ATLANTA — This week's ceremony during the NABD East Coast
Conference to enshrine the newest member of the alliance's Hall of Fame turned back
the clock on the buy-here, pay-here industry to a time of handshake contracts and
Southern hospitality.

The National Alliance of Buy-Here, Pay-Here Dealers posthumously
welcomed Martin Ingram to its Hall of Fame. Ingram started in the business back
in 1958, establishing what now is Auto City, a BHPH company with three
locations in Dallas.

Alliance executive Ingram Walters introduced the new Hall of
Famer, who died on Sept. 9, 2010.

"When Martin Ingram asked how you were doing, he cared about
the answer," Walters said. "I thought that said a lot. He cared about the
answer. It wasn't just what he did, it was who he was. A lot of people ask how
you're doing and they don't listen to the answer. Martin Ingram, when he asked
how you were doing, he cared about the answer. How lucky this business is to
have had him out on the road in front of us."

Walters told the crowd gathered at the Gateway Center in
Atlanta that another dealer said   Marvin Ingram "had one of the best hearts that
ever beat in the buy-here, pay-here industry."

Walters went on to say, "The best asset he left all of his
family is also the best asset he left all of us — being a good example of a
life well lived. An important man like Martin Ingram is like a tall tree. It's
hard to measure them fully until they fall. Seeing Martin Ingram's strengths as
a leader, as a man and an example are even more impressive.

"We have another saying here in the South that you can tell
a lot about a tree by looking at its fruit," Walters added. "We're all
reflections of the ones that come before us, and Blake Ingram is a chip off the
old block. Blake Ingram plays by the rules. He believes in making money but
also believes in making a difference. He's ultra-successful but he's also
ultra-involved in the state association, helping all of the dealers in Texas."

Blake Ingram is the youngest of Martin Ingram's three
children. He now oversees the BHPH operation and traveled from the Lone Star
State to accept the Hall of Fame honor on behalf of his father.

Ingram shared how his father got into the business, spotting
a used Ford in someone's yard while traveling home from his job. Noticing how
low the asking price was, Blake Ingram said he father believed that after a
little maintenance that he could resell the vehicle for a profit.

"Dad wanted to be a car dealer from a very early age, but his
parents wouldn't let him," Ingram said. "They wanted him to do something more
respectable. It turns out that a used-car dealer in the 1950s had a bad
reputation."

But after reselling that used Ford, Martin Ingram knew what
his career was going to be. In 1958, he started the company that became Auto
City.

"It was a terribly brave thing to do," Blake Ingram said. "You
quit your job. You have really no savings. He had a new wife, a new baby and a
new mortgage, but he had the confidence he could do it."

Ingram continued the story with, "I can imagine that first
conversation with my mother. ‘Jackie, I quit my job. I'm going to become a car
dealer.' And then the best part: ‘I'm going to sell them a car and they're
going to promise to pay me back.' I'll bet the silence was deafening."

"Luckily she must have had confidence in him too, because if
she didn't I honestly probably wouldn't be here," Ingram added.

The son insisted his father possessed several important
attributes that made him successful in the BHPH business. Along with
confidence, Ingram indicated his father also had persistence, trust and a love
for what he was doing.

"In 1958, you decide to become a buy-here, pay-here dealer,
that requires a certain level of confidence," Ingram said. "The buy-here,
pay-here business is not for the timid. Anybody you ask to describe my father,
he would not say he was timid.

"People really liked and trusted my dad. He had an amazing
gift. Those friendships served him very well," Ingram continued. "His customers
trusted him as well. With dad, you didn't need legal documents. A handshake was
all you really needed.

"Life is hard," Ingram went on to say. "Sometimes there are
things that just don't go your way. You make mistakes. If you're not making any
mistakes, you're not trying hard enough. My father was no different, but he was
not a give-up kind of guy.

"Dad loved cars," Ingram added. "He would describe cars for
hours on end and tell you about what kind of fins this one had and what kind of
motor this one had. He loved cars. I truly believe you can make money in the car
business. But if you want to be great, you must love what you do and he did."

Ingram thanked Walters and NABD founder Ken Shilson for
adding his father to the Hall of Fame, which also includes the late James DeVoe
Sr. and Ed Bass who were enshrined back in May.

"It's a very large honor for me to accept this award on my
dad's behalf. I hope you enjoyed hearing about him as much as I enjoyed telling
you. I know if he was here, you would like him," Ingram said.