WHICH BRINGS US TO TODAY
Mid-July of 2006, Rennstatt, Inc. opened.  The concept is a business with the sole employee  -- me.  This arrangement allows me to have total control of quality and the personal attention I have always strived to deliver to my customers.  While many of the details necessary to start up a business were already in place, there have been far more other forgotten details to attend to than I had imagined.  Slowly and steadily I have been organizing and revamping the facility to suit the needs of my single-owner shop and have been having a ball.  While the work is arduous, the rewards are great.  I have been putting in more hours than ever before, but the difference is that I enjoy what I am doing for the first time in many years.  I look forward to fine-tuning the operation and building additional, loyal clientele. p

BIO - TIMOTHY C. POTT

LIFE TAKES AN ENTREPRENEURIAL TURN
On December 18,1978, 2 former HC mechanics and I, with the help of a private investor and the S.B.A. opened Professional Automotive Technicians in Ann Arbor.  The facility was brand new, built to our specifications and had state of the art equipment.  I became the manager and day-to-day operations guy as the business grew.  We had six bays and six full-time mechanics.  We developed a system of pay that rewarded efficiency, but also provided a level of security for the mechanics.  We also allowed customers to deal directly with the mechanic assigned to their vehicle.  P.A.T. enjoyed an excellent reputation of providing uncompromising service at competitive rates.  One partner left after about eight years and I left at exactly ten years from the opening date, on Dec. 18, 1988.

On June 18, 1988 Eurotec Motors, Inc. opened.  This time I had only one partner with the intent of keeping it small and emphasizing personalized service.  It became clear that the two of us could not cover the overhead by ourselves and soon we hired a third mechanic.  My partner left after about six years and started yet another small facility repairing German and Asian Import Cars.  Gradually Eurotec grew and became almost as large as P.A.T. had been.  Our reputation was excellent and while it wasn’t ever as profitable as I would have liked, I wasn’t losing money either.  However, I had become a manager again and found myself not working on cars very much at all. Managing other mechanics had become frustrating and the pool of talented people seemed to be getting shallower. 

I started looking for a buyer for the business and in the summer of 2006 a final sale took place.  The buyer had other car repair businesses specializing in various import vehicles and wanted a business with German car clientele.  His offer included hiring me as a manager in charge of the German car business, which would keep the name “Eurotec Motors”.  This did not have much appeal to me as it seemed like more of the same and I decided to go my own way once again.  

The buyer did not want to take on the Porsche marque without my assistance and in his move of physical assets he left hoists and other Porsche related equipment at the original Eurotec facility.  My landlord offered me a reduced rent.  Now it seemed the stars had aligned – here was an opportunity to start a very small, highly specialized repair facility specializing only in Porsche cars.

HOME TO ANN ARBOR
Sometimes the best place of all is where you started ... and the micro-bus was getting tired.
1978 Howard Cooper VW, Porsche and Audi, again
- Groomed as the only mechanic in the place to do all the Porsche work
- Porsche Training Schools in Grand Rapids
- Porsche-Audi Service Guild

NOMADIC YEARS
Back and forth, back and forth across the US in my 1967 VW micro-bus, tools and camping equipment aboard.  Buffeted by work opportunities opening up and shutting down, but gathering experience along the way.  Northern CA and Oregon were camping delights.

1975 Leon C. Felton Co., VW dealer, in San Rafael, CA 
- Journeyman mechanic, International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers Union 
1975 Howard Cooper VW, Porsche and Audi in Ann Arbor 
1976 Leon C. Felton Co.in San Rafael, again
1977 R.S. Taylor Corp,, VW, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes Benz small dealership

STARTING OUT
Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI 1 year – academics are not for me!
Michigan Career Institute trade school for auto mechanics in Detroit. Graduated with honors in 1971 or 72ish 
- Apprenticed part time at VW, Porsche fixit shop, Wagenwerkes in Ann Arbor
- Learned basic maintenance/repair procedures working on VW’s and early Porsches, primarily 356’s. 

1972-75 VW dealer H.B. Lantzsch Inc. in Fairfax, VA
- General line mechanic and all basic maintenance work on VW cars  
- Overflow work on Porsches from local Porsche dealership
- VW training schools at the main distributorship

Ann Arbor born and raised, the quintessential Burns Park academic family upbringing. Burns Park, Tappan and Pioneer High schools.