Pub. 4 Issue 3

15 Issue 3 2018 was done. He was all but wiped out; how- ever, failure was not a word that stayed for long in R.A.’s vocabulary. He sold his business. R.A. had a Rolls convertible, which he hadn’t been able to sell because no one had the money to buy it and packed with their personal belongings, he moved his family, which at that time consisted of him, his wife, his son Bob, and his daugh- ter to Southern California. R.A. and his business partner, Harry Golden, started over again in La Cres- centa. R.A.’s son Bob graduated from USC in 1936 and began working for his dad after graduation. Smithwas amanwho liked a good gamble and had a good head for business. When it came to gambling, he was particularly fond of poker and racing. He once bet $10,000 on a fight between Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney in Chicago. The men taking the bets wouldn’t take any more bets on Dempsey, so he bet on Tunney instead … and won. During World War II, Smith bought a warehouse and didma- chine work as part of a defense contract that had the side benefit of keeping his business going. For all intents and pur- poses, as the U.S. dove into WWII sup- port, manufacturing of new cars all but stopped. While R.A.’s dealership contin- ued to sell cars, they were used cars, and in order to buy a car, you had to trade in a car. With the prudent use of resources and good business instincts, he had plenty of cars to sell by the end of the war. What he didn’t have was a lot of time left. In 1946, he had a stroke somewhere between his home and the Santa Anita Racetrack and it took his life. His son, Bob Smith, took over R.A.’s partnership with Harry Golden and continued to run the business. By 1950, Mr. Golden – as Bob called him – was becoming increasingly pes- simistic about the car industry. One day, in 1953, Bob walked into Mr. Golden’s office and said, “Mr. Golden, I want to buy you out!” Before the end of the day, a deal was made, and Mr. Golden, while pleased with the deal, confidently told anyone who would listen that Bob Smith would be out of business in 6 months. Bob renamed his dealership, and Bob Smith Dodge Plymouth was off and roll- ing. Business was good until 1958, but then Chrysler Corporation took away the Plymouth brand from its Dodge dealers. InMay 1963, Bob sold Bob Smith Dodge, bought the Volkswagen-Porsche dealer- ship in Hollywood, and started selling Porsches. Eventually, the family sold other brands, too: Alfa Romeos, Audis, Fiats, Lancias, Mitsubishis and (their longest running make) BMWs. By now, selling cars had long-since be- come a family business. Four of his 6 children, all sons, started working at the dealerships during the summers when they were young: Mike, Pete, Rob, and Tim. John is much younger than his older SMITH WAS A MAN WHO LIKED A GOOD GAMBLE AND HAD A GOOD HEAD FOR BUSINESS. WHEN IT CAME TO GAMBLING, HE WAS PARTICULARLY FOND OF POKER AND RACING. HE ONCE BET $10,000 ON A FIGHT BETWEEN JACK DEMPSEY AND GENE TUNNEY IN CHICAGO.  CENTURY MARK — continued on page 16