worked on most of P&G’s food products in the 80’s, including Pringles, with which he bears a striking resemblance to the handlebar mustachioed character on the can. Gage received a number of patents while at P&G. Once again having some disposable income, he got back to playing with classic cars. This is also where he and Ellen had their three children, Emily, Jillian and Sam.

After ten years at P&G, Gage took a position as Director of Global Product Development at a BristolMyers Squibb company in Evansville, Indiana where he led the development of Boost nutritional energy drink among other products during his five-year stint.

In 1995 Gage met the founder of a fledgling production company and became co-owner shortly thereafter. A My Classic Car pilot series, hosted by Gage, was developed for TNN and received strong ratings when it aired in early 1996. Based on this success, the show premiered as a weekly series on TNN in January 1997 and then moved to SPEED channel in 2000 where it was one of the highest rated programs on the network.

Now in production for its 26 th season, My Classic Car is the longest running show of its kind in television history. It is carried on MotorTrend, MAVTV and Rev’n networks, reaching over 100 million households in the US and many times that worldwide via a number of streaming platforms. In addition, Gage is the Executive Producer of the motorcycle television programs, Trippin’ on Two Wheels and Corbin’s Ride On, and the reality series, Texas Hardtails, as well as the independent film, Novem.

Gage and his business partner received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for Indiana in 2000. He received the Lee Iacocca Award in 2014 and was inducted into the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Hall of Fame in 2015. Gage has served on the SEMA Board of Directors, as well as a number of academic and industry advisory boards.

In 2010 Gage became sole owner of the production company and renamed it MadStache, Inc. With his lifelong love of cars, motorcycles and the creative process, he states, “This has got to be the ultimate job!”

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