The Lehman Volvo Cars story begins with Earl Behney Lehman, our founder, and his wife Mae Lehman. Earl began his career selling cars in his hometown of Lawn, PA, at the Brubaker Desoto dealership in the 1920’s. During this time, he disassembled and reassembled the first vehicle he owned. This experience fueled the young Lehman’s passion for motor vehicles for years to come.
During the late 1930’s, during his employment in the accounting office for the Hershey Chocolate Company, Earl Lehman opened the “Behney & Lehman Garage” as a private venture to sell & service pre-owned automobiles. Services at Behney & Lehman Garage included oil, tires, general repairs, gas, and painting. This business was operated by Earl, who employed Wilson Behney & Paul Lehman as mechanics.
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Earl Behney Lehman works in the Hershey’s Chocolate Accounting Office. (Newspaper print, 1936)
Eleven years would pass until Earl purchased Berman’s Chrysler-Plymouth Dealership on West Main Street in Palmyra, PA in 1947. Eight year later Lehman purchased a new facility at 811 East Main Street, Palmyra, PA; this facility currently operates as a Sheetz location.
In that same year, 1955, Earl received the sales franchise agreement of Lincoln, Mercury, and Comet Automobiles from John McCreary, the Sales Manager of the Lincoln, Mercury and Comet Division of the Ford Motor Company. He remained employed in the accounting office for the Hershey Chocolate Company.
Earl Lehman, right, receives Sales Franchise Agreement from John McCreary, left, as Dave Roth, center, General Manager, looks on.​ (1955, source unknown).
Due to the rapid success of his local dealerships, Earl Lehman resigned from the Hershey Chocolate Corporation to focus on his businesses in 1957. After more than 32 years of employment with Hershey’s Chocolate, his resignation was impactful enough to make the local newspaper.
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Newspaper clipping documenting Lehman’s resignation from Hershey Chocolate Corp. (1957, source unknown).
In 1961 Earl made an impactful decision which led to the present day; Earl purchased the building at 2217 Derry Street, Harrisburg, PA where he sold Lincoln & Mercury vehicles. This location became the first site for the Earl B. Lehman company’s Volvo sales in subsequent years. For the time being, Lehman’s Garage explored retail for various automobile manufacturers, such as during the emergence of Toyota in the US market.
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Lehman’s Garage advertisement for Toyota’s Land Cruiser sweepstakes; Lehman’s Annual [Christmas] Banquet. (Sources Unknown, 1967).
Earl and Mae Lehman’s son, Kenneth, joined the Lehman Motors dealership group in 1970. Kenneth Lehman previously worked for the Hershey Chocolate Company, after employment with Bankers Trust Co. in New York. Kenneth held a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and Master of Business Administration from the University of Pennsylvania.
By 1979, Kenneth became the owner & operator of the Earl B. Lehman Company, choosing to take a chance on a new-to-the-U.S. manufacturer as his father had for others. That same year, the Earl B. Lehman Company became a Saab franchise. Volvo was added to the Lehman Motors dealer group as a franchise in 1980.
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After a short period of rapid successful operation as a franchise for Saab & Volvo, Kenneth Lehman was elected to the seven-member Saab National Dealer Advisory Council to represent 320 Saab dealers nationwide. By 1985, Kenneth received the Dealer of Excellence Award at the Derry Street location, on behalf of Earl B. Lehman Inc. for its Volvo dealership’s accomplishments in sales, service, and parts departments.
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Newspaper articles documenting Kenneth Lehman’s election to the Saab National Dealer Advisory Board & receipt of Dealer of Excellence Award. (Unknown print sources, 1985).
In 1997, Kenneth acquired York Volvo from Triangle Motors; the original owners who opened the business in 1958. York Volvo (presently Lehman Volvo Cars of York) is one of the oldest stand-alone Volvo dealerships on the east coast. That same year, Raymond Bromley joined the Earl B. Lehman incorporation as the General Manager. Raymond previously worked as the General Manager of Cherry Hill Volvo in New Jersey.
One year after the acquisition of York Volvo, in 1998, Lehman Motors relocated its Volvo dealership to a brand-new facility at 6281 Carlisle Pike of Mechanicsburg, thereby departing from 2217 Derry Street in Harrisburg.
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After seven years of successful operation of Lehman Volvo, Kenneth Lehman passed the torch of owner & operator to Raymond Bromley in 2005. In this same year, Lehman Volvo Cars York finalized relocation to its current address of 950 North Hills Road, York, PA.