Meet the Industry: 10 Questions with Alex Manos of Beverly Hills Car Club

Manos admits he never really envisioned being in charge of such a huge operation, but he’s been loving every minute of it. He is the first to admit that he has never really been able to separate work from pleasure when it comes to buying and selling cars. And that’s the way he likes it.

He recently took a few minutes out of his busy life for the Old Cars "10 Questions" treatment.

OLD CARS: When did all this start for you? What got the ball rolling?

Alex Manos: In the year 2000, I bought myself a 1962 Lincoln Continental sedan from the Lincoln-Mercury service manager … anytime they had extra time on their hands, he’d have the guys there work on his car. Mechanically, the car was flawless, but cosmetically, it needed some love. It was a nice car to start with because it didn’t need much … It was just such a fun car and I started doing some cosmetics on the car, put a new sound system in the car, and put some 20-inch rims on the car — you know, I was much younger at the time — and, you know, it was exciting. And everywhere I drove the car, everybody wanted to buy it. It was remarkable, everywhere I took the car, I would get an offer, almost every day.

I was so in love with the car that I couldn’t sell it … I never wanted to sell it, but in my mind, I was like, ‘If you are in America and you are successful, you own a convertible.' You know now things have changed, but in those days, that’s how it was. The convertible was the one to have.

Finally, I got an offer and thought, 'Well, maybe now I’ll get the convertible,' so I sold the car and I bought a convertible, and I spent a year restoring it. Then I had the car for like 15 minutes, driving down Sunset Boulevard and Crescent Heights, like in a movie, and a guy pulls up next to me and he’s in the backseat and I thought he had a chauffeur. I thought maybe he was a movie star or an athlete … He rolls down his window and yells, ‘How much?’ And I yelled back '$55,000' – this was 2002, a lot of money in those days. And he was like, 'C'mon man!' And I said, 'Let’s pull over,' and we talked for a long time …And he agreed to buy it. So I drove to his house the next day and he cut me a check for the car, and he wound up owning the Sahara Casino in Las Vegas, and said, 'I want to buy all these cars, would you help me?'

So he and I became friends and it sort of started my journey, finding cars, learning about cars and getting cars for him, and learning more about the business from that point.

OC: Did you have a goal in mind about how big you wanted your company to get?

AM: In those days, I was dreaming — I remember — 'Imagine if I could sell one car a month!' That was like my dream. And now probably we sell a car a day. 

At a certain point I started venturing off into other cars. At that point, I was only focusing on Lincolns and American sports cars and classics, and then I started … I always admired European sports cars, but they always felt out of my league in those days, financially. Then I started delving in Mercedes 230, 250, 280 SLs and my love and commitment just kept growing. If I would have known that this was going to be a seven-days-a-week commitment, who knows, I may have chosen something else to do, because this is what I do every day of the year. 

OC: You have a huge facility now, but you started very small. What was the evolution?

AM: I started hiring people to work with. I had mechanic shops I was working with and I'd have two cars, and I’d have one car in the upholstery shop and one car getting painted and they were all over the place. It needed to be more streamlined for it to work, because I wasn’t making much money on the cars. The guys doing all the work were making the money. So then, in 2009, I started hiring people and that’s when we really started growing the company.

In 2008, I had a small location in Whittier, with only two parking spaces. And we quickly outgrew that location and we moved to Downey and in Downey — and this was during the economic crisis of 2009 — there was a huge dealership there, like a Nissan dealership, and it was for lease, and so I called the landlord and said, ‘Hey, I’d like to rent your space’…. In the back there was like 10 mechanic bays and I said, ‘Hey, I’d like to start by maybe renting three of your mechanic bays. There’s nobody here, and if somebody comes here I’ll move.’

So he gave me the three mechanic bays, but they were like two-car garages, so you could fit like five, six cars in these garages, and after a few months, I said, 'Can I get the other one?' So I got that and it was four of them, then later I asked him, ‘Can I get the three on the other side?’ … Next thing you know, we had the whole back of the dealership. We started parking like 25 cars inside and 25 cars outside and it just got to be time to move. And so we moved to the location we’re in now in 2010, in East Los Angeles, and that was like a 13,000-square-foot facility at the time. From there, we just kept expanding, next door to that, and next door to that, and behind that … and now it totals a 140,000-square-foot location, all indoors. 

