Maurice VanCoillie was born in Detroit, Michigan, on February 19, 1925, to Adiel and Rose, immigrants from Belgium, and grew up with two younger sisters, Alice and Margaret, while his family farmed at various locations in Macomb County during the 1930s and 1940s. Although he helped on the farm, he began buying, repairing, driving, and reselling used cars in his spare time, and by age 22 had traded so many automobiles that the State of Michigan required him to obtain a dealer license in 1947. In 1948, after his family moved to St. Clair Shores, he worked as a helper to his father, a brick cleaner, but decided he preferred working on cars. That same year, he rented property at 23509 Little Mack Avenue from Dr. Earl Liss and started C&M Motor Sales with a partner. The site had earlier been owned by Henry Bach in the early 1900s and was sold by the Bach family to the Dyer family in 1924; the Dyers operated Dyer's Riding Stables there from the late 1920s into the early 1950s. In 1950, Maurice was drafted into the Army and served in the Army of Occupation in Europe following World War II, where he became known as "Van," a shortened form of VanCoillie. Returning from military service in 1958, he again approached Dr. Liss about the Little Mack property, purchased it instead of renting it, and reopened his business as Van's Used Cars. Van and his wife Marge raised six children in St. Clair Shores, and all attended Lakeview High School. He remained an active member of the community, helped establish the Michigan Used Car Dealer Association, was a founding member of the St. Lawrence Knights of Columbus Council, and sponsored the Harper Charity Cruise. In 2020, at age 95, he was still actively buying and selling automobiles at 23509 Little Mack Avenue and was the oldest active used car dealer in the country.