Warrnambool's Callaghan Motors celebrates 90 years in business

The fuel bowsers that once stood on the footpath outside its original Fairy Street dealership have been swapped for electric vehicle chargers at its Raglan Parade site - a sign of its longevity in an ever-changing industry.

The third-generation family business celebrates its 90th anniversary in 2023 and will mark the occasion with a birthday celebration in late-November.

Callaghan Motors opened in April 1933 when Frank Callaghan joined forces with Campbell Graham with a starting capital of 75 pounds.

About 12 months later, Mr Graham was killed in a car accident, leaving Frank to run the business from 1934.

During World War II the federal government commissioned Callaghan's to produce munitions with the family proud to be part of the Australian war effort, helping provide jobs for local families.

Frank's son Brian joined Callaghan Motors in 1964 at the age of 22, going onto become dealer principal.

Brian later handed the reins to son and current dealer principal Steve who joined the business in 1996 at the age of 27.

Brian recalled he worked at the dealership in his university holidays and moved into car sales and debt collection when he began full-time work.

"It was a small dealership then," Brian said. "We had Vauxhall and Chevrolet. We didn't have Holden 'til the year later when Dad bought Ross Motors."

"There was no computers, there was no fax machines, all the book work was manual," Brian said. "That was the curse of the thing, you had to get it to balance each month and if you were a dollar out you'd have to do the whole thing again."

The dealership's long association with Holden began in 1958 in what Brian said was a simpler time compared with today.

"Cars themselves were a lot less complicated," Brian said. "You open the bonnet of an old Holden, the motor's there, the battery and the generator and that's it.

"You look under the bonnet of a car now you wouldn't know where to start and that's just symbolic of the whole thing. The business has got so much more complicated these days. Let alone multi-franchising.

"We were just Holden dealers for most of my time that's all you had to worry about."

One of the most significant moments in the family business was in 2020 when it farewelled Holden from its stable of new car brands after General Motors announced it would cease trading in Australia from July that year.

It ended a 62-year association with Callaghan's no longer selling GM and Holden vehicles, but remains an authorised dealer for car servicing and parts.

About five years ago, Callaghan's added electric vehicles to its range and now boasts its biggest offering of both hybrid and plug-in hybrids.

In 2017 and after 84 years in the CBD, Callaghan's moved into its larger purpose-built Raglan Parade premises which had the latest technology and environmental innovations.

The move to the former Calco Timbers Mitre 10 site progressed the business operations from a land-locked 4500-square metre site to a 12,000-square metre premises on the city's western fringe.

"It had to happen," Steve said. "But with Holden going, had we been in Fairy Street we wouldn't have been able to attract the new brands because it wouldn't have met their criteria and we didn't have the room.

"We took the punt (with the move) and it probably paid off but we didn't know that at the time."

The business now also includes Great Ocean Road RV & Caravans and Warrnambool's Cheapest Cars which stocks and sells its used vehicles.

They said Callaghan's wouldn't be where it was without its south-west customer base, many whose families had bought and upgraded cars over the dealership's many years.

"We wouldn't have survived without the support of the local community and we wouldn't have survived without the people in the business," Steve said.

"The building's not us. We've got 75 people who do their best for our customers, day in, day out. They're the ones that get in and get the job done."

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