How a $4,000 Loan Helped Shape Tapp Motors in Owensboro

As a big collector of Hot Wheels when I was a kid (and I still have some of them), I would practically press my nose against the window when we'd go downtown and drive past Tapp Motors on 2nd Street. All those Corvettes were an exciting thing to see...life-size Hot Wheels right before my very eyes.

After chatting with Tommy Tapp Jr., I learned that they were never just sellers of Corvettes, but those were the vehicles my eyes gravitated toward. I also learned that where I thought Tapp Motors began wasn't exactly right, but I wasn't far off. I don't remember them operating on a lot on the Owensboro Grain side of 2nd Street, but they did. The business was located where the grain mill's steam plant is today.

It Started With a $4,000 Loan

Tapp Motors dates back to around 1948, when Arthur Ray Tapp opened the business in downtown Owensboro.

Arthur Ray “Homer” Tapp, right, pictured with his brother. (Dave Spencer; Tapp Motors)

In 1965, his son, Tommy Tapp Sr., bought the business from his father. To make that happen, he had to borrow $4,000. Before he could secure the loan, he also had to find two people willing to co-sign for him.

Tommy Sr. told me that his monthly payment was $132.50.

That's a detail that puts a little perspective on the early days of a business that has now been part of Owensboro for nearly eight decades.

Tommy Tapp Sr. is pictured on a Triumph motorcycle in front of Tapp Motor Sales in the mid-1960s. (Dave Spencer; Canva)

From Downtown to South Frederica

Tapp Motors remained on the north side of 2nd Street until 1977, when the business moved across the street and purchased that entire block.

That downtown location is where my childhood memories of those Corvettes come into play. While my attention was drawn to the sports cars, Tommy Jr. explained that there weren't nearly as many foreign-made vehicles available back then as there are today. Corvettes were among the vehicles they brought in.

Today, Tapp Motors sells a variety of vehicles, including foreign luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. It's a reminder of just how much the automobile business has changed since those days on 2nd Street.

But downtown wasn't the dealership's last stop.

In 1987, Tapp Motors moved to South Frederica Street, to the property where Harbor Freight is located today.

If you know that part of Owensboro, imagine it without all the development that's there now. There was no Target. No Best Buy. No movie theater. No Walmart.

And there was no J.R. Miller Boulevard.

That road, which has provided a convenient back way to South Frederica for decades, didn't open until 1988, a year after Tapp Motors moved to the area.

It's hard to picture that stretch of town without all those familiar businesses and roads, but that's how it looked when the dealership arrived.

Nearly 80 Years in Owensboro

Tapp Motors eventually made another move in 2005, relocating to its current home at the corner of Highway 54 and Water Wheel Way.

Tommy Tapp Jr. has been working full-time at the family business since 1981. He's seen plenty of changes in the automobile business over the years, along with the changes to Owensboro itself.

From its beginnings downtown around 1948 to its current location, Tapp Motors has moved with the city as Owensboro has grown and developed.

And while the cars on the lot may look a little different from the Corvettes that caught my eye as a kid, I still remember those trips downtown when those life-size Hot Wheels seemed to be waiting just on the other side of the window.