In the movie “City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold,” Billy Crystal’s character is inspired on his 40th birthday to take a trip with his best pal and his brother in search of hidden treasures.

As you may remember, the trio played by Crystal, Daniel Stern and Jon Lovitz then navigate through a rather silly quest out West.

Although this adventure was spurred by a landmark birthday, many in our business were inspired to blaze new paths (albeit more reasonable than the aforementioned comedians) even earlier.

In fact, many jumped into the used-car industry right out of college or even as a teenager.

And that tradition of early-adopters continues with the latest generation to enter the business.

Many young professionals under the age of 40 are taking leadership roles with their respective companies, whether that’s at an auction, dealership, bank, fleet/lease remarketing organization, automaker, OEM captive, third-party service provider, industry association or one of many vendors and partners to these organizations.

That is why Auto Remarketing is launching its inaugural “Remarketing & Used-Car Industry’s 40 Under 40.”

We are looking for nominees across the spectrum of the used-car and remarketing business. That includes all the segments of the industry mentioned above — and beyond!

Obviously, the nominee must be under the age of 40. But think big: do you know any exceptional young dealers or dealership managers? Have you worked with some second-generation auction executives who have demonstrated leadership qualities?

Are there any under-40 entrepreneurs in our business who have caught your attention? Who are the young executives at some of the industry partner/service providers that are making a splash?

Those are just some examples, but you get the idea.

Nominations are officially OPEN and are being accepted here:
http://www.usedcarweek.biz/remarketings-40-under-40.

The deadline for nominations is Friday, June 19.

Here are a few additional ground rules:

• Nominee must be under 40 at the time of nomination.
• The number of nominations a person receives does not necessarily influence whether that person will be selected for the 40 Under 40.
• As a general rule, we will not be sharing the name of the person(s) doing the nominating, unless necessary in the editorial content and with permission of the person nominating.  

Honorees will be recognized during a ceremony this fall at Used Car Week, which is being held Nov. 16-20 at The Phoenician in Scottsdale, Ariz.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me at joverby@autoremarketing.com or (919) 674-6020, ext. 129.

And when you’re done nominating a “40 Under 40” all-star and “City Slickers II” is showing on cable, don’t click past. By no means is it comedy gold, but this one is perhaps worth a re-watch for a laugh or two.