Ultra-luxury dealership nears opening

O’Gara Coach spending $6 million to improve former Chevrolet site



CLEAN—Construction at the new Bentley/Rolls-Royce dealership.

CLEAN—Construction at the new Bentley/Rolls-Royce dealership.

Amid dusty floors and noisy drills and hammers, Mitch Anderson, general manager of the Bentley and Rolls-Royce dealerships in Thousand Oaks, explains what will fill the empty spaces in the new $6-million showroom and car lot.

The latest in lighting equipment will illuminate the cars at night. Service technicians will have their own lockers and showers, and there will be a full kitchen, Sub-Zero refrigerators and a concierge desk.

Walls will showcase modern art and television screens and one area will allow teleconferencing.

“All upscale things,” Anderson said. “We’re not like a normal car dealership. We’re making this more like a hotel experience.”

The 7,500-square-foot Rolls- Royce Motor Cars Westlake and Bentley Westlake showroom at 3610 Thousand Oaks Blvd., former site of Courtesy Chevrolet, is scheduled to open Dec. 13. Construction on the project began July 1.

“We’ve worked a tremendous amount of hours,” Anderson said.

Improvements on the leased property were necessary, he said.

“It was the ugliest project you could look at,” Anderson said about the old building. “It was old-school construction; it didn’t have good landscaping. We’ll have more green around here than any project. We’ve enhanced the neighborhood. Things have to be changed, they have to be made better.”

Asked how the other dealerships in the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall have welcomed them to the community, Anderson said, “Please remember, we don’t compete with anybody. We’re a lifestyle. We compete with a second home, a vacation, a watch. They’re happy we’re here. It only raises the bar for everybody.”

The city welcomes them too, Anderson said. The new business could add up to 50 jobs, he said. The store will look to hire additional employees after Jan. 1.

The dealership expects firstyear sales to average 30 cars a month at around $200,000 per vehicle. About 85 percent of the sales will be leases, Anderson said.

“People don’t understand they can afford a Bentley or Rolls- Royce until they see the lease payment,” Anderson said.

Lease prices start at around $2,000 for a new vehicle, said Dawne Czarny, marketing manager for O’Gara.

Clients interested in purchasing the custom cars can expect to wait about six months for one to arrive on a boat from England, Czarny said. Everything in the cars is handmade—from the wood finishes to the hand-stitched leather seats.

Czarny points to a Mulsanne, the premier car in Bentley’s line, which she says took more than 800 hours to build and costs about $300,000.

While the showroom is being built, Anderson and his staff work from a trailer facing the shiny new and pre-owned vehicles parked on the 4.5-acre lot, which can hold about 100 cars. A white Bentley with a “sold” sign was parked in front of the temporary office before its owner came to pick it up.

Said Bertram Whitman, a consultant for the dealership, “Being open before we’re open has allowed the dealership to jump into the community.”


HIGH-END BRANDS—Mitch Anderson, general manager of O’Gara Coach Westlake, the company that is bringing Rolls-Royce and Bentley dealerships to Thousand Oaks, describes the function of the store’s seamless glass exterior walls during a recent tour.

HIGH-END BRANDS—Mitch Anderson, general manager of O’Gara Coach Westlake, the company that is bringing Rolls-Royce and Bentley dealerships to Thousand Oaks, describes the function of the store’s seamless glass exterior walls during a recent tour.

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