Mile of Cars

1904

National City’s automotive heritage began in 1904 when Ralph Granger bought his first car. It was the first motor car in the city. Granger was one of National City’s most prominent citizens. His wealth had come from rich silver mines in Colorado. National Street was not yet paved for his new ‘horseless carriage” but the thoroughfare had been heavily traveled. The dirt road was well known by the Spanish explorers, missionaries and pioneers who had traveled its ruts northward for a hundred years. ‘El Real para de Frontera”, was the earliest name of National Street, according to the early maps. Its name would eventually become National Avenue, then National City Boulevard. National City was founded in 1868, and by the time it was incorporated, in 1887, National Street was the city’s main thoroughfare. The motor car was quickly accepted by the pioneers of National City. Frank Kimball, founder of National City, wrote of an early auto trip around the bay to Coronado. The journey took two and a half hours. John Boal, of the Land and Town Company, traded his buggy for a new “Stanley Steamer”. The “Steamer” had a reputation for great hill climbing ability, perfect for the mountainous terrain of the nearby Cuyamaca Mountains. National City physician, Dr. Johnson, raised clouds of dust around the city as he rushed to make his house calls in his Reo “Run-About.”

1906

Clarence and William Hunt worked on boat engines for the San Diego fishing fleet before they opened a Ford dealership in 1904. But sales were slow, so they bought two Winton motor cars and ran sight seeing tours to Tijuana. They drove down National Street on the way to Mexico and passed the old National Carriage Works building, which they noticed was vacant. It became “The Hunt Machine Shop” when they moved there in 1906. Later that year, the brothers were contacted by the wealthy Arnie Babcock. Babcock’s father had built the famous Hotel del Coronado and owned the Coronado Belt Line Railroad. Arnie lived south of Ensenada and often traveled the poor roads to National City. He needed a reliable, sturdy motor car to avoid the frequent breakdowns he had endured. He asked the Hunt brothers to build a special car that would survive the rigors of the terrible roads. The “Hunt Special” was tested in 1910 by motoring down Devil’s Canyon Road and out in the wild Imperial Valley desert. The severe conditions proved the car’s worth and it was nicknamed “Alkalai Ike” for the frequent patina of dust that covered its hood. But Babcock only rode in the car a few times before he passed away, and the “Hunt” disappeared into Mexico during the Mexican Revolution of 1911. While the Hunt was under construction, National City citizens read about the new Ford 24 hp Model T in the Saturday Evening Post. It sold for $850.00, and by 1914 National Avenue was packed with “Tin Lizzies” sputtering down the newly paved road. The Anmex Movie Company came to town and the nation laughed at the silent film antics and daring stunts involving the motor car.

1920

Ira Golden Silver opened the first Ford dealership on National Avenue in the Twenties. Tin Pan Alley cranked out songs celebrating America’s new mobility, like ‘Henry’s Made a Lady Out of Lizzie”. As Stutz Bearcats and Chrysler Imperials rushed past the old Hunt Machine Shop, Hollywood produced a film titled “Six Cylinder Love”. Tail heavy Packards and Buicks cruised National Avenue headed over to the west side of town where old brick basements made excellent cool hiding places for their cargo of hooch. By the late Twenties, Chevrolet began to outsell Henry’s basic Model T and in 1929, Murphy Chevrolet was selling fast snappy roadsters to flappers and Hollywood stars. National Avenue was graced with the extravagant autos of Hollywood’s movie kings and queens as they motored south to the resorts of Mexico during the Thirties. Clark Gable and his Packard Twin Six roadster, Jean Harlow’s Packard Phaeton and Gary Cooper’s Dusenberg all motored by the prosperous dealerships of National City.

1941

Murphy Chevrolet was showing the new streamlined 1941 Special Delux Fleetmaster when a youngster named Kile Morgan opened “Morgan’s Better Used Cars” nearby. Morgan sold a new breed of American cars like the Buick Roadmaster convertible and the Chrysler Crown Imperial sedan. In a few years, Kile Morgan’s civic involvement and enthusiasm would make a major difference in National City’s growing automobile industry. Richard McCune’s new Chrysler dealership offered the chic Town and Country convertibles, trimmed with varnished wood. Enthusiasm for the powerful American V-8′s reached fever pitch in the fifties as hot rods and custom cars cruised the city. Keith’s-Drive-In was becoming a legend on National Avenue.

