Smallest Chevrolet Dealer to Have Made the Cut?

[BobPalma]

'Possibly not, but certainly among the smallest has got to be Bob Burkle Chevrolet in little Clay City IN, in the south-west central part of the state:



Saturday, April 27: Our Indy Chapter SDC had a tour today from Indianapolis (Plainfield, actually) west across old U.S. 40, The National Road, to Brazil IN and then south on IN 59 to a nice eatery in Clay City, population barely 1,000.

As we entered Clay City, I couldn't believe my eyes; a tiny two-car showroom Chevrolet dealer, alive and well! I did a double-take. I then walked back up the street to photograph the place after we were seated and had ordered our food:







The USED CAR LOT; the whole thing:



The showroom had only one(!) car in it; a burnt-orange Camaro convertible. It could have held two cars if necessary; woo-hoo!

The corner of the little showroom had a nice, old-fashioned, apparently "real" OK Used Cars sign safely out of the weather with working neon. Cool Beans:





Well, maybe the same dealer owning the larger FORD dealership directly across the street had something to do with Chevrolet letting that point remain open...although stranger things have happened:



Our SDC group had a nice time with about two dozen members, six or seven Studebakers, and one member's nice 1971(?) Cutlass Supreme convertible participating. Chilly with overcast and drizzle before we got home, but at least it wasn't snowing! BP

[benaslopoke]

Somewhere down the line, this guys' got the goods on Chevrolet.. I hope he stays a dealer.. I would have loved to have worked there.. He's obviously very successful !!

Ben

[Lark8girl]

The Chevrolet dealer that I work for has sent me to Bob Burkle several times on dealer trades and to pickup Smart Auction vehicles. Nice people and interesting showroom.

Husband of Lark VIII girl

[Jeff T.]

Wish I had pictures but this Chevy dealer reminds me of a Chevy dealer in Strawberry Point, Iowa, pop. 1,279, Rodas Chevrolet on the west side of town. There is a nearby Ford dealer over in Edgewood, Iowa about 5/10 down the road. My wife's sister lives up that way.

Jeff T.

[studegary]

They have gotten away without putting on that silly corporate facade. The local Chevrolet dealer is just finishing up the transformation of their dealership (not a very old building).
The pictured building appears to me to be early 1950s.
I wonder how many new cars they push out the door. They may have a reasonable volume.
The small Chrysler-Plymouth dealership that I worked in, in a village of about 1000, was selling about 60 new and 60 used per year. We could get 16 new cars in the two connected showrooms, but rarely placed them that close together. It was nice in the Winter to be able to show the different models/body styles indoors.

EDIT: The pictured Ford dealership appears to be a little newer, maybe mid-1960s.

Perhaps Lark8girl can tell us the new volume that Burkle Chevrolet does from the reports that "his" dealership receives.

[JBOYLE]

Somewhere down the line, this guys' got the goods on Chevrolet.
Ben

Or a politician (given GM's recent woes)

Reminds me of a story from my military days.
As a young lieutenant, I was at a wing where the Deputy Wing Commander was a former fighter pilot who survived a flameout (crash) in Libya in a F-100 in the 60s and dodged SAMs over North Vietnam in a couple of tours flying F-105 Thunderchiefs. A real go-getter who had been everywhere and done everything the USAF asked of him.
I asked why he never got his own Wing to command.
"Well John" he said...."Never got a photo of a general and a goat".

Truth is, he wasn't enough of a politician.

[Packard53]

Bob Palma; Do a Google search on Hulsizer Chevy in Montgomery Penna. The town of Montgomery has a population of around 1,600 persons.The main building of Hulsizer has been there ever since I can remember and I am 64 years old. I grew up part of my life with the current owner when we were kids. His parents lived across the road from my grand parents. They started in business in 1915 selling Fords then switched to selling Chevy's and they are still a Chevy Dealership today.

John S.

[Bill Pressler]

Bob, I love the look of that little Chevy dealership! Looks like the kind of place I'd like to do business, and apparently they've been doing something right.

[8E45E]

Bob, I love the look of that little Chevy dealership! Looks like the kind of place I'd like to do business, and apparently they've been doing something right.

...by NOT pissing in 'The General's' cornflakes, and ordered cars & trucks that they really didn't want on the lot over the years to meet an unrealistic quota, or they know someone high-up in GM.

Craig

[BobPalma]

...by NOT pissing in 'The General's' cornflakes, and ordered cars & trucks that they really didn't want on the lot over the years to meet an unrealistic quota, or they know someone high-up in GM. Craig

That's quite a menu to choose from, Craig; who knows? BP

[JRoberts]

It is rather sad that these small town dealerships are disappearing. I remember a small GM dealership in Tekamah, Nebraska. The sold GM manufactured. My grandfather lived in Omaha and bought several cars there, mostly Pontiacs I believe. He traded a '52 Studebaker in on a '59 Pontiac. I know my dad bought a '59 Chevy there as well. They didn't have a lot of inventory, but were willing, as I recall, to order whatever you wanted. I remember a big picture, maybe a print of a painting, on the wall in the showroom of Fireball Roberts in a Pontiac. In those days NASCAR was not as well known out of the South as it is today, and the folks there did not even know who he was. The owners were family friends.

[JBOYLE]

GM took away Chevys from a local small town, Deer Park.
A couple of years later they realized their mistake and offered back a franchise...at 3 times the cost they paid the owner when they left.
See, GM is making money!

[8E45E]

That's quite a menu to choose from, Craig; who knows?

Only THEY know, Bob!! How much different is this operation from Dave Blanck's operation? Why did this one survive, and Dave Blanck did not? A few unanswered questions for me with this one, to be honest.

Craig

[Blue 15G]

I liked the small hometown car dealers. Sadly, they are a rare sight today. More vanishing Americana!

Dave Bonn
'54 Champion Starliner

[BobPalma]

Only THEY know, Bob!! How much different is this operation from Dave Blanck's operation? Why did this one survive, and Dave Blanck did not? A few unanswered questions for me with this one, to be honest. Craig

Craig, the Bob Burkle operation isn't even one-third the size of what had been Blanck Chevrolet Company here in Brownsburg when the Blanck franchise was pulled in its 81st continuous year. Blanck was at least three times larger in all respects, although I do not profess to know how many new units the Burkle operation is moving per year. I know the Blanck figures but don't believe it would be appropriate to post them on a public forum.

("We all" have a good idea what might have been going on when franchises were terminated, but even if it could be conclusively proven, it would change few -if any- minds. As I've often quoted my father, who turned 96 years of age April 14, "People believe what they want to believe." That is the most important parcel of wisdom he has imparted to me...and at least to me, it is becoming "truer" by the day.)

I'm surprised -and encouraged- that a Canadian would take such an interest in the goings-on down here. Thanks for your attention to our "situation."

(Bill Pressler, Joe Roberts, and Dave Bonn have all expressed an appropriate sentiment regarding small, small-town dealers, IMHO. I couldn't agree more.) BP