Tony Estes
Enthusiast
My heart-felt thanks to all the terrific Viper owners out there who
have helped make my job so enormously satisfying for the last five years,
and to the VCA Officers who have placed me in such rare company as Bob Lutz
and Ron Smith with my Honorary Lifetime Viper Club of America membership. I
wanted to share the words of my retirement announcement message with you,
and then add some personal comments. First, the message I sent out to my
work colleagues and your VCA Officers the day before yesterday:
************************************************************************************************************************
"After 37 years in the Assembly business, I have elected to retire at
the end of this month. The last five years as Plant Manager at Conner
Avenue Assembly have been the most challenging, and, at the same time, the
most enjoyable years of my entire career. It has been my good fortune to
have been associated with a really first-class, dedicated, hard-working
salary and hourly workforce at Conner, and together we've made terrific
progress in all the areas that really count, from customer satisfaction to
cost, and all the other important measurements inbetween - and we've had
some fun doing it.
I also want to recognize the efforts of all our partners in both our
internal and external extended enterprise, and I thank you on behalf of the
Conner Team for all the work you've done to enable us to meet the needs and
high expectations of our truly unique customer base and VCA membership. I'm
sure you will continue to support the Conner Team in the future, with
renewed vigor, as the Team approaches the launch in April of assembly of
the Viper engine, and the pre-production and launch of the new 2003 Viper
RT/10.
As most of you know, I have a number of highly-active outside
interests related to both build and restoration of classic performance
cars, and I've decided to take advantage of this unique opportunity to
transition from 37 years of full-time work to pursue many more years of
full-time hobby.
Thanks for all your help, for a really terrific last five years, and
the best of luck to all of you with the upcoming launches.
Sincerely,
John Hinckley "
*****************************************************************************************************************************
On a personal note, the last five years have been really terrific - as
a "car guy" who goes back to the days in 1961 when I ran a Top Fueler and
rebuilt nitro-soaked blowers in motel bathtubs (sorry, Holiday Inns -
ruined a lot of towels), performance cars and the high-performance people
who surround them have always been a big part of my life. I will always
value the great friendships that have come from my association with the
Viper Nation, and I'll remember you all as my part-time hobby becomes
full-time in my new "Garage Mahal", as some have called it. I've spent the
last five years with the best workforce in the business, building the most
exciting products in the industry, and no "car guy" could ask for more than
that. I'll be back from time to time, and for VOI.7 for sure, as our new
home is just up the road. Thanks again for the good times, and I'm thrilled
to be the recipient of my Honorary Lifetime VCA membership - it will match
up perfectly with my "Get Into Conner Free For Life" card!
See You at VOI.7,
John
have helped make my job so enormously satisfying for the last five years,
and to the VCA Officers who have placed me in such rare company as Bob Lutz
and Ron Smith with my Honorary Lifetime Viper Club of America membership. I
wanted to share the words of my retirement announcement message with you,
and then add some personal comments. First, the message I sent out to my
work colleagues and your VCA Officers the day before yesterday:
************************************************************************************************************************
"After 37 years in the Assembly business, I have elected to retire at
the end of this month. The last five years as Plant Manager at Conner
Avenue Assembly have been the most challenging, and, at the same time, the
most enjoyable years of my entire career. It has been my good fortune to
have been associated with a really first-class, dedicated, hard-working
salary and hourly workforce at Conner, and together we've made terrific
progress in all the areas that really count, from customer satisfaction to
cost, and all the other important measurements inbetween - and we've had
some fun doing it.
I also want to recognize the efforts of all our partners in both our
internal and external extended enterprise, and I thank you on behalf of the
Conner Team for all the work you've done to enable us to meet the needs and
high expectations of our truly unique customer base and VCA membership. I'm
sure you will continue to support the Conner Team in the future, with
renewed vigor, as the Team approaches the launch in April of assembly of
the Viper engine, and the pre-production and launch of the new 2003 Viper
RT/10.
As most of you know, I have a number of highly-active outside
interests related to both build and restoration of classic performance
cars, and I've decided to take advantage of this unique opportunity to
transition from 37 years of full-time work to pursue many more years of
full-time hobby.
Thanks for all your help, for a really terrific last five years, and
the best of luck to all of you with the upcoming launches.
Sincerely,
John Hinckley "
*****************************************************************************************************************************
On a personal note, the last five years have been really terrific - as
a "car guy" who goes back to the days in 1961 when I ran a Top Fueler and
rebuilt nitro-soaked blowers in motel bathtubs (sorry, Holiday Inns -
ruined a lot of towels), performance cars and the high-performance people
who surround them have always been a big part of my life. I will always
value the great friendships that have come from my association with the
Viper Nation, and I'll remember you all as my part-time hobby becomes
full-time in my new "Garage Mahal", as some have called it. I've spent the
last five years with the best workforce in the business, building the most
exciting products in the industry, and no "car guy" could ask for more than
that. I'll be back from time to time, and for VOI.7 for sure, as our new
home is just up the road. Thanks again for the good times, and I'm thrilled
to be the recipient of my Honorary Lifetime VCA membership - it will match
up perfectly with my "Get Into Conner Free For Life" card!
See You at VOI.7,
John
