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Detroit, 1:19 AM
Sun Dec 6
8 posts in the last 24 hours

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    Glory Days: Vintage, Pre-Carpocalypse Auto Dealerships
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    Image of MushyHeirloom MushyHeirloom
    04/13/09

    In reply to Glory Days: Vintage, Pre-Carpocalypse Auto Dealerships
    There's gotta be a mile of cars there.
     Reply
    MushyHeirloom was starred MushyHeirloom was unstarred
    Image of Schm, enjoying his first desert winter. . Schm, enjoying his first desert winter. .
    04/13/09

    In reply to Glory Days: Vintage, Pre-Carpocalypse Auto Dealerships
    Oh, back in the day when a foreign car was a rare sigh. I'm ok with the large number of foreign cars in America, but I long for the time when to see a foreign car was somewhat rare, and that to see something like a Jaguar or a Mercedes was an event.
     Reply
    Schm, enjoying his first desert winter. . was starred Schm, enjoying his first desert winter. . was unstarred
    Image of DoctorNine DoctorNine
    04/13/09

    In reply to Glory Days: Vintage, Pre-Carpocalypse Auto Dealerships
    Wow. I would absolutely LOVE to be able to waltz into a Pontiac dealership, and see a brand spanking new 1964 Tempest convertible, and drive away in it, that day. This is the kind of thing that I dream about. Regularly. Then I wake up, and see the sad state of our manufacturing economy in the US, and I resign myself to restoring old examples of these GM classics, which are rarer and rarer. Ahh... c'est la vie.
     Reply
    DoctorNine was starred DoctorNine was unstarred
    Image of brandegee brandegee
    04/13/09

    In reply to Glory Days: Vintage, Pre-Carpocalypse Auto Dealerships
    Makes me wish I had a photo of Jose Motors, the AMC dealership in Augusta, ME. Family got a couple of Cherokees there.
     Reply
    brandegee was starred brandegee was unstarred
    Image of Armand Armand
    04/13/09

    In reply to Glory Days: Vintage, Pre-Carpocalypse Auto Dealerships
    Where's Finzio's Sinclair?
     Reply
    Armand was starred Armand was unstarred
    Image of sos10 sos10
    04/13/09

    In reply to Glory Days: Vintage, Pre-Carpocalypse Auto Dealerships
    This one is missing:
     Reply
    sos10 was starred sos10 was unstarred
    Image of sos10 sos10
    04/13/09

    In reply to Glory Days: Vintage, Pre-Carpocalypse Auto Dealerships
    The recently destroyed a nice vintage Cadillac dealership on Wilshire in L.A., the new building will become BMW... sign of the times I suppose.
     Reply
    sos10 was starred sos10 was unstarred
    Image of Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face.
    04/13/09

    In reply to Glory Days: Vintage, Pre-Carpocalypse Auto Dealerships
    Miller Motors, Ypsilanti MI circa 1946:


    And today:


    {please work, please work, please work]

     Reply
    Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. was starred Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. was unstarred
    Image of junkman junkman
    04/13/09

    @Mike the Dog will work for a Preview Button!: Definitely one of the coolest car places in the world. Every true Jalop should make the trek to Ypsi at least once in their life. Thanks for posting!
     Reply
    junkman was starred junkman was unstarred
    Image of Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face.
    04/13/09

    @junkman: I thought you might appreciate it. Hey, FWIW, I found the messages, check yours.
     Reply
    Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. was starred Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. was unstarred
    Image of If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face
    04/13/09

    In reply to Glory Days: Vintage, Pre-Carpocalypse Auto Dealerships
    Grand Spaulding Dodge, Royal Pontiac, Yenko Chevrolet and Baldwin Chevrolet are all here. Plus a 70's AMC dealer. And a Datsun dealer!


    Is this still Murilopnik? Meh, I saw what I came here for.


    /Leaves contented.

     Reply
    If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face was starred If FromaBuick6 has to watch one more Chevy commercial, he's going to punch Howie Long in the face was unstarred
    Image of junkman junkman
    04/13/09

    In reply to Glory Days: Vintage, Pre-Carpocalypse Auto Dealerships
    This is a great post. Hemmings Blog has been doing a series of lost AMC dealerships for those of us with that affliction.
     Reply
    junkman was starred junkman was unstarred
    Image of citroën67 citroën67
    04/13/09

    In reply to Glory Days: Vintage, Pre-Carpocalypse Auto Dealerships
    I wouls give anything to be able to go back in time and see Red Dellinger's Citroen dealership that he had built somewhere near Mechanicsburg, PA. He had told me that in the mid 80's he actually sold brand new Citroens!
     Reply
    citroën67 was starred citroën67 was unstarred
    Image of junkman junkman
    04/13/09

