110 NADA HEADLINES Turns Despite its auspicious pedigree, the Chevrolet Motor Car Co. actually got off to a slow start. And the McClinton family was there from the beginning. Chevrolet was founded by Swiss race car driver and engineer Louis Chevrolet, his brother Arthur and four partners, including William Durant, who created General Motors but was pushed out in 1910. Chevrolet Motor Car Co. was incorporated in 1911, but initial efforts were primarily focused on design work and pre-production prototypes. It wasn’t until the fall of 1912 that the company could introduce a 3,500-pound, six-cylinder touring car — the 1913 Series C Classic Six — at the New York Auto Show. While popular, the first Chevrolets were expensive; the base price was $2,450 — $74,803 in today’s prices. In addition, production was slow. Chevrolet only manufactured around 5,987 cars in 1913 and 5,005 cars in 1914. Nevertheless, James Selby McClinton decided to take a chance on the manufacturer, opening the Parkersburg Automobile Co. in Parkersburg, West Virginia, in 1915 and securing the Chevrolet franchise contract from GMC in 1918. It’s a chance that would pay off. In 1914, Chevrolet would introduce the more affordable, lightweight, four-cylinder Series H Baby Grand. It was a hit with the public, and production of Chevrolet cars would scale up to 13,600 cars in 1915 and 52,000 in 1916 — an increase of 160%. STAYING TRUE TO YOUR ROOTS Quite a bit has happened to James Selby (J.S.) McClinton’s company since the original dealership selling GMC trucks, Oldsmobile, Oakland and Packard cars opened in 1915. By 1923, McClinton had gone all in on Chevrolet, discontinuing the other car and truck lines to focus exclusively on selling Chevrolets. In 1926, Parkersburg Automobile Co. moved to Eighth and Avery Street. A fire four years later destroyed the building, and when the building was rebuilt and reoccupied in 1931, the company name was changed to McClinton Chevrolet Co. Through fires, moves and expansions — including the addition of Mitsubishi in 1989 — the McClinton Auto Group has experienced steady growth and success through four generations of family ownership with a tradition of providing reliable automobiles to the mid-Ohio Valley. “My great-grandfather started the business in 1915, and his mission was to satisfy customers’ wants and needs,” says Virginia “Ginny” Bowden, great-granddaughter of founder J.S. McClinton Sr. “Customer experience has always been at the forefront of our business, and my family has always recognized the importance of taking care of people, customers and employees.” Unlike most fourth-generation dealers, Ginny Bowden did not grow up working in her McClinton AND CELEBRATES ITS COMMITMENT TO QUALITY AND COMMUNITY By Sheryll Poe Consultant, NADA WVADA NEWS 30
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