Factory Five Customer Joe A. Builds a Beauty

I received these beautiful photos of Factory Five customer Joe Aufiero’s Coupe that he built with his son.

The car is beautiful and Joe built a Factory Five Roadster many years ago. I enjoy immensely getting pictures and notes about customer builds…it’s probably one of the best things about running Factory Five.

More than the details though, Joe sent me a personal letter with a detailed list of things that went well, AND things that didn’t. Sometimes when soenone complains about something they are upset and venting. Its rare when a guy sends along his criticism and you can tell he’s letting us know because he cares about the company and making things the very best.

I started this company 17 years ago and every day I try to make sure the organization does something better every day. Its easy to see how far we’ve come and get a big head… Then someone like Joe reminds you that you can do a better job. Humility, hard work, and never stop trying to do something better. Joe took the time to remind me personally that no matter how far we’ve come, we still have a long way to go in our search for excellence.

To my knowledge, this is the very first Factory Five Type 65 Coupe with the Coyote engine and I am very interested in Joe’s build saga. Thanks for the candor Joe and heck of a nice car in spite of the bumps we laid down.

Dave Smith
President

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