How it all began...
Posted by Betsy Briggs on Thu, Mar 11, 2010 @ 04:20 PM
"Back in the day" Auto Buying Service was located at 9854 Lee Hwy, now known as Fairfax Blvd. It was one lane in each direction then and we were right between the Hess gas station (when gas was under a dollar) and the Fairfax Raquet Club and Kenny Roberts Plant Nursery.
In 1969 (when I was five), my parents purchased a new home in Mantua with a HUGE, oversized 2 car garage. They could actually fit 3 cars in there! My dad had a vision and they started buying and selling cars out of their garage until they found their commercial property at 9854 Lee Hwy.
In 1970 they moved the operation to the new property and began Auto Buying Service. They had cheap cars, gave car loans and had as many as 100 cars for sale at one time. My dad was a bit of a motorhead, so would tend to stock a lot of fast cars - GTOs, Mustang Cobras, Vettes, Olds 442s, Novas, Cudas, Shelbys, Camaros & Trans AMs... you get the idea.
Soon they were known as "the dealer in Fairfax with all the muscle cars and hot rods". Back then they had a little problem with theft, so each night they would line the cars up end-to-end so that no car could be driven out of the place while they were closed. I have a few pics:
Auto Buying Service stocked used trucks, cheap used cars, economy cars, luxury cars, and all kinds of other vehicles including passenger vans and work vans.
They were different than other auto dealers and used car dealers. They rarely went to the auto auction. Instead they advertised that they buy used cars. They knew the used car values and they would do a used car search for their customer (before the net). If they didn't have the vehicle their customer was looking for, they would find it!
I worked in sales back in the late 80's and I would find a car for customers on a regular basis. Dad paid a great bonus when you did that! If you had a used car for sale, we were probably knockin' on your door trying to buy it.
More to come soon...
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