Thursday, September 6, 2012

The Family

So, this is a family business. No, not just a business owned by someone who has a family somewhere, and employs people they know little-to-nothing about. This is actually a business where everyone who works here happens to be part of the same immediate family.

I think that's pretty cool. But my favorite part is the way we each have our particular strengths and skill sets that round out the perfect team.
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Jerry - the Boss (a.k.a. "dad")

Jerry owns the place, and keeps the books. For most of his life, he's been an small business owner and entrepreneur, sticking it to the man with the best of them.

He's also responsible for getting us all into Fiats in the first place, which seems to make up for some of his other faults.

Before taking the reigns at Vick, Jerry also founded Italian Car Club of the Southwest, volunteering extensively and serving multiple terms as President by popular vote. He was also instrumental in organizing our local Italian Car Fest, which has been a hugely popular, fun show for all fine Italian autos.

Jerry has owned too many Fiats and Lancias to count. 
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Andy - brother #1

Andy is the eldest of the younger generation of Vick'ers, and the mechanic here. Don't get me wrong, he's not exactly young, but he can spin wrenches and design parts with the best of them. His broad, inclusive study in automotive engineering includes time at the world's premier Ferrari performance shop, after all.

Years of Vick's SCCA Fiat racing experience and Andy's sharp automotive wit come together in our award-winning performance motors. None of the other Guys can even touch them on the track. He's also the mind and muscle behind many of our other performance parts, including our Programmable Fuel Injection Kit and Fuel Injected Individual Throttle Bodies for Fiat DOHCs.
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Matt - brother #2

Matt has had a lot of experience with customer service and management, and does a fine job of both. If you call us, there's a good chance you'll get him. Be nice to him, because he's very helpful and knows a lot about these cars.

He keeps stuff on our shelves, and has most of our part numbers memorized. It's creepy, really.

Matt's first car was a '76 Fiat 124 Spider, and our introduction to the wonderful world of Fiat. If we had known then what we know now, we probably would have started with a cleaner restoration candidate. But, hey, that car was a learning experience... every other stinking day. That said, the red-orange '76 Killer Tomato started our study into what it takes to make a Fiat into the reliable Japanese car dominator it should still be.
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Aaron - brother #3

I come from an engineering background, and have been designing products and  electronics for years. I spend a lot of my time coming up with new parts and upgrades for these great cars.

I am very happily married, with two adorable children and number three on the way. My wife is very supportive of my Fiat hobby, which I understand is pretty rare among women. She's awesome.

My first car was a comically modified '84 Fiat X1/9 that Jerry bought out of a fellow's back forty for $800, before I even had my license. Complete with a faded rattle-can-red paint job, trailer hitch on the aluminum rear bumper, and extensive body damage in the shape of buttocks; the price was right! This car took about 15 minutes to get running, and about 15 months to get looking good. Dad and I spent hours upon hours working the cheek-prints and dings out of the body, followed by a visit to the car club's professional paint booth where he applied the final coats himself. I still own and love this car, which contains the very first VAS Performance Radiator for Fiat X1/9.

VAS - The next generation

Thanks for reading.

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