1955

In 1955, the “Hunt” was re-discovered hidden behind the back wall of a grocery store in Ensenada. It was purchased by Lonnie Reed, an American, and brought back to San Diego where restoration was begun. It wasn’t until an avid collector, Jim Renzulli, purchased the car that it was fully restored to running condition. Meanwhile, dealerships were flourishing along National Avenue and advertising themselves as the Mile of Cars. As Ford introduced its new overhead valve engine, E.M. Stanley opened Stanley Dodge-Plymouth and joined City Motors Ford (now Perry Ford). Concentrated between 12th and 18th Street were Westcott Motors, Glen Lincoln-Mercury (became Frank Lincoln-Mercury), Severin Pontiac (became Webster Pontiac) and the McCune dealership. City Motors was offering the new Ford Fairlane Sunliner for $2,764.00 in an ad in the National City Star News in 1955. A youthful generation was swept up by enthusiasm for cars. Along National Avenue, chopped, channeled, chromed and lowered customized cars were common. California was the center of the new car culture.

1965

As the Sixties Muscle Cars arrived, National Avenue echoed to the throaty sounds of the hot new Pontiac GTO’s and big block Chrysler Hemi’s. National Avenue was repaved and new modern streetlights were added. The Ford “Cobra,” scourge of the muscle cars was sold on the “Mile.” Car buyers snapped up the high performance vehicles that were to bring top dollars from today’s collector car market. Twenty car agencies offered over fourteen new car makes on National Avenue. In November of 1964, E.M. Stanley built a plush new agency at the south end of National Avenue. He moved his dealership from its previous location, across from city hall, to land that had once been Navy housing. He was followed by Acme Chevrolet. Soon George Webster moved in next to them, near 26th Street. In 1965, five dealers, Stanley, Webster, Ball, McCune and Bob Dailey formed the new “Mile of Cars”. Dailey was a Datsun dealer who had moved from Chula Vista. His dealership would become Mossy Nissan. Ryan Oldsmobile occupied Webster’s former site. The dealers formed the “National City Car Dealers Association”, with Bill Ryan of Ryan Olds, George Webster, E.M. Stanley and George Hamilton of Acme Chevrolet heavily involved in promoting what was labeled the “Miracle Mile of Cars” in their advertising. Kile Morgan was elected to the position of Mayor in 1967. He realized the importance of the ‘Mile” to the city and campaigned to lure new dealers away from other areas. In 1967 Theo Lamb moved his family to California from Prescott Arizona and purchased Acme Chevrolet from George Hamilton. Acme became Lamb, then later Ron Baker Chevrolet.

1970

In 1970 over one million dollars in vehicles were sold on the Mile. The “Mile” was growing rapidly, but a large area on the west side of National City Boulevard was wet swampland, created by Paradise Creek and the Sweetwater River. Kile Morgan proposed that the swamp be filled in and the “Mile” expanded. He approached the federal government for funding and in a few years the task was accomplished. Westcott Motors moved to a four and a half acre site between 28th Street and 30th Street. By 1972 the “Mile of Cars” was prospering, adding considerable tax dollars to the city coffers. Frank Lincoln Mercury offered the luxurious Lincoln Continental Mark III, and Balboa Datsun brought the first wave of sport imports from abroad. The oil embargo of 1973 changed the face of the “Mile” when America woke up to find itself short of fuel. Squeezed by the gasoline crunch, many dealers added both economical and exotic small imports to their lines. Cars with names like Suzuki, Alpha Romeo and Toyota began challenging the traditional British sports cars that had dominated that market since 1948. “National Avenue” was re-named by the city to “National City Boulevard” in 1978. By that time, the “Mile” had become an international market for automobiles from around the globe.

1990′s

By 1991 over twenty new car dealerships lined National City Boulevard. Over thirty one makes of new automobiles were offered for the car enthusiast, and sales reached over four hundred million dollars. The National City Mile of Cars and the City of National City Community Development Commission held a groundbreaking ceremony in 1996 for the first phase of their $1.8 million beautification plan. Weldon Donaldson, Executive Director of the Mile of Cars, acknowledged the efforts of all those responsible for the realization of the plan. Special thanks went out to Vinnie Vinson; Ron Baker, then President of the Mile of Cars Association, Phil Mossy, Tony McCune, National City Council members and Paul Desrochers, Executive Director of Community Development. With golden shovels and a pick, Mayor Waters, Councilmen Mitch Beauchamp and Ron Morrison turned the soil which officially started the project along National City Boulevard.

Current Development

Through a pooling of resources the Mile of Cars Association has today become one of the largest and most successful automotive associations in the country. This mile long stretch of National City Boulevard is comprised of 21 new car franchises and continues to grow.

Fiscal year 2005 marked the highest sales recorded in the history of the Mile of Cars, continuing a nine-year trend of increased sales beginning in 1997. The Mile of Cars sales increased at a substantially higher rate than industry sales during what was a difficult year for the auto industry overall. While actual sales figures are proprietary, taxable sales increased 5.87% over 2004. Year-end taxable sales amounted to close to $600 million.