Who ordered from Classic??

[SS-Eric]

Originally Posted by badgebunny

P.S. ERIC ROCKS! lol.

[SS-Eric]

Originally Posted by CedarHillCamaro

First I must say "Thank You ERIC!!!" ... Secondly I don't think I have posted since I received my car on the 16th of December... Third the cookies were AWESOME (even though my son ate all but a few of them )

Well here are a few pics of "The BEAST" ENJOY!!!:

The Beast is a beauty The Longhorn is a special tribute to his son

[SS-Eric]

[QUOTE=My bf's sister is thinking of doing the museum delivery for her grand sport corvette. they are waiting to see what the heritage package has first though.[/QUOTE]

Tell her to call me when she's ready

[bossbunny]

Originally Posted by SS-Eric

Tell her to call me when she's ready

Already did! Lol.

[SS-Eric]

Thanks BB you rock

[NCRomine]

Ordered 2SS RS CGM w/silver stripes today! Thank you Eric for keeping everything level. Now just have to wait for this really boring deployment to END! I'm hoping the same week the car arrives! Again thank you and everyone else who talked about the little details.

[catman]

Has anyone used Classic's body shop for there camaro yet?

[SS-Eric]

Originally Posted by catman

Has anyone used Classic's body shop for there camaro yet?

Our bodyshop manager has a Camaro, so I know he'll take Great Care of you!!! and his name is Ozzy Osburn too, doesnt get much cooler than that

[Melson]

Eric,

Are you serious?? Ozzy?

[SS-Eric]

Originally Posted by NCRomine

Ordered 2SS RS CGM w/silver stripes today! Thank you Eric for keeping everything level. Now just have to wait for this really boring deployment to END! I'm hoping the same week the car arrives! Again thank you and everyone else who talked about the little details.

Thanks Nick!! I registerd your order on CamaroTracking, so you'll get emails weekly letting you know your build process.

[SS-Eric]

Originally Posted by Melson

Eric,

Are you serious?? Ozzy?

100%

[SS-Eric]

I want to Congratulate BrandySynergy for being the first SynergyGreen that Classic will deliver. Her car has a TPW of 3/15! I cant wait to see the color and car in person!!! Thanks again Brandy!!!

[CedarHillCamaro]

Top Chevrolet Dealer in the Nation

With 'country store' formula, Classic Chevrolet is GM's top dealership in sales

12:59 AM CDT on Sunday, March 28, 2010

By TERRY BOX / The Dallas Morning News
tbox@dallasnews.com

GRAPEVINE – After buying 22 cars and trucks from Classic Chevrolet, Ray Henry knows exactly how he'll be greeted when he walks into the dealership here.

But maybe more important, he says, is that anyone he refers to Classic will get the same cheery, small-town treatment at the sprawling mega-retailer.

"I can send my mother, my neighbor, my best friend or my wife to them and know they will all get the same deal I do," said Henry, 58, a retired Irving fireman who owns RLC Enterprises of Corinth and Lewisville Sports Center, and buys vehicles for his businesses and family.

Last year, Classic Chevrolet reaffirmed its status as a heavyweight at General Motors Co. by becoming the top-selling Chevy dealership in the nation for the fourth straight year. The self-styled "country store" is working on No. 5.

"We're off to a good start," said dealership owner Tom Durant, who prefers boots and jeans to suits and opened the dealership 20 years ago just south of State Highway 114.

Classic managed to sell 4,101 new vehicles in 2009, shrugging off a terrible economy, GM's devastating bankruptcy and the most challenging year for the auto industry in decades.

While overall new-vehicle sales plummeted 30 percent locally, Classic's fell 10 percent.

"It was a huge accomplishment," said David Nottoli, regional sales and marketing manager for Chevrolet. "It's such a credit to them that they were able to stay focused."

The years ahead could be almost as challenging. At a time when a smaller and chastened GM is striving to stay skinny and keep inventories tight, Classic is operating on a "big-is-better" approach to the business – and succeeding.

