History of The Duncan Brand

Joe Duncan was born in the summer of 1925 in Tellico Plains, Tennessee in the foothills of the Great Smokey Mountains and was immediately taken to Harriman, Tennessee as an infant in a horse drawn carriage with his Mother & Father.

As a kid, he would listen to the souped up Fords and Chevy’s race moonshine on the back roads throughout the hills around the family farm, which was called Duncan Hollow. His Father was not a wealthy man, but had managed to buy enough property and establish a small farm to make a living and feed his family. At the age of 16, Joe dreamed of owning a 1940 Ford Coupe, but knew that he would never obtain one working on the family farm.

 

 

At the age of 17, WWII was underway, and as most typical Tennesseans from the Volunteer state, he joined the Navy but lied about his age. In the days of very few phones and no internet, his age couldn’t be verified. Joe was shipped off to North Dakota for training, then to San Diego for deployment in the Pacific theater. Just before sailing from San Diego on a ship that was later sunk by the Japanese, Joe was diagnosed with Rheumatic Fever and was immediately sent to a military hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. On his long train ride across America, Joe gazed at the Cadillacs floating down the highways and during those long days of rolling down the track, it was then that he was convinced he would one day have his own Cadillac dealership.

Once released from the Navy, with an Honorable Discharge, Joe returned to Harriman, Tennessee and opened a small car lot.

He met a local girl named Betty and they were married. Joe was given the Nickname “Low Dollar Joe” while in Harriman because he undercut all the larger dealers from the bigger cities such as Nashville, Chattanooga and Knoxville and would work with his customers offering them payment plans and various other options for paying. He would trade cars for property, jewelry or whatever the customers brought in. It’s ironic because many current car reality shows mimic what Joe Duncan was doing 70 years ago. His wife, Betty, worked by his side building the business.

 

A few years passed and Joe decided that he was never going to make it big in Harriman, Tennessee, so being an entrepreneur, he loaded up and moved his wife and first-born son, Richard, to Los Angeles, California. He had heard that L.A. was the place to be after the war and he remembered how much glitter that Southern California had while visiting L.A. during leaves from San Diego, while in the Navy. He knew that all the Hollywood stars drove Cadillacs and thought it would be the best place for his dream to begin. Joe had been asked to run for Sheriff of Roane County in Tennessee before he left, but refused.

Joe was a welder by trade and upon their arrival in California he found that the cost of living was considerably more than a small town in Tennessee. He could not find immediate work in L.A. as a welder, so he had to devise a new plan. Betty and Richard stayed with her Mother in L.A., who had journeyed with them, while Joe shipped off to North Dakota to work on a Navy project in a secret military facility as a welder. He claimed it was the coldest he had ever been while welding throughout the winter. He would send money to Betty weekly and after completing the job, he returned to L.A. with enough money to open “Low Dollar Joe’s” used cars. He bought a lot on Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood and knew he could supply reasonably priced cars to the Hollywood crowd. Throughout Joes life he also built many custom homes in California, Tennessee and Florida.

Not long thereafter, he decided that in order to tap into the real Hollywood movers and shakers he would need Cadillacs. He made his contacts through local dealers, auctions and bankers and within a few years his dream had come true. Duncan’s Cadillacs was a reality but with a twist. By hanging around the Brown Derby and the Palomino Club, where such personalities as Clint Eastwood, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and many others patronized, Joe realized that there were many more aspiring actors and actresses than actual actors and actresses in Hollywood. They needed an image too, so he dug in and bought clean used Cadillacs and incorporated the “Low Dollar Joe” image into the Cadillac business and it thrived. He even gave the actors and actresses payment plans.

Joe was able to purchase a beautiful home that he renovated for his family in North Hollywood from the Oliver Hardy Estate ff the famed Laurel & Hardy duo. This is where his second son Rick was born in 1962.

