Name: Chris Doane

Place of Birth: Saginaw, MI
Age: 28
Year, Make and Model of Your first car/truck: I1990 Dodge Spirit. My parents put a car with a turbo’ed 4 banger and a 5 speed in the hands of a 16 year old. What could go wrong there…?
Occupation: Spy photographer, “regular” photographer, writer and product intelligence consultant.
Employer: Brenda Priddy & Co.
What did you think you wanted to be when you grew up? I think I was keen on being a teacher and a pilot for a while.
How long have you worked in the auto industry? 4 years
What do you drive now? My livelihood makes that information classified.
Are you out at work? Yes.
Was being gay ever an issue at any of your jobs? It has not been an issue with anyone I’ve worked with so far. It was certainly never an issue with Brenda. She is very supportive of me and of gay people in general.
If you had one piece of advice to give to a gay person wanting to work in the auto industry, what would it be?
Work with Brenda! There really are lots of gay people working in the different sectors of this industry. It shouldn’t be too hard to get a feeling for what the environment is like at a certain company.
Ok, here is the fun part; if you had $25,000 and had to buy a new car, what would it be and why? That’s a tough one. It would be a toss-up between the Mazdaspeed 3, GTI and HHR SS.

Same question but bigger budget; $50,000:
An Audi A5 S-Line. Make mine brilliant red with every option.
If money was no object and you had to drive it every day:
The Bugatti Veyron. It’s an engineering masterpiece and looks insane.
What is your favorite car of all time and why?
So far, it’s the Aston Martin V8 Vantage. It’s such a beautiful car with a really raucous exhaust note. Each time I see one out on the road, I get a tinge of physical pain with the reminder that I don’t own one. Though they do have those 12 year car loans…
If your car/truck could talk, what would it say about you?
Why did that German engineer try to kill us this summer?!?
Finally, why do you want to be featured on Gaywheels.com?
I really enjoy *not* living up to the stereotypes that some have set in their heads about gay people. Maybe I can open a few minds?
The other reason to be featured is actually a gay kid in rural Pennsylvania. A while back, a teenage guy on one of the automotive websites I frequent was really struggling with his sexuality. One day there was a thread on the message board about which members of the site were gay. I said I was and this young guy was quite surprised, and genuinely happy, to see that the person who’d taken all the spy photos he’d seen was gay too. Later, he told me this was helpful in his coming out process.
If there is even the slightest chance to help someone through a tough time like that, I’m happy to be featured here.
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