Saturday, January 03, 2015

San Francisco Autocenter... the paradigm breaker

Until Martin Swig let loose his passion for cars, and business sense trained in Stanford (his dad wouldn't allow him to go to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena) and grew his Alfa and Fiat dealership.. and was the first to conceive of a multi-manufacturer dealership sales center - not stopping until he had 22 different car manufactures represented. From Rolls Royce to Suzuki.

And that was the beginning of how car dealerships operate the way we know them since the 70's.

He sold the business in 1990's and started car race organizing, and started the California Mille Miglia. It's been a big success ever since. Martin went on to found several others, like one called the Double 500, 500 kilometers in cars bought for less than $500.

It's likely that the reason Berkeley is known for being the primary American stomping grounds for Alfas is the dealership Martin Swig started with. 

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