Colonial Chevrolet was founded in 1930 by Pretow Darden in downtown Norfolk and has since grown to become the number one Chevrolet dealer in Tidewater for over 20 years. Darden, a former Mayor of Norfolk and Uncle of a Governor of Virginia, founded the dealership on Colonial Avenue in Norfolk and in 1968 moved the dealership to it's present location on Virginia Beach Boulevard. Joshua Darden Jr. joined the company in 1960 and formed Colonial Auto Group. Darden quickly lead the Chevrolet dealership to be the 43rd largest Chevrolet in the country (among 4500 dealer nationally), by sales volume. In 1994, founding owner Rick Hendrick of Hendrick Automotive, joined Colonial Chevrolet in a joint ownership deal with Darden, to later add Colonial Chevrolet to one of his 65 dealerships in 10 states from North Carolina to California.