George Kendall Moss, founding partner of Rallye Motors on Long Island, died on Tuesday, Aug. 6. He was 95.
Moss died from natural causes with his family at his home in East Hampton, according to a press release from the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, a trade and advocacy organization for franchised new car dealers, of which Rallye Motors is a long-time member.
“He has always had great curiosity and a ‘do it now’ approach to life,” said the press release.
Moss, along with his partners John Colgate and Peter Terian, founded the luxury automotive group Rallye Motor Company, from which they sold cars ranging from Acura, BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz.
The release said the company grew as a “family-spirited company,” forming connections and selling vehicles from numerous foreign manufacturers, the first of which was Maserati racing cars.
After growing too large for its Sea Cliff facility, Rallye moved to Glen Cove to expand its horizons, garnering more name brands under its scope, representing Porsche, Peugeot, Saab, DKW, and Rolls-Royce.
In 1987, Rallye moved to Roslyn, where they built a custom-designed facility for Mercedes-Benz and BMW. In 1989, Rallye was one of 70 dealerships from over 1,700 franchise applications in the United States to be granted the opportunity to open a Lexus dealership. The facility in Glen Cove was then renovated to accommodate and represent Lexus.
Rallye Motors is now led by its CEO, Julianna Terian, the wife of the deceased Peter Terian, who founded the company with George Moss.
Moss was born in New York City on July 23, 1930, and from a young age, he has always had an invigorating desire to expand his skills.
He got his pilot’s license at the age of 13 while attending boarding school at Choate Rosemary Hall. He exercised his flying skills over the years with various fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, leading to his working during summers at Grumman in Long Island, where aircraft were tested and manufactured, some of which were used by the U.S. Navy during WWII.
Moss had served in the U.S. Army and worked in the Pentagon’s aviation research unit for three years. The unit developed the Huey Helicopter, formerly known as Bell UH-1 Iroquois, a turbine-powered utility military helicopter during the Vietnam War. Following his service, Moss spent eight years in the reserves.
In 1956, Moss started his family, marrying Barbara Anne Buck, with whom he had his two sons. In 1972, he married Joyce Kemper Leonard. They lived in New York City, North Haven and Maine.
Moss is survived by his two sons, George Farrell Moss and Richard Buck Moss, his two grandsons, George Buck Moss and Oliver Farrell Moss, and his wife of 53 years, Joyce Leonard Moss.
A celebration of his life is currently being planned for October.
The press release states that in lieu of flowers, those wanting to pay respects to Moss could consider donating to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Imaging Lab, a non-profit oceanographic research organization where Moss was a life trustee.
