Continental Autosport: In Touch With Its Environment
Serving the Need for Exclusivity, Smiles Guaranteed

Continental Autosports, on the western outskirts of Chicago, has a long and proud history of serving the people of Illinois; the company was set up more than 45 years ago, specializing in servicing British cars such as Jaguar and MG. The company was soon involved with Fiat, and first became a Maserati dealer in the early 1970s. When we met company President John Weinberger and Sales Manager Jeff DiSandro, we wanted to know if there was a secret to their success over such a sustained period.

“Well, firstly we don’t pay too much attention to the volume of cars we can sell; we have always been service-oriented, we are always looking to keep our customers happy, and we believe that will pay for itself in the long run,” John told us. “Part of how we set about keeping our customers happy is by striving for true consistency across all that we do, and having long-serving staff is a big part of that. Our service manager has been here for twenty years – and so have a couple of his staff; our parts manager has been here 30 years, two of our service technicians have 20 years of service with us, and so on. Having long-serving staff means you get a consistency of service, it means your staff have true in-depth knowledge, and it also gives clients confidence, because they are always dealing with the same people.”

“It all comes down to passion, and being happy in your work,” he continued. “If you like what you do, and you’re happy when you’re working, then you’re happy when you go home to your spouse. When you’re happy at home then your spouse is happy, which makes you happier still, you’re happy to come back in the morning, and the whole thing feeds on itself. Why would you want to go anywhere else if you’re happy where you are? My philosophy is that I don’t want anyone to have stress – stress is the worst thing for a person. If my people don’t have stress then they go home and they’re not stressed. I think that’s what keeps them here; we have a no-stress environment, we have a fun environment, we do a lot of racing, we go on rallies, go to car shows, we’re in the sport. I think that rather than work at a Chevrolet or Chrysler store, these people prefer to work at a Maserati store.”

Jeff is one of the people who have been with John for a number of years. “John first hired me back in 1980, when I sold Hondas for five or six years,” he explained. “I moved on to Mercedes, and worked at a couple of larger-volume dealerships. It came full circle when John brought me back here in 2004. There’s a good feel here; the volume of cars is clearly much lower than a ‘mainstream’ dealership, and that means you know your customers. The way we deal with our clients is much more about a long-term relationship than just selling them a car, making a sale to hit a quota. One thing about people who buy this type of car is that when they find a place that feels right, where there is a good fit and there isn’t the feeling of a typical dealership, they loosen up and they buy other things. They’ll buy something and when they feel the need for a change then they are comfortable coming back; or if their needs change and they want to go from a two-door to a four-door, they know they can come here and be treated like a friend, not just as another potential sale.”

“People feel comfortable here, which is how we want them to feel; if they’re comfortable, then they will be happy to come here for repeat business, which is nicer for them and for us, and the whole thing works as it should,” continued Jeff. “We just work to find things to keep their confidence – and it all comes from the start of the relationship and the continuation of it. There’s the track side of things, too – some people want a car they can take on the track, and a lot of our clients are into going to the track. John is a founding member of the private and exclusive Autobahn track south of here in Joliet, and some of our clients are members there too. We put on track events a couple of times a year, get our customers out there.”

“What Jeff said is absolutely right – that it’s all about making people feel comfortable,” John said. “Here’s an example: we have a lounge area, with sofas, a coffee machine, magazines and a TV. Right now there’s someone over there sitting watching TV; he’s not here to buy a car, or buy anything – he’s here watching TV because he likes to come here. Now, he’s been a customer of ours for about ten years, but we’d like to think that we can make this a welcoming place for anyone, not just clients. We want this place to be a go-to place, it has to have a friendly face, and if we don’t make them smile by the time they leave here, then we’re not doing the right job.”

The showroom has two levels, the main floor overlooking an area where pre-owned cars are on display; next to that is the service area, which was set to expand when we visited. “We have just added six bays to our service facility – because obviously, as we sell more Maseratis, there are more cars out there requiring service,” explained John. “We’re doing some restoration work on old cars, we’re happy to service the older cars, and we’re looking to take on a couple of young mechanics and bring them on.”

As we spoke to the two of them it became obvious that John is the driving force behind the dealership – his enthusiasm for Maserati shone through. “I just love working with these beautiful cars; and I have a passion for the older cars because I was a racer – and when I was racing I couldn’t afford them,” laughed John. “These days we do a bit better; myself, my wife and son all race in the vintage racing series, and the service guys are our pit-crew. It helps make it fun, and if someone brings in an older car we jump on it, whether it’s here for service or for trade. For me, it’s part of the mystique of a Maserati dealership, you have to be able to show that you understand the brand, its history and heritage – especially the racing heritage! In the past few years Maserati has done extremely well in the FIA GT Championship; people read the books, they see the race reports, they see all the success and they want to be a part of it.”

