First thing you have to know is that I've testified UNDER OATH, in Municipal Court, State Court, Federal Court, numerous Grand Juries and Depositions.
When I place my hand on The Bible, and swear "to tell the Truth and The Entire Truth", I do so with no fear or trepidation because my conscience is clear !
The following is true ! Long story, but all comes together at the end.
I started my corporate job on the Management Training Dept. at Saks Fifth Ave at their main building at 611 Fifth Ave. I was promoted to run the Winter Whites Sale, and it did well. Saks decided to run a full catalogue issue and I was tasked to research the type of merchandise that stores like Bloomindale's, Bergdorf's, Neiman-Marcus and others carried in their catalogues.
Saks was growing in NYC sales and opening new stores across the USA. The 611 Fifth was rapidly running out of storage space and shipping space.
Just before the White Sale started they purchased a building on West 14 St, just past the wholesale meat packing district. The building had 6-8 floors and 6 or so trucking bays to ship goods either retail or wholesale.
The catalogue started and eventually used 3 or 4 floors of the building. Retail mail orders eventually reached $ 40 million on an annualized basis. I was the Operations Manager, reporting to the overall manager.
This all occurred in the early 70's.
I left Saks and joined the NJSP.
Several decades passed by and I was looking for an easy job in Security.
My Sister who had first got me into Saks, was now the GM/VP for the NYC American Girl Place store across 49 st from Saks. Her Loss Prevention head was a Retired First Grade Detective from NYPD. (First Grade is the highest rank of Detective, equal to a Captain, but must be earned not take a test !)
So he knew some Retired NYPD members that had started a Security company and needed help. I interviewed and was hired that day to be their Night Supervising Inspector. As such I would take a company car from their Newark, NJ office and unannounced inspect their approx 75/80 sites in Manhattan, literally from The World Trade Center to sites above Harlem. If they were short of actual guards, I would spot fill in at places like Sotheby's, Empire State Building and special events like Fashion Week.
One Fashion Week I was assigned to Guard a Meet and Greet Cocktail party in Lower Manhattan !
Imagine my surprise that the building on W 14Th Street was the EXACT place where I had worked for Saks almost 40 years prior !
There was a small sports car, that had been brought up the freight elevator ! Everyone 100 or so were exclaiming on the car !
After the free booze and canapes ran out I met the owner of the car and it was Elon !
He showed me the roadster Type S and IIRC it was the First Vehicle ! It was very low and small and I didn't fit ! He said it was a tight for him as well ! Told him it looked like a Lotus Elan. He advised that Lotus was under contract to deliver "gliders" (just the body), and the rest of assembly was in Calif.
I don't know if the "show" was for additional financing or to sell to forward production.
I knew it as a Lotus lookalike, because in the mid 70's & 80's I was a silent partner of a Lotus dealership in NJ. We had to have 2 Lotuses in inventory for the main area , which was buying classics and rehabbing for sale. We would a floor plan from a local bank, which would finance buying Vets, Ferraris, Mustangs, Austin Healey and the like !
But that's another story!