Our History

In 1925 two men started up a garage business in the small town of Elnora. Their names were Jock Gall and Oscar Cheek, and they were the start of the business we know as Elnora Motors. Originally they sold Ford cars and John Deer machinery, and in 1928 they bought out the Delburne Garage and became a Pontiac agency. Like most businesses they saw a lack of business during the Great Depression, but to solve this Jock Gall took in Walter Cole as a partner. Together they bought out Elmer Barnes’ garage as well as the International Harvester Company Agency. They stayed in business until 1946 when Walter became ill, and decided to move to the coast. With the end of World War II Jack Buckley and Pete Armstrong joined Gall in the garage business until 1948. In the fall of 1948 the garage was sold to Vince Del Fari, and it became known as Elnora Motors. Vince ran the business for seven years with his parts manager Cecil Barbour. In 1949 two men named Bob and Burt Smith rented the back of the shop to do repair work, but in 1954 both Bob and Burt left to pursue other things. In 1955, Vince sold the garage to Cecil, who then took in Bob and Burt Smith as partners, along with Tony Silbernagel. In 1965 Burt moved to Trochu, leaving just Cecil, Bob and Tony. It remained that way until Cecil’s retirement in 1974, and Bob Smith bought his own business. Tony then took in Lloyd Cheshire and Mel Craig as partners, and it remained that way until 2005 when Lloyd as well as Tony retired and Mel took over the business. He now owns it with his son Glenn Craig. In 2019 Elnora Motors began the takings on of having a new building erected as the original building was very outdated. As of 2025 they are still a flourishing business in the small town of Elnora, carrying on a legacy for many years to come.