It's 1984, and Frank and Louise Hagerty are at wits’ end, unable to find solid insurance coverage for their prized wooden boats. So the married couple comes to a simple conclusion: If they need this kind of specialty insurance and can’t find it, then surely...
Could a Traverse City-based technology company help shape the future of the automotive industry? Thanks to a local startup called Promethient, the answer might just be “Yes.” [caption id="attachment_24613" align="alignleft" width="214"] Myers[/caption] According to Bill Myers, CEO of Promethient, the company is currently working with an original...
For Craig Wares of Wares Auto Sales, Inc., selling used cars was a birthright. His dad, Theron “Moose" Wares, launched the business in 1937, when he was just 19 years old. The dealership bounced around to a few different locations before settling into a former...
Electric vehicles aren't exactly flying out the door at Bill Marsh Auto Group. Co-owner Jamie Marsh says that electric and hybrid cars probably account for less than one percent of the company’s sales. Marsh says that the Bill Marsh Auto Group has been working to get more...
Serra Traverse City is one year into a multi-year renovation/construction of its auto dealerships on Garfield Road in Traverse City. Managing partner Jerry Zezulka said the projects began in August of 2016 and won’t be finished until sometime in 2020. “We started with a 36,000 square-foot service center on the South...
Auto sales have softened a bit from the record pace of the past two years, but local auto dealers remain upbeat about their business prospects. Some say sales are up from a year ago, while others are backing up their confidence by spending millions of dollars...
Protecting $30 billion of classic motorcycles, cars, and boats worldwide takes a lot of innovation. And space. Fortunately, Hagerty has both. Seven hundred employees of the classic vehicles insurer in Traverse City work either at the River's Edge campus on Cass Street or 130 S. Union, in...
Car and truck sales in the United States are starting to level off after climbing to a record 17.4 million new vehicles last year. But Traverse City dealers say they are continuing to enjoy strong results and don’t expect that to change anytime soon. “It’s probably...
Except for devoted Luddites who like to work on their older model muscle cars and pickups, the day of the shade tree mechanic has pretty much passed. Radical changes in car technology saw to that. The mechanical skill it takes to pull an engine block or...
Adam Hammer started his classic car restoration business – Hammer and Dolly Automotive Restorations – four years ago with “a bench and a tool box.” Not content to repair modern wheels, Hammer is dedicated to bringing life back to rusty wreckage like a ’55 Chevy Nomad...
