(CLAIR | Simi Valley, CA) — In the late 1960s, a baby elephant named Dolly became an unlikely landmark in Simi Valley. She wasn’t at a zoo or a circus—she lived at Bob’s Tire Center on Los Angeles Avenue. Her owner, Bob Nance, saw her as both a pet and a marketing attraction. But as Dolly grew, so did concerns from the county, leading to a battle that captured our town’s attention.
Bob Nance opened Bob’s Tire Center in 1966. He had a knack for promotion, and in July 1967, he took it to a new level. He purchased Dolly, a three-year-old elephant, from Jungleland in Thousand Oaks, a now-closed wildlife park. The young elephant became a familiar sight at the shop, drawing customers who came as much for the tires as for the chance to see Dolly up close.
“Everyone loved her,” Nance said in a later interview. “Kids would come by, and she’d let them pet her.”
But not all interactions were as smooth. In August 1967, six-year-old Tami Michaels had a close encounter when Dolly playfully wrapped her trunk around the girl, lifted her off the ground, and dropped her into a puddle of mud. She was bruised but otherwise unharmed. The incident made local headlines and caught the attention of county officials.
By early 1968, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors had taken notice. While Nance argued that Dolly was a local attraction and well cared for, zoning laws didn’t allow wild animals in commercial areas. Community members, including local business owners and schoolchildren who signed a petition, rallied behind him.
For a moment, it seemed like Nance had won. The supervisors initially voted 3-2 in favor of letting Dolly stay. But on a final roll call, one supervisor changed his vote, sealing Dolly’s fate. She had to leave.
“I don’t get it,” Nance said at the time. “Nobody’s unhappy about Dolly except them.”
That same year, the county began working on stricter regulations for keeping wild animals in commercial areas, effectively closing the door on any future attempts to house large exotic animals in businesses like Bob’s Tires.
Dolly was relocated, and her later years are unclear, but she may have ended up in Hollywood, where trained elephants were often used in films. But Nance wasn’t done with elephants.
In the 1970s, he obtained another baby elephant, Fluffy. This time, he found a way around the county’s restrictions. By frequently moving Fluffy between his home and the shop, he avoided having the elephant in one place long enough to be cited. Eventually, Fluffy was rehomed with trainer Carol Buckley and became known as Tarra, an elephant who later found a permanent home at an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee.
As Simi Valley grew, so did regulations. Nance, who had seven children, decided it was time for a change. In 1985, he moved his business to Red Bluff, a small Northern California town. There, he continued running his tire shop, this time with a collection of parrots, turtles, and even a Siberian tiger. But as California laws on exotic animals tightened, he had to give up his larger animals.
Even after retiring, Nance still visited the tire shop daily, which his son, Lance, now runs. Inside, Polaroid photos of Dolly and Fluffy still hang behind the counter, reminders of a time when a trip to a tire shop in Simi Valley meant more than just fixing a flat.
A Local Legend
Bob’s Tire Center is long gone from Simi Valley, and today, there’s little sign that an elephant once lived there. But for those who remember, it’s a story that stands out—a time when a baby elephant made a tire shop one of the most talked-about spots in town.
For Nance, it was always about more than business. “I just liked animals,” he once said. “And people liked coming to see them.”
