Jessup Auto Plaza was born from early business necessity during the Great Depression. In 1936, Edgar L. McCoubrey and Charles “Woody” Dutton partnered to buy an Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and GMC dealership in Riverside, California. Seeking out opportunities in difficult times, McCoubrey began driving Cadillacs down to Palm Springs to showcase them at La Plaza—the desert’s premier business center.

That initiative laid the groundwork for expansion. On January 1, 1938, Plaza Motors officially opened its doors, coinciding with the exact year the City of Palm Springs incorporated. The dealership proudly served the desert community from La Plaza until moving to 290 North Indian Canyon Drive in 1954.

It was at this Indian Canyon facility that Andrew Jessup married Charles Dutton’s daughter, Diane, initiating a new generation in the family automotive business. Growth continued steadily over the next four decades. By 1996, expansion prompted a transition to our current 13-acre property along Highway 111 in Cathedral City—placing us right at the geographical heart of the Coachella Valley.

On July 4, 2001, the team completed the cross-valley relocation to an 80,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art campus, christening the facility under its current name: Jessup Auto Plaza. This title combined the family name while honoring our historic La Plaza and Plaza Motors roots. Landmark additions followed, including the long-awaited acquisition of Chevrolet in 2008, fulfilling a family dream generations in the making.

Now managed by the third generation of the Jessup family, we remain deeply dedicated to community involvement, local leadership, and grassroots customer service. We look forward to serving your automotive needs for many generations to come.