June 3, 1931 – Oct. 23, 2022
Jim Culligan developed his lifelong love of automobiles when Detroit was entering its golden era in the years just after World War II.
It started with his uncle Casimir "Cass" Culligan, who was a new car dealer. Since 1934, he sold Pontiacs, first at Main and Ferry streets in Buffalo, then in Williamsville at 5326 Main St.
By the time he was in high school, young Jim Culligan was helping in the service department at Culligan Motors, working among fastback Streamliner models with the trademark five bands of chrome running down their hoods.
By the 1980s, he had become one of Western New York's first mega-dealers, owning franchises for Pontiac and eight other domestic and foreign makes. He established the area around Main Street and Transit Road as a mecca for motorists.
He died Oct. 23 at the age of 91 in his Williamsville home after a period of declining health. A Memorial Mass will be offered at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, June 3, in Christ the King Catholic Church, 30 Lamarck Drive at Main Street, Snyder.
Born in Buffalo, the son of an attorney, James M. Culligan grew up in Snyder and was a 1949 graduate of Amherst Central High School, where he was sophomore class treasurer and a member of the track and football teams.
At Canisius College, he earned a bachelor's degree in English, intending at first to become a teacher. He also was enrolled in the Marine Corps Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and was selected to spend the summer after his freshman year at Platoon Leader Class at Quantico, Va. Commissioned as an officer when he graduated, he attained the rank of first lieutenant.
Returning from active duty in 1955, he went back to Culligan Motors, this time as a salesman. He was considered a rising star in the Pontiac Motor Division after he completed a General Motors Institute course in dealership management in 1959.
He was promoted to sales manager and by 1962 was vice president and general manager. Becoming active in the Niagara Frontier Auto Dealers Association (NFADA), he co-chaired the 1967 Buffalo Auto Show and later served as the association’s president.
Not long after he bought the dealership from his uncle in 1968, he announced plans to build a new showroom and service facility at 8129 Main St., just east of Transit Road. It was three times the size of the previous agency. By 1975, it was the largest Pontiac dealer in Western New York.
In the meantime, he and three partners from the auto business began running the automotive parts operations in the Twin Fair discount department stores. Then, with Dick Welte, he was instrumental in starting NFADA Wholesale Distributors Inc. in 1973.
General Motors encouraged Mr. Culligan to add GMC trucks to his Pontiac dealership and for a while it also was an agency for the Japanese automaker Mazda.
Mr. Culligan acquired Empire Volvo in 1981 and, after inviting his brother Thomas, a banker, to join his operation, they bought D&E Motors, the oldest Lincoln-Mercury dealer in the state. He went on to purchase Mark Toyota in North Buffalo in 1986.
In 1987, Mr. Culligan announced plans to build an auto mall complex of car-related businesses around the Culligan Pontiac-Volvo-GMC agency near Main and Transit.
After the purchase of Jim Kelly Volkswagen and Porsche-Audi in 1989 and the addition of other lines, Jim Culligan's AutoPlace grew to include showrooms and service facilities for nine different automakers.
Mr. Culligan applied his talent for free-hand drawing to draft many of the designs for his dealerships, as well as his homes.
He received numerous awards, including the Time magazine Quality Dealer Award in 2001 for distinguished service to the community.
When General Motors began encouraging the consolidation of Buick, Pontiac and GMC agencies in 2008, Culligan Pontiac-GMC was sold. The other dealerships were sold shortly thereafter.
Mr. Culligan, who owned a variety of sports cars, luxury autos and classic models, continued to buy, sell and service collectible cars in a facility called The Garage at the rear of the AutoPlace property. His personal favorites were a 1954 Pontiac Star Chief convertible and a 1967 Jaguar XK-E.
He also owned a series of speedboats, notably a couple of mahogany Century models.
He renovated old gas lighting fixtures and wired them for electricity. Many of them can be seen in Williamsville in the Eagle House restaurant and the Glen Park Tavern, where he often gathered with other dealers and people from the auto industry.
He also worked in stained glass, which was installed in windows of numerous homes in his former neighborhood in Snyder.
He served on the Canisius College board of trustees and chaired the college's annual Fund Campaign in 1999 and 2000.
A bicycling enthusiast, he often took long rides from his Williamsville home to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., where he had a summer home, and at West Palm Beach, Fla., where he had winter residences.
Also a competitive tennis player and an avid golfer, he was a longtime member of the Country Club of Buffalo, which was his place to relax. He was a member of the club’s Board of Governors in the late 1990s and served as secretary.
Survivors include his daughter, Karen Culligan; his fiancee, Patricia Mellon; his brother, Thomas; and many nieces and nephews.