Pep Boys Crowns Four Winners in First-Ever Nationwide Virtual Car Show

    PHILADELPHIA--June 14, 2001--Pep Boys , the nation's leading full-service automotive aftermarket retail and service chain, today crowned the four overall winners in its first ever "Virtual Car Show" and, in the process, named Mark Bartle's 1967 Shelby GT350 "Best of Show".
    The four overall winners -- Bartle, who hails from Fort Worth, Texas; Ken Karaczewski, from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Wichita, Kan. Native Jaime Stamatson; and Long Island, N.Y. resident Jerry Duckett -- beat out approximately 1,980 entrants from 48 states to take top honors in this national competition.
    The Pep Boys Virtual Car Show, held via the Internet, allowed automobile enthusiasts throughout the country to enter, view and/or vote for various makes and models of cars, trucks, vans and SUVs from the past and present, all without leaving their home or office.
    "In addition to the vehicles, of course, the beauty of the Virtual Car Show was its ability to connect people from all over the country," said Bill Furtkevic, director of marketing communications for Pep Boys. "Instead of having to spend a weekend driving to the show, prepping vehicles for display and even worrying about weather conditions, Virtual Car Show entrants could share their passion with people everywhere without restriction."
    The show had 12 categories of competition: American Motors, Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Mopar, Ford/Mercury, Pre-1949 Cars & Trucks, 4x4s & SUVs, 2-Wheel Drive Trucks and Vans, Replica Cars and Trucks, and Imports. Bartle's Shelby won in the Ford category; Karaczewski's "Looney Cruiser" in the Mopar division; Stamatson's '53 Chevy truck in the 2-Wheel Drive category; and Duckett's "Hot Rod from Hell" in the pre-1949 division.
    According to Bartle, the "Best of Show" car -- which, as part of the prize, is currently on display at the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles -- is unrecognizable when compared to its condition when he bought it.
    "It was just a rust bucket," said Bartle, who brought the car home in a trailer because that's the only way it would move. "But after a five-year restoration of every part, piece and plug, she turned out pretty nice."
    Bartle completed nearly all of the repairs on the Shelby himself, but left the final "Brittany Blue" paint job with white racing stripes -- the original color -- to the professionals. Always a head-turner at offline car shows, the GT350 jumped out to a sizeable lead when public voting began for this first-ever cyber-competition.
    The Pep Boys Virtual Car Show began March 5 and moved into the voting stages on May 15. After a team of Pep Boys representatives and the editors of emap-usa publications Motor Trend, Hot Rod, Car Craft, Sport Truck and 4Wheel & Off-Road, selected three finalists in each category, the public was asked to select the 12 category winners. After public voting was complete, Pep Boys and the emap editorial team selected the four overall winners, including Bartle's "Best of Show".
    Each of the overall winners received an expense paid trip to Los Angeles, as well as the $2,000 in Pep Boys gift certificates earned by each of the 12 category winners. Bartle received the added distinction of having his car displayed in the grand entryway to the world-famous Peterson Automotive Museum. The Shelby was unveiled today, only a few hours prior to the museum's annual Gala.
    "We're very pleased with the success of the Virtual Car Show, which received about 55,000 unique visitors a month," added Furtkevic. "The quality of the entries and the tough voting choices people made really speaks to the impact the Internet has had on the automotive industry. In all, over 25,000 people voted."
    The Pep Boys Virtual Car Show -- held in conjunction with emap-usa, one of the world's foremost media companies -- represented a unique "clicks-to-bricks" marketing tool for Pep Boys. The one-of-a-kind promotion demonstrated the ability to not only unite customers and employees from Pep Boys' 628 stores, but also the readership of several emap-usa magazines, their corresponding websites and individuals surfing the web.