Bill Gingrich

Marketing & Social Media

Automotive industry background

15+ years in the automotive industry
Dabbled in auto body repair/refinishing
Automotive technician
Certified parts technician
Service consulting for 5+ of those year
Porsche and VW parts certified

Home town

I have moved over 50 times in my life, 35 or so of those times were before I finally settled in Edmonton on the weekend of my 18th birthday. Been here ever since (with a small stint being a resident of Chad, Africa for 2+ years, when I was there on and off for work).

Hobbies & interests

What do I do to keep myself sane?? Well, I am very into live music, I average about 75 shows a year, mostly local or smaller stuff. I will travel to see some of my “bucket list” bands. Besides that I am always on the hunt for cars, automotive parts, old garage signs, and bizarre stuff. We buy and sell anything that is garage/man cave material, so spending time at garage sales, antique malls, and browsing classifieds keeps me out of trouble.

Favourite rides

I have many favourite cars, and it changes often. Fave cars I have include my W108 Mercedes Benz (stock besides air suspension), A 1985 MK1 VW Cabriolet that was willed to me when my dad passed away (I gave it a refresh with nothing but the best European parts and accessories), and my 1986 Mercury Capri RS (ugly but fast).

I guess I do have a soft spot for MK2’s (I still have a VR6 Swapped MK2 GTI) and I do lust after the 5 cylinder turbo cars (RS3 and TT-RS) but I think I will end up with a MK7 Golf wagon 4-motion since they are such a perfect daily driver for our climate. But I really do love anything old, unique, and attention grabbing. Modern super cars don’t excite me nearly as much as a patina’d rare, early Beetle or rat rod.

Favourite racing series/events

I love drag racing and the X275/small tire cars since they are pushing the envelope as to what a streetable car is capable of and one of the heaviest hitters in that crowd is a local pal of mine… So getting to see the cars clipping off mid 4 second 1/8th mile times at 165+miles per hour up close and personal is a great way to spend an afternoon. Seeing how fast near stock cars have become excites me since it does not take much to get an “Economy Hatchback” VW Golf R into 11 second 1/4 mile times. That was reserved for heavy hitting cars like Dodge Vipers, Chevrolet Corvettes and Shelby Mustangs from a decade ago.

I have a passion for almost anything automotive or motorcycle related. I have attended car and bike shows all over North America, run a VW car club for years and hosted many car shows over the past 20 years. I believe the internet is taking some of the wind out of the sails of seeing something in person! I would like to grow our annual Rivercity Motors Show & Shine each year until we have over 100 cars, have fast, high caliber cars show up, have all the folks attending the show excited about every car that is on display, and have it turn into something that people will travel to attend.

Working at Rivercity Motors

The job I have is something that I enjoy, even though I told myself I didn’t want to get back into the automotive industry right away after coming back from Africa. I am glad Chris reached out to me when he heard from a few folks that I would be the guy to help him with Rivercity Motors.

One of the biggest reasons I like it is I still get to play with cars, especially ones I am passionate about (VW/Audi) yet I don’t get burned out and lose the passion for cars (that was something that happened to me — after working on cars all day I did not want to touch any of my projects at night).

I still learn something every day, and working with not 1 but 2 VW Master Technicians has helped me grow when it comes to modern vehicles, and diagnosis.

One big eye opener that I didn’t expect is when it comes to road racing, I have done plenty of Autocross sessions and a bunch of lapping sessions, but it really is something different when you are racing door to door. Being more involved with dedicated race cars (road and ice) has been somewhat humbling when it comes to my skill level on the track.

Future aspirations

Future plans for myself include helping the business grow enough to the point where we can get another body at the front counter full time, leaving time for me to focus on bringing in more customers, expanding our services to include some fabrication and custom work, especially for road race and ice race cars.

I do see my better half and I getting into part ownership of a custom motorcycle shop, so learning more fabrication and machining skills will help out in many aspects. Personally building a shop at my acreage is also in the cards, so I will have most resources at my fingertips when it comes to tackling more oddball and over the top long term projects I have accumulated over the years.