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Meet the Zims Autotechnik Staff |
| At Zims Autotechnik, we are proud to have assembled some of the finest automotive talent in the country. Many people apply to work at Zims, yet few are accepted. We hope you will take a moment to read about some of them. |
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Al Zim - Owner |
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My affliction with cars began at an early age, and I have suffered through my entire adult live without being able to exorcize myself. As a teenager I succumbed to all stunts that were possible to do with my fathers Edsel, and then Ford Falcon. Late in my freshman year my parents gave me the car of my choice - a used 1959 Volvo PV544. There was only one sports car shop in Wilmington, Ohio but the owner was a nice guy and let me hang around the place until I began working for him. By the fall of 1962 I was allowed to service Porsche automobiles.
I continued working full time and going to school full time, graduating in the summer of 1964. I spent two years at Miami University (Ohio) obtaining a Masters Degree in Personnel Management. Even though the shop was 40 miles away I still managed to own two race cars, a homebuilt Formula V, a Porsche Speedster, the Volvo tow car and a Porsche powered VW. 
During the middle of August, 1966 my application for an advanced degree was accepted by North Texas State University (now The University of North Texas) The last week of August we left the east coast driving my “not so” rusty 1956 DeSoto towing the Volvo. Soon I purchased a 1962 356 Karmann Hard Top and a Speedster.
Completing my course work in June 1968, I was immediately hired by Tarrant County Junior College. We purchased a house with a large detached garage. I had space for a half dozen cars and soon the back yard was full. After joining PCA and SCCA, I became a member of Maverick region PCA.
In 1970 Ed Mayo, my college roommate and recent convert to Porsche, came down for Christmas. Within a year we were moonlighting. Our neighbors did not appreciate our car activities and with prodding from the city we moved to our first shop. In 1978 my father loaned me the money to purchase the land for our current shop. During the first week of September 1979 we moved in.
The 356 vehicles are still the love of my life. I own a 1957 and 1961 coupe. I also have a 1974 VW Thing, 3 older 911’s and two BMW motorcycles. Currently I am a Trustee for the 356 Registry, a 45 year member of Porsche Club of America, and help maintain our local 356 Tub Club.
It is important for me as a business owner to be at the business every day and easily available to our customers and employees.
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Bret Zim - Administrative |
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Bret has been with us since 2004, taking care of all of the financial matters. Prior to working for us, Bret was a Neuroscience PhD Candidate at the University of North Texas, where he researched the electrophysiology and pharmacology of neuronal ensembles cultured on microelectrode arrays. He also serves as our de facto IT guy, keeping our computers and office equipment in top shape so the rest of us can focus on helping our clients. Bret is a dedicated soccer player and avid backcountry outdoorsman. |
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Bob Pinkston - Service Manager |
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Bob has been with Zims since 2003. His first car was a 1957 Porsche Speedster, and when his hitch in the Army took him to Germany, he learned an appreciation for a couple of other German makes; BMW and Mercedes Benz. Bob has been in the Dallas European auto repair field for over forty years. Name a level in the automotive industry and he’s been there; working for BMW of North America, new car dealerships and independents. Away from work, Bob likes restoring and modifying his own collector cars. |
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Darren Caswell - Technician |
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Darren has been with the company since 1984 and is our most experienced technician. He is a skilled diagnostician and performs all of our engine and transmission rebuilding. Not content to rely on his past accomplishments, Darren regularly attends continuing education courses to further his knowledge of today’s complex automobiles. He also serves as a peer advisor for several trade association information boards. In his spare time Darren enjoys camping and hunting. |
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Jeremy Mahon - Technician |
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Jeremy, a Certified Airframe and Powerplant technican, was working as a Lexus dealer technician before joining the Zims family in 2005. Our best diagnostician, Jeremy frequently attends European automotive training seminars and schools to keep up with ever changing automotive technology. He also serves as a peer advisor in several automotive technician forums. In his spare time, Jeremy is an avid mountain bike and motorcycle enthusiast |
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Douglas Maxey - Technician |
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Doug has been with Zims since 2005, but started his mechanical career working for a racing school and their race team; handling everything from maintaining and servicing a fleet of race cars to on track duties and pit support. After a short time he moved into the cockpit and became driving instructor, teaching everything from racing skills to accident avoidance. Doug still instructs a couple of weekends a month while being involved with his own racing. His unique racing background makes Doug our best alignment and handling technician. He also holds a black belt and teaches Kenpo karate. |
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Dennis Butts - Parts Manager |
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Dennis has been with Zims since 1979. He maintains and controls our extensive parts inventory, coordinating the flow of parts from nearly four hundred different vendors. He has also developed several specialty parts solutions used by other vendors throughout our industry. His thirty-something years of experience are an incredible wealth of information for our clients and something no other parts vendor can match. In his off time, Dennis enjoys spending time with his family and working on his ’32 Ford High Boy. |
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Kirk Pruitt - Parts Department |
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Kirk has been with Zims since 1981. The company was participating in a co-operative program with a local high school to provide real life work skills to students. He has come a long way since then; in addition to his duties in the parts department, Kirk maintains our online parts catalog and takes care of our national and international advertising campaigns. When not at work, Kirk enjoys spending time with his family and managing his over-35 baseball (hardball) team. |
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Mark DeSouza - Warehouse Manager |
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Mark handles all incoming and outgoing packages for us, which is far more complicated than it sounds. Zims is an international shipper, so Mark’s knowledge of international shipping carriers and regulations make things run smoothly for clients abroad as well as clients closer to home. Fortunately for us, Mark has the requisite skills to manage our diverse parts inventory, keep our flow of shipping supplies going and maintain our shipping and receiving log. Away from work, Mark enjoys working on his vintage Volkswagen. |
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