Van's Used Cars

Van's Used Cars. Junction of Little Mack Avenue and Harper Avenue. , Maurice VanCoillie was born in Detroit, Michigan on February 19, 1925. His parents, Adiel and Rose, were immigrants from Belgium and he had two younger sisters, Alice and Margaret. In the 1930s and 1940s, his family farmed various locations in Macomb County. Maurice helped on the farm but he also started buying and selling used cars in his spare time. He would buy a car, fix it up, drive it for awhile, sell it, buy another one, fix it up, sell it, and so forth. , , In 1948, Maurice and his family moved from the farm to St. Clair Shores. His father was a brick cleaner and Maurice worked as his helper, but he soon came to realize that he would much rather be working on cars. , , There was a vacant piece of property on Little Mack and Harper that caught Maurice's eye. The property was once owned by Henry Bach in the early 1900s. In 1924, the Bach family sold the property to the Dyer family who operated Dyer's Riding Stables in the area from the late 1920s into the early 1950s. Maurice found out that the property was owned by Dr. Earl Liss. In 1948, Maurice VanCoillie rented the property at 23509 Little Mack Avenue and started C&M Motor Sales with a partner. , , In 1950, Maurice was drafted into the Army and served in the Army of Occupation in Europe following World War II. During his military service, Maurice became known as "Van" (a shortened version of VanCoillie). Returning from military service in 1958, he again approached Dr. Liss about renting the property on Little Mack; but instead, purchased the property and reopened his used car sales operation as "Van's Used Cars". , , Van, along with his wife Marge, raised their family of six children in St. Clair Shores. All of their children attended Lakeview High School. Van has been a life long active member of the community and was instrumental in establishing the Michigan Used Car Dealer Association. He is a founding member of the St. Lawrence Knights of Columbus Council and a sponsor of the Harper Charity Cruise. , , Van's interest in repairing and selling automobiles has continued throughout his entire lifetime. By the age of 22, he had bought and sold so many cars that the State of Michigan informed him that he needed to obtain a dealer license, which he did. That was back in 1947. In 2020, at age 95, Van continues to actively buy and sell automobiles at 23509 Little Mack Avenue, and is the oldest active used car dealer in the country.