41 YEARS OF
HISTORY: Built Ford
Proud.
Larry Wind wasn't born into
the car business, but he was born in Detroit
with an inherent interest in automobiles. His father had
worked for Ford
building bombers during World War II, and his mother's father had
emigrated to
the United States to work for Henry Ford for five dollars a day and the
hope of
a better life for his family. Larry was the first Wind to
graduate
college in 1965 from the University of Notre Dame. He
immediately
accepted a position with Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, and eventually
Ford
assigned him to their Pittsburgh
region. Â
After 10 years of service
to Ford and after falling in love with Pittsburgh,
Larry decided to follow his heart into the "retail" side of the
business. He became the sales manager of Pascoe Motor Company,
a
longstanding Ford dealer that had been in business in Carnegie since
Larry's
grandfather was building Henry Ford's Model T. It was there
that Larry
met John "Jack" Woltz, the general manager, who had been a Marine
pilot in World War
II. Â
In the meantime, Larry
met and married his wife, Cindy, who grew up in the
Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Her father was a
City of
Pittsburgh firefighter and her mother worked at the world-famous H.J.
Heinz
factory.
During the construction
of what was to be the new, state-of-the-art (and long
overdue) Pascoe Ford on newly developed property that had once been a
NASCAR
dirt race track in neighboring Heidelberg, Bud Pascoe decided to sell
the
business to Jack and Larry, and Woltz & Wind Ford was
established in 1979
at Raceway Plaza. After four years of exponential growth, they
partnered
together in a second location in nearby Washington, Pennsylvania, where
Washington Ford was established in
1983.
Larry and Cindy would
welcome two children into their home: Â first a
daughter, Lindsay, and then a son, Dan. After that, Larry
would purchase
Jack's interest in both locations; in 1992, Woltz & Wind Ford,
and in 1995,
Washington
Ford. Â
Dan is now a partner in
both locations with his father. He graduated with
his bachelor's degree in automotive marketing and management, and also
holds a
master's degree in business, both from Northwood University (located in
his
father's home state of Michigan). Dan also spent two summers
interning
for Ford in Dearborn, and one summer interning for New York State's
largest
automotive group.Â
Â
Each facility has
undergone many expansions (both on-site and on acquired
off-site properties) and multiple renovations. In recent
years,
Washington Ford's showroom and administrative offices were rebuilt from
the
ground-up--a project that Larry has cited as the culmination of his 50+
year
career.
Presently, Larry enjoys
staying actively engaged on the pulse of the automotive
business, the only one that he has known for over 55 years. He
relies on
his son and his long-tenured team to handle many of the daily tasks that
he was
accustomed to doing for over 40 of those years. He has
nicknamed himself
"Lucky Larry" and truly feels fortunate for the opportunities that
presented themselves along the way. He often reminds team
members that
they can only be successful by treating each other and their customers
the way
that they would want to be treated, one interaction at a
time.
In summary, there is
really only one way to describe Larry, his family, and the
entire Woltz & Wind Ford team: Â Built Ford
Proud.
Â