Tuttle was born in Tuttle, Oklahoma (named for his father). He started his automotive career by going to work at the Ford Parts facility in Oklahoma City in 1923 at the age of 17. Although Ford had a policy of not hiring anyone under the age of 21, Tuttle, who stood well over 6 feet, was referred by a banker who knew Tuttles' father. He traveled west in 1926, to Los Angeles, aboard a freight train, until he and his friend , who had talked him into moving to California, were caught by a train agent and thrown off.They convinced a well to do lady, whose driver had broken his leg, to let them drive her to California. He was employed as a parts manager at a Ford dealership. He opened his own dealership in 1945, which became known as Holmes Tuttle, Inc. The business was a resounding success and evolved into fourteen dealerships in California and Arizona. One of his first dealerships was located in Los Angeles. In the late 1940s Holmes was offered the National distributorship for a European manufacturer. Tuttle turned it down. He had just lost nearly a million dollars as the distributor of the English Ford and stated that "...if our returning GIs wouldn't buy a car built by our English allies, then they certainly won't buy a car built in Germany called a Volkswagen." In the mid 1950s Ford Motor Co., asked Mr. Tuttle to talk to a dealer in Tucson, AZ who was ill and needed to sell his Ford store.After meeting for about 15 minutes Holmes Tuttle agreed to buy Monte Mansfield Ford. Today, over 50 years later this dealership is still Holmes Tuttle Ford.
© Copyright Wikipédia authors - This article is under licence CC BY-SA 3.0
Tuttle was born in Tuttle, Oklahoma (named for his father). He started his automotive career by going to work at the Ford Parts facility in Oklahoma City in 1923 at the age of 17. Although Ford had a policy of not hiring anyone under the age of 21, Tuttle, who stood well over 6 feet, was referred by a banker who knew Tuttles' father. He traveled west in 1926, to Los Angeles, aboard a freight train, until he and his friend , who had talked him into moving to California, were caught by a train agent and thrown off.They convinced a well to do lady, whose driver had broken his leg, to let them drive her to California. He was employed as a parts manager at a Ford dealership. He opened his own dealership in 1945, which became known as Holmes Tuttle, Inc. The business was a resounding success and evolved into fourteen dealerships in California and Arizona. One of his first dealerships was located in Los Angeles. In the late 1940s Holmes was offered the National distributorship for a European manufacturer. Tuttle turned it down. He had just lost nearly a million dollars as the distributor of the English Ford and stated that "...if our returning GIs wouldn't buy a car built by our English allies, then they certainly won't buy a car built in Germany called a Volkswagen." In the mid 1950s Ford Motor Co., asked Mr. Tuttle to talk to a dealer in Tucson, AZ who was ill and needed to sell his Ford store.After meeting for about 15 minutes Holmes Tuttle agreed to buy Monte Mansfield Ford. Today, over 50 years later this dealership is still Holmes Tuttle Ford.
© Copyright Wikipédia authors - This article is under licence CC BY-SA 3.0
Born Holmes Paul TUTTLE
