The Key Hyundai History Timeline

The backbone of the Connecticut economy is made up of small, family businesses like ours. Our grandfather, Sam, defines the American Dream. His hard work, risk and determination are what allowed us to survive three generations. Here is a timeline of our family’s history in the car business:

1940’s – Rose and Sam Merriam, Jill and Jeff’s grandparents, meet in New Haven, CT. Sam Merriam made an honest living by delivering newspapers. Jill and Jeff’s father, Larry was born just about the time Sam was deployed to WWII. Upon his return, Sam worked in a factory before taking a job as a management trainee for a Sunoco station in East Haven, Connecticut. He sells his first used car at his gas station and quickly gets the taste for the car business. Pretty soon, car sales are outpacing gas sales.

1950’s – Sam Merriam opens Merriam Motors in Wallingford, Connecticut. He sold Lincoln-Mercury’s and used cars. The average price of a new car in 1950 was $1,500, gas was $0.18 a gallon and the average annual wage was $1,500.

1960’s – Jill and Jeff’s father Larry graduates from UCONN, passes his CPA and then gets the bug to join his father in the car business. In the next 20 years, Larry helps to modernize the business and goes on to open many other new and used car dealerships in Connecticut.

1980’s – Hyundai enters the United States and Larry becomes the second Hyundai dealer in Connecticut, opening a location in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He goes on to sell hundreds of Hyundai Excels every month.

1990’s – Jeff graduates from Bentley College and joins his father, Larry, in the car business. Jill pursues her passion for finance and becomes a Chartered Financial Analyst. Jeff and Larry go on to open a second Hyundai location in Milford, Connecticut.

2002 – Jill makes a decision to join the family business. Jill and Jeff open a third family Hyundai location in Manchester, Connecticut. Key Hyundai of Manchester sells its first new Hyundai in November 2002 and begins their tradition of selling quality cars at reasonable prices.

2004 – The Merriam Connecticut Hyundai dealerships introduce Drive Worry Free at Key. This is a customer appreciation package that enhances the new and used car buyer’s ownership experience. As long as the new and used car buyer services their vehicle at Key Hyundai of Manchester, they will receive free replacement tires, a free battery guarantee and a free engine guarantee for as long as they own the new or used car.

2008 – Jill and Jeff Merriam launch their new and improved website, allowing Connecticut car buyers to access their car inventory 24 hours a day. Jill and Jeff continue to focus on the dealerships core strength, which is handling the new Hyundai buyers, the used car buyer and the person with bad credit who is in need of a loan using dignity and respect.