Art & Inspiration vintage car dealership photo thread

Hello,

The City of Long Beach, CA has a lot of historic buildings. One in particular was an old “classic moderne” design building on American Avenue, now called Long Beach Boulevard. This old building was once the home to Glenn E. Thomas Dodge back in the very old days.

After the 1933 earthquake and the redesign of the building, Glenn E. Thomas took the Deco over the top with neon trimming while pushing the latest Dodge autos. Its asymmetrical Streamline Moderne façade was built following the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake.

"Car dealers made great use of the building as a showroom both before and after the quake. Early tenants included E.W. Hillnger offering a Demot 2-cylinder horseless carriage for $650 in 1910. The Bush Bros. peddled Paige, Oldsmobile and Chevrolet models in 1916. Cowden & Marti sold Chevy roadsters in 1918 for $825."

Jnaki

Our history with the building was when it became the famous Long Beach used/old book store called ACRES OF BOOKS. It has its own history and almost a block long building filled to the brim with books, old mostly and some new. As college students and later on, my wife and I perused the tons of books in the stacks.

But, it is/was famous for its ability to know where every book, in every style, is located. Some were rather valuable historic books, too. That store, also, went away as the redevelopment of the whole downtown area was given full swing with bidding to recreate a new/old look.

That has somewhat stalled and these are what is left of the historic area. (and the old Glenn E. Thomas Dodge showroom.)

Glenn E. Thomas dodge has since become one of the largest Dodge Dealers in So Cal. (in another location)

 

Early Ford Store San Dimas Ca. Still there still Ford Parts Supplier.

 

That's^^^^^very cool.....

 

These are recent photos of the Studebaker building in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. This used to be the fourth largest Studebaker dealership in the country.

 

Courtesy Chevrolet, Phoenix, AZ. 50's and 60's. View attachment 4806461 View attachment 4806461 View attachment 4806462 View attachment 4806462 View attachment 4806461 View attachment 4806462 View attachment 4806461

 

Another one from my home town Rehbein motors Dodge/Plymouth



At one time Grand Gorge a town of 700 people had three new car dealers, plus a new farm machinery dealer, and a new home appliance shop!

 

Opened 1953 , closed

 

Seems like dealerships had more style back in the day.

 

Oldest building built as a Ford dealership in the U.S. and still functioning as such, circa 1916, Marshall, VA

 

The Art Deco inspired buildings are beyond what the current manufacturer required look is.

 

I'm enjoying looking at the old dealerships immensely, but not just the buildings. The inside decor, the cars, the way people are dressed (staff and clients/public), the way the spare parts departments are set out, the old packaging, and as much as anything the old style signs. Not just the neons, the simple, no fuss, easy to read design and layout of the regular signs. As my old boss would had commented "pictures from a better time, back when cars had chrome bumpers and women dressed like ladies etc, etc".

 

These are all ones I've acquired over the years.

 

S.L. Savidge Seattle WA. My folks bought several Chrysler/Plymouth cars and Dodge trucks from this dealership. Surprisingly enough the building still stands in the this ever changing city.

 

Halmstad, Sweden 1925. Source: Digitaltmuseum.se

 

I love old dealership photos and have a photo file dedicated to them, a lot has already showed up in this thread. The one that is closest to me though is my own shop. My building is old but from three different eras. The oldest part was built in 1907 using salvaged brick from the SF earthquake. The second part was built about 1922 but the last part, the newest, was added in 1952 when the building became a Cadillac Pontiac dealership. The back was made into a shop with center post air over hydraulic lifts and a paint booth. Cars were sold and serviced till about 1974 when the building went empty till 1976 when it was purchased by my old boss for $56k and turned into a NAPA parts store and machine shop. I've been here since 1985.

 

Don: do you know where the Hudson dealership was located? My friend Ed Moore in Bellingham MA still has a dealership that was his dads and loves this picture.