Sunday, March 8, 2009

Dan Cava's Toyota World - Fairmont, West Virginia



Dan Cava's Toyota World is located in Fairmont, West Virginia. The facility was built in the mid-1990s by Penn Auto Toyota that had been located in the Belleview section of Fairmont. Dan Cava had purchased the franchise in 2003. Last year, additional service bays were added.

Anthony Chevrolet-Cadillac - Fairmont, West Virginia



Anthony Chevrolet-Cadillac is located on Country Club Road in Fairmont. It has been located there since the late 1970s. It has two large glass showrooms and a pre-owned lot adjacent to it. Its facade was remodeled around 2000 to fit GM's new image. It was pasted over the the mansard roof that acts as its facade.

Urse Chrsyler-Jeep-Dodge - Fairmont, West Virginia





Urse Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge (CJD) is the sister dealership to Urse Honda of the Urse Automotive Group. This dealership has been open since the 1970s in its current location. It was a Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge for many years. It had picked up the Jeep franchise from Larry Myers in the mid-1990s to make Urse in Fairmont carry all of the Chrysler franchises.
This facility was renovated inside and outside a couple of years ago with the addition of a service reception area and service bays. Around 2000, the hill behind the dealership was leveled to make room for additional vehicles. Today it serves as pre-owned cars and overflow new vehicles. There is also a flagpole on this hill as well to be used as a landmark.

Larry Myers Hyundai/Subaru - Bridgeport, West Virginia





Larry Myers relocated to a site near Interstate 79 in Bridgeport in 2006 after being located on Locust Avenue in Fairmont, West Virginia. They currently sell Hyundai and Subaru. As I understand it, the new site was supposed to be just Hyundai with the Subaru franchise staying in Fairmont. The Fairmont facility had been remodeled in the early 2000s to reflect the new Subaru image but they had decided to move with the Hyundai franchise. In the new facility, there is no Subaru image with the "stone chimney". Larry Myers had sold Jeeps until the early 1990s until the Jeep franchise had moved to Urse Chrsysler-Plymouth-Dodge.
This new facility has visability from Interstate 79 and is located on Lodgeville Road. Lodgeville Road is difficult to get out of on either end of it. There used to be a Subaru franchise located in Clarksburg until the mid-1990s and it had closed altogether and did not move.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Urse Honda - Bridgeport, West Virginia




Urse Honda is located in Bridgeport, West Virginia. It's General Manager is Matt Urse. This dealership is part of the Urse Automotive group with its other dealership being Urse Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep in Fairmont, West Virginia. Urse Honda was originally Plohal Honda and built approximately 1998. Plohal Honda had been located on Fairmont Avenue in Fairmont prior to moving to Bridgeport. This facility is located on Barnett Run Road in Bridgeport below Meadowbrook Mall. Urse had taken over this dealership approximatley 2005 and in 2007 had the facility renovated and modernized to fit in with the Honda look. Included in this renovation was the addition of service bays, delivery bays, and enclosing the service reception area. Along with the main lot, there is a holding lot below the facility where semi-trucks would drop off vehicles to be delivered as the main lot is a tight turnaround for trucks.

Former Dick Morgan/John Oliverio Buick-GMC




Dick Morgan Buick-GMC was sold to John Oliverio in the early 1990s. This dealership was located on Bridgeport Hill Road in Clarksburg, West Virginia. They had sold Buicks and GMC Trucks until 2003 or 2004. Then the Buick and GMC franchises were moved down the road to Bob Trickett Cadillac/Pontiac. When John Oliverio took over, they attempted to sell Suzuki automobiles in an adjacent building that had been a Picway/Payless Shoe Souce Store. That is a current flooring store. The main Buick-GMC showroom is currently a doctor's office. John Oliverio had built a two story garage/office building approximately 2000 and is currently used by JD Byrider. There are also the former service garages at the top of the hill behind the former main showroom.

Harry Green Chevrolet - Clarksburg, WV




Harry Green is a Chevrolet-Nissan-Jeep dealership in Clarksburg, West Virginia. It has been in business since the late 1960s. Harry Green's advertising tag line is "7 Acres" noting the size of its lot. Radio and television advertising plays a spoof of "Green Acres" song to "Harry Green Seven Acres is the Place to Be". It's current General Manager is Hal Green. There are three building on its campus. The main showroom has the original Chevrolet showroom on its east end. In the early 1990s, Nissa was added after RG Motors in Nutter Fort dropped Nissan and Harry Green added the Nissan Showroom after acquiring the Nissan franchise. Each showroom will normally park about 6 cars. The main building also contains the dealership's service center and body shop. The facility was expanded approximatley 2003 to add a moden fascade as well as more service bays.
The truck sales building replaced an older wooden building about 10 years ago. It is located on the western end of the lot. There is no space to display vehicles. On the western end of the lot up a short hill is the dealership prep building. Newly delivered vehicles are parked and prepped here. This building was formally a car wash and a gas station operated by the dealership for the public prior to 1985.