Make Mine a Jeep: P.J. O’Rourke’s Ode to the Wrangler – Feature – Auto Reviews – Car and Driver

Make Mine a Jeep: P.J. O’Rourke’s Ode to the Wrangler – Feature – Auto Reviews – Car and Driver.

Expansion effort underway. Chicken or egg?

After quite a long dormancy(two and a half years), Dealer Development Services is looking to create a new business unit adjunct to GetMyCarForMe.com.  This new division seeks to take advantage of used car marketing efficiencies provided by current internet conditions.  Mumbo jumbo, right?  Wrong, just can’t spill the beans yet.  However…

Legal driving age (ages 16-18)

Let’s not even discuss the moped I had.  Basically, mopeds are great unless your friends see you riding one.  Case closed.  Well, when I got my drivers license I stumbled upon a 1972 Saab 99 EMS – Brown metallic, a car that I thought was great.  Saabs are quirky cars, at least they were until GM bought the brand and stripped the companies soul to sell less than stellar vehicles under the multi-brand umbrella.  Saabs used to have their own platforms, weird styling, ignitions between the seats and the one I had even had directions for sleeping in the car with your head in the trunk and feet in the car.  Those crazy Swedes.

The young car guy (aged 12-15)

Mine didn't even look this nice!

So I was already a car fanatic and then I met a friend of my parents who changed everything for me.  He brought the cars from the brochures and magazines to reality.  Don’t get me wrong, my Grandfather’s Rolls Royce and Jensen Interceptor were neat cars, but this was different and it would take me years to figure out why;  I just knew this guy was on to something.  I then stole him from my parents and made him my friend.  He continues to be one of my best friends today and is a star in the car biz.  Richard Griffith,  Thank you! I think!

Customer Service – Now missing from American retail.

What is a customer? It is defined by Webster’s as

Customer:

Pronunciation: \ˈkəs-tə-mər\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English custumer, from custume

Date: 15th century

1 : one that purchases a commodity or service

The early days of a car guy. (me 5-11)

My earliest memories of liking cars was when I was age 5 or so.  On Sundays I couldn’t wait for the newspaper that had the new car brochures as inserts;  I liked the cars, the colors, the options, the photos.  Then once a year it was off to the car show in San Francisco, usually with my dad and sometime my grandfather, both guys who loved their automobiles.  However their tastes and budgets were very different.  I always remember getting the big bag from one of the car manufacturer booths and then running around to get as many brochures as I could carry.  Cars I remember from the car shows then were the introduction of the 1970s Datsun (yes, Datsun) Z and the debut of the Saab Turbo.  These shows were prior to the Moscone Center and were held at Brooks Hall in the Civic Auditorium.  I think we went on Thanksgiving day so that my mom could have some peace and quiet.

My dad, born in ’42 as I recall had a VW Bug and around when I was born a white Toyota Corolla and then later a 1970′s Volvo Sedan in dark blue.  My mom had a dark red metallic/rust 1966ish Ford Mustang Coupe and by the time we moved to Piedmont, a matching light blue Volvo Wagon to go with dad’s sedan.

My grandfather had a late 1960s Mercedes SL in white, a silver Rolls Royce Silver Shadow and a ruby red Jensen Interceptor Coupe.  I was always excited to go for a ride with him.  Each one of these cars was great in its own right.  The Jensen had this great leather smell and loud motor.  The Rolls had this complicated procedure for starting and a weird key position and these huge to me then seats that were better than any sofa.  The SL never had a soft top, just a hard top or open air.

I was hooked, no doubt about it.

Welcome to 2010 – time to change this blog!

This blog has always been for the benefit of my car clients – past, present and future.  I have never been one to really brag or boast about my talents as a car guy, as a person, as a businessman, but as I look around at the erosion of customer service in America I feel really good about what I can offer to anyone who is buying or selling a car.  So, this new dimension to my blog is something I want to try.  I will start regularly chronicling my background, my background with cars, my experience in the car business and business in general.  I may even speak about my own experiences as a consumer in and out of the car world. I invite comments, criticism, questions and anything else you want to bring to the table.

Happy New Year!

to be continued…

2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

On one hand, it may seem like an odd time for Mercedes to be jumping back into the ultra-premium end of the car market, particularly in light of its recent less-than-standouts efforts (think: McLaren SLR and the salesproof Maybach). But this isn’t the case with the 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. In fact, this isn’t really a Gottlieb and Karl joint at all – at least not by any traditional definition.

Limited-edition Porsche 911 Sport Classic marks return of the ducktail

2010 Porsche 911 Sport Classic

2010 Porsche 911 Sport Classic Interior

PRESS RELEASE:

The 911 Sport Classic – Exclusive for 250 Fans of the 911

Stuttgart. Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, has refined the DNA of the 911 to what must be the most supreme standard of class and style in the 911 Sport Classic available to a strictly limited number of very special 911 enthusiasts. Creating this unique model, Porsche is bringing back the tradition of exclusive small series built in very small numbers. The 911 Sport Classic will be presented at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show and is limited in production to just 250 cars.

2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor already a hit with buyers?

2010 Ford F-150 Raptor

According to our friends at PickupTrucks.com, Ford has a hit on its hands in the form of the new and immensely capable 2010 F-150 SVT Raptor. Ford’s Special Vehicle Team spokesperson Patrick Hespen reports that the Blue Oval has already taken over 1,500 orders for its long-travel off-road capable pickup, which puts the Dearborn Truck Plant at maximum capacity.