Every week we publish a historic photo highlighting a story from Naperville’s past from the history archives of Naper Settlement.
For six decades, Netzley’s Chrysler dealership held a prominent place in downtown Naperville and would be the place where many a resident bought a new car or had their car repaired.
Its story began in 1921 with 20-year-old Clyde C. Netzley, an employee at Earl Fry’s battery and car repair shop who decided to open his own auto repair business.
Clyde’s father, Rufus, helped him acquire the location at the corner of Chicago Avenue and Washington Street by trading a house and a lot on Spring Street for the site. His aunt, Ida Corel, lent him $500.
Initially, he sold autos made by the Moon Motor Car Co. but mostly made money fixing cars and patching tires.
It became a family affair in 1922 when Netzley married Eva Stuff, who was put in charge of the garage’s bookkeeping. They and their two children, Clyde Jr., known as Budd, and Delores, who was called Dee, lived in one of one of the three apartments above the business.
Netzley secured a Chrysler dealership in 1926, and his nephew, Ralph Netzley, joined the company.
Business was thriving by the late 1920s, and a decision to open a second dealership in Warrenville was made. Netzley partnered his brother Arthur and a mechanic named Kenneth Raecker, who would later buy the Warrenville operation from the brothers.
Back then, small dealerships would have just one model on display. Buyers would place an order with Netzley, who would submit it to the factory in Detroit and arrange for an employee to drive it to town once it was ready.
The dealership managed to survived the Great Depression by sometimes relying on the barter system when customers couldn’t pay for repairs. In one case, the trade was 28 live chickens, which the customer butchered on site and Eva then cleaned and stored.
Chryslers were selling so well in the 1930s that Clyde and Arthur decided to add the company’s sister line, Plymouth, to their inventory. They also added a showroom so they could have 15 cars on display.
They had car salesmen, but they would work double duty as car mechanics, changing oil and working on engines.
Clyde was just 34 when he was killed in a car accident in 1935. Eva was injured in the crash but recovered and carried on the family business.
In 1936, Netzley’s employee Harry Ridley bought out Arthur’s interest in the business, assumed management of the dealership and went on to marry Eva in 1937.
As the years went on, more car lots were acquired and Netzley’s expanded. The dealership was enlarged and modernized. Three more apartments were added above the garage.
In the 1930s, they began selling GMC trucks and acquired 1.5 acres on Chicago Avenue for a used car lot.
To help ends meet during World War II, the dealership added a Firestone franchise because most car manufacturers had switched to making vehicles for the war effort.
The company incorporated in 1946 and 10 years later, young Clyde “Budd” Netzley Jr. was brought into management when Ridley had a heart attack and was forced to cut back on his duties.
Budd went from working in the repair shop, where he started in high school, to being head of sales. Ray Schumacher, who was married to Dee, was the office manager and Lennie Overcash, son of Clyde’s sister Pearl, became service manager.
(Ray and Dee Schumacher would later own the Naperville Tennis Club.)
By the 1950s, the dealership had 39 employees.
In the late 1960s, Budd took over for Ridley and Budd’s son, Clyde “Clay” Netzley III, began working in the garage. They would add American Motors and Jeep vehicles to their lineup in the 1970s.
The family was adamant about staying true to their roots by keeping their downtown Naperville location rather than moving to a higher-profile location off the interstate. But fate didn’t go their way.
Chrysler’s business was slipping and seemed to be headed toward failure so in 1981, Budd — his business “asset rich and cash-flow poor,” according to his son in a 1997 Chicago Tribune article — made the decision to retire. The Netzley car dealership, a key part of downtown Naperville for so many years, closed its doors.
Budd died three years later.
Andrea Field is the curator of history at Naper Settlement. For more information, go to www.NaperSettlement.org. Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
