Roadworthy Drive brings an lowa perspective to a national audience.

on the air 

Iowa Auto Dealer Spring-Summer 2021

The day Ken Chester's dad bought a 1964 Mercury Comet is burned in his memory. He can see the brand new four door, with a turquoise exterior and white interior, like it was yesterday. He vividly recalls walking through the dealership to get to the car. It was one of the big moments in his life, the start of a lifelong love affair with the auto industry. 

"I've loved cars since I was a little boy," Chester said. "I was getting thrown out of Chrysler lots because they didn't want my bike scraping up the brand new '70 models." 

Today, that love has transformed into a nationally syndicated radio show, recorded in the state Chester has called home for more than two decades: Iowa. 

Chester has a long history as an automotive journalist in the Hawkeye State. Before he found his home in radio, he reviewed cars for the Des Moines Register. His reviews became nationally syndicated in 1995 and by 2000 were appearing in one of every ten daily papers in the country. 

The decline of the newspaper industry sparked an evolution for Chester as he looked for other ways to continue the work that he loved. In 2015, Chester launched his own local automotive radio show. It was on the air only ten months but paved the way for Roadworthy Drive, Chester's current show, which launched in January 2017. 

Although it hasn't always been easy, the program has grown, with two formats, a one-minute update and a two-hour program, available to stations. Today, approximately 25 stations carry the long-form program while 50 air the short updates. 

As his medium has evolved, so too has the focus of Chester's journalism. Although Chester started his career simply reviewing cars, Roadworthy Drive is not just a car show. Instead, Chester considers it to be a mobility show. 

"We cover everything from walking to outer space," Chester said. "If it moves or it moves you, we talk about it." 

Car reviews remain part of Chester's show, along with playing vintage car commercials. But other topics range from privacy and security issues ("Because honestly the motor vehicle most people own today is a rolling computer," Chester said) to automotive history to energy. 

"You don't have to be a gear nut, you don't have to be a tech nut," Chester said, noting Roadworthy Drive contains. something for anyone interested in technology. “This technology is impacting what you do in the day, and it's going to impact your future." 

Chester hopes to continue building his show to become a premier destination for people interested in mobility and technology. 

"We want to let people know what's coming, what they need to be aware of," Chester said, "Introduce them to the technological trends that impact them directly. It's not 20 years from now, it's two to five years from now."