How Accessible NJ Dealerships Customize Cars for People With Disabilities

These specialized dealers modify cars and vans with wheelchair ramps as well as hand controls for gas and brakes.

two women in front of a white van
From left: Danielle and Nicole Bryson at FTMobility in Saddle Brook Photo: Courtesy of FTMobility

For Nicole Bryson, getting into the niche business of making vehicles accessible for those with disabilities was a happy accident. In 2006, when she was 21 and trying to make ends meet as a cheerleader for the New York Jets, she began working for FTMobility, a car dealership in Saddle Brook that sells and rents modified vans.

The first one she sold made a lasting impact. The customer’s wife had suffered a traumatic brain injury, and he needed to get her to and from her therapies. He bought a modified Toyota Sienna, and, a couple of weeks later, when he returned for his license plates, Bryson asked how he liked the van. “His eyes welled up,” she recalls. “He told me that he and his wife had gone to their favorite restaurant, something he’d never imagined they’d ever do again.”

For the next six years, Bryson worked at the dealership during the day and then as cheerleading captain of the Jets Flight Crew afterwards, often not returning home until midnight. It was a small shop, with only her former boss, Al Ackerman, his wife, and a mechanic.

In 2018, Ackerman retired, and Bryson bought FTMobility. There are now 12 employees, including Bryson’s mother, who’s the bookkeeper, and her sister Danielle, the general manager.

“Mainstream car dealerships usually don’t sell modified vans,” she says. “If you’re looking to purchase or rent one, you need to visit one of the specialized dealers in the state, who make the adaptations.”

Another of these dealerships is Drive Master in Fairfield. Founded in 1952 by Alan Ruprecht after he became disabled from polio as an adult, the store is now run by Alan’s son Peter, along with members of the family’s fourth generation.

Accessible dealerships sell a variety of modified vehicles, including those with ramps that allow a passenger to enter the vehicle in a wheelchair without transferring to a seat. They also can add hand controls for gas and brakes, which ensures that some people with disabilities can be in the driver’s seat.

“Many of our customers work and have kids,” says Bryson. “They can’t be held back by their disabilities.”

[RELATED: Inclusive and Accessible Playgrounds in New Jersey]


No one knows New Jersey like we do. Sign up for one of our free newsletters here. Want a print magazine mailed to you? Purchase an issue from our online store.

Read more News articles.