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Memory Lane “stuff” worked. After a pause he said… “I have heard of you and your company…” He seemed generally interested and so the next 30 minutes, he interviewed me, about my background and how long I had been in business and who my customers were and my involvement in the Great Race. I explained once again that I normally wrote technical articles for the automotive magazines and that I got assigned this job because I was closest to him! Then he looks at me square in the eye again and proceeds to tell me, “I knew you were not one of those ‘slickster’ California automotive journalist types. I knew right away you did not do this for a living.” I got one of the best interviews with Speedy Bill that anyone has ever gotten. It went on for most of the day. He got out pictures of the early days, gave me a complete tour of the entire building and Museum of Speed and
showed me prototypes of upcoming products and the plans for expansion of his Museum. When I turned in my story to editor, he immediately called and demanded to know how I got an interview like that from Speedy Bill. “You have personal information and pictures in that story that he has never shared with anyone! I am more than impressed!” he said. When the story came out, it was in two parts with all of the early pictures and information nobody had ever captured before. I was more than proud of that story. When I received my copies, I drove up to Lincoln and hand delivered a copy to Speedy in person. Typical Speedy, he began to read the article as soon as I handed it to him and said to “have a seat.” If things were not as he expected, it was clear to me I would be the first to know. He finished reading the article, looked up and said…”Good Article!” I was more than relieved!
Circle 70 for more information 70 July 2014 | EngineBuilder
From then on we became friends. I had proven myself to him and earned his respect. I had delivered just the story that I said I would and included the points he wanted. Something I later learned was very difficult to do. He later told me he seldom gave personal interviews because the magazine types “always screw it up and never get the facts right.” He said, “I thought I could trust you and I am a pretty good judge of character…” “He later became a good customer of Fifth Avenue after six months of intense negotiations. As I look back now, I think he was trying to teach me some negotiating skills. I survived class, signed him up and I can now say I learned from one of the best. I have learned more about life and business from him than I could have ever imagined. He has also proven to be a good customer, but you’d better have your ducks in a row and not miss a delivery deadline. Luckily I never have but it hasn’t