Courtesy Motors - Chicago, Illinois
Above is a gimmick that Jim Moran of Courtesy Motors dreamed up. It was a popular item in cars sold in the greater Chicago area. Most likely he thought he could move more of his used cars if he "updated" the styling. You can see the influence of this idea by looking at a ’49 Caddy fin. Dealer cost was $22.50 per kit and the List Price for the customer was $37.50 per kit! Another sales gimmick he did used Pacemakers. Moran would bring them in to his service department, drop a replacement 308 Hornet engine in, and slap a chrome badge on that said "Baby Hornet." Some of these badges still exist today. Many other Chicago area dealers did not like Moran for several reasons. Not only did he move so many Hudson's competitors couldn't undercut him and some of his business practices were "questionable," but also because he yielded an undue amount of influence with the factory and regional distribution. He was a good salesman, though. A Chicago local said of Moran, “He could sell ice to Eskimos. He'd come on TV with his commercial looking quite handsome and he'd run his hand over one of those nice new step-downs like it was a woman."
Featured in December 1953 Hudson Dealer News:
James Moran: 1918 - 2007
TV's 'Courtesy Man'
Before he built a billion-dollar automobile-sales empire in Florida, Chicago car dealer was a familiar TV pitchman in the 1940s and '50s
By Marcia Heroux Pounds, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Published April 26, 2007.
James Moran, a Chicago car salesman who was a regular on TV in the 1950s and 1960s as "Jim Moran, the Courtesy Man," later moved to Florida where he remained an innovative marketer selling Toyotas. Mr. Moran, 88, died Tuesday, April 24, in Hillsboro Beach, Fla., according to the company he started, JM Family Enterprises in Deerfield Beach, Fla. A company spokeswoman declined to cite a cause of death. A billionaire and major philanthropist in South Florida, where he made his home for almost 40 years, Mr. Moran built an automobile empire that today ranks as the 18th largest privately held company by Forbes magazine with annual revenues of more than $11 billion. JM Family's Southeast Toyota is the world's largest independent distributor of Toyotas.
Entrepreneur H. Wayne Huizenga said he knew Jim Moran since his early days as "The Courtesy Man" in Chicago, who was among the first to advertise new and used cars on television. "That tagline fits so well and epitomized the Jim Moran I knew, respected and will always remember," said Huizenga, founder of Ft. Lauderdale-based AutoNation Inc., the nation's largest auto retailer.
A Chicago native, Mr. Moran borrowed $360 to open a Sinclair gas station at Clark Street and Glenlake Avenue in the late 1930s. A few years later, he acquired a Ford franchise in Chicago Heights but switched to selling the Hudson brand. He moved his dealership, Courtesy Motors, to its longtime location in the 3500 block of West Grand Avenue in 1948 and went back to selling Fords in 1956. From the earliest days of TV in Chicago, he was a regular presence, recalling in 1968 that he once could get four hours of airtime for $900. His first sponsorship was for a wrestling show, but he shifted to movies and became known for filling long intermissions with pitches for his cars. By the time Mr. Moran had turned 30, his dealership's sales topped several million dollars. With a knack for showmanship, his commercials made him a celebrity in the Chicago area. Courtesy routinely billed itself to be the world's largest Ford dealer, selling 21,000 new and used cars in 1965, according to a 1968 Chicago Tribune profile. In addition to his TV time, Mr. Moran, a longtime resident of Lincolnwood, promoted his business by sponsoring several endurance swims in Lake Michigan as well as a power boat race from Chicago to Milwaukee.
Mr. Moran came to Florida in the late 1960s intending to retire. At age 46, he had been diagnosed with cancer and was told he had six months to a year to live. He survived the disease and returned to his passion of selling cars. In 1968 he opened Jim Moran's Pontiac City in Homestead, Fla. He then was awarded the franchise for the Pontiac dealership in Hollywood, Fla., which became JM Pontiac. But the business transaction that changed his career was in 1968, when Toyota Motor Sales contacted him. Mr. Moran was awarded the franchise to distribute Toyotas during his first visit to Japan in October of that year.
"He was a genius of marketing and innovation," said Al Hendrickson Sr., who owns a Toyota dealership in Coconut Creek, Fla. In 1969 Southeast Toyota had 42 dealers in the five-state region. By the next year, Southeast Toyota was selling 20,000 Toyotas a year. In 2003, Southeast Toyota marked its 35th anniversary, selling its 5 millionth Toyota. Even in his 80s, Moran went to the office every day. He often swam in the company pool. But he left the operations of JM Family to his daughter Pat Moran and, today, to chief executive officer Colin Brown and other top executives. Pat Moran recently retired as chairwoman of JM Family.
Mr. Moran is survived by his wife, Jan; another daughter, Arline McNally; a son, Jim Jr.; seven grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
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