Greeneville’s Car-Dealer History, City Garage Car Museum & a One-Time Meeting with Enzo Ferrari

This Hot Rods & Hijinks episode features Kent Bewley, longtime Greeneville-area car man and owner/curator of the City Garage Car Museum (210 S Main St, Greeneville, TN). He recounts his family’s dealership roots starting in 1937 with Packard, adding Pontiac and Cadillac, later moving into Chevrolet and other franchises, and his own career working every job on the lot while selling 10,000+ cars. The conversation traces Greeneville’s automotive and tobacco-era economy, local dealership history, and memorable characters and stories, including Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Firestone passing through town, John Bohannon’s engineering feats, and a poker anecdote involving Charlie Hendrickson and JFK. Kent discusses Oldsmobile’s boom years, corporate missteps like early GM diesels, cars he regrets selling, and a story about Phil Bachman’s brief meeting with Enzo Ferrari.