After nearly 8 years in Westport, Dragone Classic Motorcars has driven off from the Post Road.
It’s not rent. It’s not lack of interest. The popular vintage auto dealer just needed more space.
A lot more space.
There was 11,000 square feet in the Westport showroom, and another 10,000 square feet in a Bridgeport restoration facility. Vice president George Dragone hauled himself — and Packards, DeSotos, Bugattis, T-Birds and more — back and forth, several times a day.
The Dragone showroom in Westport.
They’re consolidating everything in a 66,000-square foot building in Orange. That’s great news for them.
But not so great for their many loyal Westport customers.
“I hope they’ll continue coming to Orange,” Dragone says. “I still have a lot of connections to Westport. I was just at the Historical Society, in fact.
“But we needed a larger facility. We couldn’t show off our cars the way we wanted to.”
The site on Post Road West, across from Kings Highway Elementary School, has a storied automotive history. The Small Car Company — a Volkswagen dealer — moved in around 1959. Dragone took over from its successor, Saab of Westport.
There’s no word yet on who will move in there. Maybe a medical marijuana dispensary?