About Us

History of Woodhouse Auto Family

In 1975, Bob and Louise Woodhouse and Dave Taylor pooled their resources and began their search for a dealership to call their own. There were six Ford possibilities west of the Mississippi, with the Blair Dealership being among those available. In the end, they contacted Dean Sapp, the owner of Sapp Bros. Ford Center, and purchased the dealership in Blair.

The Blair dealership was Taylor-Woodhouse for approximately two years until Taylor wanted to add another dealership in Des Moines. Bob Woodhouse felt that they were far from ready for a second dealership and offered Taylor a buy-out option. Taylor accepted.

From 1977 to February 1995, Woodhouse Ford remained under a single owner, Woodhouse. In 1995, Lance, Becky and son, Jason Pittack were brought on board as partners. Lance had left his position at a dealership in Fremont, NE and they joined the Woodhouse family.

The growth of the company continued with the purchase of Washington County Motors in 1996 and then the addition of Jeep products in 1997. Next was the Quality Lincoln-Mercury dealership in Omaha in 2000, the new Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep building in 2001 and then Hawkins Nissan in Bellevue in 2002. The most recent purchases were the Reagan Mazda dealership in Omaha in 2003, Porsche of Omaha in 2005 and Anderson Chevrolet-Buick-Pontiac in Misouri Valley, IA in June 2008. The Woodhouse Auto Family just keeps growing and growing.

Woodhouse has not only grown in the amount of land it occupies and products it offers, but in the number of employees it has. In 1975, Woodhouse had 24 employees and now in 2009, Woodhouse employees over 630 people.

The success of Woodhouse Auto Family is attributed to many factors. They create an environment that allows people to bring out the best in themselves. This enables them to deliver what the rock in front of each of our buildings says, “To Provide An Experience That Exceeds Your Expectations”. They hire people that have cultured the proper principles; work ethic, honesty, sincerity, loyalty, faith and stability.

Having strong principles, exemplifying leadership, creating a positive environment and combining individual skills is the blend that creates the driving force that makes up the great team for Woodhouse.

Every customer and every employee is important to the Woodhouse Auto Family.