Don McCullagh, founder and former president of McCullagh Leasing, became interested in the leasing business when he was a young man in Lansing, Mich. During the early 1930s McCullagh would buy used cars and put them up for sale in his front yard. Then in 1940, he bought his own Chrysler/Plymouth dealership and sold it in 1944 to buy a Lincoln-Mercury dealership. Soon after that, McCullagh's son Jack began working with his father.
They sold the dealership in 1949 and moved to Detroit to purchase a Chevrolet dealership. The following year, they started leasing cars to individuals. At that time, Don McCullagh focused on the Chevrolet dealership while his son concentrated on their leasing endeavor, McCullagh Leasing.
In 1956 they sold the Chevrolet dealership and put all of their energies into McCullagh Leasing.
The company really got off the ground when it signed with Dow Chemical Company in 1957.
McCullagh Leasing was sold to Commercial Credit Company in 1966 and Don McCullagh was named chairman, a title he held until his retirement in 1970.
McCullagh passed away in 1973.
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