Conover's Is A Vintage Passion
Thousands of drivers swoon over the
new high-performance BMW 5 Series, but it’s the 25-year-old 2002 in mint condition that turns the head of Max Conover ’86. When he set out to restore his 1974 2002 as an undergraduate in 1984, he had to scrounge for second-hand parts advertised in BMW Club magazines.
“BMW heard about what I was doing and they were quite interested. As you can guess, I immediately made arrangements to go to Munich.” The two companies have been working together ever since with the understanding that MIC will not deal in parts for models newer than 15 years.
His is a perfect example of following an avocation to find a well-suited career. As an undergraduate, Conover had approached German Professor Joachim Scholz and told him that he wanted to learn the language because his hobby was restoring old BMWs. “He laughed and must have thought that I was nuts,” remembers Conover. During the summer after his sophomore year, with funding from the German Club, Conover studied at the Goethe Institute in Prien am Chiemsee.
“Since I inherited the family name of Maximillian from
Traveling to Bavaria in search of vintage parts, Conover discovered specialty shops and performance garages filled with parts that he could not find at home. Conover negotiated deals with several of these small companies to help fill the void for vintage parts in the United States.
There are many people in the U.S. and abroad who share Conover’s fondness for restoring classic BMWs. His specialized staffers, working out of MIC’s headquarters in Parkton, MD, took 10,000 orders just last year and finished 1998 with an annual growth rate of 24%. They also offer customers free advice for restoring BMWs. “I cannot hire just anyone,” Conover says. “My guys know these cars inside and out. That is an absolute necessity in order to properly service this market,” he says.
Conover credits his success in the German import business to his undergraduate study abroad experience. “All this would have not been possible for me if I had not had the chance to study overseas,” says Conover. “It opened my mind to a new way of thinking. For this I am truly grateful to my parents and to Washington College.”
As the global economy expands to include many business sectors, Conover says it is even more important that today’s undergraduates have the opportunity to study abroad. “I would like to see Washington College integrate an international exchange into the business program,” he says. “This will be important training for what lies ahead.”
Conover traded on his passion for classic BMWs and his knowledge of the German language and culture to map a career path that has driven him to the top of his field. Today, MIC is recognized in the U.S. as a leading supplier of vintage BMW parts.
Yet it was no easy road to success. When Conover endeavored to convince the company to meet the demand in the United States for classic car parts, BMW stalled him at every turn. As a forward-thinking German company, BMW wanted to be known as an innovator rather than as a company that dwells on the past.
“Initially, they were horrified by the idea that someone would want to drive a ten-year-old car and not
Following the maxim: “Do what you love; the money will follow,” Max Conover is building a global business as an importer of classic BMW auto parts.
