Cottman Transmission and Total Auto Care is an American

transmission Transmission or transmit may refer to: Science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Transmission (mechanical device), technology that allows controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual tra ...

-repair franchise and company-owned automotive service centers headquartered in

Horsham, Pennsylvania Horsham is a census-designated place in Horsham Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 15,193 at the 2020 census. It is home to the Biddle Air National Guard Base at the former site of Naval Air Station ...

. As of 2020 there are 52 locations in 23 states in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The company is owned by American Capital and American Driveline Systems, Inc. is the parent company. Cottman was founded by Richard Silva in 1962.

History

In 1957, Anthony A. Martino founded an automatic transmission repair shop in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Soon after opening the shop, he partnered with two friends, Richard Silva and Walter DeLutz to expand operations. Together, they opened numerous transmission centers in and around Philadelphia. In 1962, the men divided their stores with Silva's center becoming the first Cottman Transmission Center which was named after Cottman Avenue in

Northeast Philadelphia Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Great Northeast, and known colloquially as simply "the Northeast", is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 census, Northeast Philadelphia has a population of betw ...

. In 1964, Silva sold his first franchise to an entrepreneur who opened a center on Roosevelt Boulevard. From there, the chain grew locally. As the 1960s and 1970s progressed, the chain expanded along the East Coast and throughout the

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

states, reaching 81 shops in 1977. In 1979, Silva retired and sold the company to three of his employees - Michael Ambrose, Edward Kelly and James Corkran. The company expanded to a few hundred locations throughout the United States and Canada and became the nation's second-largest chain of transmission repair shops. In April 2004, American Capital invested $46 million in the acquisition of Cottman Transmission and purchased the company for $77.3 million including the investment. In 2006, its parent holding company, American Driveline Systems, Inc. acquired

AAMCO Transmissions AAMCO Transmissions Inc. is an American transmission-repair franchise founded by Robert Morgan and Anthony A. Martino (who used the first letter of each name to form the names AAMCO and later MAACO) in 1957 in Philadelphia. Martino eventuall ...

as part of their portfolio and it was combined with the company. Now It operates totally separated under the same owner and parent holding company. Cottman Transmission and Total Auto Care celebrated its 50th anniversary of business in 2012.

Services

Cottman Transmission and Total Auto Care specializes in every phase of automotive repair and maintenance including a specialization in servicing both automatic and manual transmissions.

In popular culture

Former American footballer

Terry Bradshaw Terry Paxton Bradshaw (born September 2, 1948) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since 1994, he has been a television sports an ...

was the spokesperson for the company from 2005 to 2008.

References

External links

* {{official, http://www.cottman.com Franchises American companies established in 1962 Retail companies established in 1962 Automotive repair shops of the United States Companies based in Philadelphia Companies based in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania 1962 establishments in Pennsylvania