The Business Next Door: The VerHages a venerable name in Chrysler-made cars for a century

HOLLAND — The VerHage family has been in the automobile business for 112 years. Even though their landmark building on East Eighth Street across from Russ’ is now closed, at least one family member is still dealing with cars.

The tradition started in Hudsonville. 

Henry VerHage was born in 1886. His parents, Derk VerHage and Anna Timmer, had immigrated from the Netherlands. By then, Hudsonville was a stop on the Chicago and West Michigan Railroad. Thus, it was beginning to grow, attracting Dutch immigrant farmers to its adjacent wetlands.

Henry VerHage married Grace Loeks — eight years his junior — in 1915, when he was 29 years old and she was 21. The year before, in 1914, even before the paved road existed along the railway (Pike 51), Henry had the foresight and moxie to open a car dealership to supplement his fledgling farm implement business. And he seemed well-positioned: He had secured the rights to sell Chalmer, Durant, Maxwell, Overland, and Star automobiles. He would need the diversified product line and income.

By 1925, Henry and Grace had three children: Dick, Harold, and Henry J. Still, Henry’s auto dealership was anything but secure: Of the five car lines he sold, only Durant and Star still existed. Fortunately for Henry, Walter Chrysler had bought the assets of the Maxwell Motor Co. to form Chrysler Corp., and he kept Henry as a dealer. 

When the Great Depression hit, Durant went bankrupt, and with it, the Durant and Star lines. But Chrysler, led by its low-priced Plymouth brand, and supported by its more expensive Chrysler, Dodge, and DeSoto lines, overtook Ford as the No. 2 automaker during the 1930s. This was good news for Henry’s business and for the VerHage family, which had grown to include Eugene, born in 1931, and Lloyd, born in 1933. 

It was also good news for Henry that his son Dick was working with him at his bi-level brick dealership on 32nd Street, across from the First CRC Church in Hudsonville. In 1946, after serving in World War II, Harold and Henry J. joined them. Then, in 1950, Henry, Dick, Harold, and Henry J., built a new showroom along the newly constructed M-21 divided highway (the former Pike 51), and Henry retired, his business still in the hands of his family. 

At an early age, Lloyd VerHage fell in love with cars. As the fifth of five boys, he may have been spoiled: In 1951, he became the first Ver Hage brother to obtain a new car as his first car, and he chose a Willys Jeepster. With such an accoutrement, especially when the top was removed, Lloyd could woo the young ladies while cruising the streets of Hudsonville. One of the ladies who noticed him was Bernice Berens, who was four years his junior.

After graduating from Holland Christian, Lloyd attended Calvin College (now University) for three years. Because Calvin didn’t then have a business program, Lloyd transferred to the University of Michigan to complete his education. While in Ann Arbor, he lived in the “Dutch House” with students who had attended Calvin and Hope College.

Bernice, who was attending the newly built Unity Christian High School, would occasionally visit him in Ann Arbor on weekends so they could attend football games and other events. After their graduations in 1956, Lloyd from college and Bernice from high school, the couple married. But they couldn’t settle down: Lloyd was one of the one-and-a-half million men drafted into the Korean War. Fortunately, he was able to serve his country stateside. While stationed in Fort Lee, Virginia, Lloyd and Bernice welcomed their first child, Blaine.

After Lloyd’s stint in the service, the VerHages returned to Hudsonville and Lloyd joined his brothers Dick and Harold in the Hudsonville dealership. But he became frustrated when he discovered they were not interested in retailing used cars, which he believed would earn a higher profit margin than selling new cars.

So, in 1963, Lloyd bought Elmer Nienhuis’s two-year-old Suburban Motors dealership at 343 E. Eighth St. in Holland, with money he borrowed from his mother and brothers. Ironically, with the purchase, Lloyd also received the rights to sell the Plymouth Valiant and Imperial brands, both made by Chrysler. 

In Holland, Lloyd discovered his hunch was right: there was more money to be made in used cars. Unfortunately, his successful business kept him away from home: he would wake up and leave Hudsonville for Holland before his children — Blaine and now Norm, born in 1959, and Laurel, born in 1963, and return after they went to bed.

