Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
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S uperlatives PEOPLE, CULTURE, STYLE VIEW FROM THE TOP mike ettleson ONE MAN'S LOVE AFFAIR WITH AUTOMOBILES IS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THE 105TH CHICAGO AUTO SHOW. BY MELISSA HELLSTERN PHOTOGRAPHY BY TIM KLEIN PHOTOGRAPHY BY TIM KLEIN W hen Mike Ettleson was a little boy, his parents marveled at his ability to name every make and model on the road. As a child, he remembers playing mostly with toy cars and a big ring of keys that his dad had given him. "My mother said that I would go from car to car on the street trying to open them," he says. He was just 5 years old when his father, renowned Chevrolet dealer Maury Ettleson, took him to the Chicago Auto Show for the first time. By age 10, he was going with a friend by train. And at 11, he started in the car business himself, helping out with odd jobs around the dealership. "I can remember sitting in cars, being in cars when I was little, and of course, going to the Auto Show, where you could sit in car after car," Ettleson remembers. In fact, this year's Chicago Auto Show will be his 46th. Pretty impressive, especially when you consider that Ettleson is a mere 54 years old. As the owner of two successful dealerships, Ettleson Cadillac-Buick-GMC and Ettleson Hyundai, Ettleson is serving this year as the chairman of the Chicago Auto Trade Association and the 2013 Chicago Auto Show. It's a position he was born to fill. For the Ettlesons, continued on page 46 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 045-046_MA_SP_VFT_Winter13.indd 45 45 1/2/13 4:55 PM