Vintage HUMMEL\'S Des Moines Plymouth DeSoto License Plate Topper For Sale

Up for sale is a Vintage embossed HUMMEL\'S Des Moines Plymouth DeSoto license plate topper. This would be a nice addition to your license plate collection, or for your Hot Rod, Rat Rod, Classic Car, or for you to hang in your garage, shop, den, man cave or for you to display that special license plate. The topper is approximately 10\" long and 2 1/2\" tallThe Hummel Story January 16, 2019

The Hummel Story - 90 years as a family business, 50 years as a Nissan dealer

90/50 - two numbers that have incredible significance to our family and to our business. 90/50 - it wasn\'t part of a grand plan, but two events in the history of our family business happened exactly 40 years apart,

Ninety years ago in 1929, Henry Hummel, who was a personable, hard-working, young man with a gift for all things mechanical, decided the time was right to open an automobile dealership in Beaverdale. The area just northwest of downtown Des Moines was an emerging area of businesses and families, who at that time, were on the northwest edge of Iowa\'s capitol city. Henry and his wife, Christine, had a young growing family; and as the roaring 20\'s was coming to an end, it seemed like the right time to begin selling and repairing DeSoto and Plymouth automobiles.
Henry had an honest and straightforward business plan - provide people with quality automobiles, keep them in good working order for his customers, and treat people fairly. It was to become a business plan that would span generations.

As the Hummel family grew, so did the family business. Over the years three of the Hummel sons joined the business, Henry (Hank), John, and eventually the youngest son, Bill. The Beaverdale location at 2822 Beaver Avenue remained the home of the business, but the auto brands that the Hummel Brothers sold continued to evolve. DeSoto and Plymouth remained the focus for many years, later to be joined by Studebaker.

By the 1960\'s the automobile industry was in a state of change. DeSoto, along with several other well-known brands of the first half of the twentieth century, had gone by the wayside; and Studebaker was about to cease production, as well. There was intense competition for the remaining brands, and something else more important was also happening. In the 60\'s the family dynamic was changing in America. Now both parents were working outside the home and the one-car family was a thing of the past. Therefore, there was more demand for more diverse vehicles - economy vehicles.

The Hummel Brothers had been looking for a new brand among the import manufacturers who were now bringing cars to America. Another Hummel brother, Robert, who had settled in California after World War II, told his brothers about a new smaller, economical vehicle that was sweeping the west coast. It was made by the Nissan Corporation in Japan, but being marketed in America under the name of Datsun. Hank, John and Bill did their research and in 1969, 50 years ago, Hummel\'s Datsun became Iowa\'s first Datsun dealer.

The 1970\'s and 80\'s saw steady growth at Hummel\'s Datsun along with more different models being offered by Datsun. In 1979 the third generation of the Hummel family joined the family business when Mark Hummel left the accounting industry in Chicago to join Hummel\'s Datsun. During the early 1980\'s two more of Bill and Sally Hummel\'s sons, Kevin and Perry, also joined the dealership. And, more changes were on the way, as well.

In 1983 the Nissan Corporation decided to stop marketing their vehicles under the Datsun name and to put the nameplate of Nissan on their product line as it was in all other parts of the world. With sales steadily increasing, by 1984 Hummel\'s Nissan was experiencing growing pains in their land-locked location in Beaverdale. Looking toward the future, the Hummel family purchased land on Merle Hay Road and broke ground on a new sales and service facility which opened in 1985.

Since that time Hummel\'s Nissan has continued to grow with an emphasis centered on customer satisfaction. Over the years Hummel\'s has often earned the Nissan Award of Excellence, which recognizes dealerships for outstanding performance in sales, customer satisfaction, and owner loyalty. And, Hummel\'s Nissan has also been recognized with the Global Award, presented to dealers who have distinguished themselves in sales and customer satisfaction worldwide. Today, Hummel\'s Nissan is one of the largest Nissan dealers in the Midwest.

Now, in 2019, we celebrate two milestone anniversaries for Hummel\'s Nissan, 90 years as a family owned automobile business, and 50 years as a Nissan dealer. As we reflect on our history, we also rededicate ourselves to the principles that Henry Hummel instituted back in 1929 - provide quality vehicles along with outstanding service to our customers.