I RECEIVED A CALL THAT EVERY PROFESSIONAL CADILLAC MAN WOULD LOVE TO GET FROM MR. DON MASSEY OWNER OF THE NATION’S LARGEST MOST SUCCESSFUL MASTER CADILLAC DEALER IN PLYMOUTH (DETROIT) MICHIGAN. HE SAID, ALEX, THIS IS DON MASSEY. I HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING YOU YOUR WHOLE CAREER. YOU WERE A MASTER CADILLAC DEALER IN PERU INDIANA WITHOUT A FLOOR PLAN. INCREDIBLE. CADILLAC ZONE RECORDS ALSO REVEAL THAT YOU MADE THE MONEY FLOW OUT THE WINDOWS OF WAGNER CADILLAC AS THEIR USED CAR MANAGER FOR THREE YEARS. I HAVE BEEN WATCHING WITH GREAT INTEREST YOUR TV ADS THAT YOU ORCHESTRATED AND WERE FEATURED IN AS THE ASSISTANT SALES MANAGER FOR ED SCHMIDT PONTIAC IN PERRYSBURG OHIO. PONTIAC RECORDS REVEAL YOU TOOK THE STORE FROM 20TH TO 10TH PLACE IN THE COMPETITIVE PONTIAC ZONE IN ONE YEAR. I WANT YOU TO COME TO WORK FOR ME AS MY NEW CAR SALES MANAGER. TOGETHER WE WILL MAKE HISTORY. I’VE GOT DESKS FULL OF APPLICATIONS OF PEOPLE WHO WANT TO COME TO WORK HERE. WE WANT YOU.
YOU WILL NOTICE IN ABOVE PHOTO MY NEW 1981 CADILLAC SEVILLE DEMONSTRATOR FROM MASSEY WITH THE 1966 PONTIAC WAGON. I HAD PURCHASED A BRAND NEW BLOND BRICK HOME IN GRAND RAPIDS OHIO ON LAND CONTRACT FROM JOHN KURFUS WHO WAS IN OUR PERRYSBURG ROTARY CLUB WHO HAD THIS COUNTRY HOUSE LISTED FOR SOME TIME. IT WAS 17 MILES FROM PERRYSBURG. ALEX IS WITH DON MASSEY AT THE BEAUTIFUL MASSEY DEALERSHIP IN PLYMOUTH (DETROIT) IN 2009. ED POBUR WAS THERE IN 1981 WHEN ALEX WAS NEW CAR SALES MANAGER.
THE WIFE AND MY DAUGHTERS NEEDED GOOD RELIABLE RIDE ESPECIALLY WITH ME IN PLYMOUTH MICHIGAN DURING THE WEEK. I FOUND THE PERFECT RIDE – IT WAS A 1966 PONTIAC CATALINA WAGON. IT WAS NON AIR WITH A PROVEN FACTORY 421 4 BBL TURBO HYDRAMATIC WITH DUAL EXHAUSTS. THE CAR WAS MECHANICALLY METICULOUSLY MAINTAINED AS THE FORMER OWNER PULLED A BOAT. THE PAINT WAS FAIR. THE FRONT SEAT NEEDED UPHOLSTERY WORK SO WE THREW AN INDIAN BLANKET OVER IT AND WENT FLYING DOWN THE COUNTRY ROADS WITH THE DOG, FRENCH FRIES AND LOUD MUSIC JUST LIKE THE CLAMPETTS. THE GIRLS LOVED IT ESPECIALLY WITH ALL THE SEATS FOLDED FLAT. I DIDN’T HAVE TO WORRY BACK THEN ABOUT AIR BAGS OR COLLISIONS. THE CAR HAD A 14 GAUGE STEEL LADDER FRAME LIKE A TRUCK. ANYBODY HITS THEM IN THIS CAR AND THEY LOSE.
I WAS THE SHORTEST LIVED SALES MANAGER FOR DON MASSEY. THREE MONTHS INTO MY ASSIGNMENT AND I HAD TO HAVE A DISEASED GALL BLADDER SURGICALLY REMOVED IMMEDIATELY. BACK THEN THEY CUT YOU 18 STITCHES AND YOU COULDN’T DRIVE A CAR FOR THREE MONTHS. DON MASSEY SAID, YOU KEEP THE DEMONSTRATOR AND WHEN YOU ARE WELL, YOU COME BACK. I ONLY PATRONIZE WINNERS. THIS IS REALLY A GREAT AND EXCEPTIONAL MAN. HE ARRIVED YEARS AGO WITH HIS WIFE, CHILDREN, A COCKER SPANIEL AND AN OLD HUDSON FROM TENNESSEE AND THROUGH PROFESSIONAL SELLING BECAME THE LARGEST MOST RESPECTED CADILLAC DEALER IN THE WORLD. I TOLD HIM I COULDN’T RUN WITH THE BALL LIKE I KNOW HE WOULD WANT ME TO AND I RESIGNED.
I MADE AN ARRANGEMENT WITH DICK GUMPP, GUMPP CADILLAC OF TOLEDO. HE PROVIDED ME WITH A NEW CADILLAC CIMARRON DEMONSTRATOR I COULD NOT DRIVE. I WAS SELLING NEW CADILLACS FROM MY HOUSE AT AN ASTONISHING RATE. I AM VERY CLOSE TO MY OWNERS. THEY ALL SHOWED UP AT THE HOUSE. I APPRAISED THEIR CARS ON THE SPOT. MY WIFE PROVIDED ALL THE COOKIES AND LIBATIONS. WE HAD A GREAT TIME SMOKING CIGARS, READING RACING FORMS, BUYING CADILLACS AND HAVING FUN AS USUAL. DICK GUMPP SAW TO IT THAT THEIR CADILLACS WERE PREPARED FOR DELIVERY BACK IN THE OLD JEFFERSON AVENUE FACILITY THAT USED TO BE THE FAMED PIMPERTON CADILLAC. IT WORKED VERY WELL. TODAY IT IS WELL REPRESENTED BY THE RESPECTED AND LEGENDARY STEVE TAYLOR CADILLAC.
WHEN IT CAME TIME TO RELOCATE TO DALLAS TEXAS, I SOLD THE DARK BLUE 421 PONTIAC WAGON. I SOLD THE HOUSE BACK TO JOHN KURFUSS, A GREAT GUY WHO WOULD BECOME DISTRICT GOVERNOR FOR ROTARY.
BURT WYLAND, GENERAL SALES MANAGER OF LONE STAR CADILLAC IN DALLAS HAD BEEN COURTING ME FOR SOME TIME TO JOIN THEIR SALES STAFF. REMEMBER THE TV SHOW “DALLAS? I REMEMBER SIGNS IN DETROIT SAYING “WILL THE LAST PERSON LEAVING MICHIGAN PLEASE TURN OUT THE LIGHTS”. DALLAS WAS EVERYTHING WE HOPED IT WOULD BE.
ALEX IS WITH THE GENERAL MANAGER ED POBUR JR. AT THE BEAUTIFUL MASSEY CADILLAC DEALERSHIP IN PLYMOUTH MICHIGAN (DETROIT) IN 2009.
