In the late 1950s, John Weinberger began racing a Porsche Speedster in the Midwest. Weinberger's successful business began at this time when he was fixing Porsches, Triumphs and other foreign cars out of his small repair shop. He began to win races and people came from Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois to have this youngster work on their cars. His passion for racing and for repairing foreign cars blossomed into a fleet of family owned dealerships which now include his stores for Rolls Royce, Bentley, Lotus and Ferrari as well as Continental Auto Sports in Hinsdale, Illinois.
You race in a unique series. Tell me about the series in which you race.
John: The series we race is Vintage Sports Car Driver Association (VSCDA) and Sports Car Vintage Drivers Association (SCVDA), two clubs which intermingle. We race road circuits around the Midwest at Elkhart Lake, Indianapolis, Raceway Park, Mid-Ohio, Grand Rapids and Rockford to name a few. All of the old cars, famous cars which have been retired and put in a barn somewhere, have now been dragged out again. Vintage racing has become popular among older guys who couldn't afford to race when they were younger or were not as successful then because they couldn't compete financially. It gets really competitive out there. You've got successful people going back doing things they wanted to do when they were younger, and now they can afford it.
Q: You and your son, Joel, race together. What kind of cars do you race in the Vintage Series?
John: Joel and I race Lotus cars. I race a 1963 Lotus 23 Sports Racer and after winning in this class Joel now races an Open Wheel Formula Junior Lotus. We battled back and forth the first few years and after awhile he became a good pilot and moved on to a higher class. He has now won the class in Open Wheel. There are 15 different classes in Vintage racing.
Q: What are the costs associated with running in this series?
John: The cost factor is somewhat prohibitive. Each of our cars is over $100,000 and add another $25,000 per year for maintenance. We're racing for trophies and a pat on the back but the guys we race against are serious and the competition is fierce.
Q: Have you ever wanted to race in any other series?
John: When I was racing we were on such tight budgets. We were racing against Augie Pabst and Carroll Shelby who came in with these big rigs and we were towing on an open trailer. We wanted to be like them and now with the Vintage Club we are afforded the opportunity. Racing is a career and that never really entered my mind. I was interested in business.
Q: You promote your automobile dealerships through your Vintage racing efforts. What does this do for your dealership?
John: It really ex-posed us to the sports car world. We sell Porsches and other high line sports cars. Most of our business is selling used and new Ferraris. It helps the exposure because the people racing with us also have a desire to own a sports car for personal use.It's a natural step into what we do.
Q: Building relationships is critical to a successful automobile dealership or dealer group. How does motorsports help you build these relationships?
John: It's a "building of relationship" business. Friday, for instance, I'm going down to South Bend to visit with one of the people I met on the racing circuit who has a collection of twenty cars. He has bought a Ferrari from me and I'm going to look at his collection and maybe we'll do a horse trade. I think the key to relationships with a customer is enjoying and sharing your common interests.
Q. Do you display your race cars at the dealership?
John: We do but not as an everyday cup of tea. We sponsor a forum whereby we ask someone from Ferrari to speak and we display fifteen to eighteen race cars. We invite people to make a Saturday afternoon out of it. Sometimes we get a show car in for a promotion. We had Mario Andretti's 1974 Indy Car winner inas a matter of fact we took it in on a trade. We try to have interesting things here so the people "oooh" and "aaah"-so they think this is THE place to go.
Q: How large of an area do you draw customers from because of racing?
John: From Indy, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Kansas, Colorado and Iowa. They are all over the map.
Q: If you were not involved in racing would you have these customers?
John: Oh no, absolutely not.
Q: What is your approach to advertising in regard to your motorsports marketing efforts?
John: We pull back our ad budget and put it into a promotional budget where we interface with people. We'll sponsor a Concours D'Elegance for instance. It's an elegant auto show for upscale cars. We also sponsor a cocktail party for the Vintage Club in February when things are slow. We do track events twice a year. We rent the track and the customers can bring out their road Ferraris and we do some formulized driver training, that is, we show them how to drive the car and they just love that.
Q: Where do you see racing going in the next ten years?
John: Racing is the largest and fastest growing spectator sport. Investors are building new tracks around the country that are spectator friendly and have nice conveniences. I think some of the other sports like football and baseball, with the high salaries and the bickering about the amount of money they are going to get, are shutting people off. In racing, you really earn your money, if you earn any at all.
Q: What do you say to a dealer who says, "I'm just not into racing"?
John: I think that they should pick someone out of their shop or in service who is interested in the sport and get together with them and help fund an effort. You don't even have to go to the races. It's nice if you do, because people will want to shake your hand and know who you are. You don't have to live and die by it, but giving them even a small budget will bring enormous benefits if promoted and marketed properly. You've got your name out there in front of a really loyal group of buyers. They are the Ford buyers, the Chevy buyers, etc., and they can relate to your being involved.
Q: Any final thoughts to share?
John: I'm lucky enough to have my son in the business. We are in the Honda, Acura, Toyota, Nissan, Chevy and Jeep business as well as our high-end imports, what we call our "Toy Store" business. There's a lot of camaraderie between my son, myself and the other stores-it's truly a family affair. You can't put a price on that.