salesman. Atzenhoffer Chevrolet sold 396 new cars in less than two years, establishing a record at the time. “Every story I’ve heard about Ed was that he was just a bigger-than-life personality. He was the first person to give you the shirt off his back,” Tommy said. “He loved his employees and customers. He was always gregarious, and he always had a cigar in his mouth.” Ed’s early success led to the need for a new and bigger location, a 1 ½-story brick building and showroom that had its grand opening on Jan. 2, 1928. The new building included 75 feet of frontage on Bridge Street and extended back 138 feet along the cross street, Santa Rosa Street. In July 1928, giant oil fields were discovered in Refugio County, in the region surrounding Victoria. Clint Heard Well No. 1 and the surrounding fields would produce 1.2 billion barrels of oil between 1928 and 1995, quickly transforming Victoria from a sleepy agricultural town into a commercial and transportation hub. Meanwhile, Atzenhoffer Chevrolet continued to grow and serve Victoria and the surrounding area. Under Ed’s leadership over the next 37 years, Atzenhoffer Chevrolet sold 12,949 new cars and trucks, and 19,504 used cars and trucks, across all of the five major franchises of the GM Corporation. THE NEXT GENERATION In 1952, Ed’s son-in-law, Milton S. “Bully” Greeson, left his family’s dairy farm and came to work at the dealership. Like his father-in-law, Bully worked in every division of the company, serving as a body shop representative, service representative, new car salesman and used car manager before buying a 19 DEALERS’ CHOICE
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