Bert Boeckmann

Residence Northridge, Malibu
Business Galpin Motors
Years at Galpin Motors 56
1st Car 1941 Plymouth
Philanthropic Giving 300 + charities per year
Brands Sold Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Saturn, Honda, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Mazda, Volvo

Bert Boeckmann

The Leader - As the owner of Galpin Motors, Boeckmann has been an influential part of the Southern Californian auto market for over 50 years.

The Horatio Alger Award is given every year to dedicated community leaders whose success is measured by hard work, upstanding business ethics, and world-wide philanthropy. In the company of such recipients as Hank Aaron, Buzz Aldrin, and Oprah Winfrey is Herbert F. Boeckmann II, otherwise known as Galpin Motors owner Bert Boeckmann.

In North Hills, California, sits a man with laughable charm, light-hearted humor and an unparalleled work ethic. These qualities have helped command supreme deference from his peers and contemporaries within the car business for decades. At 78 years old, Bert Boeckmann goes to work everyday, walks into his office of over 40 years and overlooks the original showroom of Galpin Ford, now Galpin Motors.

Bert began selling automobiles at Galpin Ford in 1953, and by 1968 he finalized the buyout of what is still known as the most successful single franchise, single location automobile dealership in America. Getting to that level of success took a limitless work ethic, a firm commitment to putting others first both in life and in business, and an innovative marketing plan to keep customers coming in the door.

Growing up on a farm in Glendale, California, Bert would sell fruit and eggs to the neighborhood. And how could an early working career be complete without a paper route? Bert was responsible for delivering the Glendale News Press during his high school years. On the weekends Bert would help a local physician, Dr. Kelso Grant Barnett, keep his estate in order, managing 12 workers in the process. Bert headed to USC for college, as his father asked only three things of he and his brother: “Number one was a belief in God, the second was an unblemished name, and the third was for me and my brother to go to USC.”

After graduating from USC, when most young single Southern Californian’s are ready to sow their oats and travel the world, Bert was waking up to go to work the graveyard shift at Lockheed. He would wake up at 11pm to be at work by 12am. It might sound crazy, but his logic was sound: he figured out he could work 6.5 hours and get paid for 8. But that didn’t leave much free time for himself.

When I asked Bert, “When did you have Bert Boeckmann time growing up?” he responded, “Well, Lockheed was Bert Boeckmann time I guess…I’ve never really thought of it that way.” It’s a testament to his desire to accomplish but even more so it’s his continual push to challenge himself to do better. He challenged himself even further when he jumped into the car business with a trial by fire attitude. Starting as a salesman, Bert worked his way up the ladder into management, and eventually bought into a percentage of the original Galpin dealership.

“Going from sales and management to ownership things didn’t really change much. A lot of my friends, when they became dealers, they thought they could go play golf. No, sir - I’ve always worked 6 days per week.”

The work paid off, and Bert built that one Ford dealership into the megadealer that includes Jaguar, Aston Martin, Lincoln, Honda, Saturn, Volvo, Mercury, and Mazda showrooms. Galpin has been the largest singular Ford dealership in the world in volume of sales for the last 18 years. In 2007, the dealership sold an average of over 500 cars per day and had a sales revenue in excess of $714,000,000. Galpin Motors is also one of the largest single employers in Southern California with over 1000 employees.

Bert has always lived by his ‘golden rule’ or what he calls the “servants attitude” of doing for others what he’d like best in order to make them happy. “We only have one reason to be in business and that is to serve the customer. If we don’t serve the customer, we don’t deserve to be in business.” Since the customer is treated so well at Galpin, it’s no wonder why 86% said they came to Galpin as a repeat buyer, on a referral or based on their reputation. Bert’s referral rate is so good that he is now serving some of his original customers’ great-grandchildren.

Bert and Galpin Motors recognized the customer’s need for specializing their vehicles. In the loose dictionary of auto slang, an admired and acknowledged term is “Galpinizing”, which means to customize any vehicle in only the way Galpin Motors knows how. Not only was Galpin at the forefront of Southern Californian innovation by being the first to install sunroofs and introduce the “hard-top convertible”, but Boeckmann had national influence with Ford as well.

An early example of Bert’s influence within the powerful Ford Motor Company network occurred after Ford discontinued the Mustang Convertible: Boeckmann made his own. He knew there would still be a market in Southern California for the topless pony and because he couldn’t get one from the manufacturer, he and his designers made their own design and displayed its sparkling beauty front and center in his showroom. Phil Caldwell, Ford’s Chairman of the Board at the time, visited the dealership and noticed the shining Mustang Convertible that was demanding attention at Galpin. Caldwell requested Boeckmann ship the car back to Detroit for the company to check out this ‘Galpinized’ innovation. Shortly thereafter the Mustang Convertible was once again being manufactured by Ford Motor Company.

Today Galpin Auto Sports, the aftermarket hub of the Galpin empire, is a staple on MTV’s show “Pimp My Ride.” Run by Bert’s son Beau Boeckmann, G.A.S. is where much of the Galpinized ingenuity takes place today.

Aside from being the leader in innovation, throughout the past 40 years Boeckmann and Galpin have developed ways to stay ahead of their client’s needs and creatively market themselves. Becoming the #1 dealer in Southern California didn’t just happen thanks to customer service alone; they needed to bring the customers in. When Bert was starting out, many dealerships were using athletes or celebrities to promote sales – he did too, but his creative side kicked in. Bert tried all sorts of fun, interesting and unprecedented sales techniques: he set up a miniature three-ring circus on the lot, had a gold-panning day with a stream running through the then Galpin R.V. lot (and basically guaranteed that every child would walk away with a “claim”). He also set up a Spring Flower Show and opened a 2,500 square foot restaurant on the lot for better serving customers and a list of others too long to name each individually.

In 1979 Galpin Ford brought Washington D.C. to the San Fernando Valley.Artisans built a hand carved scale model of the White House which was received by thousands of visitors and covered extensively by the news media. It brought in lots of customers but it ushered in an era of philanthropy at Galpin Motors. The building of the White House was a joint effort with the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce to benefit the Brentwood Center for Educational Therapy, a school for autistic children. The $400,000 replica is now on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington. (Galpin Ford showroom, mid-1970’s, below)

To further support their continual gifting, Bert and his wife Jane have the Boeckmann Charitable Foundation that donates to over 300 charities every year and at Galpin they have a policy that if any customer asks for a donation up to a certain amount, the manager is allowed to grant that donation on the spot.

Through Bert’s recognition and philanthropic endeavors, he became so well known in Southern California that at one point Ronald Reagan offered him a government appointment – Bert turned it down as he has never wanted to leave Southern California. The closest Bert has ever gotten to the Public Sector is the 17 years he spent on the Police Commission. He did travel to the White House, however, and in 1986. At a special ceremony at the White House Garden, President Ronald Reagan and Vice Persident George Bush presented Boeckmann with the Presidential Citation for Private Sector Initiatives – the nation’s highest honor for the private sector.

The litany of awards, honors, and achievements that Bert Boeckmann has received would fill 30 pages but the theme revisited time and again throughout his life is give and you shall receive. Bert makes every effort to instill this philosophy in his employees and relies on these same employees for his personal growth. This kind, reverent attitude has made this man to one of the greatest businessmen in retail automotive history.

Visit Galpin Motors online at www.galpin.com