The Tonkin family has sold cars in the Portland area since 1966, starting with the Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo dealership that now resides in Wilsonville and is the oldest Ferrari dealership in North America, according to the company’s website. Now, Celia Tonkin and her brother, Brendan, are continuing the family business with a new Lamborghini dealership in Wilsonville.
With construction estimated to finish in mid-2026, the new dealership will be located at 25239 Southwest Parkway Avenue — up the street from the Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo dealership. Currently, the closest Lamborghini dealerships to Portland are in Bellevue, Washington and San Francisco, California, Celia said.
“(With) the nature of the property, it’s going to be just a beautiful two-and-a-half-story building right on I-5, with tons of windows. So it’ll be kind of a jewelry box of really cool cars as people drive down,” Brendan said.
Celia said Lamborghini reached out to the Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo dealership about a year and a half ago, looking to open a new location to meet demand. The dealership was one of several possible candidates to run the new Lamborghini store.
“The question ended up being, ‘Can an existing Lamborghini dealership figure out the Pacific Northwest better, or can a Pacific Northwest exotic dealership figure out Lamborghini in this location better?’” Brendan said. “I think we showed that we’ve enjoyed a good reputation and an understanding of the client base here, and that it will be pretty good for us to take on Lamborghini.”
Brendan will be the general manager of the new dealership, while Celia’s role once the dealership opens is unclear. She said she does property management for the Tonkin family and for the new dealership she is working to get the project ready by opening day.
The siblings each began working at the Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo dealership after graduating from college, which was 2019 for Brendan and 2020 for Celia. Their father owns the dealership, which sells cars from Ferrari, Maserati and recently added the Ineos Grenadier. Celia and Brendan have held various jobs at the dealership to gain experience.
“Whereas our dad and our managers still hold the control over the larger picture of running (the Ron Tonkin Gran Turismo) store, it’s this new dealership that we are getting the opportunity to really take the lead and start it from the beginning,” Celia said.
Celia said she is excited to continue the family legacy and work with her father and brother on the project.
“It’s not small, it’s a really cool thing to be able to do,” she said. Both Celia and Brendan said they enjoy sharing the love of cars with the community.
“The reason we’re here is because we love cars, and we just want people to be able to share that with,” Brendan said.
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