Then and Now: John Doran dealership sold Packards, Studebakers on Second Avenue

When automobiles burst onto the American landscape in the early 20th century, many people jumped into the new business.

A bond salesman at the Spokane and Eastern bank, John Doran, born in 1884, opened a car dealership in 1914, advertising Packards and Studebakers. The dealership was at Third Avenue and Wall Street, but Doran built a shop at 707 W. Second Ave. around 1920 and moved some operations there.

Doran and his general manager, Harry Twitchell, founded the Gasoline Bowling League, which pitted dealership employees against each other and against other occupations, such as hotel greeters and railroad workers. Doran was best known for selling the Hudson, an affordable alternative to the Ford Model T. The Hudson’s price and more powerful engine pushed the company to third-largest in the country, behind Ford and Chevrolet, in 1929.

Doran died during emergency appendix surgery in 1927. One of his partners, William Twohy, took over. But the Great Depression took its toll and a succession of companies handled the Hudson line.

By the late 1930s, the shop on West Second was part of Buchanan Chevrolet and remained so until the early 1970s, when it became Empire Leasing, a car rental agency. It later served Pierson Towing and a series of auto repair shops, including Master Mechanics and Autobahn Repair. Most recently, the building was Evergreen Parking and Storage before being remodeled for DCI Engineers, a civil and structural engineering firm headquartered in Seattle.

The last Hudson automobile rolled off the assembly line in 1957. Hudson had merged with the Nash-Kelvinator Co. in the early 1950s and both companies became part of American Motors Corp. AMC dropped both brand names because of poor market recognition, but continued the Hudson Rambler under the AMC badge.