The Gingerich family’s love affair with automobiles lasts 70 years

This article is brought to you by Johnson’s Paint and Body.

Ivan Gingerich rode a bicycle to work every day when he first started in the automotive business. Growing up in an Amish family, cars just weren’t a part of his life. So, he pedaled from the family’s log cabin near the present-day Kokomo Airport to downtown.

But his love affair with automobiles began long before those bicycle rides. Knowing nothing better than the horse and buggy his parents used for transportation, he was astounded when his neighbors first offered him a ride in their car.

“I thought that was the greatest thing since ice cream,” said Ivan. “It was nice, quiet, warm. So, I just started liking cars.”

That experience destined the Gingerich family for decades in the automotive field. Throughout more than 70 years in the business, Ivan brought up his son Rex and daughter Lisa with that same passion for automobiles. Together, they operate Chariot Automotive Group, overseeing four dealerships across north-central Indiana.

And Ivan still holds the business close to his heart. He goes to work every day at the McGonigal dealership along Ind. 22. It doesn’t matter that he turned 95 earlier this year. Age has done nothing to dull his affection for automobiles.

But it all started with a bicycle ride.

Ivan followed in his brother Fenton’s footsteps and landed a job with a car dealership in 1954. Fenton worked at McGonigal in downtown Kokomo, but Ivan went to work for rival Conkle Pontiac.

“I wanted to work for an automobile dealership somewhere, so I went to Conkle,” said Ivan. “(Owner Charlie Conkle) asked if I had something in mind I wanted to do. I said I'll take on anything.

“The only thing they had was lubrication. That was an outside job, winter and summer. I said, ‘Well, that's good enough.’ I think it paid 50 cents an hour or something. We shook hands, and I started the next day.”

It was 1954, and Ivan was on his way to becoming one of the most successful car dealers in Kokomo’s history. It didn’t take long for him to ditch the bicycle. His first car was a 1938 Chevrolet, purchased from Conkle.

“I told Charlie I didn't have the money,” said Ivan. “He said, ‘We'll let you charge it here for a year or so.’”

Every morning, Ivan went to work at 7:30 a.m., but he stopped in at a downtown restaurant on North Main Street and grabbed coffee as a matter of habit. It was there that he would run into Harry McGonigal. They hit it off and began chatting.

“One day in February, the snow was a flying, and it was like 30 below zero,” said Ivan. “And McGonigal says to me, ‘Gingerich, if you were down at my store in the sales department, you wouldn't have to put up with this.’”

It didn’t take much convincing. His brother, Fenton, already was working at McGonigal, so making the transition was a bit easier. They shook on it to seal the deal. But Conkle didn’t take the news well.

“I walked down the alley to work, and when I got down there, Conkle was back in the service department,” said Ivan. “I motioned him over and told him what I was going to do. He said, ‘Oh, my. We were going to put you in sales here.’

“Well, I'd already told McGonigal yes, and I didn't want to change my mind. So, Conkle slowly walked off. About 20 minutes later, here comes Durward Rayl, who was his partner. He was a very arrogant individual.

“He says, ‘I hear you're leaving us.’ And I said, ‘Well, I am, and I'll give you a couple weeks before I go.’ He said, ‘You don't need to. Just get your tools loaded up and go now, if you don't mind.’ The rest is history.”

Harry McGonigal started his Buick dealership in 1928 in downtown Kokomo. He added Cadillac in the 1930s. In 1954, McGonigal sold the dealership to Bill Wilson, and shortly thereafter, Ivan joined the company.

Rex explained that Wilson owned McGonigal until 1968, when Fenton and Sid Golightly bought into the dealership. Golightly retired in 1980, selling his interest in the company to Fenton and Mike Raisor. Ivan began in ownership in 1980 as well, purchasing 10 percent of the company annually over the next four years.

When Fenton retired in 1986, Ivan became the principal owner of the dealership, buying out his brother. A year later, Chrysler purchased AMC and Jeep, which had been under the McGonigal umbrella. This gave the dealership an important affiliation locally, as thousands of Kokomoans were employed by the manufacturer.

Rex was present for most of these changes. He began working for McGonigal in 1981, detailing cars after school. Eventually, he worked in most of the departments in the dealership and began his own climb towards ownership.

“It was the summer after my sophomore year of high school,” said Rex. “My uncle Fenton, we had a good relationship. We went racing. He had a lake cottage. I spent some time with him at the lake. He took me snowmobiling.

“He called me in that summer and asked if I wanted a job. Yeah, I wanted a job. I liked being at the dealership. I would run errands, go pick up lunch. I was just around. I always had that desire to work here.”

It started with detailing cars. The next summer, Rex started work in the body shop. That lasted until he went to Purdue, but he still hung out at the dealership on the weekends.

“When I graduated, I knew this is what I wanted to do, but I also wanted to do it well,” said Gingerich.

