• by Tanya Gazdik , December 13, 2021

Automotive marketing pioneer Bill Kolb, Jr. will be remembered in the automotive community as the lead advocate for Ford’s Total Performance and “Win On Sunday, Sell On Monday” marketing concept.

His close friends often called him, “Mr. Monday.”

Kolb, 80, passed away at his home in Carefree, Arizona, on Dec. 3. The longtime dealer was a driving force in the world of specialty performance vehicles as a way of marketing to consumers. 

He spent his entire life in the automotive retail business, and building, racing and marketing specialty cars. He was the dealer-principal at White Plains Ford (White Plains, NY), Bill Kolb, Jr. Ford (Blauvelt, NY); and he and his wife Maryann were dealer principals at Bill Kolb, Jr. Subaru (Orangeburg, NY).

A close friend of Carroll Shelby and Lee Iacocca when he was vice president of Ford Motor Co’s Car and Truck Group, Kolb, at Iacocca’s direction, set up a unique Shelby dealership within Gotham Ford in New York City. It was the first dealership-within-a-dealership, selling and servicing only Shelby automobiles. 

Kolb became a member of Ford’s Dealer Council for Performance Cars, the only salesman to be part of this group. He then became a key player in Ford’s Shelby marketing programs when Ford hired him to be national spokesperson for the Shelby dealer network. 

Between his time at Larsen and Gotham Ford dealerships from1965 to 1970 Kolb sold more Shelby Cobras, GT Mustangs and GT40s than anyone else in the country.