Autoblog

Galpin launches new Spyker dealership in Southern California

Drew Phillips — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 12:55:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, Performance, Spyker

Galpin Spyker dealership launch - Click above for high-res image gallery

Most people think of Ford when they hear the name Galpin. After all, the Van Nuys, CA dealership has been the Blue Oval's number one volume seller for twenty years running. But Galpin sells more than Mustangs and Fusions. Their Premier Collection showroom houses inventory for Aston Martin, Jaguar and Lotus - it's the same place we visited to get up close and personal with the Aston Martin One-77.

Galpin can now add one more to that list. Spyker, the new owner of Saab, has appointed Galpin as its latest dealer and the only one in Los Angeles. The announcement kicked off with a party earlier this week at Galpin's Classic Collection building with various colors of the C8 Aileron coupe and spyder on display.

Don't expect the Dutch supercars to fly off Galpin's showroom floor, though. Just 45 cars were sold worldwide last year, with the United States accounting for less than half that total. That said, Beau Boeckmann, President of Galpin, has realistic expectations for 2010. He hopes to maintain ten percent of the North American market share, which would currently equate to just a couple of cars each year. Hit the jump for the press release from Galpin or click on our gallery of live shots from the event below.

Gallery: Galpin Spyker Dealership Launch

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Galpin launches new Spyker dealership in Southern California originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 06 Feb 2010 12:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LA 2009: Galpin Motors makes up for Aston Martin no-show, brings the whole lineup

Drew Phillips — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:32:00 EST

Filed under: LA Auto Show, Performance, Aston Martin

Galpin Aston Martin at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show - Click above for a high-res image gallery

It's been a meager LA Auto Show this year for exotic cars. Many didn't even show up, including Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Bentley. Aston Martin wasn't on the list as well, but to our surprise their full line of cars was on display. Apparently Galpin Motors decided to pick up the slack and brought a decent selection of the inventory from the Van Nuys, CA showroom. We generally don't think of Aston Martin when we hear about Galpin, but the world's largest Ford dealer also has an impressive showroom for the British marque. In fact, it's where we were able to get up close and personal with the Aston Martin One-77.

Beau Boeckmann, Vice President of Galpin Motors, told us that they considered the show important enough for their Aston Martin sales to make the investment. This makes us wonder how the absence of Ferrari, Lamborghini and the like will impact local dealers. If so, we can see many following Galpin's lead and bringing cars next year like many of the regional shows. Only time will tell, but we can't imagine the exotic car manufacturers staying away from the auto show in one of their most important markets for too long.

Gallery: LA 2009: Galpin Aston Martin

LA 2009: Galpin Motors makes up for Aston Martin no-show, brings the whole lineup originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aston Martin One-77: The justification's in the details

Jonny Lieberman — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Europe, Aston Martin, Luxury

Aston Martin One-77 at Galpin Motors - Click above for high-res image gallery

£1.25 million. That's Brit-speak for $1,800,000, give or take. A staggering amount of money. More than a Bugatti Veyron, more than a Lamborghini Reventón. Quite simply the most expensive new car, well, ever. Er, well, it would have been if not for the $2.2 million Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport. And for what? Before last night, we would have said nearly two million smackeroos gets you a widened DB9 with a large 7.3-liter V-12. Yes, there will be only seventy-seven hand built Aston Martin One-77s made, but so what? That's just way too much lucre, filthy or otherwise.

Aston Martin was good enough to invite us down to a post-Pebble Beach showing of its new hypercar in the impressive vault room at Los Angeles' Galpin Motors. Curtains circled the display, the car was draped with a cloth and many of the city's wealthiest citizens (most had previously purchased an Aston Martin from Galpin) enjoyed gratis cocktails mit snacks.

Before the covers came off they fired up and then revved the engine. Whoa. This was different. This was something special. The massive motor rapidly climbed through the range not like a normal big-bore V12, but more like an F1 car. Totally impressive. Finally the big Aston was revealed, and you know, it was still a nice looking car, but massively overpriced. And then they popped the hood.

Gallery: Aston Martin One-77 at Galpin Motors

Continue reading Aston Martin One-77: The justification's in the details

Aston Martin One-77: The justification's in the details originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mullaly drops in at highest-volume Ford dealer for some face time

John Neff — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 19:32:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, Ford

Last week Ford CEO Alan Mulally visited a Blue Oval dealership in Dearborn and helped move three units off the showroom floor in 40 minutes. This week he further fulfilled his promise to walk in the shoes of a dealer for a day by visiting Galpin Motors in North Hills, CA. Galpin isn't a Ford dealership, it's the Ford dealership, regularly posting the highest volume of sales in the country. It's side business, Galpin Auto Sports, is where MTV tapes Pimp My Ride. Automotive News didn't report that Mulally got to sell any vehicles during his stop off at Galpin like he did at Village Ford in Dearborn, but the CEO did spend some time touring the dealership's entire facility. We're not sure if Mulally has satisfied his verbal commitment to be a dealer for a day, or if visits like this might become common place in the future.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

Mullaly drops in at highest-volume Ford dealer for some face time originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Mar 2007 19:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Galpin's Boss 302 Mustang massage

Frank Filipponio — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 17:01:00 EST

Filed under: Aftermarket, Ford

click image for mini gallery of 3 high res photos

With auction week about to explode in Scottsdale, it seems fitting to be talking about a car that might end up going across the block in 30 years. Taking a page out of automotive history, Galpin Ford in North Hills, California is one of those dealers known for adding some of their own tuning magic to factory performance cars. Just like the Yenko and Baldwin-Motion Chevys, Royal Pontiacs, and Grand-Spaulding Dodges, Galpin has built a reputation for doing things to their showroom vehicles to make them stand out at the local dragstrip or cruise night. They've been doing these specials for a long time and eventually built Galpin Auto Sports (GAS) in nearby Van Nuys to handle all of these tuner car projects.

At SEMA this year, they showed another new version of everybody's favorite tuner blank canvas, the Ford Mustang. This particular pony car was cloaked in the same Grabber Blue paint, shaker hood, rear louvers, jutting front lip, flat black hood and stripe package that defined Ford's Boss 302 back in 1970. And what self-respecting Mustang would be caught dead showing off all that Boss 302 garb without something under hood to back up the promise? Not this Galpin 'Stang, that's for sure. Galpin searched through the Ford performance parts catalog and picked out a new 302 crate motor for this project. Mated to a Tremec 5-speed, it should give modern mod-motor Mustang mourners something to brag about.

This particular car is for shows only right now, but shows an outside the box kind of thinking that makes Galpin special. Sort of a reverse resto mod. We liked it when we saw it in Vegas, but with approximately 6,000 other custom Mustangs on hand, it was hard to single this one. Especially when it was sitting next to the display of GT500s.

[Source: Galpin Auto Sports via Jalopnik]

Galpin's Boss 302 Mustang massage originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 03 Jan 2007 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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