In September of 1968, West Park Chevrolet Buick GMC officially opened for business. It has been an honour and a privilege to be part of your driving experiences over the years. And the best part -- we look forward to serving you for many years to come.
Here's a brief West Park Chevrolet Buick GMC history with some pictures.
Henry Stoesz and Dick Penner bought the GM dealership, then known as Beckert Motors, from Dave Beckert during the summer of 1968. The transaction officially took effect on September 1 but West Park Chevrolet Buick GMC was already operating the last few days of August 1968. The first full time employees of West Park Chevrolet Buick GMC, in addition to Dick and Henry, were Jake Rempel, Jake Franz, Bernie Klassen and Leonard Hildebrand.
The seventh employee when West Park Chevrolet Buick GMC opened for business was Bob Stoesz, a Grade 12 student at W C Miller Collegiate, who was considered a part time employee but worked pretty much full time hours pumping gas after school until 9:00 every night as well as most Saturday's from 8-9. Bob moved from the gas bar to our parts department, where his amazing memory for part numbers impressed many fellow team members and customers, to Parts Manager and in more recent years to Fixed Operations Manager, with overall management of our Parts and Service departments. Bob is one of the many reasons for the success that West Park Chevrolet Buick GMC has enjoyed during our first 50 years and we are very happy he is still part of our team today.
One of the keys to any successful dealership is community involvement and that has been true of West Park Chevrolet Buick GMC since day one. Our team members (past and present) have served as Altona Mayor, RM Council Member, Fire Chief, Chamber President and Pastor in their Church to name a few. West Park Chevrolet Buick GMC has also contributed financially from sporting team and arts sponsorships to more major donations for projects like the Gardens on Tenth, Pioneer Centre, Kiddie Sunshine Centre and many more.
West Park Chevrolet Buick GMC has undergone various expansions / renovations since we first opened for business in 1968. Our original building was constructed in the early 1960's as Beckert Motors. In the mid-seventies a new shop was added (and the existing shop became parts, office space and reconditioning department).
A few years later the size of our shop was doubled again; in 2007 we added the service drive through, new Bell MTS store, customer lounge and additional office space; and then in 2015 the exterior of our building was updated to the latest GM image requirements. Some things have stayed the same -- one example being our community involvement. Others have changed drastically -- like prices … and styles. Here are just a few examples of how pricing has changed… Prices in 1968, the year we opened :
In addition to West Park Chevrolet Buick GMC opening for business in 1968, which was pretty important to us, other major things happening that year around the world included
• Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in April
• Senator Robert Kennedy is assassinated in June
• North Vietnam launches the Tet Offensive against the United States and South Vietnam
• Pierre Elliott Trudeau becomes the Prime Minister of Canada
• The first Big Mac goes on sale in McDonalds costing 49 cents
• Boeing 747 made its maiden flight
• Allen K Breed invents an air bag that deploys and inflates automatically on violent impact using nitrogen gas
• Apollo 8 orbits the Moon, becoming the first manned space mission to achieve the feat
• Dr. Christian Barnard performs the first successful heart transplant
• The Emergency 911 Telephone service is started in the USA which provides a single number for reporting emergencies and is manned 24 hrs per day 365 days per year
• ATM First Philadelphia Bank installs the first automated teller machine in the U.S.
• The Winter Olympic Games are held in Grenoble, France during the month of February and were the first Winter Games to be broadcast in color on television
Popular Films include
-- The Graduate
-- Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
-- Bonnie and Clyde
-- Valley of the Dolls
-- The Odd Couple
-- Planet of the Apes
-- Rosemary's Baby
Popular Musicians
• The Rolling Stones
• The Supremes
• The Beatles with -- " Hey Jude "
• Fleetwood Mac
• Aretha Franklin
• Gary Puckett &The Union Gap
• The Grateful Dead
• The Monkees
That's our quick look back at 1968. As mentioned, many things have changed. But some have stayed the same. Our goal (and advertised moto) in 1968 was that "we are never satisfied till you are". That still holds true today. We not only want you to be satisfied, the goal of our entire team at West Park Chevrolet Buick GMC is TO MAKE YOUR next VEHICLE SALES AND / OR SERVICE EXPERIENCE the best one EVER !
Thanks for your friendship, support and patronage over the years. It is much appreciated ! We look forward to continuing to serve you going forward.
