"Integrity, honesty and respect, respect for people." said Ray Huffines, owner of Huffines Auto- Dealerships.

Those words describe the core values of the Huffines operation that started in Denton in 1924.

J.L. Huffines Sr., who’s portrait now hangs on corporate walls is the man who first sat in the driver seat.

"My grandfather grew up on a farm and he started working at a garage repairing automobiles but he was the person that worked with the customers and did the books and everything and then the other person was the one that worked on the cars." said Huffines.

Back then you could buy a new car for a whopping $265. Today, that money would get you a portable Yeti cooler off Amazon.

Ray Huffines, the third generation Huffines owner says times have changed and so have the cars.

"Inflation, also because of the content of the automobiles, they’ve progressed so much, and there is so much equipment and things that have been added to automobiles, standard equipment even and so it’s pretty hard to compare." said Huffines.

Some say almost a century ago, Huffines Sr. would get you on his sales pitch for Willy’s and Overlands. In just three years, the business expanded to the Chevrolet Franchise in Lewisville.

"My grandfather was in the business for many, many years in Lewisville, Texas with the Chevrolet franchise. My dad grew up in the business J.L. Huffines Jr. and he wound up getting a dealership of his own in Commerce, Texas Chevrolet, and then later added Pontiac and Buick to that dealership. So I grew up in the business working in the summers in the service department, the parts department and learning the business that way." said Huffines.

Ray says the business became his passion.

"I enjoyed it, it’s a people business and it’s exciting because you never know what’s going to happen." said Huffines.

95 years of business, decades of changes and shifts in the economy, Ray says much of their success comes from the faith the company relies on.

"That’s something that is a part of me. At the age of 31 I decided that God had a better plan for my life than I did, so I decided to trust him and things changed. We contract with a marketplace Chaplin, and so they come and develop relationships with all of our team members, they come on a regular basis and when a team member has an issue the Chaplin is there to help them." said Huffines.

Ray believes if you invest in your team, they will succeed, and they have, the new Corinth location is expected to open in May.

"I don’t know how much longer I will be in this position but my son is in the business and the plan is to see if we can take to the 4th generation." said Huffines.

A legacy continuing to build on integrity, honesty, and respect.