Chevy Chase Cars and Martens Volvo-Volkswagen Cited in Bethesda Magazines Historical The Way We Were Issue
WANADA dealer members Chevy Chase Cars and Martens Volvo-Volkswagen got a bit of recognition this month in Bethesda Magazines The Way We Were, special edition, which took a look back at the beginning of Montgomery County, Md., and the businesses that were part of it.
Chevy Chase Cars, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, was founded in Bethesda during the heart of the Great Depression by Art Bowis. At that time Bethesda was little more than agricultural countryside and John Bowis, the grandson of Art Bowis, says rumor has it that his grandfather had to pawn my grandmothers wedding ring to buy the property.
The business has been in the Bowis family since the beginning and subsequently was operated by Fred Bowis, Johns dad, beginning in the 1960s. John Bowis has been the principal since 1993, being joined by Sam Weaver, his partner, in 2000. In the 1980s Chevy Chase Cars was the highest volume Chevrolet dealership in the U.S. and has over the years sold Oldsmobile, Buick and Hyundai vehicles. Today, in keeping pace with the changing demographics of greater Bethesda, the dealership sells Acura and Nissan products.
The forerunner organization to Martens Volvo-Volkswagen was founded in 1904 by L. P. Steuart and his brothers who began selling cars (Model Ts) in 1916. The L.P. Steuart organization, later Martens, became one of the Washington areas first multi-location mega dealer groups in the 1960s under the stewardship of Harry Martens, Jr. Located today on Wisconsin Avenue in upper NW DC, the dealership has a strong customer base in Bethesda where it maintains a service center. Martens has remained in the family from the beginning and is today operated by Harry Martens III, Ginger Martens and Dana Martens.
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