So, the Ver Hage family decided to shorten Lloyd’s commute by moving to Holland, which they did in 1966. Then they had to decide which of Holland’s many churches to attend. Norm, then 5 years old, still remembers a discussion between his parents: Bernice wanted to attend Niekerk Christian Reformed Church on Country Club Road because it was near their new home, but Lloyd wanted to attend Ninth Street Christian Reformed Church (now Pillar) in downtown Holland. The reason? He had recently sold the pastor a new car! So, the family joined Ninth Street Church, and, over the years, became deeply involved. In 1967, Lloyd and Bernice welcomed son Paul into their family.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Blaine, Norm, and Paul began working as wash boys in Lloyd’s dealership. In 1969, Lloyd began his VerHage Collection when the buyer of a new Plymouth Fury III convertible traded in a 1929 Plymouth Model U Deluxe (rumble seat) Coupe.

Like Lloyd, at an early age Norm VerHage fell in love with cars — muscle cars — and especially Plymouth Barracudas, which Chrysler manufactured from 1964 through 1974. At age 15 Norm bought a 1968 model. Even while studying economics and business at Calvin College, Norm would return home on the weekends to engage his passion. Norm graduated from Calvin in 1981. 

That year, Richard and Larry VerHage took over VerHage Motors in Hudsonville from their fathers Dick and Harold VerHage. From 1984 to 1987, Lloyd VerHage added Dodge vehicles to his product line but decided against expanding the size of his dealership despite pressure from Chrysler; later, Elhart Pontiac took over selling the Dodge line in Holland. In 1986, Blaine and Norm became managers and part owners of Lloyd’s dealership. 

In 1994, the VerHages initiated a Holland tradition: the All Makes Car Show. Every year, for 31 years, the car show attracted classic car lovers, created community, and supported local nonprofit organizations such as Gateway Mission and Grant Me Hope.

In 2000, the Holland VerHages bought vacant property north of Seventh Street. In 2003, they renovated their Eighth Street facility, while the Hudsonville VerHages sold their dealership to Harold Ziegler Automotive Group, which later closed the location in favor of Ziegler’s Grandville location. 

Meanwhile, the VerHage Collection continued to grow and attract attention. In 2006, Lloyd VerHage sold a 1934 Chrysler Air Flow CX Sedan to comedian Jay Leno.

Jay found out about the car through the network of classic car clubs and contacted Lloyd because of his interest in the car’s groundbreaking design, The Holland Sentinel reported.

Read More: Longtime Holland businessman passes away

When Jay asked Lloyd why he wanted to sell it, Lloyd said it would get more exposure in Jay’s collection than in Lloyd's. And that is true, as Jay has featured the car on his series, "Jay Leno’s Garage." Also true is that Jay is a warm host: Norm fondly recalls when he and Lloyd visited with Jay at his car garage, a hangar at the Burbank Airport in California. 

In 2007, the VerHages opened the “MOPAR Car Museum” on their Seventh Street property, large enough to house up to 34 classic cars. Despite their dedication to Chrysler vehicles, in 2009, amid bankruptcy following the 2008 recession, Chrysler shed 25% of its dealerships, and the VerHage franchise was one of the 789 victims.

After the French company Fiat bought at 20% stake in Chrysler in 2009, Chrysler expanded the number of its franchises but awarded one not to VerHage but to its neighbor, Crown Motors. VerHage then bought Crown Motors’ Mitsubishi franchise in 2011. VerHage maintained the relationship until 2021, when Norm VerHage, now the sole owner of the Holland business, decided to concentrate on used car sales.

In 2026, Norm closed the store on the prominent Eighth Street curve and sold the property to the Holland Board of Public Works. But he is still in the automobile business. While the VerHage Collection is down to 14 cars, eight of them are Plymouth Barracudas, and Norm still wants to complete the line. 

— Thanks for Norm VerHage, Barb Aalderink of Fusion Graphic Consultants, Robert Swierenga’s “Car Dealers” in Holland, Michigan, Olivia Cubiskey’s “Leno’s New Car Has Local Tie,” The Holland Sentinel (4.21.2006), and The Library of Hudsonville for contributing facts to this story. 

— Steve VanderVeen is a local biographer, educator, and learner. His passion is discovering entrepreneurial leaders.