Читать книгу Lost Muscle Car Dealerships - Duncan Scott Brown - Страница 25

Peyton couldn’t secure a Ford franchise despite his Shelby experience, but he did receive some interest from Chevrolet. However, he needed an established dealer to back him up in his ambition to open a dealership.

Paul Dombroski was acquainted with Peyton’s wife, and the two discussed the business proposition. Paul enabled Peyton to get a bank loan. The official Dana Chevrolet partnership was set up with Paul as president and Peyton as vice president and treasurer.

The partners received their Chevrolet franchise on August 11, 1966. Paul immediately set out to modernize and remodel the decades-old dealership. Paul’s approach was in keeping with his long-standing customer-oriented process. He said, “We intend to have one of the most up-to-date and progressive dealerships in Los Angeles, and to make shopping for an automobile a pleasure, not a pain.”

In contrast to Paul’s customer-oriented renovation to the action at the Hi-Performance location, Peyton ripped the floor out and had it repoured to ensure it was perfectly level. This move improved the precision of high-performance car building destined to take place in this spot.

On August 18, 1966, an L.A. Times advertisement appeared soliciting salesmen for the new Dana dealership. Applicants were told to see Mr. Berry or Mr. Kymes. Right from the start, Peyton was fully immersed in building up the dealership as a performance mecca and insulated from daily matters.

Dana advertised its new high-performance center.