YORK, Maine — When were you were growing up, did you have any idea what you wanted to do for a living when you became an adult? Firefighter…veterinarian…actor…professional poker player? As a boy in York, Josh Hancock had the great gift of focus. There was no question in his mind about what he’d be doing in the future. “I just I wanted to be driving,” he says.
Even in elementary school, Hancock was fascinated with what everyone in town had for a car. “I would go to my dad and say, ‘You know, the Eatons just traded their Chevy for a Pontiac.’ “ His father would nod and carry on with his life. Josh, however, was not finished. “I was talking to people at eight and nine and ten years old about their choices [in cars]. And then I would go to the dealership and ask, ‘Was that car traded in? Or did you but it at auction?’ Because I’d want to know.”
With that background, Hancock was not destined to become an accountant. Instead he became one of those lucky people whose talents and interests are perfectly suited for their occupation, and he ended up in the movie and TV industry, where he started as a stunt driver, then became a supplier of cars and eventually, in effect, a casting agent for cars. What kind of automobile would the murderous gangster played by Joe Pesci in “Casino” drive? Hancock was hired to come up with the answer. “I built a business off being this niche guy that would go in and tell the director, the writer and the production designer my opinion as a car guy what the car should be.”
The movie industry still taps into his expertise, as do car manufacturers (he was a consultant for five years for Jaguar Land Rover) and dealership chains. One particularly fun part of his work is providing what he calls Auto Therapy—that is, helping individual clients find the ideal automobile. The process, he notes, is “very similar to when I am choosing a car for a character in a movie script.”
After telling Josh about every car I’ve ever owned, I asked what he’d recommend for me. His answer: “Medication.” Check out our conversation to learn more about Josh, and more about what I need in the way of Auto Therapy.
