Caprock Chronicles: Lubbock Auto Auction: A hidden economic gem
Editor’s note: Caprock Chronicles are edited by Jack Becker, Librarian Emeritus, TTU Libraries. He can be reached at jack.becker@ttu.edu. Todays essay is by Christena Stephens a frequent contributor to Caprock Chronicles. Her essay shines a light on little understood but important part of Lubbock history.
There are many hidden gems in Lubbock’s unique history; one of these is how people developed businesses. This is the story of one.
Urban growth and development came late to the South Plains because this region of Texas was the last settled. When Lubbock became organized in 1909, it coincided with the history of autos, for that is when Henry Ford introduced the Model T in 1908 - the first mass-produced affordable car for the middle-class.
It was like Lubbock and automobiles evolved each other. In the 1940s, after World War II, Lubbock entered a period of intense growth and change along with the manufacture of new cars.
In 1947, the Lubbock citizens drove DeSotos, Packards, Cadillacs, Land Cruisers, Nashes, Commanders, Studebakers, Champions, Buicks, Fords, Olds, Chryslers, Lincolns, Chevys, Mercuries, Dodges, GMCs, Internationals, Diamonds, and Plymouths.
The number of cars driven in Lubbock in the 1950s spurred the development of roads. People used roads to drive to and from work, to take their kids to school, to get to their farms and ranches, and to simply travel.
Two Lubbock car dealers, Jack and Clyde McLaughlin, standing in their small dealership on Texas Avenue, noticed these cars and a trend that was developing. People more and more traded their used cars for newer models coming on the market. They seized this opportunity and began a “Dealers Only” auction to handle Lubbock’s used cars.
The Lubbock Automobile Auction had its first sale on Thursday, Oct. 2, 1947, at 2710 Texas Ave. But, sometime between 1947 to 1951, the McLaughlins veered from their vision of only allowing car dealers to purchase cars to letting the public purchase them as well.
This did not set well with local car dealers. They got together and approached Lubbock businessman and car dealer, Ray Furr. Consequently, Furr purchased the McLaughlins Dealers Only Auction in 1951.
Furr renamed the business to simply, Lubbock Auto Auction, and moved it in 1952 to 1122 East 34th St. where it was surrounded by farmland. Furr then sold an interest to Joe Fralin who created a simple business model of a private auction for car dealers only, allowing them to sell or buy used cars.
Much like an art or antique auction, auctioneers start the bidding at these auctions with a lot of gusto. Often the bidding got intense as the auctioneers keep the bids going higher and higher. Over the years fierce bidding erupted on the auction floor leading to fist fights and some ambulance rides.
In December 1971, an employee forgot to switch off a piece of tire machinery that created white walls on the tires. A fire quickly engulfed and destroyed the Auction. With his keen businesslike manner, Furr did not let the fire stop the auction. He placed a huge circus tent onsite and conducted car auctions from the tent as construction began and continued on their new building.
Grand reopening of the Auction occurred in May 1972. Gov. Preston Smith attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony. This business generated $500,000 monthly for Lubbock’s economy by selling at least 200 cars and trucks every Thursday in 1972 alone.
Mr. Fralin passed away in 1982 and at this time, Charles Furr, Ray Furr’s son bought into the business. When Ray Furr passed away in 2011, his son continued the auctions, along with Ray Furr’s granddaughter, Shandyl Higgins.
As Roy Blanchard used car dealer said, “the Lubbock Auto Auction gives you [the] independence to use your own best judgment, [a place] where you took your own chances with your own hard-earned money.” With the banging of a gavel and a loud “sold” many wondered if they got a good deal. Car auctions are like a box of mixed chocolates, you never know if the one you won the bid on was a super good or super bad deal.
As area used car dealer businessman, Joey York, said with laughter, the first vehicle he bought from the Lubbock Auto Auction was a little Chevy station wagon. By the time he reached Reese Air Force Base west of Lubbock, it broke down completely. He had bid on a lemon and did not know it. The car seller had shimmed up the crankshaft so it would not knock while going through the auction. His experience did not deter York from starting his own car business and helping people who could not afford to go to a big dealership.
This Lubbock business has been a hidden meat-and-potatoes foundation gem since 1947 for giving other businesses the opportunity to be their own bosses, as well as becoming a hidden resource giving an underserved community the ability to own a car or truck.
What makes this Auction even more special is that it is the oldest auto auction in Texas, the oldest auction west of the Mississippi River, and the second oldest auction in the United States.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Caprock Chronicles: Lubbock Auto Auction: A hidden economic gem
