About Us

Hi. I am one of Col’s three grandsons. I can tell you a lot about the Col Crawfords today and where we will be tomorrow. Before I start, however, perhaps I should reflect with some history, and that being the case, I will need to refer to what I have learnt about our past. What you will find “About Us” is that we have not regarded ourselves as just a normal car dealership business over the years, and as time moves on, this is more and more the case. Our story, to start off with, in itself, is quite unique and special. My grandfather managed somehow to get a loan from a bank, bought a small block of land on Pittwater Rd, Brookvale, used the laundry of a burnt-out home as his office, and started Col Crawfords. He was supported by my grandmother, Pammie, and if ever there was an example of the saying “behind every great man there is a great woman,” this was it! It was May 1967 and my father, Stephen, was seven years old. Pop, on the weekend, would have six used cars on display. He owned two of them and borrowed the other four from friends, to fill the yard. To look like a proper business. Classic Pop. Being the entrepreneur that he was, working seven days a week, the business gained momentum. He was then approached by new car brands and soon he was a Fiat, Rambler and Alfa Romeo dealer. He took on Honda motorbikes around the same time, in the late ’60s, and then, when Honda brought out to Australia their first passenger cars, the Honda Zot, Honda Life and Honda N600, Pop was one of the few Honda bike dealers to take on their cars. In 1972 the Civic came to market and Col Crawfords was underway in a serious way. Around this time, room was made to take on Datsun (now Nissan) and BMW, and today we are the oldest BMW dealer in Australia and the only BMW dealer to have been with the brand for over 50 years. How good is that?

If we fast track to the 1980s when my dad, fresh out of school, was working at the car auctions, Poppy was involved with car industry associations and Rotary Australia. He became District Governor of Rotary and at that time had two guys running the day-to-day car business. I believe it was Pop’s time in Rotary that he became involved and passionate about charity work, giving back, being part of the community and had a saying that one should get as much joy from giving as receiving. I have heard many stories of Poppy’s involvement with establishments like Stewart House and, in more recent years, Cerebral Palsy Alliance (previously known as The Spastic Centre of NSW). Poppy was awarded an Order of Australia in 1997, recognised for his long-standing charity and community efforts. It was in this period that my father was approached by the directors of the business to leave the auctions and join Crawfords, and within three years, Dad went from being a valuer to running the Crawford car business. Poppy came back to full-time work to support Dad and together, they were appointed by Hyundai as the first Hyundai dealers in Sydney. That was 1986. Soon after, Pop decided to leave the operation and decision-making to Dad and moved on to an early retirement to enjoy travel and golfing with Pammie and sailing on our beautiful Pittwater. The foundations left by Col were as solid as could be and Dad used this to his advantage, growing the business in the way of additional new car franchises, dealership outlets, service divisions, staff and customer base. Today we employ 220 staff, sell 5000 cars a year and have 10 new car franchises. Before I leave our story on Pop, I want to mention the Sydney 2000 Olympics. My brothers and I were just young boys but on the 100th day of the torch relay run, the 100th runner of the relay, taking place on the actual opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games was, yours truly, Col Crawford. We were so excited and so proud, watching him carry the torch along Veterans Parade, Collaroy Plateau.

To help me move on, I am going to reflect on a marketing campaign we ran a few years ago. Yes, the photos are a bit dated! The campaign’s code name was “the WE campaign.” We see ourselves, our company and staff, as one. We see ourselves very aligned with our customers and community. So here goes.

We started with WE HAVE. This promotes Col Crawfords and states we are all about heritage, customers, cars and the Northern Beaches. Our history.

WE DO was promoted by Dad and informs the market that we continue investing and growing so we can, ongoing, meet and exceed our customers’ requirements and expectations.

WE WILL is a promise to our market and customers. It is about our future. It is promoted by my two brothers and me, and it is that we recognise change, technology, moving with it, and that the younger generation will be setting up the business for the years ahead.

WE ARE CRAWFORDS. Family business. Three generations. A part of the local community for now, almost 60 years. And we see ourselves as unique, having this claim.

Col Crawford Lifestyle Cars AADA Lifetime Achievement Award.

AADA Chairmans’s Dinner – Stephen Crawford’s speech. Receiving the AADA (Australian Automobile Dealer Association), 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award, July 2025. The award is only given to a dealer who has been in operation for over 50 years, recognising their dedication and contribution to the retail automotive industry.

