The Car Dealer History Project

Preserving the History of America's Car Dealers

Car dealerships have been part of the American landscape for more than a century. They helped build local economies, supported generations of families, survived recessions, adapted through technological change, and became deeply woven into the identity of towns and cities across the country.

Yet surprisingly little of that history has been formally preserved. Many of the stories that shaped the industry still live primarily in family photo albums, filing cabinets, service department memories, and conversations that have never been recorded.

We want to change that.

The Car Dealer History Project is an ongoing effort to document the stories, people, dealerships, and communities that helped shape the automotive industry across the United States. Our mission is simple: preserve an industry history and create publicly accessible historical content that dealerships, families, associations, employees, and communities can reference and share. The goal is not just to collect information, but to preserve and present it in a way that feels meaningful, credible, and lasting.

Why This Project Exists

An Industry That Helped Shape Communities — But Rarely Documents Itself

Beginning with Colorado, the project collects interviews, photographs, dealership archives, family stories, advertising materials, and firsthand accounts from the people who built the business across generations.

Supported by Training and Educational Development, LLC, the project will collect this information and produce free documentary-style video content, oral histories, and digital archives designed to be shared, referenced, and preserved for future generations.