The History

The family business was actually started in Evansville in the 1950’s, selling Nissan and Oldsmobile. In July of 1979, the O’Daniel family purchased the assets of Johnstone Oldsmobile, and opened up in Fort Wayne. The AMC/Jeep/Renault franchises were gained in December of 1981, and they were added to the rapidly growing business. In March of 1987, we moved to our current location on Illinois Road.

Just 3 short years later, we were also able to quire the Porsche/Audi/Mazda franchises from Langeland Imports, a separate showroom was built to house them. November of 1997 completed the additions of 2 more brands, Ford and Mitsubishi, which was purchased from Shaver, and the brands were housed in New Haven. Just one year later, in 1998, the O’Daniel Automotive Group spoke with Poinsatte Motors and bought out the Chrysler/Plymouth franchises. Jeep/Eagle/Chrysler/Plymouth were all under one roof on Illinois Road, and the Oldsmobile brand was relocated to its own showroom.

The Southtown Auto Outlet was soon adopted after purchasing KLO’s Used Cars and renoating the building on South Calhoun Street at Tillman Road. The buyout of Collins Oldsmobile in 1999 gave O’Daniel the sole Oldsmobile dealeship in the area, and in December of that same year, the O’Daniel group bought out Bostwick Pontiac. The location previous occupied by Bostwick was renovated renovated in 2000, and the Oldsmobile move was complete.

Unfortunately, the Oldsmobile nameplate was discontinued and further changes were required. The Oldsmobile store was changed into the Automart, and a brand new Mazda building was built on the west side of the parking lot in 2005. The Mazda franchise was moved down the street in order to properly represent the brand images from our 2 upscale manufacturers.

We are also focused on reaching out to our community. For the past couple of years, we have held the ODZ Jeep Jam at the Jeep store on Illinois Road, with proceeds going to benefit the Disabled Veterans. More recently, we worked with the Community Harvest Food Bank and 92.3 The Fort to collect non-perishable goods. We Were able to exceed our goal, and hope that next year will be a better turn out.

We have been through quite a few tough economic times, and are proud to say we have survived gracefully. Most of this is from our loyal customers, who appreciate the family oriented atmosphere. Please stop in and take a look to see where we are now, and maybe you might see a new brand pop-up soon!