Museum, diner celebrate Ford heritage and family-owned store - Automotive News
But David Kimmerle's Ford store also includes a diner and a private museum bulging with collectible cars and memorabilia. Fifteen years ago, Kimmerle, CEO of Sanderson Ford in Glendale, Ariz. It adjoins the Ford store that sold nearly 30,000 vehicles last year -- including hefty fleet sales -- and a 1950s-style stainless steel diner that serves shakes, malts, burgers, fries and homemade apple pie. "It's about our heritage at Sanderson Ford and our automotive history and memorabilia and things about the past that people have forgotten," says Kimmerle. The museum celebrates Ford models and the family-owned dealership, which was opened in 1955 by Kimmerle's father-in-law, Don Sanderson. Kimmerle, 71, started working at the Ford store in 1961 and married his high school sweetheart, the boss's daughter Sue. Kimmerle drew inspiration from Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich. , which was founded in 1929 by Henry Ford. Kimmerle says he has visited that museum many times and has been given peeks "behind the scenes. "I have traveled the world with Ford and collected things from all over the world. His office "looks like 'Sanford and Son,'" Kimmerle said, referring to the long-running TV comedy about a junkyard dealer and his son. Source: www.autonews.com
