“If anyone ever wants to tear the old Chacon Autos building down, they’ll have to do it with Grandma still inside,” says Stefani Musick of her 82-year-old grandmother, Christine Cheyney, whom “everyone affectionately calls ‘Grandma’.” Seasoned salesmen claim she taught them everything they know. Coworkers say she’s sharp as a tack. But at first blush, an outsider wouldn’t guess Grandma’s vast influence, and she certainly doesn’t come across as the oft-stereotyped car salesman.
On an old East Dallas used-auto lot, inside a busy redbrick office, Grandma sits with perfect posture behind a humble cherry wood desk answering phones, taking online financing applications, and chatting with customers.
“Customers are like a second family,” she says. “They need attention and love.”
And if you find Grandma’s air delightfully surprising, as most do, just wait until she introduces the man at the twin desk next to her as none other than her husband of 60 years, William Cheyney (also known as “Grandpa”), who founded Chacon Autos Ltd. in 1958.
In the early 1990s, he relinquished ownership to sons Gary and Darrell Cheyney, but he has no plans to entirely retire any time soon.
“We keep working because it adds longevity, and we enjoy meeting and getting to know customers,” he says.
The couple has seen a lot of changes during 50 years of selling cars. Way back when, Grandma used to sit for hours with prospective buyers filling out paperwork by hand, whereas today she takes initial applications through the Chacon website.
“Things changed drastically and rapidly. At first it took a lot of getting used to. But then it became a lot easier and faster.”
By no means do the Cheyneys spend all their time in the office. They travel when they feel like it, they enjoy watching sports, and Grandma loves working in her garden.
“We love the Cowboys, the Mavericks — I even got him to start watching the Rangers,” Grandma says, as Grandpa chuckles and wordlessly nods his head.
Today, in addition to heirs Gary and Darrell, there are several third-generation family members involved in operations across the eight Chacon locations that have sprung up over the years. Musick, Gary’s daughter, works at the East Northwest Highway store.
As the company celebrates 50 years in business, Musick says she just wants her grandparents to know what they mean to her.
“I would like them to know how proud I am of all they have accomplished.”
