A Sign of Times Past Bows Out in Ballston As Car Dealer Closes

Bob Peck was 25 in 1939 when he and a partner, Lawrence Kenyon, opened Arlington's first Chevrolet dealership.

Peck was ambitious. He was savvy. And his timing couldn't have been worse.

Two years after they opened the showroom -- then on Wilson Boulevard in Clarendon -- Chevrolet suspended production of its vehicles to help make armaments for World War II.

"They did whatever it took to get by until the war was over," Don Peck said.

They would not only survive, but thrive. Bob Peck took over the business in the 1950s, and in 1964 he moved it to 800 N. Glebe Rd., hiring architect Anthony Musolleno to erect a round showroom with a distinctive geometric design.

In its heyday, the dealership sold 2,700 vehicles a year. But sales aside, the property became one of most visible landmarks in the county. It was pictured in U.S. News and World Report in the 1960s as an example of unusual architecture. Later, its image would be used by a Soviet news agency as an example of "filthy capitalism during the Cold War," Peck recalled.

It was 1967 when Bob Peck became one of the area's first car dealers to appear in his own television commercials. To capture viewers' attention, Peck decided to juggle lacrosse balls. He was already well known in Arlington, having served as chairman of both the County Board and the School Board in the 1950s. The stunt made him widely recognized.

The car dealer often found that celebrity boggling.

Don Peck said that once while at National Airport his father asked a ticket agent if a gentleman standing in the waiting area might be Joe DiMaggio.

"I don't know," replied the ticket agent. "But aren't you Bob Peck?"

Bob Peck died in 1998 at age 84.

Last week, just two days before the shutdown of Bob Peck Chevrolet, the mood was subdued inside the dealership. A big "going-out-of-business sale" sign hung on the front window, and salesmen listened to Muzak, waiting for customers to buy the last of the dealership's fleet.

Don Peck said that he has no heir to take over the business and that, really, retirement isn't such a bad idea. Sales have slipped over the years. Last year, his crew sold 300 cars, half of what it sold in 1994. Peck said the dealership has traditionally made about a 2 percent profit on sales, in line with the national average, and it hardly seemed enough to justify holding on to the wildly valuable property, he said.

"The land got to be too valuable," he said, noting that other dealers have moved out of Arlington in the last decade, succumbing to the same market forces.

Still, Peck is sad to see the business close and say goodbye to loyal customers, even if it will mean more time to play golf with his wife.

"It's a big mistake!" moaned customer Archie Delalian, 72, who knew Peck's father, remembering a time when the road in front of the dealership was gravel, not asphalt. Over the years, Delalian has purchased numerous cars at the dealership, both for himself and for family members. He owns three Chevys purchased from the lot. "A lot of customers don't know what they're going to do now," he said. "I'm sure going to miss this place."