Welcome to Must Read, where we single out the best stories from around the automotive universe and beyond. Today we have reports from Business Insider, Playboy and Speedhunters.
Top Auto Execs Reveal The First Car They Ever Owned – Business Insider
Head of BMW North America Ludwig Willisch didn't start out with anything like a 2002. He had a VW Beetle. That could mean he's very qualified to work at Jalopnik.
"In my generation, the probability of driving a Beetle is very high, because at that time Beetle had about 50% market share," he explained. "Especially for poor students, it had close to 100% market share."
A Candid Conversation with Gawker's Nick Denton – Playboy
Full disclosure: I was not contractually obligated to put this in Must Read. Whatever you think of Gawker and Nick Denton, you need to read his interview, especially if you're fascinated with business, journalism and Steve Jobs.
PLAYBOY: Did it bother you, knowing that one of your heroes pretty much hated your guts?
DENTON: He does his job; we do our job. His perfect thing requires both excellence in engineering and user interface and absolute control of the marketing process so that when he goes onstage, his product is a surprise. And our purpose is at odds with his purpose. Our purpose is to get information out quickly according to our schedule, not according to his schedule. So there's a conflict. It doesn't mean we don't respect him. We did respect him.
#IAMTHESPEEDHUNTER: Meet Luke Huxham… – Speedhunters
Luke sounds like an interesting character, as car fascination came later in life.
My name's Luke Huxham, I'm 27 years old and currently living and working full-time as a freelance director/cinematographer under the name of Maiham Media in Japan. Born in New Zealand, I was like most kids – I enjoyed climbing trees, playing with ninja turtles and causing havoc. I can honestly say I was never into cars when I was young. I spent most of my days skateboarding with friends; cars were only needed to get from one skate location to the next.
Photo: Getty Images