Big inventory

Although there were only six vehicles in Classic's spotless midsize showroom on a recent afternoon, the 20 acres of land around it were blanketed in trucks and cars – row after row of Silverado pickups, Tahoe SUVs, Suburbans, Avalanches and smaller numbers of cars such as Malibu sedans and Aveo compacts.

Most big Chevy dealers maintain inventories of 300 or 400 vehicles. Classic typically keeps 1,500 to 2,000 vehicles – most parked beneath individual tent tops that protect them from the sun and weather.

Moreover, while consumers nationally are turning away from trucks, Classic still relies on big pickups, full-size SUVs and crossovers for three-fourths of its sales.

In fact, that dependence on trucks is tied closely to the huge inventories.

Pickup trucks can be ordered in myriad body styles, chassis configurations, and engine and transmission combinations. Durant believes his chances for a sale increase when he has the vehicle in stock that someone is considering.

"Our theory is if someone comes on the lot, they're here to buy," said Ken Thompson, head of the Thompson Group, a specialized sales unit at Classic that focuses on fleet and commercial vehicles and accounted for about 25 percent of Classic's sales last year.

Thompson's unit, which maintains an inventory of its own of 300 vehicles, was Chevrolet's top seller of commercial vehicles last year – and has been No. 1 in the nation for years.

'There, you knew everybody'

Despite the scale of operations, Classic tries to maintain a country culture at its family-owned stores in Arlington, Carrollton, Granbury and Sugar Land, Texas, and Plant City, Fla.

The Granbury store was the family's first Chevy dealership, opened by Tom Durant's father in 1960.

"There, you knew everybody," said Hagen Durant, 29, general manager of Classic and Tom Durant's son. "It was laid-back, good-natured. You didn't want to make someone mad you'd probably be seeing again."

Unlike at many dealerships, the salespeople at Classic – some of whom have been there for 20 years – are empowered to accept deals and close sales. Customers don't wait while a salesman runs to a manager for approval of an offer, easing some of the tension and speeding the sales process.

"Right up front, they provide more in the way of customer service," said Alice Mason, 55, of Euless, a retired GM employee who says she has dealt with many dealerships over the years. Mason bought a new Malibu from Classic last year. "It's just a more pleasant place."

As a volume dealership, Classic essentially puts the priority on sales over profit. Consequently, Hagen Durant acknowledged, the new-car department isn't always profitable, which isn't unusual at any dealership.

But new-car sales drive all the other revenue-generating centers at the dealership – bringing cars and trucks in for service or body work, creating parts sales, providing trade-ins for the used-car department and sometimes new business for the finance department.

The high sales volumes also make Classic eligible for dealer incentives from Chevrolet, everything from cash payments to lower interest rates on the loans that the dealership takes to buy its inventory.

"We have a beautiful balance sheet," Hagen Durant said. "There was not a single month last year when we didn't show an overall profit."

On Silverado's shoulders

GM executives in Detroit know Classic well, often stopping by to visit when they're in the Dallas area.

But as a restructured GM struggles to diversify its lineup, increase car sales and run leaner – under pressure from its majority owner, the U.S. government – Classic is a compelling reminder of the power of big volumes and big trucks.

"There's no question about it: As Silverado goes, so goes this region – and that's one of Classic's strengths," said Nottoli, Chevy's regional sales manager. "If I have a 20,000 sales goal one month, 7,000 or 8,000 of that will be Silverados."

And those goals are important to GM. The south central region is frequently the automaker's top sales region.

For his part, Tom Durant believes he can co-exist fine with the new GM.

"I think they will pull us back some," he said. "But we can manage inventory better than anyone else. It's all about winning, and we know what that takes."

[SamReidland]

Last December when I decided to buy a new Camaro, I called Classic. Salesman told me they had just gotten some in and he would check what they had and call me back. Never called me back. I bought at Van Chevy.