Donald E. Massey (April 28, 1928 – June 9, 2011), known as the “Cadillac King”, was an American car dealer who owned a chain of automobile dealerships in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Career

Dealerships

Don Massey’s career started in construction in his home state of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. In 1955, he moved his family to the

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

area and began selling cars. Massey was a natural salesman and by the late 1950s had been promoted to used car manager and then general manager at a Chevrolet dealership in Detroit. In 1961, Massey opened his own used car lot in

Wayne, Michigan Wayne is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 17,593 at the 2010 census. Wayne has a long history of automotive and transportation related manufacturing. Ford Motor Company currently has two plants in Wayn ...

. About six years later, Massey bought part of the Beglinger

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it pro ...

- Cadillac agency in

Plymouth, Michigan Plymouth is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, United States. The population was 9,370 at the 2020 census. The city of Plymouth is surrounded by Plymouth Township, but the two are administered autonomously. Plymouth is a western suburb of Metro ...

and it became Beglinger-Massey Oldsmobile-Cadillac. In 1974, Massey took over full operation of the business and the dealership was renamed Don Massey Cadillac. In 1978, the dealership was relocated to a brand new 54,000 square foot facility about a mile and a half east of the previous site. The new location would be the company's flagship store and by the early 1990s had become the most volume selling Cadillac dealership in the United States. In the years and decades that followed, Massey would continue to acquire dealerships in

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

and several other states. These included dealerships purchased in partnership with professional golfer

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous ev ...

. At his peak, Massey was the largest Cadillac retailer in the country, accounting for approximately 6% of the brand's sales. In addition to Cadillac, other brands sold at various Don Massey dealerships included Bentley, Buick, Chevrolet, Geo, GMC,

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

Saab Saab or SAAB may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Saab Group, a Swedish aerospace and defence company, formerly known as SAAB, and later as Saab AB ** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab AB * Saab Automobile, a fo ...

, Saturn, and Sterling. Massey retired in 2002 and sold his 16-store dealership empire to

Sonic Automotive Sonic Automotive is a Fortune 500 company based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is the fifth largest automotive retailer in the United States as measured by total revenues. The company was founded by O Bruton Smith and completed its initial p ...

Bid for DeLorean Motor Company

In November 1982, Charles DeLorean, a Cadillac dealer in Lakewood, Ohio and brother of

John DeLorean John Zachary DeLorean (January 6, 1925 – March 19, 2005) was an American engineer, inventor, and executive in the U.S. automobile industry, widely known for his work at General Motors and as founder of the DeLorean Motor Company. DeLorean man ...

, teamed up with Don Massey to try to acquire the assets of bankrupt

DeLorean Motor Company The DeLorean Motor Company (DMC) was an American automobile manufacturer formed by automobile industry executive John DeLorean in 1975. It is remembered for the one model it produced—the stainless steel DeLorean sports car featuring gull- ...

. Their attempt was unsuccessful as a federal bankruptcy judge instead approved the sale to Columbus, Ohio-based Consolidated International.

Last Cadillac Eldorado

On April 22, 2002, the last

Cadillac Eldorado The Cadillac Eldorado is a luxury car manufactured and marketed by Cadillac from 1952 until 2002 over twelve generations. The Eldorado was at or near the top of the Cadillac line. The original 1953 Eldorado convertible and the Eldorado Brougham ...

rolled off the assembly line at the Lansing Craft Center assembly plant in Lansing, Michigan. The car was donated to the Cadillac Museum in honor of Don Massey.

Philanthropy

Massey created the Joyce and Don Massey Family Foundation in honor of his wife, Joyce, who was severely injured in an automobile accident in 1983. The foundation supports research, education and care for patients with traumatic brain injuries.

Personal life

Massey was married to Joyce (née Coleman) from 1945 until her death in 1993. They had three children. Massey died on June 9, 2011 at his home in

Northville, Michigan Northville is a city in Oakland and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,119 at the 2020 census. Northville is a suburb of Metro Detroit and is located about west of the city of Detroit and northeast of Ann Arbo ...

at the age of 83. According to Mlive, the home in 2019 went on the market for $3.5M.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Massey, Don 1928 births 2011 deaths American automobile salespeople