ELM History

Jim D. McKinnon

The name Elm in Elm Chevrolet could be short for Elmira - again it could be because of the many elm trees that surrounded the original location on Water St. back in the mid 1930's. Regardless of which it might mean, the name Elm Chevrolet was given to the franchise by Arthur Leeson, who owned the dealership from 1935 until the spring of 1939.

When the franchise for Chevrolet in Elmira be­came available for sale in the spring of 1939, Jim McKinnon applied, and was accept­ed by Chevrolet. Jim McKinnon purchased the assets of Elm Chevrolet from Arthur Leeson. The rest of the year was spent getting established into a new business and community.

Mr. McKinnon's work experience up until that time had been in the automotive field. His first association was with the truck end of the business through Martin Parry Corporation of York, Penna. commercial body builders. He later became a part of the wholesale organi­zation of the Baltimore Zone Chevrolet Division of Gen­eral Motors. Jim left Chevrolet to become General Manager of Anderson Motors, then the largest Chev­rolet dealer in the Baltimore Area.

Elm Chevrolet, under the new ownership of J.D McKinnon had struggled along the way with the war in 1941, having to combine two dealerships to make it, Mr. Herman F. Cushing, the Elmira Oldsmobile dealer decided it was a logical time to liquidate his business.

J.D. was given permission by Chevrolet and Oldsmobile to consolidate the two dealerships thus helping both franchises to ride out the war years supplying service and parts to the many customers of both makes. With few new cars available and not too many used, expediency demanded a move to lesser quar­ters, the move was made to the building on the north-west corner of Carroll and Fox and was known as Elm Chevrolet.

Late in 1945 shortly after Chevrolet's changeover to civilian production Elm delivered its first 1946 model - it was a long awaited day. The good news was short lived, cut into by a long disheartening General Motors strike. Production eventually resumed and the future looked great.

Spring of '1946 - Elm Chevrolet was greeted with another obstacle, a disastrous flood.

The exaggerated demands during the years just after World War II in the automobile business plus its related problems were unbelievable unless you were a part of it. For every available new car and truck there were 100 buyers. This completely out of balance period created some odd situations and many disgruntled potential customers for all dealerships. The time was fast arriving for a move to quarters more fitting for a Chevrolet-Oldsmobile dealership in a city the size of Elmira. The Silvertown Motor building on the corner of Church and Baldwin St. was built by Mr. A. Ward LaFrance to house a "modern" automobile dealership back in 1914. After an addition had been built onto the building and many im­provements made to the former Buick Silvertown Motors building, on August 1, 1947, Elm Chevrolet moved into what has turned out to be its permanent home. During this time, the insistence of both manufacturers made the two franchises separate. Oldsmobile returned to Fox and Carroll after some refurbishing of the building. Elm Chevrolet was now again the supplier of Chevro­let products only.

In 1970 Elm Chevrolet's Board made the final decision to continue its operation in Downtown Elmira. We had achieved a sales goal that we had been climbing toward for many years - the de­livery of over 1,000 new cars and trucks in a year.

Over the years Elm has expanded its physical plant through the purchase of numerous parcels of adjacent land and the building of additional facilities. In 1946 Moved in after expanding the Service Dept. In 1962 Expanded the Service Department again. In 1967 the Parts Department was expanded.

­June 23, 1972, Agnes brought with her the· most disastrous flood to ever hit the eastern part of the United States. Elm Chevrolet, along with a great portion of Elmira, was literally under water. The losses for Elm were - 86 new cars and trucks - 140 used units, most of our parts stock plus serious damage to build­ings and equipment. Between insurance payments and Chevrolet Motors Division's replacement of parts Elm's loss was bad but not disastrous. By mid-summer of 1973 all traces of flood at Elm were gone. Elm was back on track and things started to look up again.

During 1972 J. D. McKinnon decided to step down as dealer and president, turning the business over to his son Robert B. McKinnon Making him President of Elm Chevrolet.

Tim VanFleet

Tim started working for Doan Buick on College Ave from age 13. At age 19 he moved to Louisville, KY to work for Tom Payette Buick, until 1987. While employed by Tom Payette, Tim inquired what would he need to save, to own a dealership. Knowing what he needed to save and needed to do, Tim had a goal.

Tim VanFleet started working for Elm Chevrolet when he was 22 years old, as a Greeter in the Service Department until a position in the Sales Department opened up a year later. Because of his success as a Salesman & Sales Manager for 9 years, he was promoted to the position of Vice President in 2001. In 2005 Tim was once again promoted, this time to President. The announcement, in 2008, that Elm Chevrolet was being sold to Tim VanFleet was a step towards the achievement of his long-term goal.

Tim believes that "The foundation that was built a long time ago will carry us well into the future", and would like "To maintain the reputation we have built and to grow the business".