Fairway Chevrolet opened in Freeland on April 11, 1960, with only four employees. The facility, including land, totaled less than 125,000 square feet. Having the foresight of the potential growth of the automobile industry, Al Corazza was able to purchase the Chevrolet dealership in Hazleton and by doing so, almost doubling the operation facilities. Suddenly, and without warning. Al passed away Sept. 29, 1974; but as he had wanted, his dear and beloved wife, Laura and son Jim, who had worked closely with him, took over the reins and the dealership continued to grow and prosper.
In 1984, Fairway acquired a Subaru franchise and opened another facility at 28th and North Church Streets with a full sales, services and parts department encompassing over 5,300 square feet of building. The Subaru franchise has continued to grow and prosper, and is today one of the top 15 Subaru dealerships.
In 1989, the Fairway Chevrolet facility went through a total interior and exterior renovation and addition to better service and parts department encompassing over 5,3000 square feet of building. The Subaru franchise has continued to grow and prosper, and is today one of the top 15 Subaru dealerships.
In 1992, Fairway was one of only two dealerships in Northeastern Pennsylvania to have their sales people certified by the National Auto Dealer Association for upholding ethical and fair treatment of their customers.
In 1994, Fairway was appointed by Chevrolet as the only "Commercial and Specialty Vehicle" Dealer in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Because of this, Fairway has committed significant resources in terms of replacement vehicles for when commercial customers' vehicles are in need of service. The Priority Service Program has technicians on call for emergency evening and Saturday repairs. This program is for any commercial customer, no matter how small or how large.
In December of 1995, Fairway acquired a three-acre parcel of land next to its existing facility and embarked on the biggest expansion project in its 38-year history.
First, the land was filled in 1995 and let settle over the winter. In 1996, the land was brought to grade and 20 light poles were installed; and the entire facility was paved to create the largest lighted vehicle in the Hazleton area. Also in 1996, a new office and customer lounge were added to the Fairway Body Shop and the front facade on the main building was redone to comply with General Motors' Project 2000 identity program.
In 1997, construction was completed on a 5,000 square foot building to house the new Fairway Subaru next to the existing Chevrolet facility. The Subaru building is completed with showroom, sales and business offices and dedicated service and parts departments. The design of this building was influenced by Subaru of America, as it will become the first image building in the United States for the rest of the Subaru dealers to copy.
In 2000 we acquired the UD Truck franchise, a line of commercial trucks produced by Nissan diesel. They range in size from 12,000 to 30,000 GVW and can accept bodies up to 30' long. The trucks are known for their maneuverability and dependability. In conjunction with adding this franchise, we installed a new 30,000 lb. capacity truck lift and raised the roof in the service department to accommodate these trucks. Also in 2000 we installed a new state of the art down draft paint booth with bake oven in the body shop to insure that your vehicle always has the factory finish.
In 2006 we include the medium duty truck line in our offerings to our commercial customers. We can now offer GVW's from 5,000 to 61,000 lbs. These are trucks that are tried and proven in the industry and are offered in both gas and diesel engines. Fairway was already the largest commercial truck dealer east of the Mississippi, with the addition of the medium duty truck line, there is virtually no light to medium duty truck that we won't have or cant get.
