AutoSpies.com graces Variety magazine story

'Web sites like AutoSpies.com, which traffic in spy photos of top-secret prototype, mean consumers are better informed than ever before.'

Your Car, His Gig

In a city where the car is king, in an industry where status symbols are the easiest way to keep score, the high-end auto broker has become one of the quasi-mystical figures of Los Angeles. Like yoga gurus, maitre'ds, personal shoppers and security specialists, he is indispensable here and inexplicable everywhere else.

"Men, particularly southern California men, just have this thing about cars," says Michael Pascale of Highline Consulting, whose clients include agency partners, movie stars and studio chiefs. "You can screw their woman, but don't screw with their car."

Like real estate brokers, car brokers act as a middleman between the car dealers or manufacturers and the high-end client. This can entail everything from securing the latest models -- the Mercedes CLS55 AMG, the BMW 750, the Lexus Hybrid, the redesigned Porsche 997 or Volkswagen-built Bentley coupe (not to mention the occasional vintage mid-'60s Barracuda or Chevelle) -- often months ahead of the dealer.

Car fetish magazines like Dub or the Robb Report's Celebrity Car Magazine, TV shows like Learning Channel's Rides or MTV's Pimp My Ride and Web sites like AutoSpies.com, which traffic in spy photos of top-secret prototype, mean consumers are better informed than ever before. However, luxury brokers stay ahead of the curve by providing what few dealers can provide.

Since new cars often depreciate as much as 50% in the first three years, they get their clients in and out of leases with barely a speed bump. They rarely advertise, only accept referrals, don't keep office hours (or sometimes even have an office) -- and guard their clients' privacy like lion cubs.

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