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Harry Mills VW - Kingsport, TN -- Any pics or info?
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Slowlow Premium Member
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 11:47 am    Post subject: Harry Mills VW - Kingsport, TN -- Any pics or info? Reply with quote

Probably a long shot.... and I really didnt know WHAT catagory to put this!

Anyhow, Im searching for any pics or info or stories or anything to do with the Harry Mills VW dealership that was in Kingsport, TN.

The dealer closed down in the 70's, but I'd love to see/hear more!
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 12:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't know much about the dealership, but the name looked familiar. I have a blue owners manual pouch with Harry Mills VW.... Kingsport Tn, stamped on the front of it.

It came with a 69 squareback I bought about 6 years ago.

John
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1977_L63H_P27
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 5:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Have you talked to Mousy Johnson? He may know something, or someone that remembers. Peace!
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 7:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

^^ Thats killer Johnny!

Yea, I know Mousey really well! We've talked tons about Harry Mills, but I just wanted to see if anyone out there had any old ad's or pics.
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 3:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice find, Gary Busey!

Back on track . . .

You might want to check out newspaperarchive.com.

Also, you can find LOTS of information about the family on the internet, which may lead you to whatever it is you're looking for. Tennessee has all of it's tax and real estate records online for easy access. You can even trace the lineage of the property (assuming you know the address) back to harry himself and find out how much he paid for it.
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 4:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If I think about it, I'll post a pic of the cover tomorrow.



John
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

johnnyrotten wrote:
If I think about it, I'll post a pic of the cover tomorrow.



John


Good deal, Ive had a few over the years, but left them with the cars if I sold them.

Im still down to see anything related!
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PostPosted: Sat May 29, 2021 4:05 pm    Post subject: Re: Harry Mills VW - Kingsport, TN -- Any pics or info? Reply with quote

This post is old, I understand ... but just in case someone discovers this that is interested ...

Harry Mills VW opened on Stone Drive in Kingsport in 1963 and sold to Sam Anderson (the Kingsport Ford dealer) in 1982. It operated as Anderson Imports through to the early 1990s (in the same location), continuously selling VWs, along with Mazda and even Yugo for a few years. The original location closed and operated as a “buy here, pay here, value lot” for Anderson’s other dealerships for awhile but eventually was torn down and the site was used to build a chain pharmacy.

Harry Mills and his father had been in the automobile business in Kingsport for many years before he began selling VWs. His father owned Mills Plymouth as far back as the late 1930s and Harry later owned Mills Motors, Rambler and Renault, in the early 1960s which he sold to C.M. Taylor (to free up the capital to start a VW franchise) and later became Parkway Buick-Rambler, which later became JBR Buick (the JBR Buick building now currently is the home of Kingsport’s VW dealership). Harry Mills has long since passed away.

As far as stories about Harry Mills VW, I have heard a few.

By the early 1970s, the guys in the service department had made a habit of getting the cars through the garage door as quickly as possible during the winter months, to keep the heat inside the shop, so they would start lowering the door before the Bugs were completely past it. Sometimes they miscalculated and dented the roofs. They got pretty good at popping the dents out of the roofs and the customers never knew anything about it.

In the early 1970s, a customer had stopped in to new car shop and found a car that he wanted to buy. After looking it over, he got back into his own car and was “eyeballing” his perspective new ride as he drove off the lot. Not paying attention to his driving, he drove off the lot and into traffic on Stone Drive, getting struck by an oncoming car and totaling his car.
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 01, 2021 6:39 pm    Post subject: Re: Harry Mills VW - Kingsport, TN -- Any pics or info? Reply with quote

wow! I'd love to find out info like this for my Ghia also.
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2021 9:04 am    Post subject: Re: Harry Mills VW - Kingsport, TN -- Any pics or info? Reply with quote

I have a dealer frame from there. And a plate from the old C&T Vw in Johnson city. I also have one from Volkswagen of Kingsport which I believed operated in the same spot for a short time before the building was demolished. Now it’s just an empty lot
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