Meet the March 'Guess the Car' Champion: Rebecca Long

Every month, Counterman’s “Guess the Car” contest challenges our readers to solve an 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 March contest is the Honda Pilot. The winner for March is Rebecca Long, a counter person at Pinedale Auto Supply in Big Piney, Wyoming.

Now, let’s get to know the March “Guess the Car” champion.

CM: For those of us who aren’t familiar, could you tell us about Big Piney?

RL: We’re known as “the Ice Box of the Nation” because we’ve had so many days that are 40 below zero, and some even colder.

Big Piney has about 500 people, and then there’s a small town about a half-mile away that’s called Marbleton, and it has about 500 people. Our store is actually located in Marbleton, but they share the same zip code, so everybody automatically refers to Big Piney. We’re the only auto parts store in town.

CM: How long have you been working in the auto parts business?

RL: Twelve and a half years.

CM: What do you like most about your job?

RL: Definitely the people. We have a nice rapport with our customers.

CM: What’s the strangest question a customer has asked you?

RL: Here lately, more often than not, somebody will come in and ask for a part, and then as they’re leaving, they tell us they’ll YouTube how to do it. And then you see them again later. Not anything against YouTube, but it’s hard to learn how to change a power-steering pump from a 30-second video.

CM: Do they come back because they end up breaking the part?

RL: It’s not that they break it, but they can’t necessarily install it based on a 30-second video. So they have more technical questions, and those of us who have experience can make suggestions, and if it’s beyond us, then we recommend a local mechanic or a shop.

CM: What’s the coolest car you’ve ever owned or worked on?

RL: The one that stands out in my mind is a 1986 Fiero. I had a calendar of Fieros when I was younger, and then I was able to get one, but not until later in the 1990s when I found one.

I no longer have that car, but it was definitely fun for all of us on our roads with the switchbacks, and how it hugged the ground. I just felt invincible in that little car. It was like a little rocket.

CM: Do you have any interesting hobbies? What do you do for fun?

RL: My husband and my family and I like to horn hunt.

CM: What is horn hunting?

RL: It’s where we go out and find the antlers that have been dropped by wild game. It’s kind of like a competition, and you have a strategy, and you get to spend time outdoors.

There’s actually a horn-hunting season that starts May 1, and by then most of the animals have shed their horns naturally, and then we go and scout them and find them and pick them up and a lot of people like to collect them, and then sometimes people do sell them.

CM: What’s your dream car?

RL: Right now it’s the Jeep Gladiator – the brand-new one. I am so excited over that. I probably won’t get one, but it is awesome.

RELATED: