'Going to Disneyland' every day

Today's Buicks don't look anything like the ones your grandparents bought, but if the guy selling you one looks the same, it's not your imagination. It very well could be the same guy.

Ted Weinberg, 78, has been selling cars for five decades -- since before many of his fellow salesmen were born and even before some of their parents were born. And he's good at it. When Walser Buick GMC of Bloomington tallies up its monthly sales figures, he's typically No. 1 on the list.

"I hope he works until he's 100," said Andrew Walser, vice president of the company that carries his family name. "And when he's 100, he'll still be out-hustling the guys who are 24."

His boss doesn't have to worry.

Retirement "has never crossed my mind," Weinberg said. "I love going to work. You know those TV ads where someone says, 'I'm going to Disneyland'? Every day when I leave for work, it's like I get to go to Disneyland."

As a teenager, he thought he'd be a psychologist. But after a year at the University of Minnesota, he was drafted into the Army. By the time he got out, "I didn't want to go back to school. I was itching to go to work."

He got a job as a Fuller Brush Man. "It was a hard way to make a living, going door-to-door in horrible weather conditions," he said.

"The first thing I do when someone comes in is try to get to know them on a personal basis," he said. "I try find out their needs -- do they need space for their kids -- and their budget -- are they looking for new or used? Then I try to find something that will work for them."

One of things he's proudest of -- even more than his status as top salesman -- is that "when I close a deal, a lot of people say 'thank you,'" he said. "To me, that means that I've done my job."

He sees his age an advantage. Long gone are the days when he felt pressured to make a sale because he was counting on the commission check to pay for his kids' braces.

"I don't have that stress of needing to make a sale to pay my mortgage," he said. "So I can take a very low-key approach. If you buy a car from me, that's wonderful. But if you don't, that's OK, too. We'll still be friends."