Managing a fleet that changes week to week
Richard Pickering enjoys being keeper of the keys and has no plans to retire
In May 1961, on a Sunday morning in Toronto, Richard Pickering’s life changed forever when he entered a local variety store and paid 35 cents to purchase the latest copy of Canada Track and Traffic Magazine.
Seeing the cover spread of the Jaguar XK-E — the E-Type — hooked him on cars. Through the course of time, Pickering has turned his passion into a profession.
Pickering, 68, is the owner of the Mississauga-based BHG Media Fleet, a company that is a conduit for car manufacturers and media looking to drive the newest vehicles for review purposes. He is associated with Jaguar-Land Rover, Ford-Lincoln, Nissan-Infiniti, General Motors, Mazda, Mitsubishi and Maserati.
As Pickering takes a stroll down memory lane, he recalls the fascination he felt looking at the Jaguar XK-E that had just been unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show.
“I was just riveted by the appearance of this thing,” he said. “It was the most aerodynamic, spectacular, appealing-looking thing, and of course at the age of 13 I would imagine the aphrodisiac affect that such a car may have on the high school cheerleader squad. All its specs were over the moon.”
He would go on to regularly purchase car magazines, studying the specs and stats about automobiles.
“I was just starting to come of age when it’s cool to know something about cars and that enthusiasm just expanded very rapidly,” he added. “We’re not talking about toy cars anymore. We’re talking about the real thing. Having grown up in the ’60s, that put me around the end of that kind of British roadster sports car era and the beginning of most of the American muscle car era. That just became a big, big part of my lifestyle and it stuck with me my whole life.”
He impressed upon his father the need to buy the Jaguar E-Type, but was given a quick lesson in economics and car manufacturing: The car cost about $6,000, which would be the average yearly income at the time. A Cadillac could be purchased for the same amount and it had room for the entire family as opposed to a foreign sports car with just two seats.
“That’s just the way it was,” he said. “It was this cultural-identity deal. I guess it just stuck with me for life.”
He bought his first car at the age of 20 — a brand new 1969 four-speed 340 Barracuda that cost about $3,450.
“I kept on thinking about buying a used car, but I had access to some cars in the interim,” he said. “The ’Cuda was kind of like what they were running in the Shell 4000 Rally in those days, so it was cool and it was fast. I scared the life out of myself enough times to remember.”
It would escalate into other cars and other forms of engine machinery, riding motorcycles and flying airplanes. Pickering even dabbled a bit in grassroots car racing with a 1968 Z/28 Camaro he rebuilt.
“I got my fingers severely dirty for a few years and did the same thing with motorcycles,” he said. “It was avocational for a good part of my life.”
He studied business administration at Centennial College and worked in an import/distribution textile business his father had started after the Second World War. He left that after a while to work in the bar/restaurant industry as a manager, including a stint at Scotland Yard when it first opened on the Esplanade. He then became involved with a company that franchised popular commercial restaurants.
“I rapidly learned, through hard experience management and motivational skills, how to get people acting as a team,” he said.
But as he was approaching his 40’s, he realized the restaurant business no longer suited his lifestyle. He’d had fun, but now he hoped to transition his skills to something that had to do with cars.
He ventured into the auto detailing business by launching Beverly Hills Fine Automotive Detailing and hoped to create some franchises, but quickly found that such a business had its limitations in Canada.
So, he focused on the corporate end of business, and in 1991 began interacting with major Canadian car companies on the auto show circuit. In particular, he focused on producing an annual display of classic cars at the Toronto International Auto Show. He did that for almost 20 years, the last one in 2010 when he arranged an appearance by the late automotive legend Carroll Shelby.
“I thought that was a good time to draw the line (and retire from show business),” he said. “I thought it was never going to get better than this one. It gave me a great deal of familiarity with vintage cars and the vintage-car community in doing that kind of stuff over a long period of time, in particular having a business card that said: Richard Pickering, Producer Classic Collection, Canadian International Auto Show. That opened a lot of doors. That was a great round of expertise. Part of the fun of it over those years was I got to display a number of E-Type Jaguars, so it was kind of full circle, and other much more sophisticated stuff than that.
“Now, I’m completely specialized in press fleet management and I love it. I get to work fairly reasonable business hours most of the time. I’ve got some great people that work with me and we get to work with the automobile media. It’s all good. I’m a guy that’s been around the industry for a long time. I enjoy and am kind of proud of having a high level of credibility with the decision makers within these companies and that they entrust me with the care of their latest vehicles.”
Business is good, and at the age of 68 he has no plans to retire.
“Why would I do that when the manufacturers keep throwing their latest new cars at me?” he said with a laugh. “That would be no fun. Sitting at home and looking out the window, nah, I don’t think so.”
By the way, he still has the Canada Track and Traffic Magazine from 55 years ago. It’s in pristine condition. Now that’s a true car lover.