Salt Lake City: Livability in the 21st Century

STRONG
AUTOMOTIVE GROUP
In Utah, the Strong name is synonymous with the state’s
earliest car dealership and the quality of the familial bonds
in this more than eighty year old family owned and operated
business. It all started during the midst of the Great
Depression in the mid-1930s when L. H. “Roy” Strong had
the foresight to know cars would play a big role in
the country’s future. He opened a Studebaker franchise
in Logan, and later moved to Ogden to operate a
Packard dealership. In the 1940s, he purchased property
in downtown Salt Lake City and built a showroom
where he began selling Hudson automobiles.
Dave Strong began working for his father, Roy,
at the age of fourteen, starting with washing and
detailing cars and mopping the showroom floors.
He moved up to selling parts and learning more
about what it takes to run a dealership. At eighteen,
Dave went to the University of Utah where he was
in the basketball program. He soon married his high
school sweetheart, Merle Jackson, and continued
pulling double duty with work and school.
When Roy retired for health reasons, Dave left school to
run the dealership, which was facing its biggest challenge
yet. The manufacturing of Packards, Hudsons and
Studebakers ceased. But Roy had one more card up his
sleeve. Prior to his retirement, Roy took the opportunity
to purchase a Volkswagen franchise in the mid-1950s. The
VW Beetle became an instant hit in Salt Lake City shortly
after its release in the U.S., and Strong Volkswagen was
born, one of the first VW dealerships in the nation.
Yes, cars are in the blood of the Strong family and Dave
added the Porsche franchise in 1960 and the Audi franchise
in 1969, after purchasing and remodeling an old laundry
building to house the Audi line. Together, Dave and
Merle were both business partners and household partners.
They began building their family, ultimately having five
children. Being a man dedicated to finishing what he
started, Dave completed his education at the University of
Utah and Brigham Young University at the same time his
dealerships prospered. Dave’s reputation for honesty and
integrity, combined with not a small amount of hard work,
contributed to the success of all three franchises in
Utah and neighboring states.
Sons Brad and Blake Strong literally grew up in
the car business and, like their father, they began
working at the dealerships washing cars in their
early teens. As time went on, they learned about all
the responsibilities involved in owning and operating
car dealerships by holding almost every position
in the business at one time or another. By 2002,
Brad and Blake bought the VW dealership from their
father and subsequently acquired the Audi and
Porsche locations in 2004 and 2011, respectively.
The brothers continue to be owners and partners
today with Brad running the Volkswagen dealership
and Blake over the Audi and Porsche dealerships.
S A L T L A K E C I T Y — L i v a b i l i t y i n t h e 2 1 s t C e n t u r y
230