Wes Ramey was a nationally known professional champion boxer who lived in Grand Rapids. In 1929, Ramey began his professional boxing career by winning a six-round fight against Young McFarland. On June 20, 1941, in Grand Rapids, Ramey concluded his career with a victory over Marice Arnault. Ramey’s achievements throughout those twelve years rank among the greatest in Grand Rapids history. He defeated six world champions in route to finishing among the top 10 lightweight competitors for ten years in a row. In addition to being a fighter and a trainer, he was also a husband, a parent, and a local company owner. In June 2013, he was admitted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame located in Canastota, New York.
He was known for being a good person. His son, Wes Ramey Jr., said
“He got the kids to like boxing by treating them all fair” “He harped on education and staying in school. It didn’t always work but that’s what he wanted. If you wanted to box with us, you had to stay in school.” “He treated them all with respect, he did that well,”
– Ramey Jr.
Walter Rebentisch had opened his dealership in 1925 as a Hudson-Essex dealer across the street at 1245 Madison, followed by a switch to Willys-Knight cars in 1926 and then becoming a Nash dealer in 1927. In 1927 he also moved into the pictured building at 1250 Madison and began selling Pontiacs. On August 27, 1948, Rebentisch sold the business, with it now becoming Goodwin Pontiac.
I had been so excited about Pontiac’s putting a high performance 389 in their intermediate Tempest and calling it a GTO that I just couldn’t wait to see one in person. They weren’t ready yet at new car introduction time in September of ’63 though, so the wait went on. I had asked at Goodwin Pontiac if they would call me when they got their first one in, and finally the day came in mid-December when the salesman called to say their first one would be delivered the next day. It was snowing and dark out before I could get there but it was inside anyway, and I had the honor of setting my eyes on the first GTO in Grand Rapids just hours after it arrived, still a couple days ahead of the actual introduction date. It was a Nocturne Blue coupe. And the race was ON, as every car maker quickly scrambled to come up with a big block intermediate muscle car of their own. And little did they know yet that they’d be scrambling to catch up again four months later when Ford caught everyone off-guard with the Mustang! What a fun time. Goodwin Pontiac will forever be etched in my memory for being kind enough to invite me (a 16 year old kid) to see my first GTO ahead of time, right here in the back of the pictured dealership.
Orson E. Coe purchased the entire inventory from F. Ted Goodwin II in April of 1967, and a deal was struck where Goodwin would build the new dealership facility on 28th St. and lease it to Coe. Goodwin failed to follow through though, causing Coe to have to get the new dealership built on his own and causing a massive delay. Coe sued, and in April of 1970 Coe was awarded $180,000 ($1,373,989 in today’s money) for Goodwin’s breaching the agreement.
Oh, and in late 1998 I stopped by Coe Pontiac to see if they had a new ’99 Firebird WS6 on hand, and they did. It was locked, so I asked a salesman if he would unlock it for me, and he very rudely yelled “That car is sold, I don’t want people crawling all over it.” He turned to walk away from me and I retorted “Fine. I’ll go buy it somewhere else.” And I drove over to the dealer in Holland and ordered my new ’99 Firebird Formula WS6.
