Sad News

[John D.]

Re: Sad News

chris grabiak and donny hamilton are still there so to me it is the same old family owned business that everybody knows you by your first name when you walk in. i also have know joe for better than 40 years. if grabiaks ever close i will most likely quit buying new cars as i would not want to put up with the BS at these big dealers. joe tried the big dealer style when he took over but the customers told him they did not like dealing with 3 or 4 different people when you came in to buy a car. one time mrs clem had to show the "new" F&I guy how to do the paper work when we picked up a new car. don't forget she worked there in the office for 15 years.

Donny Hamilton is still there? He did the body work on Dr. Blatchley's Grady car all the time. That's good news. Thanx, JD

[Clem Z.]

Re: Sad News

Donny Hamilton is still there? He did the body work on Dr. Blatchley's Grady car all the time. That's good news. Thanx, JD

when sam closed the body shop donny went to work as a salesman

[Warren F.]

Re: Sad News

Joe- Perhaps you might ask them if they have any old records stored away. It'd be a shame if original sales documentation to significant cars were lost. Also might ask to poke around in the corners of their parts department before they shutter the place.

I think Dan's idea is a good one. I have been acquiring all the original types of documentation on Corvettes that I can from dealerships. I just acquired original documents for two '71 LT-1 convertibles from a Virginia dealership. This stuff needs to be saved.

[Steven B.]

Re: Sad News

Best I can tell, GM (per John Hinckley's comments) was supported by GMAC for many years and the parent co. hasn't made a profit related to car sales in years. GMAC was so successful that it covered the GM losses each year. GMAC was sold off recently and now GM doesn't have its "sugar daddy" to fall back on. Poor management? Don't know. Same with Ford-Bill Ford III couldn't push through his energy efficient cars that he wanted because Nasser (sp) was a stronger head. Imagine the head of a company bullying a "Ford" at Ford headquarters? They never pushed the energy efficient cars when it would have gotten them into the market, so instead, Honda and Toyota took up the charge. Now a lot of those cars have a Japanese name but made right here, with American auto workers. How times have changed.
steve

[Larry E.]

Re: Sad News

Hello to all:

If that is the case then sell Chevrolet to another buyer. Chevrolet is 65% of GM now. Let the "Blood Suckers"(GMC;Pontiac;Buick;Saturn) go the way of the buggy.IMHO

Thanks Again; Larry

[Stanley H.]

Re: Sad News

Small dealer Okeefe chevrolet Ipswich ,Massachusetts , formerly Means Chev ( very old dealership ) went out of business a few weeks ago & just closed doors ..... over the years I bought a 3 new Corvettes from them , got good deals years ago ...but the new guys Okeefe, wanted MSRP & had small invintory of Cars ............... guess the economy didnt help, to bad probably 25 good people lost jobs I always took my 66 to them for State Inspection sticker with no hasstle ................ guess this winter will finally have to fix frozen emergency brake ............. to get inspected .

[Joe L.]

Re: Sad News

Small dealer Okeefe chevrolet Ipswich ,Massachusetts , formerly Means Chev ( very old dealership ) went out of business a few weeks ago & just closed doors ..... over the years I bought a 3 new Corvettes from them , got good deals years ago ...but the new guys Okeefe, wanted MSRP & had small invintory of Cars ............... guess the economy didnt help, to bad probably 25 good people lost jobs I always took my 66 to them for State Inspection sticker with no hasstle ................ guess this winter will finally have to fix frozen emergency brake ............. to get inspected .

Stan-----


Being a "clam junkie" and , consequently,"frequenter" of Ipswich, MA I know exactly where O'Keefe Chevrolet is; I've driven by it many times. In fact, my aunt and uncle that live in Danvers bought at least a few cars there over the years. I'm sorry to hear it closed.