Brown Motors / E. R. Linton Motors, Perry, Florida

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=90 BGCOLOR="#003366" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="008005a0dkcfqa.png"> <div> <A HREF="http://willysdealershipproject.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://willysdealershipproject.com/"><U><B>home</B></U></A><B>     | </B><B> </B><B> </B><B>  </B><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Willys De</B><B>alership Project</B></FONT></div> <div> <B>             Back to: </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Florida"><U><B>Florida</B></U></A><B> </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Use your browser's Back button for best results</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Brown Motors</div> <div> E. R. Linton Motors (Post 1955)</div> <div> Address Unknown</div> <div> Perry, Florida</div> <bR> <div> Kaiser enthusiast William Brown is well known in collector circles as <A HREF="http://www.kaiserbill.com/page17.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.kaiserbill.com/page17.html"><U>Kaiser Bill</U></A>.  As a young man, he worked at his father's dealerships in Perry and <A HREF="id1448.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Brown Motors, Greenville, Florida"><U>Greenville</U></A>.  He has graciously supplied the following commentary:</div> <bR> <div> "My Dad, William M. Brown, and a man named "Williams" ( I don't recall his first name right now) obtained a Kaiser-Frazer and Willys Jeep Dealership in Perry, Florida in 1946.  My Dad was the manager of the Buick Dealership in West Palm Beach but he did not have sufficient capital to meet the requirements for a dealership there so he searched out an area that was still available for which he could qualify.  He discovered the area from Cross City through Greenville to the Georgia line was available.  He searched for a partner with sufficient capital.  My uncle Joe in Bell, Florida, knew of this man named "Williams" and introduced him to my Dad.  They formed a partnership and were able to obtain Dealership approval from Kaiser-Frazer Sales Corporation.  They built a brand new dealership building just off the old town square in Perry.  It was one of the few completely new dealerships built for any K-F Dealership.  Most of the small town Kaiser-Frazer (and other makes) dealerships at that time were combination service stations, repair shops and car dealerships. They opened Brown-Williams Motors in the fall of 1947.  They also were approached for a joint Willys Dealership and signed on with Willys as well.  I believe that approach was taken for most K-F Dealerships at that time.  </div> <bR> <div> Things went great at first as it did for most of the early K-F Dealers.  As it turned out, Mr. Williams was a real drunk and my Dad could not tolerate his drinking, getting drunk at the Dealership and causing problems with customers.  When he started secretly taking unauthorized withdrawals from the Company's bank account my Dad and he had a real confrontation.  My Dad, being an ex-prize fighter (boxer) of course won that argument. The resolution was my Dad bought out Mr. William's interest in early 1948 and the Dealership then became "Brown Motors."  My Dad then opened another Kaiser-Frazer (and Jeep) Dealership (also "Brown Motors") in Greenville, Florida.  Much of his time, and mine, was spent going between the two locations.  I was kept busy after school helping out in both locations.  Some of my responsibilities were to meet the transports and help unload the new vehicles, check them over, clean them up, and put them in the showroom or back shop.  In late 1947 and early 1948 dad was selling cars at a faster pace than expected so I would take drivers over to the Jacksonville distributor and pick up cars and jeeps and we would drive them back to Perry and Greenville.  I made many trips during that time.  </div> <bR> <div> The dealerships flourished up until late 1951 and things went downhill from there, as all K-F dealers did.  The Jeep line was the real money-maker for Dad during those bad K-F times.  He stayed with Kaiser-Frazer and when Joe Frazer bowed out they sent Dad a new sign that had Kaiser at the top and Willys on the bottom where Frazer used to be.  So, then it was a Kaiser-Willy Dealership.  When the end came in 1954 Dad continued to be a Dealer for Willys and a Service Center for Kaiser (and Frazer).  In late 1955 he obtained a Dealership for Dodge and sold his Willys Dealership and Kaiser Service business to Mr. E.R. Linton.  Unfortunately, all the records were changed and my Dad's Dealership was no longer listed.  That's why the <A HREF="http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/pnwkfoci/dealers/fl.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/pnwk"><U>1956 listings reflect E.R. Linton Motors</U></A> instead of Brown Motors.  Unfortunately all the memorabilia I had of his dealership days were totally burned up in a garage fire in 1962.  I have a few photos of the building in Perry after it was turned into another business.  I also have a Jacksonville distributor newspaper ad listing Brown Motors in Perry, Florida as one of his dealers."</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Many thanks to Kaiser Bill for this valuable information.  <A HREF="http://www.kaiserbill.com/index.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.kaiserbill.com/index.html"><U>Be sure to visit his website to learn more about Kaiser history.</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> Also, circa 1956: <A HREF="http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/pnwkfoci/dealers/fl.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/pnwk"><U>K-F Dealer List</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>