Meet The September ‘Guess The Car’ Champion: Lauren Thorne

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 September contest is the Nissan Kicks. The winner for September is Lauren Thorne, store manager at O’Reilly Auto Parts in Denver.

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

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

LT: Ten years.

CM: What do you like most about your job?

LT: I like being able to help people, and passing on knowledge on things they really don’t know a whole lot about.

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

LT: O’Reilly has a flux capacitor in the system. So a shop down the street sent one of their new techs to ask us for one. He had no idea exactly what he was coming in to get; they just gave him a list of part numbers, and the flux capacitor was one of the part numbers. We sent him back with a cupcake in a box.

CM: So it was an initiation for the new tech.

LT: It totally was.

CM: Where did the cupcake come from?

LT: It happened to be one of my employee’s birthdays, and I always buy my guys cupcakes if they work on their birthday. So we had a whole tray of cupcakes. We just carefully wrapped it in a box and sent it with him as their part. It was pretty funny.

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

LT: I’d have to say my dad’s 1970 Chevelle.

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

LT: Making memories with my kids.

CM: What’s your dream car?

LT: Probably the [1970 Chevelle]. It was supposed to be my first car but it got wrecked. I’ll own one in my lifetime one day.