Richard Niello Sr., patriarch of Sacramento-area car dealer family, dies at 99

If you’ve bought a car in Sacramento in the past half-century or so, there’s a decent chance you shopped at a dealership owned by the Niello family.

Now the patriarch of the Niello automobile family has died. Richard Niello Sr., who brought the company to Sacramento after its founding in San Francisco, died at home Saturday. He was 10 days shy of his 100th birthday.

“We were all hopeful he would make it to 100,” said his son Rick Niello, who is president of The Niello Co. His father had no specific health issues but “he just wore out,” he said. Niello’s brother Roger announced their father’s passing on Twitter.

Today the company is among the largest companies based in the Sacramento region, with $733 million in revenue last year, Niello said. Its holdings include 12 dealerships selling nine brands: Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover, Acura, Mini, Porsche, Volkswagen and Volvo.

The company’s story started with Rick Niello’s grandfather, Louis Niello, the son of Italian immigrants who had toiled as a chauffeur and got a job fixing cars at a Packard dealership in San Francisco.

In 1921 he was able to buy the dealership. His son Richard, after serving as an ensign in the Navy during World War II, went to work for his father at the dealership, which added the Pierce-Arrow automobile line. Eventually the son replaced the father as the head of the business.

But Richard’s fortunes changed significantly in the mid 1950s. Packard and Pierce-Arrow went out of business, and Niello had to find another line of cars to sell. That’s when he met Wes Lasher, who would become a lifelong friend. The two men forged a partnership and opened a Volkswagen dealership on J Street in Sacramento.

The two men parted amicably in the late 1950s, when Richard Niello bought a Volkswagen dealership on Fulton Avenue. He added Porsche, Audi, BMW and Acura brands before retiring in the mid 1990s and handing leadership of the company to his son Rick.

“It’s been a good run,” Rick Niello said.

Rick’s brother Roger, a former assemblyman running for a state Senate seat, is secretary of the company. His other brother David is a vice president with the company.

This story was originally published June 6, 2022 at 2:18 PM.