Sapulpa’s largest Chevrolet dealership has changed hands. In November, Danny Beck Chevrolet was sold and became Mark Allen Chevrolet.
Customers received emails about the transaction, and Beck himself posted on Facebook.
Mark Allen is a partner of the largest-selling Chevrolet dealership in the U.S. for 10 of the last 11 years, Classic Chevrolet of Grapevine, Texas.
“For now, we will remain at our current location but will be adding a significant amount of both new and used inventory while also sprucing up the place,” customers were informed. “However, we have already purchased 30+ acres along Highway 75 just south of Glenpool, where our new, 50,000 square-foot facility is soon to be under construction.”
The email invited customers to “stop by and get acquainted with Mark Allen. He is a hands-on dealer that enjoys meeting our guests and working the car deals with us,” the email said.
There was a time when more than a dozen new car dealerships were located in the center of Sapulpa. Beck Chevrolet and Bob Hurley Ford are the only two new car dealerships within the Sapulpa fence line today. There are numerous used car dealerships, and of course, much competition next door in Tulsa including at least two this side of the Arkansas River. This situation repeats itself in the market of used cars in lewisville, in fact it is this way across the map since 2008, indeed lots has changed.
The history of car dealers in Sapulpa is rich as documented in an upcoming pictorial history authored by this writer and being published by Arcadia History Press.
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Here’s an excerpt caption from the book:
“In the ever-changing make-up of car dealerships in Sapulpa in the late 1940s and early 1950s came the Hendrix Motor Company at 321 East Dewey just across from the Creek County Courthouse where 1st United Bank is today. Standard Chevrolet had earlier occupied this same site.
“Sapulpa area motorists had a full range of car brands. Besides Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth; Ford and Chevrolet, there were Buick-Pontiac-Oldsmobile, DeSoto, Nash, Studebaker, Packard-Willys, Kaiser-Frazier and Henry J. dealers offering all kinds of models. One could buy everything from the Hudson to International Trucks and Jeeps. There were Lincoln and Cadillacs, Clippers and Ramblers. A Tucker dealership planned to open in Sapulpa but the car didn’t make it into mass production.
“While Stanley Leachman owned the Ford agency in Sapulpa in 1939, Detroit produced the 27th million Ford. The sedan toured dealerships across the nation and was a photographic event when it came to Sapulpa. The State of Oklahoma issued a license plate numbered 27000000. Leachman sold his dealership to Lee Eller in 1955.
“As noted in phone books at the time Sapulpa could boast of a dozen new automobile dealerships in the downtown area. Eller sold his dealership to Denton Easterly in the 1960s who would later move to the Turner Turnpike Gate north of Sapulpa. Currently, Sapulpa’s only two new car dealerships, Danny Beck Chevrolet and Bob Hurley Ford are on New Sapulpa Road (close to original Route 66 and I44) where Sapulpa and Tulsa join.”
As for Danny Beck who miraculously survived some serious health issues the past couple of years, he’s somewhat retiring.
We picked up on some of the following posts of well-wishes on his Facebook page:
“Once again God saved me from a fall that elevated to Mersa and the severe damage to my remaining kidney. God restored my kidney to the doctors surprise. They said I would be on dialysis the rest of my life and I was put on a kidney transplant list. But God said no and in less than three weeks my kidney was working better than before so they took me off dialysis and said no transplant would be necessary! Then Kathy found out she had a large mass behind her uterus. We all prayed and she had her surgery this month and it was only a fibrous tissue that was benign! So God has blessed us — so this year was glorious.
“. . . we were offered an exceptional offer for the dealership. We prayed and talked about it and decided to accept their offer. The folks that bought it are from Grapevine Texas and operate the number one Chevy dealership in the nation . . . They are good Christian people that care for their employees and their customers.
“It is a bittersweet victory because no one ever loved their jobs, employees, and customers more than my family did.
“But life goes on and we believe that we were blessed with this sale and can retire . . . However to just stop doing what we love is going to be hard to do.
“I agreed to work part time to take care of our old personal fleet and retail customers. You can call the dealership @ 918-227-1070 and just ask for us and the operator will transfer you to our cell phones. Kathy and my family want to express our gratitude, thanks, and appreciation for your support over the years, 35 of em!!!”
