Our History
First in Fleet
In 1939, our founder Zollie Frank, proprietor of the nation’s largest Chevrolet dealership Z Frank Chevrolet, pioneered the fleet management industry in North America when he developed a creative solution for a pressing client need. A large Chicago company, Petrolager, was losing salespeople after helping them fund the down payment on a personal vehicle they would use on the job. Zollie designed a closed-end leasing solution to help the client improve salesperson retention while incurring a predictable monthly cost. With the acquisition and lease of 75 vehicles, the Wheels business was born.
From those humble beginnings, Wheels grew into an industry leader with nearly $1.4 billion in annual sales, over 300,000 vehicles on the road in North America and 2.1 million vehicles worldwide through an alliance with ALD Automotive. Through it all, Wheels remained a family-owned business first with Jim Frank, Zollie’s son, and now with Dan Frank, Zollie’s grandson, leading the organization.
Wheels’ history is marked with a series of industry firsts, with product innovations and business growth being driven by the evolving needs of our clients. “Business Moves Better with Wheels” is more than just our tagline – it has guided our history, it is our promise to clients and it represents our vision for the future.