Lee Partyka Chevrolet, Mazda & Isuzu

Leo Partyka's mechanical and aviation background led him to begin his first service station "Lee’s Sunoco" located on Wethersfield Avenue in Hartford, Connecticut after being released from the navy. Leo acquired his first Chevrolet franchise in 1953 and by 1963 had moved his business to Hamden where he began building the present dealership located on Skiff Street.

His son, and the current owner, Lee Michael Partyka grew up in the business and collected a well-rounded education in automotive technology and sales by working extensively in all phases of the car business from a young age. After graduating from Babson College in 1973 with a BS in Marketing and a BS in Organizational Behavior he attended General Motors Dealers Son's School and was appointed co-dealer of Partyka Chevrolet by General Motors. One year later he would add the Mazda franchise in 1974 and the Isuzu Medium Duty franchise would be added 10 years later. Both franchises have proved to be valuable additions to the company.

In 2005, Lee’s daughter Amy Lee Partyka "officially" joined the ranks as Vice President. She began her career at the dealership in 1996 and like her father has worked extensively in all phases of the business. She graduated from Quinnipiac College in 2002 with a BS in Management and graduated from the National Automotive Dealer’s Association in 2008 under the dealer candidate program.

Today Lee Michael runs the family business with just that, his family. He is accompanied to work daily by his daughters Amy and Megen and his wife Robin. Each family member does what they do best to maintain a close-knit family friendly environment within the dealership—a tradition that began with Leo Sr. over sixty-three years ago.

In 2005 the Partyka family welcomed back Joe Gallagi as the dealership’s General Manager. Joe Gallagi spent many of his early years with the dealership as a General Sales Manager, and his acceptance of the General Manager position has awarded the dealership many great years of five-star service and franchise-related awards and recognition. His hard work and dedication is visible throughout the facility and has made Partyka not only a great place to buy and service a vehicle, but also a great place to work!

In 2009, the dealership made way for a new Medium Duty Commercial Department! Centering their attention and focus on bringing in commercial and fleet business has expanded the dealerships scope from New York through to Massachusetts and the entire New England region! Brand new 18,000 GVW truck lifts and large open service bays have allowed us to not only sell our commercial customers quality vehicles, but service them also!

Now is a new era! In 2011 we began our building projects. These projects included a brand-new Mazda service center, a brand-new Mazda showroom and a complete renovation of the original Chevrolet building that was completed in 2013. It is a great time of excitement and change for the dealership, but we know that if we all work together and look out for each other, there can only be great things to come for both the dealership and for the employees as well.