    @citroën67 now with 67% more citroën!: I remember Red's place. It was the highlight of my Hershey trips.
     Reply
    junkman was starred junkman was unstarred
    Image of Armand Armand
    04/13/09

    @citroën67 now with 67% more citroën!: I'll never forget going to the Peugeot dealership with my parents when I was young... and when we had a 505 Turbo, we had to go pretty regularly. There was always at least one shiny new French car (the dealer even sent us a postcard when they got their first 405-- by that time, though, ze Germans had introduced my dad to BMWs, so we steered clear) but my favorite part was out back. The dealership had its own junkyard filled with parts cars--yes, even when they were still importing French cars, savvy mechanics had parts cars on hand "just in case"-- and while Dad argued with the service people Mom would walk with me through the field of DSs, 404s, 504s and a lone 2CV.
     Reply
    Armand was starred Armand was unstarred
    Image of Novaload Novaload
    04/13/09

    In reply to Glory Days: Vintage, Pre-Carpocalypse Auto Dealerships
    Wow, that was painful but wonderful at the same time!

    I was around for some of those and I do remember feeling like a kid in a candy store.

    I think the "Modern" dealer one is probably the most representative of a certain era...you need a big showroom for those showboats!
     Reply
    Novaload was starred Novaload was unstarred
    Image of engineerd engineerd
    04/13/09

    In reply to Glory Days: Vintage, Pre-Carpocalypse Auto Dealerships
    Great gallery of car galleries, TAI. Reminds me of a time I never knew.
     Reply
    engineerd was starred engineerd was unstarred
    Image of AlfaCharger AlfaCharger
    04/13/09

    In reply to Glory Days: Vintage, Pre-Carpocalypse Auto Dealerships
    The old Hudson Dealer in Bellingham, MA.


    Still open as Bellingham Auto Sales.


    [www.bellinghamautosales.com]

     Reply
    AlfaCharger was starred AlfaCharger was unstarred
    Image of Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face.
    04/13/09

    @AlfaCharger: I wonder if Jack Miller knows about these guys? It was a real start to see the same Hudson sign on a different building.
     Reply
    Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. was starred Mike the Dog is sitting by the door with a pair of cow slippers, and a very sad face. was unstarred
    Image of PatFromGundo PatFromGundo
    04/13/09

    In reply to Glory Days: Vintage, Pre-Carpocalypse Auto Dealerships
    One of my fellow L.A.-area commenters is welcome to correct me on this if I'm wrong: a few months back, our city government was pressing to have the giant Felix The Cat sign that towers over Felix Chevrolet downtown designated as a historical landmark. Surprisingly (or not) the current custodians of Felix Chevy said "Thanks but no thanks," claiming that they should not be hindered from updating their signage to meet modern marketing demands. Ordinarily, I'd agree with the private business owners, but seeing as how the Los Angeles concept of history extends back about as far as yesterday afternoon, in this instance I say "Fuck 'em. Save the Cat!"


    /soapbox dismounted

     Reply
    PatFromGundo was starred PatFromGundo was unstarred
    Image of Graverobber Graverobber
    04/13/09

    @ThrustMcNuttsaqqFromGundo: There used to be a signage graveyard next to the 110 Fwy, north of downtown. I think it was replaced sometime in the late '90s by one of the Gold Line park-and-ride stations, but I could be wrong. I remember, growing up, passing by that place year after year and seeing the signs of businesses that had gone under, it was kind of a time machine in that way. There were a lot of car dealership signs in there back in the '80s and early '90s as a lot of dealerships closed, or moved out to freeway rows in Duarte and Covina.


    I bought a Sprint from Felix back in 1986, based on an ad I had seen in the LA Times. I had to take it back there for service once, and they tried to rip me off, so never again.


    I'm still amazed at the number of dealerships that seem to somehow survive in downtown LA. Who the hell would drive to Fig & Washington to buy a car?

     Reply
    Graverobber was starred Graverobber was unstarred
    Image of DoctorNine DoctorNine
    04/13/09

    @ThrustMcNuttsaqqFromGundo: Well said.
     Reply
    DoctorNine was starred DoctorNine was unstarred
    Image of PatFromGundo PatFromGundo
    04/13/09

    @Graverobber: That sign graveyard is mentioned in a book I have on Googie architecture; I think it lists its current location as somewhere in the Valley. I'll look it up when I get home this evening and post confirmation here later.


    And I'm with you on the mystifying abundance of downtown dealerships, particularly the MB, Porsche, and Audi venues.

     Reply
    PatFromGundo was starred PatFromGundo was unstarred
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