In 1961, after serving in the army, Joe Nicolai began his first business venture in Hawaii. He leased a dirt lot at 1212 Ala Moana Boulevard and built his business from the ground up. Nicolai, the son of an Italian auto craftsman-technician, was a car and motorcycle racer who had also won distinction as the top West Coast salesman at Ford Motor Co., and he used his skills and expertise to build an enterprise.

By foregoing luxuries like having a home, working 18-hour days, and hitting the airwaves with Honolulu's first used-car TV commercials, the budding entrepreneur resolved to make a dent in the then low-key car-buying town. "It was kind of a Sleepy Hollow," Nicolai says, "I was prepared to work hard and sacrifice a lot more than what I felt the dealers at the time were doing."

Nicolai's businesses include car franchises for Alfa Romeo, Audi, Bentley, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Genesis, Hyundai, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Land Rover, Lincoln, Lotus, Maserati and Porsche; and motorcycle franchises for Aprilia, BMW, Ducati, Harley-Davidson®, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, Moto Guzzi, Piaggio, Triumph, Vespa and Yamaha.

Today, Joe's son, Brad, has taken the reins as president of JN. Under his leadership, JN continues to evolve its brand, branching out into exciting retail ventures. What started a half-century ago on a dirt lot on Ala Moana Boulevard has miraculously blossomed into one of Hawaii's most successful businesses for a new generation.