President and Chief Executive Officer Boulevard Automotive Group – Long Beach, California
James A. Willingham started in the car business after moving to Long Beach, California from his home state of Missouri in 1950. After selling Studebakers for two years, he changed to selling Pontiacs and four years later moved to selling Oldsmobiles as a General Sales Manager for C. Standlee Martin Oldsmobile organization. In December 1960, he joined Campbell Buick as a junior partner and general manager and shortly afterward formed a new corporation christened Boulevard Buick. Mr. Willingham was named President. Jaguar was added to the franchise in May 1961 and the name was changed to Boulevard Buick/British Cars. Under his leadership then and up to the present day, Mr. Willingham continues to be the recipient of many top honors and awards from Buick Motors, the Saturday Evening Post Benjamin Franklin Quality Dealer Awards, (1986 and 1988) a two time winner of Time magazine’s Quality Dealer Award and the Grand National Award as the #1 Quality Dealer in the nation. His current automobile franchises include Buick, Pontiac, GMC Truck, Jaguar, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Infiniti and Saab. Mr. Willingham has also been named Long Beach’s “Citizen of the Year” because of his tireless community and civic involvements. He co-founded Directors Life Insurance Company and Harbor Bank, serving as Chairman of the Board for these companies. “Don’t go to school just to pass the time, go there to learn because knowledge is power.”
