Earl Hayes had already worked for Chevrolet from 1925 in a variety of managerial positions in Dallas, Detroit, and Oklahoma, when he returned to Dallas in 1945 and partnered with Roy Hill to purchase the John E. Morris Chevrolet Co. at Ninth & Lancaster (also listed as 132 Lancaster). In 1949 Hayes bought the dealership outright from Hill and built one of the largest showrooms in Dallas at the 9th & Lancaster location. He also operated a used car and truck dealership at Commerce & Industrial.
The slogan "Come out our way, trade your way" appeared in ads in 1949, and Hayes apparently stuck with the saying for the duration of his dealership.
About 1974 Earl brought his son, Robert T. (Bob) Hayes on board, and in June 1975 the result of their partnership, Bob Hayes Chevrolet Co., began operating at its new location at Marvin D. Love Freeway and Wheatland Road. Sometime in the 1990's the dealership became Powell Chevy. In 2011 Robert T. Hayes was Chairman of the Board of Hayes Truck Inc. in Dallas.
See also Phorum at Dallas History Society.
I bought my first new car in 1975 from Mr. Pat Patterson at Bob Hayes Chevrolet. They were still located at the Ninth and Lancaster location, but were to move soon to the new location at Highway 67 and Wheatland Road. People told Hayes that he was crazy to move so far out in the city, as there was nothing out there at the time (Redbird Mall was not far from the dealership and had been in operation for several years). Hayes laughed at these naysayers believing that the area would soon "explode" with growth. Well, the rest is history, as Hayes was right - the others were wrong. The dealership operated under the Hayes name actually until the late 1980's when the name was changed to Sunshine Chevrolet with Hayes owning 50% and two minority owners with 25% each. The dealership later was sold to John Powell and renamed Powell Chevrolet. The dealership today operates under the name of Freedom Chevrolet-Buick-GMC and has been remodeled and updated. As for me, I bought a new 1975 Chevrolet Vega from Bob Hayes Chevy and kept it six months before trading it for a new 1975 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Talk about a trade up! As for Pat Patterson, he stayed with the dealership through the Powell ownership and retired after 53 years in the car business. It is interesting to note that throughout all of his career, he sold only Chevrolet automobiles, and worked for only one dealership for all of his career. Upon his retirement, he was honored by General Motors for having worked for one dealer continuously throughout his career, and for having this distinction of longevity in the United States. Needless to say, he had served the automobile needs of literally thousands of customers throughout his career. He loved to tell stories of selling cars to customers children and grandchildren! Pat Patterson died in 2002 in Grapevine, TX.
ReplyDeleteMy dad Jim Hogue was a salesman for Earl Hayes Chevrolet at Commerce and Industrial from 1958 to 1967. He won a lot of sales awards while working there. He told stories of some of the people he sold trucks to and one of them was Glenn Campbell’s dad.
ReplyDeleteYour father and my Dad probably worked with each other often at Earl Hayes! My Dad (I.T. Hurst) was the credit manager there.
DeleteMy father I.T. Hurst was the credit manager there in the early 60s before taking a new car sales job at Orand Buick.
ReplyDeleteI Lived at the corner of sunset & bishop between 1968 & 1970 as a teenager...I can still remember walking up & down busy jefferson strip...Oak Cliff residents were very friendly...fond memories
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ReplyDeleteI went to work at Earl Hayes Chevrolet in late 1968 after I got out of the U S Army and worked there as a salesman, then asst new car sales manager until 1971 and went into the business as self employed with a fellow Earl Hayes salesman. We were located across from the Oak Cliff "Y" YMCA and Cliff Temple Baptist Church. I rented an old Texaco station for $75 a month! I lived in Oak Cliff for my entire childhood and as a kid used to go down to Earl Hayes with my dad for parts and service as we called it the "Chev a lay House". The short time I was at Earl Hayes literally changed my life and I have only fond memories of my time there..
ReplyDeleteAlso as a child in the 50's I used to ride my bicycle down to Earl Hayes in early September and peek through the fence behind the dealership to see if I could see the new models ( a big secret ) because "New Car Showing" as it was called was always on the 3rd Thursday in September every year and on that date all the new Chevys were shown and it was a very festive day with that being the first day you could buy one and they always had a pretty woman in an evening gown talking about the new features standing on the large turntable at the end of the showroom floor and we served hotdogs and Dr Peppers to all the shoppers. It was fun! My dad took me every year as a child to that event. I was a Chevrolet nut! I never dreamed someday I would work there and be a part of that excitement.
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