The Ed Martin Automotive group was founded in 1955 by Ed Martin Sr. Ed began life as the first born child of Clarence and Nellie Martin in the Indiana University Coleman hospital in Indianapolis, IN. His entrance into this world shows that his life was destined to be anything but typical.
Ed graduated from Manual High School as a football star and continued his football career at Butler University in Indianapolis. Ed's parents were both attorneys; his mother was the first woman to pass the bar in Allen County, Indiana; his father was a Supreme Court Justice for the State of Indiana. In 1946, in Indianapolis, Ed, at the tender age of sixteen, purchased his first automobile with money he earned from delivering groceries and selling ice in his neighborhood. He sold his first car from his parent's front yard. His parents, being both professional and very proud people did not allow Ed to continue selling cars from their front yard. So, Ed approached the neighborhood "filling" station owner and negotiated a deal to sell his cars from the station. As sales grew, it became apparent he had to open his own used car lot, from which he continued selling and wholesaling used cars. In 1955, Ed Martin purchased his first new car dealership, an Oldsmobile dealership in Shelbyville, Indiana. In 1960, Ed Martin became the youngest Ford Automotive dealer in the entire United States. Over the following years, the Ed Martin Automotive Group has evolved into one of the top privately owned corporations in Indianapolis and top eighty corporations in Indiana.
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