Читать книгу Lost Muscle Car Dealerships - Duncan Scott Brown - Страница 21

Dana exploded onto the scene from nowhere specifically for the muscle car era, and it just as suddenly vaporized again. The reason for Dana being a flash in the pan was the unsustainable volatile balance between the two owners of Dana Chevrolet. Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dana had two very different personalities driving the dealership.

Dr. Jekyll was Paul Dombroski. He was a respected car dealer with a carefully established conservative image. This enabled him to gain access to the required capital through the banks.

Mr. Hyde was Peyton Cramer. He was a major player in the Shelby American organization. That high-performance connection caused banks to reject his loan applications.

Dana Chevrolet’s “regular car” showroom was located at 8730 Long Beach Boulevard at the intersection of Laurel Place in South Gate, California. This dealership was formerly the location of Enoch Chevrolet. Ted Enoch has been a Chevy dealer for 31 years when he retired and sold the business to George E. Fuller and George F. Cashman in 1953. The Enoch run ended in June 1966.

When Paul and Peyton took over the dealership, they chose the name Dana Chevrolet after an avenue in Ohio that was known for the local street drag racing scene of Peyton’s youth. Dana emerged onto the scene and quickly established a presence in the West Coast muscle car scene by operating five different locations with vastly contrasting showrooms.

The Dana Chevrolet Hi-Performance Center facility was located down the street at 9735 Long Beach Boulevard at the intersection of Indiana Avenue in South Gate, California. This dealership was the former location of one of the Simpson Buick Co. lots, which had occupied the spot since the 1950s.