BAKKEN NEWS Cont. from previous page


ership just north of the famously hectic highways 85 and 2 intersection in town. This dealership is a humming place and its parking lot is loaded with new Silverado pickups that sell for $60,000 with a “tricked out” conversion kit of fl ared bumpers, big tires and high lifts to the young male oil worker who’s getting his fi rst big paycheck and fi gures he can handle a monthly payment of around $1,000. Patrick Murphy, who bought Murphy


Motors Inc. in 1987 when the previous owner locked the door in the bust of the last boom, said he’s selling a ton of those three-quarter ton pickups these days. “Sales are way, up more than I ever


dreamt was possible,” he said. And Corvettes? Yup, those too, he


said. He won’t say — maybe he can’t or


truly doesn’t know — if he’s selling more Corvettes than any dealership in the up- per Midwest, but he agrees he’s likely the No. 1 dealer in a four-state area. He also won’t say how many he sells


in a year — it’s a trade secret, he said — but said it’s “dozens.” With the boom, he’s selling maybe one-third more than he would otherwise. “They tell me I’m selling a lot,” he said. “With the boom, it’s different. People


have lease and royalty money and maybe the old guy dies and a 25-year-old inher- its,” he said. But Murphy said he sold a lot of Cor-


vettes even before new oil wealth started pouring in, to customers who might live in North Dakota, but as easily live in states from Florida to Washington. He loves the car himself and trades up for a new one every year. “I have a high degree of product


knowledge and if someone comes in and they’re buying that $100,000 car, we’re going to talk. They’re going to get a fi rst- class product demonstration,” he said. On any given day, Murphy has an


inventory of a half-dozen new and an equal number of used Corvettes on the lot and in the showroom. He sold two 2012 ZR1s, with 638


horsepower, the fastest Corvette ever made, sticker priced at $126,000 — one in January and one this month. The package includes training at affi liated race tracks in Las Vegas and Phoenix. “It’s hard to believe, but I’ve sold two


of the most expensive models so far this year and it’s only February,” he said. Two things about the fi rst sale: “It was


not related to the boom, at all, and no one would expect to sell a ZR1 in Janu- ary,” he said. The second sale was to a guy who’s working in the oil fi eld service industry. The typical Corvette customer is a male, somewhere between 45 and 75.


LAUREN DONOVAN/Tribune


The odometer in this ZO6 Corvette tops out at 200 mph, but it’s the 0-75 mph acceleration that’s ‘completely unique,’ says dealer Patrick Murphy of Williston.


They are willing to spend as little as $55,000, but will spend $72,000 for a power convertible top, up to $99,000 for the bright orange Carbon ZO6, limited edition, 505 hp, sitting on the salesroom fl oor.


The Z06 is a beauty outside, but Mur-


phy said where it’s really pretty is under the hood, where the gleaming engine powers a performance from 0-75 mph “that’s completely unique.” The odometer tops out at 200 mph. The decision to own America’s sports


car, which is as fast, if not faster at half or even a one-fourth the price of a Fer- rari, Lamborghini or a Mercedes, is not an impulse buy, he said. “It’s usually been on their mind for


a number of years and this is the time,” Murphy said. “At this level, they can usu- ally just write the check.” Keith Feist, sales manager at Kupper


Chevrolet, Bismarck, said Murphy stocks and sells more Corvettes than any dealer he knows in the state. Feist is the con- tact for Corvettes of Dakota Territory, a social club of car owners with about 70 members. “Murphy’s got more clientele with


more money. It’s because of where he’s at. He’s got the advantage of people mak- ing $125,000 in the oil patch,” Feist said. Feist said he sells more Camaros than


Corvettes. They cost $25,000 less than a Corvette and seat four instead of just two in a pair of deep leather bucket seats. But he agrees with Murphy that


what’s really moving off the sales lots these days are not low-riding sports cars with fl ashy looks, a cockpit dash and a fi rst-class sound system. “We’ve got the guys 20 to 25 years old


coming from the oil patch, or the 19- year-old making $90,000 buying big die- sel pickups. It’s just crazy,” Feist said. Turns out, when it comes to Cor-


vettes, at least one of the oil fi eld legends might be true after all. (Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 701-220-5511 or lauren@westriv.com.)


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