Joe Putnam was born on a farm in South Dakota in 1934 - during The Great Depression.

He grew up in a large family in which his parents instilled a strong work ethic and an attitude of sef-improvement. He married his high school sweetheart, Mary Lou, and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1953.

He began his career in automobile retailing - selling Fords in Minneapolis. In 1958 he and his family moved to Devils Lake, North Dakota, where he became a partner in a Buick, Cadillac, GMC dealership.

In 1965, he again moved his family of eight to Burlingame, California. The location at which Joe opened his first California dealership, Putnam Buick, was originally owned by Charlie Howard, the auto dealer who owned the famous race horse, Sea Biscuit.

With the growth of imported cars into America, Joe expanded his offerings to include Mazda in 1987.  In 1989 Joe, with his son Marty, became a Charter Dealer for the brand-new Lexus brand.  He later opened a Toyota dealership in 1992 and soon thereafter a Volvo dealership, also in Burlingame.  He added the rest of General Motors offerings; Pontiac, GMC trucks, Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Hummer in the late 90’s.

Several of Joe’s sons followed him into the car business.