John’s passion and enthusiasm for Maserati shines through in just about everything he does; the day we met him, he drove to the dealership in his gorgeous A6GCS race car. His example dates from 1954, and twice raced in the Mille Miglia; in John’s hands it has been used in numerous race meetings, including the Monterey Historics. The dealership has a Honda Ridgeline truck; not only is it painted in classic Maserati colors, white with a double blue stripe running down the body, but it has a Maserati Trident in the center of the grille. And while the exclusivity of Maserati is something we often mention, right inside the front door of the dealership is one Maserati we have literally never seen before in North America – a Maserati motorcycle.

We wondered whether John’s passion and enthusiasm made him a hard taskmaster, but Jeff was quick to reassure us on that score. “You know, it all works perfectly, and I give John credit for that because he’s got an atmosphere here, with all of us, where we’re not looking over our shoulders, we’re doing what we need to do – we’re not being micro-managed, we’re just doing what’s right, we think clearly and everything just flows, starting from the top,” he said. “I run the store for John and I’ll give him a heads-up on different things. He will come in here and tweak something, or ask me a question, suggest something. It works well, because the day-to-day stuff keeps me at my desk a lot, where he’s like a ship’s captain, surveying everything from the bridge and adjusting the course. Or he’ll see something coming and make changes – it’s a good relationship and we complement each other, I do the day-to-day stuff while he takes care of the bigger picture. I do look at the big picture in terms of relationships with people, because that’s what it’s all about – if you treat people right and they have a good feeling, then things will work your way. If you do not treat them right, if you treat them in a derogatory way or if you’re selfish, then sooner or later that approach will run you over. I firmly believe that, and I know John does too.”

Having seen for ourselves the relaxing and friendly atmosphere of the dealership, we asked what were the important factors for people buying a Maserati, and how Continental Autosports set about bringing people in. “Both the Quattroporte and GranTurismo are extremely exclusive, obviously; a good number of the people who come in to look at the Quattroporte are doing so because they’re driving a BMW 7-series or Mercedes S-class, and they’re looking for something different, a little more exotic – they want something not everyone else has,” Jeff told us. “Even though the market was down in 2008, BMW still sold more than 12,000 7-series and Mercedes sold almost 18,000 S-class cars – they sold more S-classes in a month than Maserati sold Quattroportes for the entire year. People are coming in here to buy something that is different, to buy something that is more exotic. They are more into the style, the form and the artsy look of the car, they’re into the better quality of the materials – they want something different, more exclusive and more upscale, and that’s what we’re here for, across the whole product line.”

“When it comes to persuading people that they should consider Maserati, you have to go out to the public, the public don’t come in – with our location, we don’t get any people just walking past,” John said.” So you take the car to the people; we provided a car for the use of the conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, we put a car outside the Park Hyatt hotel, we do a hole-in-one competition at the local country club, we’ve done a wine tasting – there’s a lot of extra-curricular things we do to have the cars seen. We couldn’t do it without the dedication of my staff – they don’t work regular 9-5 hours, they sometimes give up weekends to do events, and so on. Sometimes it gets overwhelming, but you just have to keep at it. You can’t do it with just print advertising – it’s too impersonal, and 99% of the people who see it aren’t interested anyway, so it’s just a waste of money.

“One thing we’ve done for the past couple of years is being involved in the Italian Style event at Navy Pier; it’s organized by the Italian American Chamber of Commerce Midwest, and it features all kinds of Italian goods and products,” Jeff told us. “Even the Modena Chamber of Commerce has attended, to promote the city as a tourist destination. We have a car displayed there, it’s a huge event for Italian culture, so naturally we’re heavily involved – each year we’re doing more and more for that event. There’s a gala on the Saturday evening – last year we drove two cars there and had them on display in the ballroom.”

A friendly, welcoming environment, knowledgeable, long-serving staff and a president who is a true enthusiast for all things Maserati – Continental Autosports makes a fine destination, whether you are looking for a truly exclusive automobile or just somewhere to relax and absorb the ambience. Add in the gorgeous Quattroporte and stunning GranTurismo, and it seems to us to be the ideal destination.