History old dealership photos...picture thread

S J Denham here in town is in their original building since '45. They don't have any pics on their web page though. They have an early '50s Dodge tow truck. There are a few ex auto buildings left here, one is a higher end used car shop, another is a repair shop and higher end used cars, and one is the police station.

 

Heres one from 1939 for you chevy fans.

Steve Barcak
<DIR>Hosting 11th annual Pontiac Heaven, show, swap, drags, party and all around good time. Saturday April 4, 2009 at Speedworld near Phoenix, Az
Also hosting- 7th annual Nostalgia drags, show and swap coming Sunday April 5, 2009 to Speedworld. Phoenix, Az
</DIR>

 

How about a used car lot in Detriot? 1934

Steve Barcak
<DIR>Hosting 11th annual Pontiac Heaven, show, swap, drags, party and all around good time. Saturday April 4, 2009 at Speedworld near Phoenix, Az
Also hosting- 7th annual Nostalgia drags, show and swap coming Sunday April 5, 2009 to Speedworld. Phoenix, Az
</DIR>

 

1932 Ford....

Steve Barcak
<DIR>Hosting 11th annual Pontiac Heaven, show, swap, drags, party and all around good time. Saturday April 4, 2009 at Speedworld near Phoenix, Az
Also hosting- 7th annual Nostalgia drags, show and swap coming Sunday April 5, 2009 to Speedworld. Phoenix, Az
</DIR>

 

Packer Pontiac during WWII 1943....

Steve Barcak
<DIR>Hosting 11th annual Pontiac Heaven, show, swap, drags, party and all around good time. Saturday April 4, 2009 at Speedworld near Phoenix, Az
Also hosting- 7th annual Nostalgia drags, show and swap coming Sunday April 5, 2009 to Speedworld. Phoenix, Az
</DIR>

 

Back in 1964 a friend and I were driving thru a small town in Texas when I saw a white Rambler behind us with a red light in his grille, we had a good laugh until we realized it was a for real cop and he was stopping us.....and let tell ya this guy was huge!

 

By the way Studebaker came out with a V8 (233 CID) in 1951 and they were pretty fast..... Just an FYI!

 

Damn the good ol' days

 

Try this...

http://flickr.com/groups/69191115@N00/pool/

 

Here are a few more...


Steve Barcak
www.pontiacheaven.org
<DIR>Hosting 11th annual Pontiac Heaven, show, swap, drags, party and all around good time. Saturday April 4, 2009 at Speedworld near Phoenix, Az
Also hosting- 7th annual Nostalgia drags, show and swap coming Sunday April 5, 2009 to Speedworld. Phoenix, Az


</DIR>

 

...

 

It would sure be cool to go back and shop around at the high performance used car lot.

 

anyone have any more?

 

Man I'd love to find some of the bygone dealers by me, alas the old newspaper stuff has been destroyed.

Anyone finding Orange County NY stuuf I'd like to hear.

 

Vandergriff Chevrolet in Arlington TX

<----- is a Vandergriff

http://www.vandergriffbuilding.com/history.htm

 

I am almost embarrased to ask being a local guy, but is that building still around?

 

You should be ashamed.

The building in the pictures was on Center St, and no longer exists.

It was replaced with the incredible Rotunda that was at the corner of Division and Collins. That was the main new car showroom for decades, with other support buildings in the area. It was torn down 10-15 years ago, and replaced with a QT. Dammit. Some of the other "new" buildings exist on Collins, including the old bodyshop and the used car lot across the street.

 

Felix in the present.

 

OK. Slam coming up. Unless you were driving an 8 cylinder Roadmaster, Cadillac or Desoto, the Stude had more HP. And besides having more hp, I can tell you it handled better than Fords of the same years. I have had both. Sorry, gotta spout for a Stude when I can.

 

The Cadillac dealership in San Fran is by far and away my favorite I tried to find pics of the wood/plasterwork inside but couldn't its just freakin unbelievable it is now a theater and lucky for us its been declared a historical building and you can still see the cadillac crests in some of the wood work high ceilings beautiful classic architecture I wish they still had cadillac dealerships like that instead of the mall/craptastic prefab crap they have now

 

here is a new a newer one I found still unable to find interior shots just an incredible building!

 

These pictures make me so sad.

 

I work in an old dealership building. A former Lincoln/Mercury dealership. One of the oldest concrete structure buildings in America. They removed most of the ramp to be able to drive up to the 2nd and 3rd floors. In the bottom floor you can still see the old painted V-8 symbols under the newer paint!



There are quite a few old dealerships within a few blocks north of here. The old Packard place was across the street but was torn down a long time ago.

( I am still waiting for that tree to cross the road...)

 

You should get some shots of the V8 on the wall before it's gone.

Why would a tree cross the road!?!

 

Hi Apound,
Great thread! Sure brings back a lot of memories...Am presently trying to locate a 6x8 black and white photo that my mom has up in Kansas. It was taken about 1950 @ Moore Motor Co. in Washington, Kansas. My dad was one of the mechanics in the photo. He worked 35 years as a Olds/Chevy mechanic there... The photo is a posed shot of the all the mechanics and shop folks and a neat 1937 Chevy business coupe in the foreground..

Some of you older HAMBers may remember the dealership of Moore Motor Co. as it was involved in a major issue with GMAC back in the early 1980s.. It was a 3 generation owned dealership, and the grandson got involved in a leasing issue with GMAC to the tune of 6 million dollars owed to them. Dealership was lost and the whole story was on national news for weeks.

My dad retired before the incident came about fortunately.. When I was Scoutmaster to the 1985 National Scout Jamboree in Virginia, we were touring with the Scouts at Colonial Williamsburg and they were holding a NADA (car dealers) convention there, and in talking with some of them, they were surprised to know my knowledge and connection to Moore Motor Co.. They all had heard of it..

Anyway, I will post the photo when I get it located... Have a great day!...duane (NM Sandrail)

 

Here are a few...

 

Hey cool, the 1940 Willys came with a steering wheel AND a gear shift

 

When I was old enough to go with my dad to the dealers most of them around here were just recently in their new buildings (mid 60s) but there was a couple that stayed in the old buildings untill the end,one of the ford dealers that stayed in the old building had a 3 story building (I think) and only used a frieght elevator to get the cars up and down from the other floors. It was a strange sight to see a car on a elevator,I would of liked to seen the dealers in the 50s but I came along in 61 so I have to rely on old pictures.

 

everything had style back then. now everything is just so plain, so bland. we have no character now. what happened?