Cottman Transmission and Total Auto Care is an American

transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission *** ...

-repair

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

and company-owned automotive service centers headquartered in

Horsham, Pennsylvania Horsham is a home rule municipality in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 14,842 at the 2010 census. Horsham is located entirely within Horsham Township, and it is home to the Horsham Air Guard Station at the form ...

. As of 2020 there are 52 locations in 23 states in the

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and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The company is owned by American Capital and American Driveline Systems, Inc. is the parent company. Cottman was founded by Richard Silva in 1962.

History

In 1957, Anthony A. Martino founded an automatic transmission repair shop in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Soon after opening the shop, he partnered with two friends, Richard Silva and Walter DeLutz to expand operations. Together, they opened numerous transmission centers in and around Philadelphia. In 1962, the men divided their stores with Silva's center becoming the first Cottman Transmission Center which was named after Cottman Avenue in

Northeast Philadelphia Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Northeast and the Great Northeast, is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 census, Northeast Philadelphia has a population of between 300,000 and 450,000, depending ...

. In 1964, Silva sold his first franchise to an entrepreneur who opened a center on Roosevelt Boulevard. From there, the chain grew locally. As the 1960s and 1970s progressed, the chain expanded along the

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

and throughout the

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...

states, reaching 81 shops in 1977. In 1979, Silva retired and sold the company to three of his employees - Michael Ambrose, Edward Kelly and James Corkran. The company expanded to a few hundred locations throughout the United States and Canada and became the nation's second-largest chain of transmission repair shops. In April 2004, American Capital invested $46 million in the acquisition of Cottman Transmission and purchased the company for $77.3 million including the investment. In 2006, its parent holding company, American Driveline Systems, Inc. acquired

AAMCO Transmissions AAMCO is an American transmission (mechanics), transmission-repair franchising, franchise founded by Robert Morgan and Anthony A. Martino (who used the first letter of each name to form the names AAMCO and later MAACO) in 1957 in Philadelphia. M ...

as part of their portfolio and it was combined with the company. Now It operates totally separated under the same owner and parent holding company. Cottman Transmission and Total Auto Care celebrated its 50th anniversary of business in 2012.

Services

Cottman Transmission and Total Auto Care specializes in every phase of automotive repair and maintenance including a specialization in servicing both automatic and manual transmissions.

In popular culture

Former American footballer

Terry Bradshaw Terry Paxton Bradshaw (born September 2, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League (NFL). Since 1994, he has been a television sports analyst an ...

was the spokesperson for the company from 2005 to 2008.

References

External links

* {{official, http://www.cottman.com Franchises American companies established in 1962 Retail companies established in 1962 Automotive repair shops of the United States Companies based in Philadelphia Companies based in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania 1962 establishments in Pennsylvania