In the mid-1950s, Mr. Gaudin sold his Ford store in Salinas and moved to Newport Beach where he opened up Gaudin Ford in Buena Park, just minutes from the popular attraction, Knotts Berry Farm. His son-in-law, Don Ackerman, shared his ambition to help run the family business. A few years after working for a Long Beach, Calif. dealership and only after demonstrating his aptitude as a business partner, Mr. Gaudin purchased a Ford dealership in Las Vegas and allowed his son-in-law to manage it. Mr. Ackerman devoted the next 40-plus years to the family business’ success.

In 1972, Mr. Gaudin decided to retire from active participation in the car business. He had two Ford stores at the time – one in Las Vegas and his dealership in Buena Park, Calif. Mr. Gaudin presented Mr. Ackerman and his brother-in-law, Ray Andrews, with a hard-hitting proposal of either buying the Ford business, or allowing Fletcher Jones to buy both stores. He gave his sons-in-law the first right of refusal. The fork-in-the-road ultimatum resulted in the Buena Park dealership being sold to Fletcher Jones, and the Las Vegas dealership remained with the Ackerman family.

In 1974, after Mr. Ackerman’s son, Gary, graduated from college, history repeated itself and Gary approached his dad with the same curiosity to be in the car business. Don gave him the same valuable lesson that Mr. Gaudin gave him; he advised Gary to make a choice between moving to either Denver or Southern California – the two fastest growing automotive markets at the time – and get his feet wet. A determined young Gary packed up his minimal belongings and applied for a job with the San Fernando Valley Galpin Ford dealership, owned by Bert Boeckmann, one of the industry’s most successful businessmen in the history of selling cars. He was granted the job. After about 18 months, Mr. Ackerman called his son asking him to come back and help run the business. Gary kindly declined the offer because it wasn’t a managerial role that paid more money; instead he enjoyed his freedom and salary and spent four years working for Galpin Ford.

At the tail-end of 1979, Gary made his way back to Las Vegas to help run the Gaudin Motor Company. In March of 1982, the family opened the East Sahara location, moving from Las Vegas Boulevard and Charleston Blvd., as they had outgrown that building. Approximately ten years later, Gary bought the Jaguar franchise in Las Vegas from Chaisson Motor Cars. In 1986, the group purchased Gaudin Import Center on Boulder Highway, which consisted of Porsche, Volkswagen and Audi. By 1989, Gaudin Import Center had evolved to house solely Porsche, relocated to East Sahara Ave., adjacent to Gaudin Ford, and later added Jaguar to its showroom.

In 1993, Gary officially bought his dad’s company, Gaudin Ford, which relocated to the 215 west beltway and Rainbow Blvd. in 2012. When Ford decided it wanted a third dealership in the Valley, they presented Gary with that franchise, which he used to open Ford Country in the Valley Auto Mall in 1996. In April of 2000, Gaudin Motor Company opened Jaguar Porsche of Las Vegas, located on West Sahara Ave., which in September of 2015, found a new home as a standalone Jaguar dealership. A new multi-million Porsche facility opened in the same month right next door to Gaudin Ford. The remarkable 42,000 square feet facility features some of the city’s most luxurious vehicles and prides itself on carrying on the “customer first” Gaudin legacy.

Gaudin Motor Company will forever be part of the American culture that started the car industry which we recognize today. While the business took just short of a century and more than three generations to build, Gaudin Motor Company is now made up of three Las Vegas dealership locations: Gaudin Ford, Ford Country and Gaudin Porsche of Las Vegas. All dealerships boast state-of-the-art showroom, qualified, passionate team members and a quickly growing collection of national awards.