When we first moved in the 13,000-square-foot room, it was like a lunch-packing area where they packed lunches in those little boxes you see at 7-11. It was a huge warehouse, but there wasn’t much happening in that part of the warehouse. They were moving and we took over that space, and behind that and around the building was a guy who did all the sets for 'America Idol,' so he had all the sets and the props there... Then he moved out and we took over that space, too, and it’s a very [interesting] building with bow-trussed ceilings. We chipped at the concrete that was on all the walls and we brought back all the brick so it was all nicely exposed… and nicely done wood, so the building has a lot of character. 

From the street it’s like, 'Where are we? There’s not going to be much here,’ and then you go inside this small door and it’s just room after room of cars. People come in here on Saturdays like it’s a museum.

OC: How many people do you employ?

AM: We have over 50 employees…. There are so many people doing so many things. We have people wiping down cars and doing all kinds of things. It takes a lot to make it all work. 

OC: Where does all your inventory come from?

AM: It’s become a seven-day-a-week obsession, because yes, I beat the bushes, I'm always calling around asking people if they have anything we’d be interested in. We have so much repeat business now … and a lot of people calling us that were referred to us. They say, 'Hey, you bought my neighbor's car 10 years ago, would you be interested in mine?' Sometimes it’s not something we’re interested in, but sometimes it is, and we stick to the same kind of inventory that I love and have an eye for. Fortunately, what I love, most other people seem to love, too, so it really works.

We don’t do consignment… I just thought, 'Hey, I love these cars, so if they don’t sell, I’m OK with it, because I love them.' If it doesn’t sell, it’s OK because I love to have them around any ways.

OC: Do you have certain areas or niches that you specialize in?

AM: I have a really [wide range of] taste, so I could like a ’65 Thing coupe, or it could be a 1955 Mercedes 300 Gullwing. The price tag doesn’t necessarily equate to my love for them. To me, they are all beautiful.

I have a hard time saying no. I make a conscious effort to have cars from all spectrums, so if somebody is starting out and has $5,000 to spend and maybe have a project with their dad. I also have stuff that’s ready to go for somebody with deeper pockets.

Like a week ago, I had a 1955 Mercedes SL Gullwing, and that car I sold to a collector privately off the market, and that’s an expensive car. It really depends on the day. Everything swings in roundabouts. It could be a $15,000 MGTD and it doesn’t sell, or it sells right away. It’s hard to say what’s going to sell easily, but they all go eventually. 

I love European cars, that’s really my obsession. If it’s a European car and it’s a sports car, I definitely can’t say no.…

OC: You sound like you have a hard time selling sometimes! Do you get seller’s remorse?

AM: Absolutely, it’s hard to sell ’em. Many, many times… I’m not gonna say who, but there was a very famous rock star musician at the dealership in, like, 2012, and I just bought a 1967 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2, and it was an all-original car, super, super low miles and he bought the car from us for $90,000. And about three years ago he wound up selling it at auction for $350,000. That happens, you know.

OC: Have you thought about expanding and opening other locations?

AM: [Another location] is something I’d love to do. Love to do! I haven’t done it yet, but definitely something I wanna do.

It’s business as usual until we open another location. I’d love that to happen, but I’m not in a rush and it happens when it’s supposed to happen.

OC: Do you ever look around at this huge operation and have to pinch yourself wondering how it all came about?

AM: Almost every day! It’s such a blessing. It’s taken a lot of work, and day after day repetition, but thank God that it’s gotten to this place.

I’m always looking for the next find. That’s really my passion and what I love to do. There is nothing more exciting for me than going to somebody’s house, opening up their garage with them and just seeing a car there … I get goose bumps. It’s so exciting!

OC: Do you get to drive all the cars before you sell them? How often do grab a car and go for a joyride?

AM: We have 600 cars at the dealership. I drive as many as I can, but there’s not that many days in a year! I definitely [take joyrides]. I started this as my passion, because it’s what I love to do, so on Saturdays, when we close, I grab a car and I’ll bring it back on Monday morning.

OC: You get to take out any car in the world for a day. What are you taking?

AM: A 1962 Ferrari GTO … They only produced 36 in the world, so if I had the opportunity that would be the car I’d love to drive down the coast and really put the pedal to the metal.

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