Sparta Chevy store reaches 100% for World Class Technicians

Our Chevrolet Buick Pontiac store in Sparta has one more World Class Technician, Wilbur Filter(left), bringing their total to 3, all 3 that is.

Nationwide, only 4% of Service Techs are World Class Technicians. This store is at 100%.

GM Goodwrench technicians have the chance to become World Class Technicians in the GM STC training program, which provides technicians the opportunity to validate their knowledge and demonstrate their skills to employers and customers.

Congrats to Wilbur Filter(left), Tim DeCrane(middle) and Chris Pearse(right). We are proud to have you!
GM World Class Technicians website

We knew there was more to Jen's hairstyle

After Frank graced us with his Travolta photo, all kinds of things are being unearthed.

Jennifer Schauf, Business Manager at the West Salem Chevy store brought in this article from the Monroe County Democrat.

Jennifer was just a customer at Curt's Family Hairstyling in Sparta when she was asked to appear in Inspire, a national hairstyle magazine. Jen says she was always asking for new colors and styles and Curt thought she was perfect for the part.



With great style comes great responsibilty.

Our very own Travolta!

Believe it or not, this was Frank Smaby in 1979 at 22 years old. Tell me he doesn't look a bit like John Travolta, seriously.




Here is our good old Frank today. He still has all of his hair although it isn't quite as high.

Frank is a good sport as you can tell from his multiple Blog entries. Click here to see the "Ramp incident".

Frank has been with us at the West Salem Chevrolet store since we opened in 1991 and we are glad to have him here today. Go Franky!

Nancy Koeneke retires after 28 years

Nancy Koeneke has retired after 28 years of service as an Accounting Clerk at Brenengen Chevrolet in West Salem.

Nancy started work in 1979 for Curly's Chevrolet and remained with the dealership in 1991 when it became Brenengen Chevrolet.

She is starting her new life traveling with her sister, who's son is Larry the Cable Guy!

Larry has graciously given the 2 travelers his old Tour Bus to use on their new adventures which will start on the East Coast.

Nancy was a loved part of our family here and we wish her all the best.

Larry the Cable Guy Official Site

Rare Shelby Mustang at West Salem Chevy store

One of only 111 built in Red with the Satin Silver stripes, this car was traded in by it's original owner with only 603 miles on it. The 2007 Shelby GT 500 is an Historic car and we are happy to have it available. Edit: Now has been sold.
Slideshow
Hear the exhaust sound (mp3)
Production Numbers Article
Nice article with Wallpapers

Scott Siver honored in national magazine

Scott Siver, salesman at our Sparta Ford-Mercury store, was featured in Auto Dealer Monthly as "Sales Professional of the Month". Auto Dealer Monthly is a national magazine for Auto Dealers. Included is a great story about how Scott was 'discovered'. Congratulations Scott, we are proud to have you on our team.
Read the article- PDF
Read the article(jpg,zoom or maximize image)

The Miller's take their T-Bird for a run

Jerry and Eloda Miller of Sparta, WI stopped by Guttenberg, Iowa in their 2003 Ford Thunderbird they purchased from Brenengen Ford-Mercury. They were participating in a convertible road tour which made the news in Guttenberg, Iowa. Looks like they had fun!
This was published in the Guttenberg Press. Link below.
Guttenberg Press site

Jim and Scott switch bodies

2 of our salespeople at the West Salem Chevrolet store have actually switched bodies. The Before is 2003 and the After is today. We had a few weight loss contests in the past few years and Jim Gleason has lost 80 pounds and Scott Campbell has gained 50. For Jim it was Diet and Exercise, for Scott is was Defiance and the Buffet. Click the Slideshow for more pics.
Slideshow

Boys and Girls Club in West Salem opens Monday

The Boys and Girls Club of West Salem will be opening it's doors on Monday, July 16th. The Club is open from 10am - 4pm Mon-Friday this summer. A Grand Opening will be held in August.

The Club will be open to ages 7-18 yrs old. There are many fun-filled activities available including a Game Room, Teen Center, Arts and Crafts, Computer Lab, Music Room, and Sports activities. With 20 Computer stations, Playstation 2, Gamecube, 2 Pool tables, Foosball table, and Air Hockey, this should be alot of fun.

Brenengen Auto Group of West Salem and Sparta has donated over $4500 to the Boys and Girls Clubs of West Salem and Sparta. We believe they are very important to our local communities.
Slideshow
Coulee News Article pdf
Club Programs

Frank checks out the new ramp for 'wreckabilty'

The year was 1992. The car was a Chevy Cavalier wagon. The ramp was the old metal one. Frank decided he was going to put the car on the ramp by himself and above is the result. Recently we installed new concrete ramps at all Brenengen locations. Frank is shown surveying the possibilities of our new ramp in the slideshow below.
Slideshow

Transformers take over next week

The new Transformers movie opens next Monday (7-2-07) at Valley Square in Onalaska. The movie features many GM and Ford vehicles including the new 2009 Camaro, Hummer, and the Ford Mustang. Stop in to the West Salem Chevy store for Free Posters of the movie. I was a pretty big Transformers fan so we'll see how this movie stacks up to plastic toys and my imagination.
Slideshow
Movie site
Chevrolet Camaro site
Chevy Tranformers game site
Valley Square Showtimes

Car ads from 70's Fuel Shortage have a story to tell

I found these magazine car ads from the 70's and 80's. The ads in the Slideshow below begin just before the 1973 Fuel Shortage and continue through the early 80's. US manufacturers were trying to get into the small, fuel effecient car market. You may remember many of these cars including GM's answer to the VW Rabbit, the Chevette, above. 43mpg was great, but good luck getting up a hill.

Many other interesting ads in the Slideshow below including a few surprises. Post a comment if you find the first "Real" Crossover vehicle.
Slideshow (23 ads)
View more ads at adclassix.com

Coon Valley couple takes home the Shelby GT

Rod & Jean Schroeder from Coon Valley will be taking delivery of the Shelby GT from our Sparta Ford-Mercury store today. The Shelby GT was limited to 6,000 total vehicles produced. We were very lucky to have one to sell to the happy couple. Salesman Troy Ziegler sent a nice group of photos for you to check out in the Slideshow below.
Slideshow
Fan Site
Manufacturer Site
Shelby Auto Site
Wikipedia Article

HAIL in West Salem leaves a few big dents

You may see our West Salem Chevy store on the news tonight. We had some golf ball sized hail. It lasted about 4 minutes at around 3:30 pm. Most of our vehicles did not get large dents, but as Popeye points out above, a few sure did.

391 Horsepower Camaro roars through

One of our long time customers came by with his ridiculously fast 1994 Camaro for us to put on eBay for him. Over $35,000 has been invested in the engine and transmission. He wouldn't let me drive it.
Slideshow
eBay auction(relisted)