Two years ago, Theodore Robins Ford, the oldest Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) dealership in Southern California, celebrated its centennial as a business that started out as an auto repair shop.
This year, the Balboa Island Museum commemorated the Costa Mesa-based company’s 100th year as a Ford dealer with an exhibit that will be up until June.
“They were nice enough to put up an area in the museum for us to celebrate our 100-year anniversary,” co-owner Dave Robins told the Business Journal.
The exhibit features photos of the dealer’s founder, Theodore Robins Sr., who originated the company as a Model T repair shop on the Balboa Peninsula in 1921. He previously served as a pilot in the Air Force Reserves during WWI.
In 1923, Robins Sr. secured a Ford dealer franchise for his repair shop. He sold his first Ford vehicle within a week for $637.10.
Since its founding, Robins Ford has called multiple sites in Orange County home. The dealer in 1928 moved to a larger building across from what today is the Crab Cooker in Newport Beach.
In the ’60s, the company moved to its current Costa Mesa site, nestled in a hub of auto dealers and repair shops.
The more than a century of Robins Ford’s resilience earned the company the Longevity Award at the Business Journal’s Family-Owned Business Awards last year.
“We went through the Great Depression in 1929 and got through WWII and we figured out how to get through the financial crisis in 2008 and the pandemic,” Dave Robins, Robins Sr.’s grandson, told the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA).
“That’s what keeps me engaged in the business—the constant challenges you’re up against … whether it’s an economy thing or a chip shortage, it’s always evolving and there’s always something new to figure out a way around,” he added.
Dave’s brother, and the company’s other co-owner, Jim Robins, hosted the dealer’s momentous 100th anniversary party last February.
The event drew around 300 attendees, including corporate officers from Ford’s headquarters in Dearborn, Mich.
This year, the company plans to continue its legacy of charity by gifting $125,000 to eight local charities.
Prior beneficiaries of Robins Ford include Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, Newport Beach and Costa Mesa chambers of commerce and the YMCA.
The dealership counts four generations of family members who have worked at the company. Dave’s oldest daughter, Nicole Bouthaker, plans to return to the dealership after her children enroll in school.
His younger daughter, Ashley Farrell, currently works at Robins Ford as a compliance manager.
