Karl Kott first toiled as a janitor after moving to California from Indiana in the early 1900s. After years of working his way up in the auto sales industry, he opened the Karl Kott Motor Co. in 1929.
The Ford dealership was located at 402 W. Anaheim St. in Wilmington. It opened two years before Kott’s son, Donald, was born on March 21, 1931. Fords were all the rage then; a year after Kott’s dealership opened, a new Ford automobile plant opened up a couple of miles away in the harbor.
Kott believed in advertising from the first, spreading the word about his dealership through ads in local papers such as the Wilmington Press Journal and the San Pedro News Pilot. He built up a very successful automobile dealership despite the economic peril brought by the Depression.
After World War II, he formed a partnership with longtime auto industry executive Frank Smolar.
The Kott Motor firm was rebranded in 1946 as Kott and Smolar Ltd. It operated under that name for the next 25 years.
Like his father, Don Kott became obsessed with automobiles. He graduated from Banning High and USC before joining the Kott and Smolar automobile dealership in 1953.
When his father Karl decided to retire in 1971, Don bought out his partners and took control of the company. (Karl Kott died in 1973.) Three years later, the younger Kott moved the operation, renamed Don Kott Ford, from Wilmington to a large lot at 21212 Avalon Blvd. in Carson.
Kott had shrewdly positioned his new dealership on a site clearly visible from the 405 Freeway, which had opened a decade earlier. Like his father, he was a firm believer in advertising, adding local television commercials in addition to huge ads in area newspapers.
He also kept a high community profile, becoming involved with local charitable organizations. Among other efforts, he worked with leaders of the relatively new city – Carson had incorporated in 1968 – to help organize the local Boys and Girls Club.
He also funded scholarships for high-schoolers from Torrance, Narbonne and Carson. His dealership once offered a reduced-cost truck to the Harbor Area Gang Alternatives Program so it could keep graffiti paint-out crews on the road more often.
His wife, Margaret, worked alongside Kott at the dealership as its president. She became known for posting sometimes humorous, mostly inspirational messages on the lot’s gigantic electric billboard.
Some samples: “Hot heads and cold hearts never solve anything.” “Laugh, even when you feel like crying.” “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
Thousands of freeway commuters read her daily homilies, interspersed with car lot ads. She gathered her bromides from Shakespeare, Beatles lyrics, the Bible, the Torah and newspapers, according to a 2000 Los Angeles Times story.
Business boomed at Kott’s dealership. So much so, that Don Kott Ford eventually morphed into Don Kott Auto Center. Over the years, Kott’s assorted car lots sold Chrysler, Plymouth, Jeep, Mazda, Kia, Isuzu and Hino vehicles, in addition to Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models, making it one of the largest auto dealerships in Southern California.
But sales began to slack off during the early 2000s. In 2002, Kott, who had essentially retired by that time, sold all his dealerships to the North Carolina used-car firm Sonic Automotive Inc. He retained ownership of the land. Sonic continued operating under the Kott name.
In 2004, Kott was diagnosed with throat cancer. During his five-year battle with the disease, on Dec. 26, 2007, Don Kott Auto Center officially closed for good. After almost eight decades, the Kott name had vanished from the car dealership scene.
On Dec. 21, 2009, Don Kott lost his battle with cancer at age 78.
Carson civic leaders paid tribute to Kott following his death, including former councilwoman Kay Calas, who praised him for his contributions to the city. She also told Daily Breeze reporter Gene Maddaus, “He was a very good businessman. He was very outgoing, likeable, funny. I just wish we had a lot more like him.”
Carson’s “auto row,” which grew up around Kott’s pioneering dealership, now stands mostly empty. Several developers have sniffed around the property, including the latest suitor, Hanover Co.
The Houston-based developer has proposed a 20.7-acre project that would include 1,320 residential units and two restaurant spaces. In 2023, Hanover submitted partial plans to the city, but Carson officials still are waiting for complete plans.
“That one is still going through the review process,” Community Development Director Saied Naase told Daily Breeze reporter Teresa Liu in August 2023. “We’re still waiting for the developer to submit plans to us.” Previous developers for the site did not reach an agreement with the property owner, according to the city.
Currently, the Don Kott Ford lot is being used by Kia of Carson for vehicle storage. Used car dealers also are operating on a couple of the adjoining lots.
Sources:
Daily Breeze archives.
Los Angeles Times archives.
Wilmington Press Journal archives.
San Pedro News Pilot archives.
South Bay History 