As an immigrant in the 1920s, Martin Loeber, Founder and Past Chairman of Loeber Motors, came to Chicago with a dream: to make enough money to buy a farm back in Germany. Having emigrated from Altenstaedt, Germany, he began selling Chevrolets in 1928. He quickly earned enough to do so, but fell in love with the car business and instead opened the doors of his very first dealership in 1936 in downtown Chicago. Two generations later, Loeber Motors is an impressive family automotive operation boasting the largest combined Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, smart and Sprinter retail and service facility in the Midwest.
In 2002, the Loeber family sold their downtown Chicago automotive franchises and combined their efforts into one Mercedes-Benz location in Lincolnwood, at 7101 North Lincoln Avenue. Michael Loeber, third generation in the business, was named President of Loeber Motors and immediately the plans for a brand new Mercedes-Benz facility began. “Our goal was to provide our customers the most comfortable automotive buying and service experience anywhere”, Michael Loeber commented.
In October of 2005, Loeber debuted its brand new 80,000 square foot Mercedes-Benz sales and service masterpiece located at 4255 West Touhy Avenue in Lincolnwood. They tripled their Mercedes-Benz inventory and unveiled the largest Mercedes-Benz facility in the Midwest in one fell swoop. “We were so thrilled to open this facility in the heart of Lincolnwood, where my family has been doing business for so many years”, said Loeber.
Two years later, they gutted the original building on Lincoln and with careful attention to design detail and space allocation, created a contemporary work of art – Loeber Motors Porsche. It currently holds the distinction of the newest and largest Porsche sales and service facility in the Midwest.
Once smart debuted in the USA in January 2009, Loeber was selected to become a smart dealer and quickly become one of the top five smart retail operations in the United States. And in January 2010, Mercedes-Benz awarded Loeber with a coveted Sprinter Commercial Van franchise, one of only a few in Chicagoland.
The Loeber family’s dedication to their customers is rivaled only by their generous donations to the community. They fund the Leona Loeber Memorial Cancer Research Library at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, which supports the melanoma research of Dr. Jon Richards. This research laboratory provides the dedicated space and equipment necessary for Dr. Richards’ valuable cancer research. In addition to numerous other charities and worthwhile causes, Loeber provided monetary gifts as well as their facility for the Village of Lincolnwood’s Hurricane Katrina fundraiser in March 2006. “It was a beautiful evening of Opera and it was our pleasure to support the Village of Lincolnwood and the people of Gautier, Mississippi”, said Loeber.
Loeber Motors currently occupies several blocks in the heart of Lincolnwood, just five blocks from the city limits of Chicago and only minutes from the North Shore.