By Stefan Yablonski
Earlier this summer, Longley Brothers acquired the assets of Par-K Enterprise, a Jeep and Chrysler dealership which closed after several decades in business.
The owners, the Patane family, retired.
Now they are Longley Bros. Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram Inc.
They will continue to do business at their current location, 1698 county Route 57, Fulton.
At one point the Fulton region had several auto dealers including:
• Gallo Pontiac-Oldsmobile-GMC, corner of routes 57 and 481
• Nissan North, on route 57
• Fred Raynor Ford – on Route 3 near Walmart
• Palmers – on Route 481
It’s now down to one.
“There are some used car lots around, but we’re the only new car one,” said Doug Longley, third generation president.
Ninety-eight percent of all Chrysler dealers are all Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, he added.
“We were like one of the last 70 dealers in the nation, like 3,500 plus dealers, that was just a Dodge Ram store. Now we are a full-line store, like the majority of all the other Chrysler brand stores,” he said.
Longley now has all of the Par-K vehicles.
“All we did was we got their franchise. We didn’t buy their building, just picked up the two franchises and that was it,” Longley said.
They have added a couple of technicians from Par-K to help with the increased work.
They will be building at least a 14-bay service department out the back.
“And we are going to be remodeling the whole dealership,” he said. “We need two separate showrooms because Jeep has its own separate showroom; Chrysler Dodge Ram has its own showroom.
“The whole building will be remodeled with service out the back. Next year we will be doing the service department.”
The Longley family has been in the automotive business since 1947 — making it one of the longest family-owned businesses in the area.
They are celebrating 78 years in 2025.
Doug is the third generation. His father, Dennis Longley, is the second generation. The fourth generation is Doug’s son, Aiden.
The business started in 1947, on Leitch Street as strictly a body shop. It moved to county Route 57 in 1955.
