An open letter from Dave Immel

An open letter from Dave Immel

I would like to take a minute of your time to re-introduce myself. My name is Dave Immel, currently a sales consultant at Holz Motors. The purpose of the letter is not to discuss today's auto industry, but rather recall what it once was. More specifically, what the American automobile dealership once was and who the men were that built them.

As a car nut and history buff, I enjoy reading the history of our industry. There are many books and videos available about the manufactures but outside of one book written about the American automobile dealership, I have found nothing. I have even gone as far as contacting the “big three”; the Benson Ford Research Center was the only one to respond to my request. They have research material available but no comprehensive history of the dealerships. Oddly enough, they did recommend one book; The Ford agency: a pictorial history by Henry L. Dominguez (Osceola, Wis.: Motorbooks International, c1981) that you can see was written here in Wisconsin.

This brings up another point, the history that Wisconsin has played in our industry. As I'm sure you can recall, many vehicle brands along with their suppliers were located here in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Automotive Museum, located in the old Kissel Car factory (1906 to 1931), Hartford Wisconsin is the only attempt to keep that history alive and again, makes little or no mention of the dealers that sold those vehicles.

I have been tossing this around in my mind for a couple of years and this all came to a head when I was at the ADAMM Ball in February of 2006. I saw a man I thought looked a lot like Phil Tolkan (Phil Tolkan Pontiac). It made me recall “Bonnie the singing Pontiac”. When anyone thinks of Ernie Von Schledorn (The EVS Auto Group) they say “who do you know wants to buy a car?”. With Hub (Hub Chrysler Dodge Jeep), people always asked “Is there a Hub tag on your car”, Tony Frascona (Frascona Buick) was known as “the singing car salesman”, Jerry Holz (Holz Chevrolet) is known for his families 95 plus years as a dealer in Wisconsin and their annual 4th of July car show and Wally Rank (Rank & Son Buick) was known for his annual car show and large collection. These are all icons of dealer growth and success during the 1950's, 60's and 70's here in Wisconsin, and there are many more.

As with Phil Tolkan, what happens when no one is available to pick up the torch? What happens to everything that took so long to build? I look at my previous organization, Hub North, West and South have now been sold. Hub has a storied 60 plus year history as a car dealer, in its heyday sponsoring championship winning Grand National stock car teams and known for their outstanding service. But when Jim Lecher retired (owner of Hub South), I was afraid the Hub name would retire with him. We are fortunate that Jim Griffin of the Griffin Automotive group had the foresight to keep the Hub name when he merged Hub South with Griffin Dodge creating Griffin's Hub Chrysler Jeep Dodge in April 2008.

There are national examples as well. Don Yenko Chevy in Pennsylvania comes to mind and the work they did with the 60's and 70's muscle cars, talking General Motors into equipping the small, light Camaro with a large big block V8. All of this to say that I feel there is a way to preserve the legacy of these dealerships and the men that built them.

My thought is a museum dedicated to the auto Dealership, showcasing the people that built them. Something that will live on long after they and their stores are history. If you will, a small piece of immortality.

In addition, it should showcase the contributions Wisconsin's industrial workforce has made to this once huge industry.

I know this letter is a bit lengthy, but I would like to explore the possibility of creating a foundation to build or create such a museum. I would like to explore any interest in this project and to what extent funding is available and from what sources.

I would appreciate any input anyone may have on this topic and suggestions to help make it become a reality. Please email me at dave@YourCarSalesman.com.

Thank you for your time and attention. I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Sincerely,

David Immel

Body production in Wisconsin