A Brief History
In May of 1933, Central Motor Co. was founded in the heart of Bel Air, Maryland. When the dealership first opened, it was owned by Mr. John H. Smith, Mr. C.T. Stephens, and Ms. Emily T. Smith. Ms. Emily Smith was a silent partner whose father had a dealership in the Aberdeen, Maryland area, however because of the times when her father passed away she inherited the business but could not take over the franchise. This then allowed her to sell that dealership and buy into the Central Motor Co. franchise (it is also important to note that Ms. Emily Smith and Mr. John Smith were not related).
On April 1, 1947, Mr. Ralph D. Walls entered into the Central Motor Co. office at the young age of 18 years old. He began working as a bookkeeper in the accounting office before eventually moving to office manager. From there he was made Sales Manager, before that was really a needed position, then general manager. In 1962, while still General Manager, he bought 1/3 of the business – Mr. John H. Smith’s portion. Then in 1967, the dealership was incorporated and changed the name to Plaza Ford Inc. At this time, Mr. R. Walls became the CEO and President of the company.
In 1971, Plaza executives decided that it was time for a move. They had run out of expansion space on their current lot, and wanted to expand the business. With no property available in Bel Air proper, they decided to move on the outskirts of town on Route 1, which would one day become a high traffic road. At the time of purchase, they bought 26 acres for a mere $170,000. A few years later, they sold 4 acres of their property to another company, and made more off of the four acres then they paid for the entire 26 acre lot in 1971.
Sadly, Mr. C.T. Stephens passed away before being able to sit in his new office at the new dealership. At this time, Mr. R. Walls was able to purchase his 1/3 of the business, now giving him two-thirds ownership along with Ms. Emily T. Smith. After this time, the car industry and economic health of the nation spiraled down. In order to save his business, Mr. Walls went for about one year without taking a salary so that his employees could still be paid and the bills incurred by the dealership be paid as well. Finally, in August of 1980, Mrs. Betty C. Walls – wife of Mr. Ralph D. Walls – bought Ms. Emily T. Smith’s remaining 1/3 of the business, giving the Walls family 100% ownership of Plaza Ford Inc.
In 1969, Mr. Walls’ oldest son, Thomas D. Walls, started working at the dealership – at the young age of 16. Throughout the years, Mr. T. Walls worked his way through the different departments until he became General Manager in 1981. In 1979, Mr. Walls’ youngest son, Charles L. Walls, also began working at the dealership. He followed his brother through the company and took over positions after his brother vacated them. In 1993, Mr. T. Walls became Vice President, followed by President of Plaza Ford Inc. in 1996. Mr. C. Walls then stepped into the role of Vice President. These roles are where both Walls sons reside today.
In 2000, Mr. Ralph D. Walls, finally retired from Plaza Ford Inc. after serving the company for 53 years. To this day, Plaza Ford Inc. is still owned and operated by the Walls family and will continue to be for years to come.
pOver the years, the look and feel of our dealership has changed dramatically. With every new change came new technology in many forms. Showrooms now emulate the open floor plans of houses, whereas in the 1970s, showrooms emulated a more closed off personal space for customers to do their car buying business.
Notice all of the closed off offices along the back wall in the picture above. These were the rooms where the customers essentially closed the deal. Now today, they sit at tables, as seen in Figure 11. Service departments have also done a lot of changing and adapting over the years. They have become bigger to accommodate more vehicles and have also added tons of technology over the years that makes working on vehicles easier.
Looking at the pictures above, in the 1950s, there were no lifts to put vehicles up on. Even in the 1980s pictures, there really aren’t the state of the art lifts that we have today, but rather floor lifts. We can also see how much bigger the shop has become since the 1950s, even though we are in a larger building now, there is just so much more functionality with today’s shop than there was 70 years ago. The biggest change that can be seen, however, is the difference in the outside of the building over the past 82 years of business.
Circa 1940s – Central Motor Co.
Circa 1960s – Central Motor Co.
Circa 1970s – Plaza Ford Inc.
Circa 2014 – Plaza Ford Inc.
From the original Central Motor Co. building in downtown Bel Air, to our much larger Plaza Ford Inc. building on the outskirts of Bel Air today, we have certainly changed a lot over the years!