Collin Zibull
Born in 1982 in Bochum, in the heart of the Ruhr region, I could already recognize different car makes and distinguish them by their sounds while still in my stroller. As a child, there was really nothing else in my life but cars—whether real ones, Matchbox cars, or, later on, the famous Burago 1:18 scale models. At age 10, I also began to take an interest in motorcycles and dreamed of owning an Aprilia RS 125 or a Cagiva Mito by the time I turned 16…
At age 14, I bought my first moped with my allowance—a 1984 Zündapp CS 25—and restored it in the laundry room of the apartment building where we lived. At 16, unfortunately, there was no 125cc supersport bike in the cards—instead, I settled for a practical choice: a Gilera Runner 125, on which I covered just over 50tkm in two years…
And yes, I did go to school in between—I graduated with my high school diploma in 2001 from the Leopold-Hoesch Vocational College in Dortmund, where I took an advanced course in mechanical engineering.
At 18, I finally got my driver’s license—Classes 1 and 3 back then. I bought my first car, a Golf 1 convertible by Etienne Aigner, and after completing my alternative military service in 2002, I began my apprenticeship as an automotive sales specialist. After a detour through a VW dealership that unfortunately went bankrupt at the start of my apprenticeship, I was able to complete my training at a Porsche Center. For me back then, it was like a dream come true—I was allowed to touch everything, move the cars around in the showroom, and maneuver them in the lot. I collected every brochure I could get my hands on. Even though it was an apprenticeship—and sometimes not easy—I loved it.
Sometime after four weeks, the manager came up to me and asked me to drive him and his demo car to a customer’s place. I couldn’t believe it—I was allowed to drive myself. It was a silver 996 3.6 C2 Cabrio Tiptronic. My first time driving a Porsche on my own… 🙂 After 20 minutes, my boss said I was driving very well and told me to drive the car back to the Porsche Center on my own right away. He also said I now had his permission to drive any of the cars on the road whenever necessary. What can I say—the next few weeks consisted of regular trips to the gas station with the current fleet of demo cars: the 986, the 996, and later the Cayenne. That’s probably one of the reasons I really love the 9×6 generation so much.
After completing my apprenticeship, I ended up working for the Italians—thanks to my dad, I’d always had a soft spot for Alfa Romeo. Right after finishing my apprenticeship, I bought myself an Alfa 147 GTA… while most of my friends were driving Golf 3s with 75 PS that they’d gotten from their grandmas or parents, I took out a loan right away for the Alfa. It wasn’t sensible, but it was awesome—and of course, I’ve never regretted it. At the time, I was making my money as a junior salesman at a Ford dealership with a huge gravel lot for used cars. Just as you’d imagine, it wasn’t exactly great, but I learned a lot.
After a year, I had the option to switch to Alfa Romeo as a salesperson, which I did from 2006 to 2012 at three dealerships. There, I was also able to earn my ZDK-certified automotive salesperson certification. The first dealership, of course, went bankrupt again within the first year I was there…
Then in 2012 came the big move: a car dealership was looking for a used car salesperson… I didn’t think I stood much of a chance, but in the end I wrote an application. Six weeks later, I started at that dealership; I could hardly believe they’d chosen me, but I was thrilled, and I repaid that trust with loyalty, quality, and business acumen for nearly 13 years… At first, I worked solely as a used car salesperson; later, I also took on new car sales and was given additional responsibilities. For the last five years, I served as head of the used car department and assistant sales manager. Like all good things, this chapter eventually came to an end. I parted ways with my employer, and he with me. And so, I’ve been with CZ Motors since April 2025. I’m very glad I took this step, and I don’t regret it. Yes, it’s not easy—there’s pressure—but there’s also a lot of freedom that I enjoy. I can now do what I love and make a living doing it.
My main business consists of brokering and marketing consignment vehicles. The vast majority of my vehicles are consignment vehicles. This benefits everyone: it preserves my liquidity, and I don’t have to factor in such large safety margins. In the end, I earn my margin, and the customer gets more money than they would with a trade-in—or I simply relieve them of the stress of having to market a car on their own.
I don’t sell exclusively Porsches, but as you’ve read, that’s what I specialize in. I’m therefore looking forward to all kinds of inquiries and am happy to be part of the Elferspot family starting today.
Favorite Porsches: Carrera GT, 996 GT3 RS, 991 R—in that order…
Which car brand do I like besides Porsche? That’s a no-brainer—it comes from Maranello, Italy—but that’s another story and doesn’t belong here. 🙂
Best regards
Collin Zibull
Automatically translated by DeepL. View original version (DE)
