The rich and famous showed up at Ferrari of Los Gatos to pick up the car they had purchased–or to seek the vehicle of their dreams. They were quickly recognizable from the movies or the parks of professional sports. Ferrari of Los Gatos had become well known, yet some of the dealership’s customers didn’t enjoy that status and wanted to keep it that way–mainly people with undocumented cash income.

In fact, some cash customers played a significant role in the story of Ferrari of Los Gatos. They liked to be around the cars and enjoyed hanging out with the salespeople. Some people thought Brian and partner Richard must have been dealing in drugs to be that successful. And the authorities found it inconceivable the two men could make as much money as they did just selling cars.

A Great Deal with Unusual Time Conditions

One day a group of men walked into Ferrari of Los Gatos. They didn’t look like average customers.

The fancy imported Italian shoes gave them away.

They didn’t look at the shiny new cars and didn’t say a word as they walked across the showroom floor. The leader walked up to a salesman and said, “My name is Jake. May I speak with Brian Burnett please?”

Brian was watching as the group came in, and he’d noticed the shoes. In the car business, paying attention to details and quickly figuring out your customer was required for success. Hearing his name, he walked over to the men, but he first made sure his friend Steve, a retired police officer, tagged along.

“I’m Brian Burnett, what can I do for you?”

“Well,” Jake replied, “A friend of mine said I should come and see you about a ‘69 Plymouth Roadrunner Hemi you may have for sale. I might be interested in it, but I have a couple of conditions that you’ll need to meet.”

Advised by Steve to proceed carefully, Brian went to work qualifying Jake for the sale right away.

“The car will cost you $75,000 plus tax and license. If that works, I’ll listen to the other conditions.”

“That will be no problem as long as you can meet my timetable,” Jake responded.

“And what might that be?”

“I’ll need to have the car by Friday, high noon.”

An Offer with 75,000 Reasons Why

“That’s tomorrow. It might be difficult to have the car ready for pick up that quick,” said Brian.

“You’ve got 75,000 reasons to get it done. And, by the way, I won’t be picking up the car. Bring it to my home in the Santa Cruz Mountains.”

“Okay, we got us a deal, but what about this payment issue?”

“Now Mr. Burnett, in my line of work we don’t put things in writing. No contracts or anything like that, and my name never appears on any documents. You see, everything we buy or sell is always a cash transaction with no questions asked. Is this going to be a problem?”

“No, sir.”

“Okay, we’ll see you at high noon tomorrow then.”

As Jake and the group walked out of the dealership, Brian thought, This is going to be a challenge, but a worthwhile one.

Ever had a tough challenge but you figured out a way to get it done? Let us know about it in the comment section below.

In the next post, find out what happened on Friday. It won’t be what you expect.