Every month, Counterman’s “Guess the Car” contest challenges our readers to solve a pictorial automotive riddle, for a chance to win $100. And each month, we receive hundreds of responses from aftermarket professionals trying to guess the model of the vehicle depicted.
The correct answer for the May contest is the [Hyundai] Ioniq. The riddle is pictured below:
The winner for May is Jim LeFebvre, a parts counterman at Express Auto Parts in South Saint Paul, Minnesota. LeFebvre provided the correct answer, and the Counterman staff chose him at random.
Now, let’s get to know the May “Guess the Car” champion.
CM: How long have you been working in the auto parts business?
JL: I’ve been doing this for about 30 years.
CM: What do you like most about your job?
JL: Now that I’m working in the office, I’m not on the counter as much. But my favorite part of the job has always been finding the right part for a person who comes in after going to three, four, five different places that couldn’t help them. When you’ve been in the business for this long, you know where you can jump in the books and find stuff. A lot people, if they can’t key it in the computer, they’re not going to know what to do. They have an old Fel-Pro book and an old chassis book that’s 10 years old that they have tucked in a cubby somewhere.
CM: What’s the strangest question a customer ever asked you?
JL: When we used to be Motor Parts Service and I was working in the Hastings [Minnesota] store, we’d get people that owned boats and they thought just because they had a GM small-block that they could use GM tune-up parts. They figured it was OK because it’s a part store and it’s a common car part. They didn’t know that they should be looking at a marina parts store.
CM: What’s the coolest car you’ve ever owned or worked on?
JL: My first car was a ’69 Camaro Rally Sport. I enjoyed that for a first car.
CM: Was it fun to drive?
JL: Yeah. All of our buddies had all of the different types of muscle cars, so we were all buzzing around in either Chargers or Challengers or Tempests or GTOs or Monte Carlos. It’s not like anybody else’s was super special – they were all great.
CM: Do you have any interesting hobbies?
JL: The only thing I do on the side nowadays is cook. My wife enjoys the fact that I like cooking.
CM: What’s your dream car?
JL: It would be a tossup between an old Chevelle and an old 442 – an old muscle car. If I was gonna go with an old import, I’d have to say I’d really like to jam on an old 12-cylinder Jaguar.
For a chance at glory – and $100 – take a stab at this month’s “Guess the Car” contest.
