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Mike Yager, Chief Cheerleader of Mid America Motorworks, shares his 35 year career journey as an entrepreneur in the sports car business. In 1974, Yager, a young tool-and-die maker from Effingham, Illinois, borrowed $500 and began selling car manuals and other accessories from the trunk of a borrowed car. Working weekend swap meets, Corvette specialty shows, and other automotive functions, this energetic entrepreneur recognized the then unknown potential of selling automotive accessories to people, instead of just parts for cars.

In the early years of his career, Yager focused his attention primarily on Corvette accessories, including a variety of items such as owner's manuals, jackets, embroidered T-shirts, drinking glasses, emblems, jewelry, and a mail order catalog. In 1998, he expanded his business from Corvette only to also include items from the Volkswagen line when he acquired The Real Source, a supplier of Volkswagen parts and accessories. Today, Mid America Motorworks mails 4.5 million Corvette and Volkswagen catalogs every year to its customers.