Rick Case’s life and influence spanned approximately 8 decades, from the Ohio Rust Belt to the South Florida sun.
1940
October 22, 1942: Richard “Rick” James Case was born in Akron, the son of Richard and Eva. He is the eldest of four siblings.
1950
At the age of nine, Case began his career promoting through a newspaper delivery route, but a route, however, is not enough. You need to sell by volume, so take more routes and hire delivery drivers to make your deliveries.
At the age of 14, Case bought a used 1955 Thunderbird, repaired it and put a “sold” sign on his parents’ driveway into Akron. It sells in a few days for $400. Then started a used car refurbishment business. Even when he’s too young to drive, he hires older workers for between cars.
1960
1962: Case opens its first batch of used engines, Moxie Motors in Akron, at the age of 19. Sell during the day and prepare at night.
1965: Case sees the demand for motorcycles grow and enters this industry. He opened his first Toyota the following year.
At the age of 29, Case owns and operates a multi-million dollar chain and developed its first marketing strategy to sell s in giant volumes.
1970
1970: Case is seriously injured in a fireplace in one of his rooms, tries to put it out, but an explosion leaves him with third degree burns on a giant component of his body, he escapes through a small open window and a consumer takes him away It takes him months to recover, so he turns his hospital room into an office, hosting manager meetings and sales calls.
Over the decade, it has become the world’s largest Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Suzuki and Vespa motorcycle racer, operating 14 intermediaries selling motorcycles, mopeds and bicycles in Ohio.
1970: Honda begins offering a car in the United States for the first time. The company does not dare to allow its dealers to sell cars, but Case insists and convinces them by showing them how it has built its business over the years.
1972: Case begins promoting Hondas to Akron and becomes the largest broker in the country in his first month in business.
1nine77: Case meets his former wife, Rita, at a Honda conference in Hawaii, who runs his parents’ Honda car and motorcycle dealership in Santa Rosa, California, where he began helping when he was about nine years old. Akron and they married three years later.
80s
1981: Case develops the program “Rick Case Bikes for Kids”. He asks the chain to leave his old bikes at one of his 14 dealerships. Their outlets fix them and hand them over to organizations so that young people who otherwise didn’t have bikes in time for the holidays, the program has donated more than 100,000 bikes to date.
1985: Rick and Rita Case moved to Fort Lauderdale.
1986: When Honda needs to launch its Acura luxury style in the United States, they ask Case to go somewhere. He chose Fort Lauderdale. He opened the country’s first Hyundai dealerships in Fort Lauderdale and Atlanta the same year.
90s
1996: Case proposes an ambitious plan to Hyundai to fix its reputation in the United States for poor quality cars. He persuaded Hyundai executives to create a 10-year, 100,000-mile warranty. The warranty later the standard for many manufacturers.
2000
2001: Case enters the Hall of Fame of Wayne Huizenga’s Faculty of Management and Entrepreneurship at Nova University.
2016: Rick and Rita Case National Youth Service Award
2017: Nova Southeastern University renames its multipurpose to “Rick Case Arena”. Budget an endowment to pay scholarships for undergraduate students.
2018: Case is helping fund “A Rick Case Habitat Community,” a Habitat for Humanity progression of 77 homes in Pompano Beach.
2019: Cases win the 2019 Honda President Award, the country’s dealership in winning the award 12 years in a row.
2020: The Cases is revered as Business Leaders of the Year through Florida Atlantic University College of Business.
2020: Rick Case Automotive Group celebrates years of operation, with 16 dealerships in Ohio, Atlanta and South Florida, more than $1 billion in annual sales and more than 1300 employees.
September 21, 2020 : Rick Case dies at home at age 77, surrounded by his circle of relatives after a short war on cancer.
Sources: Rick Case Family, South Florida Sun Sentinel Archives
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