Meet Our Staff
Justin Cole - Primary Investor, President, and Sales Manager
Justin has loved cars since he was very young. His favorite toys as a boy were always model cars. He remembers attending car shows with his dad when he was a toddler. By the time Justin turned four he was going through piles of his father's car magazines enjoying the pictures and reading what he could. By the time he was six he was obsessed with go karts and being able to identify any car that a friend or family member pointed on the road.
By the age of eight Justin had developed an extensive knowledge base on Corvettes, Porsches, and many other cars. By age ten Justin was writing and placing ads in the Dallas Morning News for his dad in order to assist him in the selling of his Porsches. Justin's first business, JJC’s Landscape by Design was a product of the news his dad informed him of right after his twelfth birthday. That news was that Justin was going to have to pay for his first car.
Justin started JJC’s Landscape by Design by mowing both his parent's lawn and neighbor's lawns. The business grew very quickly and by the time Justin was 14 he had made enough money to buy his first car. The car he bought was a 1968 Ford Mustang fastback that needed a body off restoration. Justin's parents allowed him to go ahead and buy the car even though he was too young to drive so he could restore it and have it ready to drive by the time he turned 16. Justin did all of the restoration work himself except for the engine machining and the paint. After completing the restoration on the 1968 Mustang Justin was ready to look for another car to restore.
He sold that car for a profit and purchased a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle Super Sport 396 which was in comparable condition to that of the mustang when he had bought it. Justin went through the same restoration process with this car and made money when he sold it. Since selling the Chevelle, Justin has done extensive restoration/customization work on other cars he has owned which have included a 1965 Ford Mustang Coupe, a fully customized 1968 Chevrolet pickup, a customized 1996 Ford Mustang Cobra, and others.
While in junior high and high school Justin found enough time to start on school sports teams, restore some of the cars previously mentioned, and grow JJC Landscape by Design to a very successful landscaping and property maintenance management company in north Dallas, Texas. Justin has worked professionally in auto sales since 2003. Justin will also soon be a University Of Wisconsin School Of Business Alumni.
Bruce Cole - Primary Investor and Chief Consultant
Bruce Cole has spent, for the most part, his entire career as an accountant consulting on very challenging accounting issues while serving some of the largest companies in our country. As a professional he started collecting cars in 1974 when he bought a 1966 Austin Healy 2000 for $2,000. It didn’t look great but it ran well. As his budget would allow he slowly restored the car and then sold it for a profit. He would have kept it, but at the time it was too hard to find replacement parts. In the 80’s he began collecting Jaguar XK- 150s and 1966-7 big block Corvettes. Not being exceedingly patient the Jaguars did try his soul. But the XK-150’s were among some of the most beautiful cars ever designed and they had a great racing heritage. Jaguar won the Lemans six times in the ‘50s.
The big block Vettes were unsophisticated but could have competed with some of today’s cars if they had reinforced frames that could get all the torque generated by the huge 427s to the rear wheels. The ’67 Vettes looked great and may have sounded even better with their chrome side pipes. They were icons of their era and of the industry in general. Bruce would challenge anyone to find a large bookstore that doesn’t have at least two large books dedicated exclusively to Corvettes. America has had a love affair with its classic cars for decades. This love affair has been rekindled with the reemergence of quality collectible cars.
“His fascination with cars came quite naturally,” his mother once commented, “genetics I suppose, every male on his father’s side of the family was hooked on cars.” After a very successful career in public accounting Bruce has returned to a hobby that has preoccupied his mind for decades, a hobby which has turned into a multibillion dollar industry. He did take a break from public accounting by walking to the other side of the street and served as a CFO for two different companies, to learn how to run a business as opposed to how to account for its transactions.
Bruce knows the automobile dealership industry as he has served as an auditor and consultant to some of the largest dealerships in the country. But automobile dealerships just provide, for the most part, a means of transportation, with varying degrees of opulence and performance purchased as options. Benchmark Classics provides not just a means to get from point A to Point B. More importantly it allows each generation an opportunity to relive the “good ole days” in a car that will attract everyone’s attention as it slowly drives by, allowing everyone the time to soak up the vision and to vicariously experience the ride.
