Brown Bear washes 26,000 autos for free

Over 26,000 autos left Brown Bear Car Washes August 25, 2011 in sparkling condition as the Seattle-based company celebrated its 54th anniversary by offering free car washes.

Brown Bear Car Washes provided 26,523 free "Bear Essential" car washes over 12 hours at 20 tunnel locations, including the one on Aurora in Shoreline, bringing the total to 132,163 over the past six years.

Brown Bear founder and owner Vic Odermat said each location averaged 111 washes per hour over a 12-hour period with no mechanical failures.

"The pace was fast and furious and it's a tribute to our team that we were able to serve so many customers," said Odermat. "It's our way of saying thank you to the communities we serve, and hopefully we introduced new customers to the kind of service and value we deliver year round."