Craig Richard Ploth - Internet Manager

Name: Craig Richard Ploth                           

A.K.A. Moose

Place of Birth: New York City

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 Sedan (in 1992) w/ the "straight" six.

Occupation: Internet Manager/Certified Sales Consultant 

Employer: Three County Volkswagen, Lyndhurst, NJ

 

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 Pontiac G6 GT Sedan

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.

 Not because I work at a VW dealer, but I have been 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. Overall, though, the new GTI, in comparison to the previous model, just continues to get better and better and I can see why it has a loyal following.

Same question but bigger budget; $50,000

Damn. I've never spent this much on a car yet, but then, I 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. I've always been a fan of the second generation CTS-4 Sedan, and absolutely love the sport wagon (I am a wagon guy at heart). 

However, the coupe, just wow's me to no end. The design has elements of the rich history of Cadillac, but 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.

If money was no 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. The new A8 doesn't scream "look at me", but attracts through 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. I'll take one in black please. 

What is your favorite 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. Also, the pricing on them is still reasonably inexpensive, 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?

Finally, why do you 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.

 

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