MacPherson First Tenant at Foothill Ranch

Longtime Orange County auto dealer Joe MacPherson is moving into the southern area, planning to open a Chevrolet franchise in Foothill Ranch.

His dealership is the first tenant to be announced for the proposed Foothill Ranch Auto Center, which hopes to attract up to 13 franchises. The dealership is expected to open early in 1999.

The new dealership will be called Joe MacPherson Chevrolet--the same as the dealer’s first new-car shop, which has been in the Irvine Auto Center since 1977.

MacPherson is a big fan of the auto mall concept of putting a lot of dealerships together in one place. He helped start the Tustin Auto Center more than a decade ago and today operates Ford, Infiniti, Mazda and Toyota dealerships, a car leasing company and a custom tire and wheel business there.

He’ll be adding a new attraction at the Tustin center, probably early next summer, with the opening of Joe’s Garage--a showplace for his sizable collection of American hot rods and track and off-road racing cars.

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John O’Dell covers major Orange County corporations and manufacturing for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5831 and at john.odell@latimes.com.