 

Shortly thereafter the Hollywood market was changing and it was the decade of the space race, so Joe moved his family to Cocoa Beach Florida where NASA was bringing people from all over the world to the Kennedy Space Center. He started Duncan Motors, where he specialized in Cadillacs and sports cars and sold to NASA engineers and astronauts. He also opened four dealer auctions, one in Orlando, Sanford, Lakeland and one in Cocoa Florida. He incorporated classic night into the Orlando auction, which is now known as the first ever classic car auction in the U.S. This was long before Disney World was a reality in Orlando.

Due to heart issues from getting Rheumatic Fever in the Navy, Joe grew weak and retired in his late 40’s.

Sadly, in 1981 Joe died in Houston Texas of a stroke at the age of 56 with both of his sons by his side. He was buried at a beautiful cemetery in his hometown in Tennessee and the unknown WWII veteran and entrepreneur was memorialized with his Naval footstone and his Gravestone which reads Joe “Low Dollar Joe” Duncan. Betty, his wife worked with her son, Rick,  for many years after Joe died until she developed Alzheimers. She died in October 2015 at the age of 90 and was buried in Tennessee again with both of her sons by her side.

 

When Rick Duncan was 17 and a couple years before his dad’s death, Rick Duncan was asked by his father “Rick, what business would you like to be in?” Rick answered “Dad I like the jewelry business, diamonds and gold.” Rick attended the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and became a certified diamond appraiser and Gemologist at the age of 17. Joe helped his son open up Rick’s Jewelers in Houston, Texas, but unfortunately Mr. Duncan died 3 months after the grand opening. Rick was devastated and decided to close his jewelry company due to his father not being by his side.

A month or so later, Rick decided to move forward with his education to become a lawyer. He attended the University of Houston, Sam Houston State University and Bates College of Law, but later he decided to pursue his business interests as opposed to practicing law. “I was making more money with my business, than I ever could practicing law, therefore I made the decision and decided that I would build businesses”, Rick said. Over the years Rick Duncan has started businesses, sold businesses and grew many businesses, and his passion has always been classic cars, flying, golf  and all sports.

In 2004, Rick qualified for the Houston Amateur Tour, where he had several 1st place finishes and qualified for the Nationals 3 years in a row. Unfortunately, a heat stroke and broken ankle ended his competitive golf career.

A couple of Rick’s ventures was aftermarket electrical switchgear, which he started in 1984, while in college, and sports newspapers such as Houston Sports Weekly, which he launched in 1999. During the 80’s and 90’s he built one of the largest switchgear companies in America. Unfortunately, and with everything he ever had being invested, he lost everything, business and personal in the Allison flood of 2000 in Houston. It was rising water, therefore he had no insurance coverage, as the area he was in was not in any flood plan and rising water insurance was not available at the time in that location. Being resilient, Rick started over with his mother Betty working daily to help rebuild the business. Within a few years Rick had rebuilt his switchgear business, but decided to sell the company.

Rick took a break from his business from 2010 to 2015 to care for his mother, who had progressing Alzheimers. Betty, his mother, developed mild symptoms in 2008 and Rick promised her that she would never have to live in an assisted living home or nursing home.

Betty’s Alzheimers progressed for 5 years until she didn’t even know her own son, but she never had to live in a nursing home.

Rick and and his wife cared for Ms. Duncan until the day she died. After her death, Rick jumped back into his businesses, that includes a utility recloser electrical company, which is now the largest in North America, a marketing and website company, which is second to none in customer service and a classic car auction company that within 4 years has already set many records and many seek his expertise when liquidating their classic car and elite collections. Rick’s wife is a prominent Estate & Probate Attorney in North Texas and Rick also works with her in the law office as time permits.

Rick also works with others to help them excel. His passion is still building businesses and selling them, then starting and rebuilding new ones. His expertise in building, marketing and branding a business is also a passion and he applies that passion to every business that he assists his clients build.

Now, Rick’s Daughter Chelsea Duncan, has joined Group Duncan, LLC.  to apply her social media  and learned business knowledge and expertise to the company. Plus her entrepreneurial skills and new generational marketing outlook are bringing a different perspective to the expansion of the company.