Kjell Qvale
| Kjell Qvale | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 17, 1919 Trondheim, Norway |
| Died | November 2, 2013 (aged 94) San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, Thoroughbred race horse breeder |
| Children | Jeff, Bruce |
Kjell Qvale (July 7, 1919 – November 2, 2013) was a Norwegian-American business executive. Qvale was one of the key figures in the creation of the Jensen-Healey. Qvale became the first distributor for Jaguar on the Pacific West Coast. Qvale was one of the founders of the San Francisco Auto Show and the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. He was credited with the concept of the Corkscrew signature corner of Laguna Seca.
Kjell Qvale was born in Trondhjem, Norway, and was the son of a Norwegian sea captain. He moved to the United States in 1929. Qvale attended the University of Washington and was a U.S. Navy pilot during World War II.
On a trip to New Orleans, Qvale saw an MG TC, an English sports car made by Morris Garages. He decided to import MG cars into the United States, believing that since he found the car so appealing other people would too. He established a business near San Francisco and diversified by adding other car brands including Austin, Morris, Jaguar, and Rolls Royce. The business traded under the name 'British Motor Car Distributors'. Later Qvale further diversified his business interests by importing non-British brands including Volkswagen (exclusive distributor of the first Volkswagens in the Western United States ), Porsche, De Tomaso, Maserati and Lamborghini. For a brief period Qvale moved into car manufacturing by acquiring a significant stake in Jensen Motors.
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