Norman Norm Sherman, founder and president of Norm’s Used Cars, is flanked by his wife and company Vice President Beverly Needham (left) and daughter and dealership Office Manager Katie Johnson. Sherman, who was raised in Wiscasset, founded Norm’s Used Cars alongside his mother and father in 1977 and has continued to operate the dealership as a family business ever since. (Molly Rains photo)
Norm’s Used Cars is well known to most Maine drivers – the business features in radio spots, bumper decals, and license plate frames across the state. Less in the spotlight, though, is the businessman at the helm of the dealership: Norman “Norm” Sherman, a lifelong Lincoln County resident whose life has been shaped by a quiet commitment to his family and the greater Wiscasset community.
Now a resident of Westport Island, Sherman was raised in Wiscasset. He attended local schools before graduating in the Wiscasset High School class of 1977.
In those days, Wiscasset was busy and a “very nice” place to grow up, Sherman said. His graduating class numbered about 77, a far cry from the much smaller senior classes the school – now Wiscasset Middle High School – of recent years, which have hovered around 25 or so students.
Sherman has been mechanically inclined since childhood, when his father, Kenneth Sherman, taught him how to repair cars. Neither of Sherman’s two siblings shared his passion for automotive work, so car work was something that he did with his father.
“We always worked on cars and race cars,” he said.
Norman Sherman also raced competitively.
“We were always involved with Wiscasset Speedway, it was right up the road,” he said.
Sherman continued racing after graduating from high school and during the early days of his car dealing career. He was ultimately inducted into the Wiscasset Speedway Hall of Fame in 2022 for his accomplishments as a driver, owner, and sponsor.
“I did do well racing,” he said.
However, in 1987, Sherman, then a young father, decided that he would have to stop driving in races in order to focus on growing his business. He remained involved as a speedway sponsor and today Sherman continues to assist his son, Kevin Sherman, in racing, continuing the multigenerational family legacy. Kevin Sherman’s children – Norman Sherman’s grandchildren – attend the races, watching from the crowd in excitement.
Races are always a big affair, with food and reunions with old friends, Sherman said.
“We have a lot of friends in the racing community, and now it’s become a family,” he said.
Sherman’s career as the founder and president of Norm’s Used Cars also has its origins in his and his father’s shared love of vehicles. He and Kenneth Sherman went into business together in 1977, opening the side-by-side businesses Ken’s Auto Body and Norm’s Used Cars on West Alna Road. Marion Sherman, Norman Sherman’s mother, was also involved from the start as bookkeeper for each company, a role she would hold for about a decade.
Sherman’s dealership aspirations started modestly, he said. When the business opened in 1977, he had about $600 in his bank account and three cars.
“And two of (the cars) were mine,” he laughed.
At the time, 18-year-old Sherman was the youngest used car dealer in Maine, he said.
Sherman was motivated to prove that used car salesmen could be honest and do right by their customers.
“Back then, used car dealers had a really bad name,” he said. “I wanted to try to do things right and feel good about the business.”
By looking over every car with care, selling trusted brands, building a team of qualified technicians, and striving to treat customers with respect, Sherman said he felt he’d accomplished what he set out to do nearly 50 years ago.
He has also grown the business in scale since opening with just three cars on the lot. Today, Norm’s sells about 600 cars a year.
Despite a couple of opportunities arising over the years to get into the new car business, Sherman said he was never interested. By selling used cars, Sherman said, he ensures that he can do business on his own terms rather than according to terms set by the manufacturer.
“I didn’t like to be told what to do,” he said.
In a photo taken circa 1980, Norman Norm Sherman, of Norm’s Used Cars, stands outside his Wiscasset dealership. Sherman founded the business alongside his mother, Marion Sherman, and father, Kenneth Sherman, who operated Ken’s Auto Body, in 1977 on West Alna Road before moving to his current Route 1 location. (Photo courtesy Norm Sherman)
Sherman hopes to continue to grow Norm’s Used Cars moderately over the coming years. The business has plans to expand into neighboring lots.
Kenneth Sherman passed away in 2008 after retiring from the automotive business, but Norm’s Used Cars remains a family business, Norman Sherman said. Beverly Needham, Norman Sherman’s wife, is the company’s vice president, while Sherman’s daughter, Katie Johnson, is the office manager.
Elsewhere among the business’s roster of 26 employees, other families are represented with multiple generations, a point of pride for Sherman.
“We have a lot of other people that have brought their families in, too,” he said.
Sherman and Needham are also enthusiastic about their role as Wiscasset business owners and investors. Since the early 2000s, the couple has bought other commercial properties along the stretch of Route 1 that runs through town, renovating them before leasing or selling them to new businesses.
These include 646 Bath Road, now home to Atlantic Motorcar Center; 506 Bath Road, now the location of Maine Tasting Center at; 690 Bath Road, where Barnhouse Grill and Pub now sits; 762 Bath Road, where Charm Thai is now located; and others.
He enjoys the process of fixing up deteriorating buildings and, on some buildings, has taken on much of the work himself.
Sherman and Needham have plans for future renovations and real estate projects also along the Route 1 corridor, he said.
“We like working with the town of Wiscasset,” said Sherman, adding that he is proud to have a good working relationship with Town Manager Dennis Simmons, Economic Development Director Aaron Christowsky, and Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission Executive Director Emily Rabbe.
Alongside his family and employees, Sherman continues to be involved in the day-to-day operations at Norm’s Used Cars. He and Needham also enjoy snowmobiling and boating in the Westport area in the summer months.
A true Wiscasset-made businessman, Sherman said he never considered leaving the area to live or do business elsewhere. The small-town lifestyle and coastal scenery make him happy, he said, and his car dealership has grown deep roots in the town.
Now with most of his family local, Sherman said he intends to keep the family business much the same as it has been for the better part of 50 years.
“We’ll continue to do what we do … answer people’s needs, and try to have the cars that people can afford,” he said.
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