Pete Driese - Paint and Body Specialist
Pete Driese is a world-renown Paint and Body Specialist from Reedsburg, Wisconsin. He specializes in murals, custom paint, airbrushing, and pin striping. Prior to working at Benchmark Classics, he worked as a painter at Blue-Chip Street Rods. Pete’s esteemed career began at Koehler Signs at the age of 16 where he learned the basics of sign painting. Pete got into bodywork about 12 years ago through his own custom restorations. Since then, his body work and restorations have earned cars numerous awards such as Best of Show and Best Paint at popular car shows such as Good Guys, NSRA, and other local Wisconsin car shows. In addition to working on cars, he has also done work on Harleys and Custom Bikes.
Tim Marotz - Head Mechanic
Tim is a Master Mechanic, specializing in drive trains and electrical work. Tim began work as a mechanic right out of school in 1977, but he started tinkering with motors much earlier. Before his 15th birthday, Tim had already built his first motor by reading how-to books. Though it didn't run perfectly the first time, he knew where he went wrong; he forgot to clean the ring grooves. At his first mechanics job at Zimbrick Buick, he was mentored by Cal Wilhelm. More recently, Tim worked as a service manager for a large car dealership, where he was the head of service, parts, and detail. Tim has worked at numerous other shops in WI as a lead mechanic.
Rich Schulenberg - Body Specialist
Rich Schulenberg is our Body Specialist in our Restoration Services division. Rich began his restoration career in his father’s garage working on MOPARs in the 1960s. His favorite car back then was his uncle’s 1968 Coronet 500 Convertible. He also raced a 1971 Satellite at Columbus 151 Speedway and Capital Super Speedway. In addition to his years of restoration experience, he has worked in the computer industry, and built early versions of arcade games in the 80’s. In his personal time, he is actively involved with the Wisconsin Rottweiler Rescue, an organization involved with the rescue and rehabilitation of Rottweilers.
Derek DiPietro - VP of Marketing
Derek is the VP of Marketing for Benchmark Classics. He will soon hold
a degree in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin Madison.
Derek served in the United States Air Force from 1999-2003. He was stationed at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, CA where he was an Aircraft Mechanic. While in the Air Force, Derek was deployed for both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Derek moved to Madison in 2004 and began attending the UW-Madison in 2005.Dan Pernik- VP of Advertising
Dan will soon receive bachelor’s degrees in Marketing and Statistics from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Prior to taking a position with Benchmark Classics, he worked as an intern at Procter & Gamble in the marketing research department. Other marketing and business experience includes selling original T-shirt designs, creating a website, and working with a marketing professor in the School of Business. Dan is looking forward to making a difference as a member of the Benchmark Classics team.Erich Rusch - VP of Technology and Web Marketing
Erich Rusch is the VP of Technology and Web Marketing at Benchmark Classics. He currently holds degrees in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Erich directs and oversees all of Benchmark Classics major software and technology systems. In addition to Benchmark Classics, he has worked at BigMachines Inc. located in Chicago, IL as a Marketing and Web Analyst and has independently consulted for a number of firms in Madison and Southeastern Wisconsin on a number of technology related issues through Rusch Technologies.Joe Panozzo - Associate Director of Operations
Joe Panozzo is the Associate Director of Operations here at Benchmark Classics. He is 29, married and has two children. His wife’s name is Kari and his kid’s names are Dawsen and Breanne. He has lived in the Madison area for the past 15 years. He loves his job due to the fact he loves cars, talking about history of cars, and working with a great crowd who appreciate these fine automobiles. He has owned imports and American cars, so he has a good variety of knowledge of automobiles. For employment, he has worked in Finance for PNC Bank, and has also held jobs at Checker Auto and Verizon Wireless. Out of all his employment, he enjoys Benchmark Classics the most. They consist of playing pool, darts, bowling, and being a beer connoisseur. So to make a long story short, as Joe would say,” it just doesn’t get any better than this”!
Cal Calkins - Director of Media, Photography, and Videography
Calkins is our staff Photographer and Videographer. As our staff photographer, he photographs every single car that comes into our shop on a professional grade digital SLR. He has over 25 years experience in photography and currently owns Creative Images by “Cal”, where he has photographed over 400 weddings. He holds degrees in Woodworking\Cabinetry and Business Management. Cal has been involved with classic cars and show cars since he was sixteen. He has owned some of the very same cars that we sell today.
Security Staff
Maximus Desimus Merideus-Cole |
Insane Caine Cole |
