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While the name has changed over the years — from Frede to Bill Burns to El Bauer to Fehrenbacher to its current moniker — this Decatur dealership had made a habit of doing things in a very big way.
A 1930 story in the Herald & Review proclaimed the new showroom at Eldorado and Franklin streets as “one of the largest and best equipped automotive agencies in the country.”
In 1965, the secretary of state and numerous auto executives were on hand to cut the ribbon for what was declared “the world’s largest showroom.” The ribbon cutting marked the start of a five-day celebration at the dealership on the city’s north side.
Under its current name, it has been ranked as one of the top 500 dealerships in the United States by Wards Magazine, received the 2005 Time Magazine Quality Dealer Award and is a regular recipient of Herald & Review Readers’ Choice awards. The dealership also is among the largest wholesale parts departments and supplier of police cars in the United States.
Its current owner came to Decatur with his family and became a standout athlete at St. Teresa High School. He got his unofficial start in the auto selling business while attending Illinois State University. It was there that he and some friends began buying “beaters” for $25 and selling them at the auto auction at Pekin.
He officially entered the business selling cars for a Ford dealership in Bloomington. A year later, he and his high school sweetheart-turned wife returned to Decatur, and he got a job selling cars with Fehrenbacher.
Name that business.
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Last month’s answer: Golden Glaze Donuts
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