Meet Jim Long: Life in the Fast Lane

By Megan Scott, Resident since 2010 | Photos courtesy of Kim Lind Photography

After a lifetime spent admiring, collecting, and racing cars, long-time Blackhawk resident, Jim Long, purchased a one-owner, 1967 Mustang from his Blackhawk neighbor Tom Graffeo, and spent his time during COVID building his dream car: Eleanor. Eleanor is a customized, 1967 Ford Mustang that was featured in the 2000 film Gone in 60 Seconds. “I decided to take on that project during Covid, and while building it, I began getting requests to build cars for other people,” says Jim. And so began the launch of Moto Visions, a custom car building shop making automotive dreams come true for their clients. Because of his connections and history in the racing industry, the customer base for Moto Visions materialized quickly. “One thing led to another, and we quickly outgrew our original location and needed a larger shop. That’s how we moved to the new facility,” says Jim.

The facility he is referring to is the new Moto Visions headquarters and is also a historic local landmark in San Ramon. “The compound where we are located was a 1950s missile facility, with the original bunker and launch center under our shop floor. This Nike missile site was known as SF-25L, which operated from 1956 to 1959. These missile sites were buried deep within the earth in heavily fortified underground encasements along with missile warhead magazines. The missiles would have been brought to the surface by a large missile elevator, which is preserved and still in place today. These missiles would communicate with a radar and the control site a few miles away. Communication was through buried cable or microwave. This site was designed for the Nike Ajax missile that could cover a range of 25 miles,” says Jim.

Jim is also the head of Team Long Racing, which started when he discovered the thrill of road racing, “I founded Team Long Racing after spending my early years drag racing and building cars and engines. I discovered the excitement of road racing and became hooked. It started with a 125-shifter go-kart on a short sprint racetrack, from there the pavement broke loose. Team Long races both high speed Karts and full-size cars including a GTCS custom in-house built blown Mustang with over 1000 horsepower. I’m a long-time member of the (Bay Area Cobra Club) BACC, I also have a seat on the board of two car clubs the (Northern California Karters) NCK and NorCal Shelby Club where I operate as the treasurer for both clubs along with assisting in operations,” says Jim.

A man of many hats, who loves to stay busy, Jim is also the president of S&J Properties, a home design build firm. A Blackhawk resident since 1991, Jim and his wife, Julie Long have been married for 33 years. Julie has been an active, top-producing realtor in Blackhawk/Danville for almost 25 years, known as “Julie Long Team” under the broker Coldwell Banker Global Luxury.

Officially empty nesters, Jim and Julie raised their two kids in Blackhawk. Both attended Tassajara Hills Elementary School, Diablo Vista Middle School, and Monte Vista High School. They were both active in sports and community events.

Their daughter Courtney is 25 years old and graduated from High Point University. She now lives in Danville working for Medix as a Client Success Manager. Her boyfriend, Jeff Versnel, also graduated from High Point University, works at Moto Visions and is a new driver on Team Long Racing.

Their son Ryan is 23 years old and graduated from the University of Iowa. He now lives in San Francisco, working for the Bank of Montreal in finance.

Jim and the Moto Visions team recently held an open house to invite the community into their new location. Over 1,000 people attended. In case you missed it, feel free to reach out to Jim for a tour. It’s the perfect place for anyone who has a passion for speed, precision, technology, style and customizing automobiles.