What Does Herb Drive at the Herb Chambers Automotive Dealer Group in Boston Massachusetts?

Herb Chambers AutomotiveA Boston Massachusetts Legend That Gives Back To

His Community, Employees and City of Boston

Photos by Michael Manning of the Boston Globe


What Herb Chambers drivesHerb Chambers purchased his first car dealership in 1985 in New London, Conn. Today, Chambers owns 31 dealerships, and he’s about to buy three more, all within 50 miles of Boston. Shown here is his 2006 silver Mercedes McLaren SLR, with a top speed of 205 mph.


What Herb Chambers drivesChambers’ passion for driving high-performance autos fuels his love for the business. He likes to drive a lot of different cars so he knows what they can do. This 1995 silver McLaren F1 is just one of 65 in the world. It has 627 horsepower and a top speed of 240 mph.


What Herb Chambers drives“I drive people at my dealerships crazy because I love cars so much. I’ll go in and say, ‘Is this one sold?’ If not, I’ll say, ‘I want to take it.’”His 1973 red Ferrari Daytona Spyder convertible has a whopping 12 cylinders.


What Herb Chambers drivesChambers keeps a rotating collection of between 15 and 20 spectacular new and vintage cars at his home in Old Lyme, Connecticut. This 1973 gold Ferrari Daytona Coupe is a true muscle car with 12 cylinders.


What Herb Chambers drivesOne of his newer cars includes this 2006 orange and blue Ford GT.


What Herb Chambers drivesThis 1987 red Porsche 959 Supercar has all-wheel drive, a suspension that goes up and down and can achieve 205 mph.


What Herb Chambers drivesHis 2006 red Porsche GT has a t-top, rear engine, and 10 cylinders.


What Herb Chambers drivesOnly 1100 of these 1955 Mercedes Gullwing Coupes were made. This red model was raced in Cannonball Run in 1983 and received third place. It also raced in Italy.


What Herb Chambers drivesThis 1959 Cadillac Biarritz Convertible Eldorado cost a mere $13,000 in 1959 and is now worth close to $100,000.


What Herb Chambers drivesHis 1932 Ford Coupe was made in Hollywood California. It has a Corvette suspension, five windows, a steel body, and a 350 horsepower engine.


What Herb Chambers drivesAs a boy, Chambers used to ride his bike to look at new Buicks at a local dealership.“In Dorchester, if you had a new car, people thought you were rich,” Chambers said. Shown here is a group shot of just some of the cars in his collection.


What Herb Chambers drivesWhen Chambers was asked what his pet peeve is when it comes to other drivers, he replied, "People who drive in the left lane and go very slow.“ Shown here is Herb in one of his classic Mercedes-Benz Gullwing cars.


SOMERVILLE, Mass. — He is everywhere. If you’re looking to buy a new car, it’s not hard to run into one of his ads — or a Herb Chambers dealership. While many auto dealers are struggling in this economy — more than 70 have gone out business in Massachusetts in the last two years — Chambers is expanding. He owns 44 franchises, including 32 dealerships in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He’s building or renovating several more and, in the last year or so, Chambers has gone from the 14th top dealer in the nation to the 12th.


We recently visited Chambers at his corporate headquarters in Somerville, Mass., to talk about his business in this recession.Chambers’ business is characterized as an “empire,” but he’s modest about that label. “It’s flattering, but I don’t view myself as having an empire.”“I’m a guy that grew up in Dorchester and went to English High School, and I go to work every single day. We’re not really trying to build an empire.“And we really had no intention of winding up being the twelfth largest retailer of cars in the country. It’s always been, ‘Just do a great job for today and try and build a future for our company.’ And as a result of that, we wind up where we are today.”Not bad for a guy who started in the office machine business, sold it, made a fortune and purchased his first car dealership — which was failing at the time — in New London, Conn., 25 years ago.Now, Chambers sells everything from the least expensive of Chevys at a dealership in Danvers to the most expensive Bentley in Boston. Bentley is his favorite personal automobile, by the way, of the dozen or so cars he owns.There’s plenty of buzz among Massachusetts auto dealers who are struggling while he’s expanding. “I spoke to somebody about it yesterday,” Chambers says, “and they said, ‘What are you doing?’ And I said, ‘We’re not building these dealerships for today.’ If we were building them for today, we would never build them.“I have a vision that this business is going to bounce back and we are going to have the facilities in place and the people in place to grow even further and faster.”