Bethany Kars, Inc. (El Caminos) History

Having too specific an inventory can limit a used-car dealership. But one Oklahoma dealer has created a strong market by focusing on a single vehicle - the Chevrolet El Camino.

Phillip Swartz opened Bethany Kars in 1981 with his wife, Barbara. While the two once sold a general inventory of used cars at their Calumet, Okla., store, they decided to slow things down after each lost their parents.

“We realized that life was going to be too short,” Swartz said. “We were also losing money because of all the competition in the used-car business.”

In 1998, they decided to focus on selling El Caminos, a car Phillip Swartz had always loved.
“I have owned El Caminos since I graduated from high school,” Swartz said. “Whenever I had one, somebody always wanted to buy it.”

The couple keeps about 25 cars on their lot, 20 of which are usually mint condition El Caminos.
This specialization gained the dealership instant notoriety. Within six months of changing their stock, the Swartzs were getting calls from people all over the country.

“When you do something different, something nobody else done, word of it travels like wildfire,” he said.
Eventually they limited their operation to sales by appointment and online because they had so many people coming to their lot just to look at the vehicles they had on display.

The Swartzs’ Web site, bethanykars.com features their entire inventory with several photos of each vehicle. Most buyers only see the cars online.

“We fix up and sell 1964 through 1987 El Caminos,” Swartz said. “We’ll also sell 1959s and 1960s, but those are next to impossible to find.”

The majority of the El Caminos are 1978 through 1987 models, ranging in price from $10,995 to $30,000.
They’ve sold cars to people from coast to coast as well as in the United Kingdom, Canada and Europe.
Swartz said the secret to their success has been emphasizing quality over quantity.

“All of our cars are in mint condition,” he said. “For every 15 I look at, I’ll buy the nicest one.”

When it became known that Bethany Kars specialized in El Caminos, Swartz started getting calls from people trying to sell him cars that were below his sales standard.

“I would get people calling me about El Caminos that were missing the engine,” he said. “You can’t buy an older junker and make a nice car out of it.”

Swartz and his wife, both 58 years old, make up the entire staff of the Bethany Kars dealership.
Together they run the international operation from their 2 1/2 acre lot.

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