It’s not about the Jeep in the Floor
- Dev Team
- 19 Nov 2014
It would seem the days of the stereotypical used car salesmen slinging vehicles from a shack on a lot are over.
While some of the buzz recently may state that there is a worrisome imbalance in the car-buying market—that older people are reducing their needs from two cars to one, and that younger people aren’t even interested in buying cars—Kevin Sawka, the Marketing and Advertising coordinator for Bay King Motors says their numbers have been increasing year over year.
It’s this confidence in the market that has allowed Bay King Motors—which first opened in 1968 right off the corner of Bay and King Street downtown before moving up the mountain in the early 90’s—to take some liberties in the construction of their new home at 55 Rymal Road East. The most impressive being a classic 1943 Willys Jeep nested in the foundation of their showroom, covered by a glass floor.
The Jeep, which was originally bought out of Quebec, was planned to serve as a play place for children to enjoy while their parents waited for the family vehicle to be serviced. They were going to pad it up and put it in the back corner of the showroom next to the waiting area.
But when a friend of the dealer went to a house party and saw a kitchen floor made of glass that looked down into a wine cellar, they got a new idea for the classic Jeep. Now the vehicle is the first thing you see when you walk into the showroom.
“That was probably the biggest feat to tackle; the whole engineering of it and the approval by the City.” said Sawka. Being a car dealership, they need to abide by a few specific construction rules, one of those rules being that their showroom needs to support the weight of vehicles driving over it; the entire showroom, including the glass floor.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx_sfet7nHg]
So they got to work, engineering a window similar to that in the floor of the CN tower, with three panes of thick glass and steel I-beams.
“As a staple dealership in Hamilton—we’ve been here forever—having something like this…is symbolic in that way and also it tells a story.”
This brilliantly creative addition to the atmosphere at Bay King Motors is just one of the new ideas they and other dealerships are taking on these days. Along with it, the new building also offers a relaxing waiting room, a coffee bar, and dedicated service “pods” for one-to-one service.
Yes, the car selling and service industry has changed. It’s no longer just about motors and mileage, but making an experience for your customers to feel comfortable returning to.
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