Name: Craig Richard Ploth
A.K.A.
Moose
Place of Birth:
Age: I
am the same age my mom was when she started lying about it.
Year, Make and Model
of Your first car/truck: 77 Chevy Impala
Occupation:
Internet Manager/Certified Sales Consultant
Employer: Three
What did you think
you wanted to be when you grew up? I wanted to create a new American Car
Company.
How long have you
worked in the auto industry? About 7 years total. I worked in media relations/publicity for GM
for about 5 years, and about 2 years in the sales side.
What do you drive
now? 2009
Are you out at work?
Yes. I am more comfortable when I can give full disclosure about who I am, and
I have been blessed with great co-workers and bosses who do not treat me any
less or any different. They see me as an equal and as a person and treat me
very well and like family.
Was being gay ever an
issue at any of your jobs? Never, actually.
If you had one piece
of advice to give to a gay person wanting to work in the auto industry, what
would it be? Be yourself and not a label.
You have nothing to prove, and nothing to win, other than using your
experience and your knowledge to gain success. The corporate side is still a bit of “an old boys club”, but
it is not the yardstick in which to measure your career by.
Ok, here is the fun
part; if you had $25,000 and had to buy a new car, what would it be and
why? I would love a Cobalt SS, but since they stopped making
them, I would get a Volkswagen GTI.
continuously impressed with the VW/Audi brand since I started working at a
(corrupt and now defunct) Audi dealer two years ago. I still would prefer manual over the DSG transmission as I
like the physical interaction between myself and the car, and it keeps the
price within budget.
model, just continues to get better and better and I can see why it has a loyal
following.
bigger budget; $50,000
don’t think I’ve broken the $20,000 mark yet either.
Still… For my $50,000, I would love a Cadillac CTS coupe
when they come out.
and absolutely love the sport wagon (I am a wagon guy at heart).
However, the coupe, just wow’s me to no end.
also shows a forward thinking direction.
The features you get for your money are amazing too, and you also get a
nice bit of pocket change in the process.
object and you had to drive it every day –
I would love a new Audi A8L.
Audi’s, to me, are like a tailored suit. They are practical
in their approach, but so well put together to handle the day-to-day routine.
it’s beauty and people know when they see you drive it. The new dash and center console too are not
overwhelmed with buttons and do-dads, but are functional and luxurious in their
design.
car of all time and why? I actually have a couple, but the one that I keep
coming back to is the original Opel GT. My parent’s first car was a lemon yellow, 1974 Opel
Sportwagen. I loved that car, and it
served us well for almost 12 years before they sold it. I learned how to work on and fix cars from
watching my dad work on our “Lemon Car” (also learned how to curse too).
The GT, however, is a timeless design. The “mini-Corvette” still turns heads, and
though not a total balls-to-the-wall performance car, they drove OK.
and they’re still easy cars to maintain and work on.
If your car/truck
could talk, what would it say about you? Thank you for taking me in and
caring for me! Now could you please wash that two day old bird shit off me?
want to be featured on Gaywheels.com? It’s nice to be recognized when
you’re in a very hetero-male-centric field such as this.
I have read articles on gaywheels.com in the past, and was
very impressed that we have a website that is geared towards our community and
creates better understanding of the automotive industry in general and reduces
stereotypes across the board.
I’m not here to toot my own horn, but to hopefully be, and
set, a good example somehow.