Monday, November 24, 2008

Rudolph/Lou Grubb/Power Chevrolet, 27th+Camelback Rd. Phoenix

I made my way to the now deserted Rudolph/Lou Grubb/Power Chevrolet dealership on 27th ave and Camelback on saturday night, got some pictures before security chased me off. I only use my 35mm camera anymore for these pics so i must get them developed...but in the mean time, anybody have any info on the history of this dealership/building?

7 comments:

John Owens said...

not really info,but i remember walking to rudolph chevrolet with my neighbor ronny fritz.it must have been 1967.the new corvette stingrays were on display in the showroom.the salesmen were real cool let us browse and look around as long as we wanted.never forget the smell of new cars and tires.

josemas said...

I grew up in Phoenix and remember Rudolph Chevrolet from when I was a kid in the 1960s. They had originally been located downtown on Adams street but moved up to Camelback in the late 1950s or early 1960s according to my parents.
I worked in the rental car biz from the 1980s until 2001 and got into the Lou Grubb dealership quite a bit during those years.
What I was told by people who had worked there for years was that Lou Grubb had come to work there and had worked as a service writer/salesman/manager (depending on who told me the story-of course it's possible he had worked in all positions) and eventually married Ed Rudolph's daughter.
Sometime in the early 1970s the dealership became Lou Grubb Cherolet. I was never clear though whether Lou bought out his father-in-law or just inherited the dealership.
Lou's son Dan Grubb was doing a number of the TV ads from the mid 1980s on as Lou seemed prepared to ease himself into retirement.
They even opened a Lou Grubb Ford dealership in north Scottsdale during this period.
The Chevrolet dealership was sold to Auto Nation in 1997.
It eventually closed a few years later and set empty for a while. It's since been torn down as is currently (January 2012) an empty lot.
I just read that Lou Grubb, himself, passed away a couple of days ago.

Best

Joe Moore

Carole Beath said...

I bought my first brand new 1962 Chevy NovaII from Lou Gubb who was Sales Manager in 1963 at Rudolph Chevrolet when it was downtown. This is from my 1963 phone book: RUDOLPH CHEVROLET 400EAdams ALpine 8-6411. My bank had the Continuing Guarantee for the dealership, and Cliff Waddoups was the head of it all at the time.

Janiemae said...

Just purchased a '69 chevelle SS396, originally sold by Rudolph Chevy on the 3rd of March, 1969. Paperwork shows service work was performed on 20th of November, 1972. The service bill has Lou Grubb sticker put over Rudolph's name. I assume the name change happened very near this date. Larry Handlin

Unknown said...

I own a 1973 Chevy Nova from this dealership, Lou Grub on 27th Ave and Camelback in Phoenix Arizona.
Purchased in 1973.

Anonymous said...

I now own a 1966 Chevelle 300 that was purchased new from Rudolph Chevrolet on July 27 1966 by Norma H Hoag. It's a pretty rare car being it was a base model with a 6cyl and a powerglide. Ms Hoag ordered the car with tinted glass, deluxe seat belts and air conditioning. I found this post after trying to find information on either Ms. Hoag or Rudolph Chevrolet.

Unknown said...

To clarify the information on the Rudolphs and Lou Grubb. Long before Rudolph Chevrolet moved from downtown Phoenix, it was Cliff Waddoups that married Rudolph's daughter. Later, Cliff's son, Bill Waddoups took over the dealership. It was with Bill Waddoups that they moved and built the 27th Ave and Camelback dealership, possible the largest Chevy dealership in the country, at that time. "Billy" was just ahead of me in school.
Lou Grubb, I first met, with my father, when he was manager for Dub Money, Money Olds, 7th St and McDowell, and I was still at North High. This was in the early 1950s. Dub helped Lou get an Oldsmobile dealership in Colorado Springs. He later returned to Phoenix, probably with the agreement that he would take over Rudolph, and, of course, it became Lou Grubb.
Bill Woddoups and his wife Helen then spent 29 years on their ranch in Cornville, AZ. Lou nearly made 90.