Rex continued to learn the business after college, spending four years on track to follow the family in ownership. He attended General Motors’ ownership school in 1991, and in 1994 he went to the National Automobile Dealers Association candidate academy.

“After that, I felt like I really had the confidence to manage and run a dealership,” he said.

Rex bought Mike Raisor’s interest in the company in 1995. Four years later, he brought his sister, Lisa, on board as a partner. But the dealership was still named McGonigal.

Knowing that car dealerships often were named after the owners, Rex mulled over why the McGonigal name was still being used, long after McGonigal himself had passed away. It was an interaction at General Motors’ dealership school that gave him the answer.

“I was talking to a dealer, and I could tell he knew what he was doing; he was sharp,” said Rex. “I asked, ‘Why don't you have your own dealership?’ And he said, ‘Well, I never thought it made any sense to take a cut in pay to put my name on the sign.’”

The lesson learned in that moment was the brand has value. People have known the McGonigal name in Kokomo for nearly a century. Rex wasn’t about to change it.

“The name was very important to us,” added Ivan. “McGonigal was highly recognized and well respected in the community. We needed that reputation to continue.”

Ivan had seen the dealership through the recessionary early 1980s and continued to grow the business. By the time the 1990s rolled around, buyers were changing their habits. Sedans and coupes began to fade in popularity as trucks, minivans, and sport utility vehicles emerged as preferred options.

“Everybody had a car, and a few people had a truck,” said Rex. “Then SUVs became really relevant. Trucks were made to ride so well, so there were fewer cars being sold. Today, there are almost no cars. There are very few sedans left.”

As the market changed, so did the dealerships. When Chrysler ended the Oldsmobile brand, Wiese Oldsmobile closed its doors. The Gingerichs bought the property. When Don Button was ready to retire in 2005, the Gingerichs were there to purchase the dealership and keep Chrysler products moving in the community. And when the Great Recession hit in 2009-2009, Conkle Pontiac found itself in trouble. The Gingerichs were there to preserve the dealership.

“When you're wanting to do well, there's a growth mindset there,” said Gingerich. “We want to provide more opportunities and attract other people who want to grow and improve.

“The growth has really been organic. We grew McGonigal, and when the opportunity with Button Dodge came about, it was obvious. And when ’08-‘09, downturn hit, Conkle was going out of business. He ran into some issues, and we were in a position to make it all come together.”

Four years later, Rex set his sights on Lafayette. Twin City had been operating in that community since 1974. The founder, Don Trout, passed in 2007, and his grandson Nate Barnett was the successor. But automobiles weren’t in his blood.

“Nate and I had a friendship,” said Rex. “He would come over, and I'd mentor him a little bit. But in 2013 he invited me to lunch and shared with me that Twin City was struggling. He asked if we would consider purchasing the dealership similar to what we did with Don Button. So, that kind of happened organically.”

A few years later, Chrysler informed the Gingerichs that it wanted a dealership in Tipton. The company asked them if they would establish one.

“We knew if we didn't do it, somebody else would, said Rex. “We didn't want that, so we started Academy.”

That newest dealership is a bit of a departure from the norm. The name – Academy – explains it. It is an educational facility as well as a dealership. It is there that future automotive mechanics can learn their trade hands-on, thanks to a partnership with Ivy Tech Community College.

“We actually have a true Academy,” said Rex. “It's a team training facility.”

Faced with a growing company that operated under many names in multiple communities, Rex knew there was a need to project a common vision and set of values. The legacy of the individual businesses needed to be preserved, but the company needed a unifying presence.

In 2022, Chariot Automotive Group was formed.

“We're still McGonigal, but we have affiliations with four different new car dealerships,” said Rex. “We wanted to say, here are our core values. Here is our mission. Here is what we're trying to accomplish. We wanted all of our stores to be identified together, while still going by McGonigal, Button, Twin City, and Academy.”

There are a lot of moving parts in Chariot. Hundreds of vehicles are sold through the four dealerships every year. It is a lot to orchestrate and guide. But it really is a simple concept that binds everything together. And it starts with a gesture Ivan has been making his entire career.

“I’m in training two weeks after I started selling cars at McGonigal,” said Ivan. “And this guy I’m talking to told me I should get the kids' birthdates and the anniversaries of the people who bought cars from me. And I should send them a card whenever one of those dates came around.

“So, I got cards and everything, and I began doing that, very loyally. It went over really well. People came back and bought cars again, and so did their kids. I think that's what probably made us. It really worked.”

That personal touch got noticed. Ivan said he would get stopped by people in the grocery store who just wanted to shake his hand and thank him for the cards. The sentiments expressed in a simple note established a relationship. As a result, Ivan knows families that have purchased more than 50 vehicles from McGonigal across generations.

“Our main focus is to run really good operations, to continue to attract high quality people, give them great training, give them opportunities, and to show appreciation for what we have,” said Rex. “If we're doing the best we possibly can, other opportunities are going to come along, and people are going to continue to turn to us for their next vehicle.”