Why Choose Us?

Bill DeYoung was born in Culver City to Dutch immigrants who had just arrived in Los Angeles via Ellis Island, New York.  While growing up, he and his 5 brothers were always interested in working on cars and making them go faster, which soon had them on a first name basis with the L.A.P.D.. 

After serving on destroyers in the South Pacific during World War II, Bill returned to Culver City and went to work for Standard Oil of California, which is where he met his wife of 64 years, Annette Davis.  He soon was promoted to manager and then to instructor in Standard Oil's retail division.  It was there he learned from a long time employee that people never stay long in one location working for an oil company.  After hearing this,  he decided that he did not want to be constantly moving since he had 3 young children and made the big decision to start his own business.   Standard Oil was starting to expand their service station locations, one was in the rural town of Canoga Park with a population of just 5,000 people.  Bill's  father in law , A.C. Davis worked for the Auto Club of Southern California from the 1930's to 60's.  He mapped the new roads and hung route and mileage signs throughout the Southwest.  Mr. Davis mentioned to Bill that the West San Fernando Valley might be the next big place to grow.   
 

A company named Rocketdyne was moving to Canoga Park to design, make, and test engines for the unheard notion of space exploration.   After visiting Canoga Park, the DeYoung family felt this "small town" community might be the perfect place to raise a family.  In 1952,  construction began and in March of 1953, DeYoung's Chevron was open for business.  Bill's first load of gas was purchased with a check from an account with a zero balance. He worked all day and night and into the next day and quickly made a deposit.  That was the last time his account had a zero balance.
 

As the years went on and business grew, the land next to the station was purchased from the VFW.   In 1959 a 6 bay garage was built to service his ever expanding repair business.  Then in 1960, looking for a way to further service his customers, Bill contracted with the Auto Club of Southern California to run their Emergency Roadside Service.  DeYoung's Automotive & Towing started with just 3 trucks and servicing about 15 calls a day.  Forty seven  years later the towing service had a fleet of 15 trucks and a call volume of 180 calls per day.  Yes, Canoga Park had definitely grown!

Over the years DeYoung's Automotive has evolved with the ever shifting economy and car culture.  Bill retired  after many years and his son Lon continues to run Deyoung's.  In 2001 the corner was completely remodeled to address the booming auto repair and service business in the West Valley.   We now have 11 Service bays and 10 repair and service technicians.  The shop was updated with the latest automotive technology to further enhance our automotive repair capability. 

Today we repair and service over 500 cars monthly and look forward to providing quality automotive service for the current and future generations of customers.

The West Valley will continue to grow and change, and with all our valued customers and friends, we will drive into the future together.