Stephen AutoMall Centre

As published in the New York Times on January 6, 2002

In 1936, 19-year-old Stephen Barberino and his brother Peter borrowed $20 from their older sister to open a gasoline station in Wallingford. The country was seven years into the Depression but the station was a success and it was not long before the brothers expanded the business and started selling Nash cars door to door.

Today, the Barberino family owns eight large auto dealerships in Connecticut, including the oldest Pontiac dealership in the United States, which the brothers opened after giving up the door to door Nash business for the more conventional method of having prospective customers visit a showroom.

Stephen Barberino's automobile career was interrupted by wartime service in the South Pacific in World War II and his greatest success as an auto dealer would come in the postwar period. In the 1950's, he moved to Bristol and opened Cadillac and Pontiac dealerships on Riverside Avenue and then on Route 6, the home of today's sprawling Stephen AutoMall Center.

A showman as well as a salesman, Mr. Barberino once advertised a car for sale for 1,395 bananas and when, as presumably anticipated, a customer showed up with the requisite number of bananas, Mr. Barberino sold him the car and gave the fruit to the Newington Children's Hospital. The transaction was widely reported in the newspapers and on television.

His affinity for showmanship also prompted Mr. Barberino to save the nation's oldest amusement park, Bristol's Lake Compounce, from going under in 1985.

''He felt he owed Bristol something,'' said J. Harwood Norton, whose family had owned the park for years. ''He didn't do it for the money; he did it for the love of keeping it going.''

If Mr. Barberino did not do it for the money, he was not disappointed. The park was not a money maker and Mr. Barberino sold his share in 1996.

Mr. Barberino retired from the car business 20 years ago and was succeeded by his son Stephen Jr. But the founder continued to make daily visits to the Route 6 showrooms, the last one two days before he died in his Farmington home on July 29. He was 83.

All advertised prices exclude government fees and taxes, any finance charges, any dealer document preparation charge, and any emission testing charge. The price for listed vehicles as equipped does not include charges such as: License, Title, Registration Fees, State or Local Taxes, Smog Fees, Credit Investigation, Optional Credit Insurance, Physical Damage of Liability Insurance, or Delivery Fees. Stephen AutoMall Centre makes no representations, expressed or implied, to any actual or prospective purchaser or owner of this vehicle as to the existence, ownership, accuracy, description or condition of the listed vehicle's equipment, accessories, price or any warranties. Prices include any and all discounts and coupons. Any and all differences must be addressed prior to the sale of this vehicle.

NOTICE: Although we attempt to keep inventories current, we cannot guarantee that located vehicles will still be available for sale.

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Local businessman and owner of Stephen AutoMall Centre of Bristol, CT, Stephen Barberino, has been given a Leaders of Distinction award by Pontiac-GMC Division of General Motors. This award recognizes outstanding dealer performance in critical business areas, including sales, profitability and customer satisfaction.

'Our Leaders of Distinction dealers are significant contributors to the success of Pontiac-GMC,' said GM Vice President and Pontiac-GMC General Manager Roy S. Roberts. 'Through their strong focus, they are at the top in dealer performance.' Only five percent of the more than 3,600 Pontiac and GMC dealers earn the Leaders of Distinction title. Winners were named during a Pontiac-GMC dealer business conference held recently in Carlsbad, California. The Leaders of Distinction program, which runs year-round and culminates with the awards, provides all Pontiac-GMC dealers with ongoing information on dealership performance and material they can use to further develop their business. It is one component of Pontiac-GMC's Recognition Network, a group of programs designed to encourage and reward excellence by dealers, sales and service managers, consultants and technicians.