After operating for 17 months, the Phillips Lincoln-Mercury car dealership quietly transitioned into Bell Lincoln-Mercury in mid-1958. Philip Kay was opening a new dealership in Hartford and sold his controlling interest in his Holyoke dealership to James P. Campbell, the used-car manager at Phillips Lincoln-Mercury. Philip and Esther Kay remained as owners of the real estate.
Philip Campbell, a native of West Hartford, had been in the car business since 1939. In 1944, he opened Campbell Auto Sales in West Hartford and later worked for a Ford dealership in that area.
He arrived in Holyoke as a salesman for the Kay-Corey Oldsmobile dealership on Main Street. He was subsequently a sales manager at Barrett-Ballard Lincoln-Mercury and worked at Philip Kay’s Phillips Lincoln-Mercury in 1958. Mr. Campbell leased the dealership from Philip and Esher Kay.
The new dealership made further inroads into the imported car market. In July 1958, Bell Lincoln-Mercury announced the grand opening of its foreign car service and sales center. Advertisements stated that any make of foreign car would be accepted for service and repair. The company had available English Fords, Hillmans, Jaguars, Saabs, Volkswagens, MGs and Triumphs. It wasn’t clear whether these vehicles were in stock or would be ordered. However, there was quite an array of high-end cars available for purchase.
The Bell dealership remained in business when an ownership transition was about to occur once again. The fourth chapter of this series will carry us forward into the latter part of 1959.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican; publication dates and pages are shown.
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