Читать книгу Lost Muscle Car Dealerships - Duncan Scott Brown - Страница 10

Russ Davis Ford was a successful Covina Ford dealer housed at various Citrus Street locations. In the 1940s, Russ Davis Ford moved directly across from the Clippinger Chevrolet lot. The new Russ Davis location at 116 San Bernardino served as a constant reminder to both dealerships about their immediate competition.

Russell W. Davis was born around 1899 in Quincy, Illinois. His family moved to Seattle, Washington, when he was nine. They quickly headed south to sunny California, where his father, Henry S. Davis, was a school superintendent.

Russell began college at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), but he had to leave school for officer training for World War II. After the war, he began working at Los Angeles Gas and Electric. He soon left there and found his true calling as a Ford salesman in Los Angeles dealerships.

Russell and Ira E. Escobar partnered in their own El Segundo Ford agency at the start of 1925. In October 1925, Russell branched out on his own when he bought the Pottinger auto business. The Pottinger garage was in the Weegar Building at 320 North Citrus Road at School Street, Covina. Russ renamed the business R. W. Davis Ford Garage.

Russell wed Dorothy N. Newberry. Their son, Richard R. Davis, was born in 1931. Richard would later prove to be a very important part of Russell’s success in the muscle car era.

Russell’s Ford franchise did well enough to warrant a move in 1930 to a larger location on 543 North Citrus at Geneva Place. The prestigious Lincoln lineup was added to the roster. A satellite location in Baldwin Park was also opened in the 1930s.

Russell added 2,500 extra square feet of service area soon after getting settled in on San Bernardino Road. By the mid-1950s, the R. W. Ford franchise was the Valley’s largest volume Ford dealership and was now known as Russ Davis Ford.

The archetypal, deep-rooted battle was already being fought between the two blockbuster brands of Ford and Chevy long before the muscle era amped up the energy. Adherents of either brand could become rabidly intense about brand loyalty. The small-town atmosphere of Covina fostered civil and positive relations between Russ Davis Ford and Clippinger Chevrolet, but there is no question that the muscle car era prompted a bit of an extra spur. The sales race resulted in better inventory and bolder moves from both sides of the street.

Russell Davis had pointed out the technical and high-performance features of his Ford models as far back as the 1930s with the Ford V-8. In the 1950s, as Ford gradually backed away from the Thunderbird two-seat concept and went to the “personal car” version, Chevy pounded racecourses with Corvettes. In the later 1950s, this disparity between the Chevy and Ford performance scene set up Clippinger with an edge over Russ Davis.

Today, Clippinger’s empty lot contains only its futuristic 1960s lights. The style reminds me of the version of the future shown in the The Jetsons cartoon from the early 1960s.

Clippinger performance salesman Harry Edison (left) stands with his Camaro and a long line of Camaros he intends to sell. Bob Wingate (right) leans on his personal Corvette. Note that not just Bob’s Corvette but also those behind it are outfitted with aftermarket mag wheels and raised white letter wide ovals. (Photo Courtesy J. Scott Shannon, Covina Past blog)