Despite working in the industry for 40 years Robert Bruce, 65, can still remember selling his first new car, a Holden Kingswood, in 1975.
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And when the time comes to sell his last car before retiring on Wednesday, the Norton Motor Group employee is likely to remember that one too.
"It comes to the stage when you know it's time to give it away,” Mr Bruce said.
Mr Bruce graduated from St Joseph’s CBC, now Emmanuel College, in 1971 and won a premiership with Russel’s Creek in the Warrnambool District Football League in 1973 before joining Parker Brothers – Warrnambool’s original Holden dealership – in 1975.
And while he can’t remember how many cars he sold over his time in the business – it would be in the thousands – Mr Bruce can recall joining Passlow Ford in 1999 and then Norton Motor Group, who just celebrated their tenth birthday, in 2008.
"Probably the best thing for me over the years was selling cars and getting repeat business,” he said.
“You could sell a husband and wife a car, then one day sell their kids a car and maybe even their grandkids one. It means you’re doing something right, which is important.”
Mr Bruce’s wife, Kerry, who teaches at St Joseph’s Primary in Warrnambool, is retiring the week after him and the pair are looking to forward to travelling to Canada to visit their son, Mark, along with a few trips to Alice Springs to visit their daughter, Rebekah.
And while he hopes to get into gardening and fishing after he retires, Mr Bruce said he is mainly looking forward spending more time with his wife, Kerry, his daughter, Rebecca, who also lives in Warrnambool, and his grandkids.