Lockhart Motor Company celebrates 100 years
By Anthony Collins
LPR Editor
For 100 years, automobiles have changed, highways have expanded and Lockhart has grown from a small Texas town into a rapidly changing Central Texas community. Through all of it, one familiar name has remained behind the wheel.
Lockhart Motor Company is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2026, marking a century of selling vehicles, serving customers and remaining rooted in the community it has called home since the days of the Model T. The dealership is recognizing the milestone with a fitting theme: “100 Years, 5 Generations, 1 Family.” For current owner Tim Clark, reaching that milestone brings with it a deep sense of gratitude. Asked what 100 years and five generations of his family being involved with Lockhart Ford means to him personally, Clark said the first thing that comes to mind is the people who helped make it possible. “When I think about reaching the 100-year milestone, I first feel very fortunate that we’ve had the opportunity to represent Ford and serve our community for all this time,” Clark said. “We’ve had so many wonderful, long-time customers throughout the years, and we simply wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for those relationships. I’m also very proud that each generation of the Clark family has been a good steward of our family business and made sure that it continues to grow and thrive.”
The story of how the Clark family became part of the Ford business is one of the stories that has been passed down through generations. When asked what he had heard over the years about his great-grandfather, William S. “Will” Clark, and the early days of the dealership, Tim Clark went back to the mid-1920s. At the time, Will Clark was operating the Buick dealership in Lockhart. One day, he was having coffee at the Carter Hotel with the man who was running the Ford store. The Ford dealer told Clark he was lucky to have the Buick dealership because he dealt with more affluent customers, but Will Clark saw things differently. Will told him he envied the Ford business because just about anyone could afford a Model T.”
That conversation soon turned into an offer. “The man said if you feel that way, I’ll swap with you,” Clark said. “And they did the swap with a handshake. No paperwork, no money changed hands, but in 1926 Ford Motor Company awarded the Lockhart Ford dealership to Will Clark.” It is the kind of story that seems almost impossible in today’s business world, but that handshake set in motion a family operation that would continue for the next century.
Another story passed down through the family came from Tim Clark’s great-grandmother and dates back to one of the darkest economic periods in American history. Sometime in the early 1930s, during the Great Depression, business had become so difficult that Will Clark decided he had reached the end. “Will told my great-grandmother that he was giving up and was going to close the business at the end of the week,” Tim said. Then came Friday, and it happened to be Friday the 13th. That day, a customer walked into the dealership and ordered 20 new Ford vehicles. The order changed everything. “Will kept the business going, and Friday the 13th has always been considered a lucky day to the Clark family,” Tim said.
That near-ending during the Depression became just one chapter in what would eventually become a century-long story of survival. Lockhart has changed dramatically since 1926 and so has the automobile business. When asked what has allowed Lockhart Ford to remain successful and family-owned through so many changes, Clark pointed first to the dealership’s ability to endure difficult times. “We survived the Great Depression,” he said. “We survived World War 2 when all of Ford Motor Company’s production was going to support the war effort, and Lockhart Motor Company was down to 3 employees. We’ve survived oil embargos, inflation, and Covid. Not to mention rapid changes in technology and the automobile itself.”
The cars changed, the economy changed and technology transformed nearly every part of the automobile business. Yet Tim believes one thing remained constant through it all: relationships. “I really do believe that cultivating and maintaining relationships has been the most important constant that has allowed us to keep a family business going for 100 years,” he said. “First and foremost are the relationships with our customers. If you don’t have them, you don’t have anything. And in a small, tightly knit community like Lockhart, reputation and service means everything.”
For generations of Caldwell County families, buying a vehicle in Lockhart has often meant doing business with someone they knew. Customers returned years later, their children came back, and in some cases another generation followed. Clark said the dealership’s employees have been just as important to that continuity. “Second, and just as important, are the relationships we have with our employees,” he said. “They are the face of the business to our customers, and if you’re going to take good care of your customers, you must have good people doing it.”
Lockhart itself is now experiencing another period of major change, and Clark believes the pace may be faster than ever before. “Lockhart has certainly grown and changed,” he said. “And we’re probably growing and changing faster now than at any point in our history. But that doesn’t lessen the importance of getting to know your customers and making the effort to give them great, personal service. As with most things, the people are the most important part of it.”
