|
The Car-Guy Industry
by Garrett McKinnon
If you’re like me and, indeed, many of the lube owners, managers and technicians in this industry, you’re a car guy. You grew up tinkering under the hood, showing off your ride by cruising up and down the local drag, and maybe even testing your mettle with a little stoplight drag-racing action on occasion. (Though since my mom reads this magazine, let me assure everyone I only exceeded the speed limit when it was absolutely necessary to win!) I may drive a little sedan with booster seats in the back, but my heart still lusts for that Mustang GT or Camaro SS. Maybe when the kids are older!
The lube business is full of car guys. You’re interested in both the classic muscle cars and the latest sleek German sedans. You congregate around those exotic beauties that pull into your bays. You travel halfway across town for parts, or better yet stock up on rare oil filters and such, just so you’ll be prepared the next time a really unique ride comes into your shop.
| |
It's never too early to start planning to attend the International Fast Lube Expo (iFLEX) presented by the Automotive Oil Change Association. It's the old AOCA convention, only supercharged and super-sized. |
We know how you feel, which is just one of the reasons we started our “Customer Rides” feature. We haven’t been disappointed with the response, as lube operators, managers and technicians far and wide have grabbed their cameras and proudly snapped photos of those rare, exotic or just plain unusual vehicles that have paid their facilities a visit. We’ve published photos of timeless antiques, custom hot rods, snazzy muscle cars, Italian exotics and even a tractor or two, and we’ve loved them all.
This month, we take this popular feature a step further. We’ve had such an overwhelming response that we’ve expanded Customer Rides into a full multi-page feature (as you might have noticed from our cover). Plus, we’ve also combed through our back issues and selected the “Best of Customer Rides,” those rare and exotic vehicles that our editors judged to be truly unique. We hope you enjoy it.
And be sure to keep those photos coming. You never know when a snapshot you’ve taken could end up on the cover of National Oil & Lube News!
***
No, you’re not seeing things. The third edition of VehicleMD, our pacesetting waiting room magazine that will explain automotive maintenance to your customers (and help your sales in the process) was indeed sent with this issue. You’ll probably recall that the most recent issue of VehicleMD was shipped with the December issue of NOLN. And while we’re still producing VehicleMD on a quarterly basis, we’ve “tweaked” the schedule a bit to make sure your issues of VMD arrive on a more timely basis.
If you’re like a lot of operators, you’ve found that your customers love this new publication. Maybe so much so that an overzealous customer may have absconded with a copy of the magazine. Never fear, though. We have extra issues available, and at a price that can’t be beat. Call us at 800.796.2577 and ask Mai how you can order additional copies.
***
Finally, it’s never too early to start planning to attend the International Fast Lube Expo (iFLEX) presented by the Automotive Oil Change Association. It’s the old AOCA convention, only supercharged and super-sized, with a renewed emphasis on educational seminars that can and will give you ideas to improve your bottom line. Ask almost any operator who has attended an AOCA convention in the past and he or she will tell you that the trip more than pays for itself. With this year’s show being bigger and better than ever (and did I mention it’s being held in Las Vegas, Nevada, and that AOCA has negotiated special hotel room rates!), can you afford not to attend?
GARRETT MCKINNON is editor of National Oil & Lube News whose “dream car” would be a 1984 Ferrari 288 GTO. Questions, comments, concerns? E-mail him: garrett.mckinnon@noln.net
|
