Questions on city car

The apparent closing of Portland’s only new car dealer has left the city police department wondering how it will get a patrol car it ordered in October.
Ken Kunkle Chevrolet, which closed sometime this week, was awarded a contract by the Portland Board of Works in October for a 2011 Chevrolet Impala police vehicle.
Repeated attempts to reach dealership owner Ken Kunkle for comment have been unsuccessful.
Police chief Bob Sours said he talked to a woman at the dealership Tuesday afternoon and that he asked her to have Kunkle return his call for information regarding the patrol car. That call was not returned, Sours said.
Sours was told the vehicle rolled off the assembly line Nov. 19. He is hoping to make arrangements to pick up the car at another dealer in the region.
No money has been paid for the vehicle.
The Commercial Review left a message asking for a return call from Kunkle with someone who answered the phone at the dealership Tuesday afternoon. That message was not returned. A voice mail message was left at Kunkle’s home number Wednesday morning.
Calls Thursday and today to the dealership number went unanswered, and another voice mail message was left on his home number this morning.
Some lights at the 414 N. Meridian St. lot remain on, but the doors are locked with no signs apparent to explain the closing of the business, which has operated as a Chevrolet dealership for more than 50 years. It has been operated by Kunkle for more than 10 years.
A spokesperson for General Motors said Thursday afternoon the corporation did not order the closure.
“All I can tell you about the situation is that GM did not close the dealership. You’re going to have to contact the dealer for comment beyond that,” said GM spokesperson Ryndee Carney.
A law suit against Kunkle by First Merchants Bank claiming default in more than $1.3 million in loans is still pending. In early March, Kunkle expressed optimism that issues around the suit could be resolved and said he would continue to press forward.
Kunkle attorney Michael Shanahan said many of the financial problems were related to the dealer’s acquisition of a GM dealership in Hartford City that was later closed when GM was in bankruptcy.
The last filing in the case, a response by the defendant, was filed in April. That filing stated that settlement talks between First Merchants and Kunkle were continuing.[[In-content Ad]]