When asked whether any longtime employees, customers or local families stand out as examples of the relationships that helped shape Lockhart Motor Company, Clark was reluctant to name just one because there have simply been too many. “We’ve been so fortunate to have so many wonderful relationships with both customers and employees over the years that I wouldn’t dare single any of them out,” he said. “I’d simply be neglecting too many others. I will say that I have never been prouder of the people that work here than I am with the team we have right now. We’ve got a lot of very talented people, many of whom have been here for many years. That continuity and consistency is important.”
The Clark family’s history in Lockhart extends well beyond the dealership showroom. W.P. “Bill” Clark Jr. became deeply involved in the community, serving organizations such as the Salvation Army, United Way and Lockhart Housing Authority. His contributions eventually earned him recognition as Lockhart’s Most Worthy Citizen in 2012. He also helped establish what would develop into Lockhart Homecoming and later the Chisholm Trail Roundup, an event that became part of the community’s identity through rodeo, music, parades and hometown tradition. His involvement in the automobile industry extended beyond Caldwell County as well, including service on the Ford Motor Company National Dealer Council.
Tim Clark became part of the family operation in 1992 after earning an MBA from the University of Texas and spending five years in banking. He had the opportunity to work side by side with his father, and today he gets to do the same with his son, Will. “I’ve been very fortunate,” Tim said. “I’ve had the opportunity to work in this business side by side with my dad, and now side by side with my son.” That generational connection becomes especially meaningful when looking toward what comes next. Asked what he hopes the next generation of the Clark family carries forward, and what he wants Lockhart Motor Company to look like 25 or even 100 years from now, he said the answer requires balancing tradition with change. “As we look back over the last100 years, and forward into the future, we must do two things,” he said. “We must be proud of and honor our heritage by being true to the simple things that have allowed us to be successful. But we must not be stuck in the past.”
For Tim, honoring history does not mean doing things the same way simply because that is how they have always been done. “The answer to the question of why we do something a particular way cannot be because that’s how we’ve always done it,” he said. “Things are changing so much and so fast. We have to embrace that change and incorporate it into our business in a way that allows us to continue to be the best option when it comes to our customers’ choice of where they buy and service their vehicles.” That responsibility now increasingly belongs to another generation. Clark’s son, Will, and the team around him are carrying the family business into an automobile industry that looks very different from the one William Clark entered with a handshake in 1926. “I watch my son Will and his team work every day making sure we use every tool at our disposal to give our customers the best experience we can,” Tim said. “They’re all a lot younger than I am, and they have the minds and the ability to understand the changes affecting our business, and to quickly implement necessary changes. It’s a joy to watch and fun to be a part of.”
The dealership’s history can also be seen in the changing landscape of Lockhart. One of Lockhart Motor Company’s former homes, the historic Ford Building at 303 W. San Antonio Street, has taken on a new life as Austin Community College’s Lockhart Center, opening in early 2026 as a workforce education and training facility. It is a fitting reminder of how much a community can change in a century. The automobiles sitting on a Ford lot today would have been almost unimaginable to William Clark. Modern vehicles are filled with cameras, computers, touchscreens, advanced safety systems and technology that would have sounded like science fiction in the Model T era. Yet the foundation of the business remains surprisingly familiar: serve people well, build relationships, take care of employees, protect the reputation of the family name and change when change is necessary.
One hundred years after a handshake helped put the Clark family behind the wheel of the Ford dealership in Lockhart, the business is preparing for its second century. As Tim Clark looks toward the future, he believes the next generation is ready to carry the same values forward while embracing a rapidly changing automotive world. “And it’s because of them that I have no doubt the next 100 years of Lockhart Motor Company will be better than the first 100 years,” Clark said. The dealership will be hosting a special celebration on Wednesday, September 16 beginning at 11:30 am. Stop by and share your memories, sign up for door prizes and take a look at what could be your next car. Lockhart Motor Company is located at 2330 S. Colorado Street in Lockhart.
