Pinkava’s Celebrates 100th Anniversary

When Pinkava's Motor Company started serving Springfield, motors were a relative novelty. Joseph Pinkava and his son Albert bought the plot of land at the corner of Caldwell Place and Morris Avenue in 1910. That year, 181,000 passenger cars were built.

They built the shop, and primarily serviced horse drawn carriages, according to Jeff Pinkava, Joseph's great-grandson, and the fourth generation operator of the family-owned and run business. By their tenth anniversary, automobile production had increased to 1.9 million, thanks in a large part to Henry Ford's assembly line. The shop changed with the times.

 "Things came along with four wheels and an engine and they just kind of adapted to it," said Jeff.  In the early days of automobiles, you couldn't order a new axle out of a catalog, so "they actually made those parts in their shop… on big metal lathes," he told Patch.

The automobile business may have changed, but one thing hasn't; Pinkava's isn't just the name on the façade of the building, it is the family inside. The Pinkava family has lived in and around Springfield since the early 1900s, said Jeff, who grew up in the shop with his father, another Joseph, at the helm.  Jeff says he started pumping gas at Pinkava's at age 10.  "I'm only here 7 days a week now," he joked.

 "We have another generation of Pinkavas here," Jeff said, pointing to a photo of his daughter, Jordan and son, Kyle.  He said his daughter had just completed a Lego-based after-school enrichment program, the only girl in the instructor's knowledge to do so, according to Jeff.  He said she has the "mechanical gene."

After the interview, Jeff's father, who was on his way to the bank, came in to talk for a moment.  "He's labeled as retired, but he comes in when I need help," said Jeff.   

The Chamber of Commerce will be celebrating Pinkava's at the Springfield Patriot Chamber of Commerce Dinner on May 26, 7 p.m. at L'Affaire on route 22 in Mountainside.