Thank you AADA. This is a real honour.
Of all, we truly value industry awards.
We have our favourites… best of all times.
Dad winning the time magazine, national car dealer of the year award way back in 1987.
And it was very special when Martec Australia awarded me National Dealer of the Year award, when I was a lot younger, in 2003.
They are our favourites … But this AADA award will now be with them on the top shelf of the trophy cabinet.
In a way, a lifetime award doesn’t sit perfectly with where we see ourselves.
Our position is we are young, full of life, enthusiasm and energy.
We know we are not at the start of our journey.
But we see a long future, a great future ahead.
We reflect with enormous pride on our past, we always have. We always will.
But we celebrate today and what lays ahead tomorrow.
This is what drives us.
Again, thank you for this recognition.
I would like to introduce table 7.
Suzi – my life partner for the past 38 years. A wonderful wife. An unbelievable mother. And a great support to me in business.
Harrison, my 32-year-old son who is dealer principal of 5 brands. Harrison has a very busy job role, is making his own impression on the industry and assists me in other business matters outside his scope of DP..
Jake is the middle son, 29 years old and oversees the operation of 2 of our service departments. Our main service operation does 95 retail/warranty RO’s a day, involved in 9 brands and operates like a machine. Jake has 120 staff under him.
Will, the baby, is Jake’s right hand man at main service.
Will is the size of a tight head prop. Has the energy, strength, youth, volume and enthusiasm of a focused 25-year-old and offers plenty of grunt to the operation.
I am very proud of Suzi and the 3 boys and what we are achieving.
I am very fortunate because whenever I want to press the button, this generation takes over. The start of yet another new chapter.
I introduce Carol my sister that has been a true support in many and various ways throughout – family and business. Her husband Brian, my favourite brother in law.
The lovely Lani who is Jakie’s fiancée; and the lovely Alex, Will’s partner.
We have a 10th seat on table 7 where we are joined by Col, at least in spirit, as he would never miss a party or celebration.
And because of the occasion tonight, it is only appropriate to acknowledge my mother Pammie Crawford, a serious strength behind the success of Col Crawfords.
So is it appropriate at this moment to charge our glasses, acknowledge and thank the wives, in some cases the husbands and partners of the car dealers of Australia for the support they have given!

While I am on a roll, I want to recognise the past and current staff of Col Crawfords. We pride ourselves on being one of the biggest employers on the northern beaches, the opportunity we have given others and the length of employment we have within the ranks.
I want to recognise our suppliers, many who we have been with for decades.
Our customers and the solid relationships that have been built.
And our business partners, the OEM’s.
What is relevant to talk about receiving tonight’s award?
I first want to say what an unbelievable industry we are in. With everything it entails. And with the technology and the changes that are currently happening, in such a dynamic way, it is one hell of a ride.And then there is the founder of our family business, my father.
We have been told in the past, this business is all about the 3 p s, at least from the OEM’s perspective. Product, pricing & promotion.
I’ve heard more recently, the 3 p’s now stand for what’s most important – product, product & product. In our business however, it is all about 3 p’s and that is, people, people & people.
My father always said … this is a people business.
One of my father’s favourite books that he often referred to was Dale Carnegie’s –“How to win friends and influence people”. And by gee he made friends.
As a teenager and younger man, wanting to develop my own identity, it gave me the shits that everywhere I went I was tagged… ”oh, you Col Crawford’s son”?
I soon learnt that this was really a badge of honour and today when someone addresses me with that tag, i puff out my chest and smile, “yes, i sure am”.
My father had a story, and it was a very special one and it has set in granite the core values of our business.
He was an amazing man.
When it came to influence, he had that in spades.
Over recent years, and even more so since his passing,
I realise and appreciate the influence he had on me.
Poor Suzi will often say…. Normally with an adjective of some description first, “you are just like your father. ”yes, I sure am!”
But my greatest observation of Col’s influence on people – his friendship and influence … was with Harrison, Jake and Will. There was this bullshit banter between the 4 of them that Suzi and I observed on dad’s last day of life that was so amazing.
Life, family, business … was part of the carry on. For dad to call the meeting over saying to the boys, “I’ve had enough of you now, so piss off”.
He called full time only hours later.
And then there was the boys reading at his funeral which was just wow. How they reflected with such admiration on the man and his achievement.
My point is, the love of the individuals, the passion, enthusiasm, dedication, determination … the will to succeed with our business. To carry on the legacy –
Is something you won’t get in a share issue.
It’s funny, we don’t need others to set us KPI’s so we turn up and perform the best we can each day. That is what we are about. That is our DNA.
It is something that truly sets us apart and we see that as very special.
As a person, I am very, very fortunate to have had the father I had and the 3 sons I have.
And then there is business.
And I am very fortunate from that perspective as well.
AADA, thank you again.
Boys, down the track, when I up there with pop … perhaps you can be the first recipient of a new award, the lifetime plus one award.
Thank you for listening.

History of a family-owned business

At the age of 16 Col Crawford left school to commence his Automobile career with York Motors. This was the start of an incredible journey in the motor industry, which resulted in his opening Col Crawford Motors 17 years later at age 33.