by ROBERT WHALE - The Auburn Reporter

Bob Scarff, 90, talked with quiet pride of still being around to celebrate a birthday few actually reach.

But the birthday boy he's talking about is not himself. It's Scarff Ford, which is turning 85.

"Not many dealers can say, 'Well, we've been under the Ford sign for 85 years and through three generations,' " Bob Scarff said.

Bob's father, Wayland Scarff, started the dealership in 1922 a few blocks from its present location. He handed it to his sons Bob, Bowen, and Cal after the Second World War. Today Bob's son and grandpa's namesake, Way Scarff, runs Scarff Ford and Scarff Ford Isuzu next door.

That Scarff Motors, at 501 Auburn Way N., is still here, is a tribute to the old man's grit, cleverness, and his unflinching insistence on honesty, say family members.

"We believe what he believed in: integrity and honesty for our customers," Way said. "I like to think that one of the major successes of this little company from my grandfather on has been the realization that it's not the automobile business, it's the people business. That has never changed."

In 1922, Wayland Scarff, a former Boeing mechanic recently in the employ of a West Seattle dealership, took over a failing Auburn dealership on Main Street. The ambitious young man from Vermont would need every ounce of his native New England resilience and inventiveness to make a go of it.

In the 1920s, Scarff saw his fledgling business survive the ruinous machinations of Henry Ford, who would not allow dealers to acquire Model A's for a year and a half after they first rolled off the assembly line to replace the Model T.

Many dealerships went under, but Scarff Ford did not.

Then came the privations of the Great Depression. With nearly everybody out of work and banks closed, Scarff accepted items as down payments for his cars.

"He used to take things in for trade like motorcycles and radios," Cal recalled. "I remember one Christmas, the house was full of radios that people had given him for down payment. He was giving them to his family, his brothers and sisters."

During the Second World War, the U.S government prohibited dealers from selling cars, so Wayland Scarff survived by leasing his automobiles to air wardens and by relying on his parts and service department.

Family fits right in

In the late 1940s, Wayland handed the dealership to his sons Bob and Bowen. Soon, Bowen would soon strike out on his own and start a dealership in Kent. In 1948, the Auburn store moved to its present location.

Cal, 15 years Bob's junior, joined the dealership in 1956 fresh out of college with a finance degree.

"There were a lot of years it wasn't a success," Cal recalled. "We remember very well when Ford and other car companies had very marginal products. In 1970, Boeing almost went out of business. Times were tough everywhere. Fortunately, we had good years, too."

Today, the Scarff name is affixed to the signs above numerous dealerships. Bowen's son Mark owns separate Bowen Scarff dealerships in Kent and Covington. His other son, Mike, owns Mike Scarff Subaru in Auburn. Cal Scarff's sons, Doug and Greg, have their own Scarff dealership in Montana.

"People come up to me and say, 'Did you know some guys in Montana have appropriated your name?" Cal said. "They don't know it's the same family."

A lot has changed in the world since Wayland, who died in 1963, opened for business 19 years after the first Model T rolled off Ford's assembly line.

For one thing, the Internet, undreamed of during his day, has completely altered the landscape. Now, instead of shopping for cars up and down Auburn Way North, customers have researched the car they are interested in and know more about it than the salesman when they come in to check it out.

Several years ago, Way Scarf switched to two shifts and decided to keep the service department open until midnight.

Cal and Bob, retired, are no longer actively involved with the daily operation of the dealership.

But some things do not change.

"We appreciate the legacy of the 85 years and appreciate some of the founding ideas of being honest and doing what's best for the customers," Way said.