Royal Automotive sold to Salem-based dealership

For about two years, a heart condition has changed the way Glenn Wood looks at life and business.

In perfect health he wouldn’t have sold his Lynchburg automobile dealership, he said. But when Bill Pinkerton called him this summer and offered to buy Royal Automotive, Wood could feel his heart beating irregularly in his chest.

“It scared me,” said Wood, who has since been treated for cardiac arrhythmia and said his heart is fine. “I felt it was time to have a little bit less to worry about.”

On Thursday, Wood and Pinkerton closed on their deal, in which Pinkerton bought the Royal Automotive location on Graves Mill Road. Wood will keep his used car businesses on U.S. 221 and in Madison Heights.

The Graves Mill Road dealership is changing its name to Pinkerton Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac.

They would not disclose the financial terms of the sale.

Wood said that he is glad to move to a smaller operation and focus on used cars, which he enjoys more than new cars.

“I don’t deny that downsizing is a pleasant thing to contemplate. This is a large operation,” he said at the Graves Mill Road dealership.

Of the 80 employees who work at Royal, four still will work for Wood, including his son and son-in-law. The rest will work for Pinkerton. “As far as I know, nobody’s losing a job,” Pinkerton said.

On Thursday Pinkerton began moving used cars from Salem to Graves Mill Road. His Salem dealership will use the Lynchburg body shop, Pinkerton said.

Wood and Pinkerton both have sold General Motors vehicles for decades.

Wood was a sales manager at several dealerships before taking over an Oldsmobile dealership in Lynchburg in 1987. He bought Royal Automotive in 1997, he said.

Pinkerton ran dealerships in Michigan and California and eventually moved to the Charlottesville area. About 18 years ago he bought a Salem dealership that was in bankruptcy and started Pinkerton Chevrolet.

“I love the business,” Pinkerton said. “It’s just fun for me. It’s not just a business. It’s my hobby.”

Despite the recession, he still wants to expand.

“We’ve always had ups and downs. There’s never been one this serious, but that’s just part of the business,” he said. “I have most of my fun when I buy a new place and turn it into my own.”

Pinkerton was attracted to Royal Automotive because it has a good facility in a great community, he said. Also, Royal’s body shop has a good reputation. “The insurance adjusters talk about it over in Roanoke Valley,” he said.

This summer, he was on vacation when he decided to call Wood and suggest buying him out.

Wood said his heart condition made him think about some of the things he loves to do, such as play tennis, that he’d have to give up if he did not take care of himself.

The irregular heartbeat also was increased by stress, which increased this year as GM went through bankruptcy, chose to drop the Pontiac brand — which Wood carried — and saw sales decline.

At Royal 221, Wood will sell used cars, focusing on those in the $10,000 to $12,000 range.

He also will continue operating his Madison Heights business Royal Auto Credit, which sells cars to people who have trouble getting regular bank loans. Through foreclosure and bankruptcies, the economy has created customers who “need someone who will help them buy a car,” he said.

He hopes to establish new Royal Auto Credit dealerships, he said.

Both Wood and Pinkerton said they think GM will have better days ahead. Wood said he thinks some newer GM models are its best ever, such as the Chevy Equinox and the new Malibu.

Wood thinks GM’s biggest problem is that the slow construction market has hurt truck sales.

“That’s in the category of, ‘this too shall pass,’” he said.