The Willis DuPont Starter Story

1971

A True Story

My interesting experience with Mr. Willis DuPont

Written 1/2010* 1,252 Words*

#171 By Howard Yasgar

In 1971 my partner Don and I were in the automotive parts rebuilding business in Miami Florida.

The company started in 1960, and I entered the business in 1963.

My partner Don had joined the company in 1966, and by 1971 we had bought out the company.

One day we noticed there were two nicely dressed men standing at our front service counter.

One of them appeared to be a young boy in his 20’s and the other was an older fellow who looked to be in his mid-thirties. They seemed to be standing there waiting for someone to talk to them.

Because of the way they were nicely dressed, I thought they were probably a couple of guys that were just lost in our neighborhood and wanted to ask us for directions.

That’s when my partner Don asked if he could help them.

The older of the two fellows reached into his shirt pocket and took out what appeared to be a very old, folded carbon copy of a receipt, and he handed it to Don.

It was a well-worn copy of one of the original company invoices from back in the 1960’s.

It was so old, it was faded and I could see that my partner Don was having trouble reading it.

The older gentleman then introduced himself, he said, “My name is Willis DuPont, and your company repaired a starter for me and it’s not working properly”.

Now, as soon as I heard his name was DuPont, it got my attention, I knew immediately who the DuPont’s were.

They were some of the most famous and certainly some of the wealthiest industrialists in the country, if not the world, and I couldn’t believe it, here was Willis DuPont standing right here in front of me.

My partner Don, not realizing who he was talking to, looked at the receipt again and said, “Sir this receipt is from the 1960’s, that’s 11 years ago, our rebuilt starters are guaranteed for 90 days not 11 years”.

Mr. DuPont, choosing his words very carefully said, “Years ago, our family had eight Dupont automobiles built for us, and every 10 years I start ours up and drive it around”.

“Your company repaired the starter for me, when the car had failed to start back in 1960.

And now, it seems the car has failed to start again, and I just assumed the starter was covered by a warranty.

I had to wonder why Mr. Willis DuPont, who was a multi, multi, millionaire, had taken on the responsibility of getting a starter fixed. But here he was, standing in front of me, and he was obviously on what he considered an

really Important and very serious mission.

When Mr. DuPont heard there was no warranty, I could just see the disappointment in his face.

So, I interjected and said, Mr. DuPont, why don’t you bring the starter in tomorrow and I will personally test it for you.

Immediately, I could see there was a real sign of relief in his face.

First thing in the morning, Willis DuPont was back.

The young man, who was Mr. DuPont’s driver and personal secretary, was carrying the starter all wrapped up like a baby in a very expensive bath towel.

I placed the starter on the counter, unwrapped it, and then they both followed right behind me into our shop.

I put the starter on a test stand, and tested it, and I found that it functioned perfectly, it functioned just like a

brand new starter.

So, I told Mr. DuPont that the starter was operating perfectly, his problem with his DuPont automobile lay elsewhere.

I could see Mr. Dupont was extremely disappointed, and it was apparent that he didn’t agree with me.

He then asked me to please take the starter apart so we could look inside.

I knew I was just wasting my time, but then I thought, I probably would never have an opportunity to deal with a DuPont again, so I went to a work bench and took the starter all apart.

Everything inside looked absolutely like new, but then Mr. Dupont asked me to please replace all the parts with new parts.

That afternoon I did what he asked me to do. Then when they both came back the next morning, I gave them the rebuilt starter and a bill for $28.00.

Surprisingly neither Willis Dupont nor his secretary had any money on them.

His secretary said, “Mr. DuPont never carries any money”, but he assured me that he would return the next day to pay us the $28.00, and he did.

I asked the fellow what it was like working for a wealthy and eccentric person like Mr. DuPont, and he said it was always interesting, and every day was a new adventure.

He said, one day, Mr. DuPont had a heated argument with the multi-millionaire Howard Hughes. He had disagreed with Mr. Hughes regarding some defective oil well drills made by the Hughes oil drill company.

It was a long-distance call and Willis DuPont got very mad at Howard Hughes, and he threw the telephone on the floor.

He didn’t realize that the phone call hadn’t disconnected, and when the phone bill came it was several thousand dollars.

The next day another person called me. It was Mr. Willis DuPont’s personal mechanic.

He told me Mr. Willis DuPont said our starter still didn’t work.

I told him the starter wasn’t the problem, they had a battery, or battery cable problem.

I also told the mechanic that I had told that to Mr. Du Pont, but he wouldn’t listen to what I told him.

The mechanic said, “That’s nothing, don’t worry about it, he doesn’t listen to me either.

A week or so later the mechanic called me again.

This time he said, Mr. DuPont wants me to tell you that you were right, the problem with the car was a corroded battery cable. We replaced it, and now the DuPont car starts perfectly.

So, unlike his disagreement with Howard Hughes, Mr. Willis agreed with me.

So, if Mr. Howard Hughes ever comes to see me, I will tell him that.