Vintage dealerships

According to the Archives de la Ville de Montréal, in the early-1960s photographers who worked for the City took photos along both sides Décarie Boulevard, which is a little more than four miles long and located about two miles west of the center of the Metropolis.



The lead photo contains the Greenwood dealership on the left-hand side that handled the Skoda, which is manufactured in the Czech Republic. On the right-hand side of the picture is the Blais dealership that sold the Rambler and the Metropolitan compact.

The second and third images (below) are of Trans-Island Motors, a Dodge and Chrysler Used Car & Truck sales lot. A 1961 Dodge Dart is visible on a platform on the corner of the lot that may indicate the photos were taken that year.


Courtesy of The Old Motor.

 

We return to Mitchell Motors Oldsmobile with another set of images that date from 1962 to ’70 of the new car dealership located on West Peach Tree St. (auto Row) in Atlanta, Georgia.

This image was taken in November of 1960 and includes a new 1961 full-sized Oldsmobile and a banner on the showroom window touting the 1962 F85. Included in the F85 line up was the new Olds Jetfire hardtop equipped with a turbocharged 215 c.i. “Turbo-Rocket” engine. This addition was significant because it was the first production car sold in the US equipped with a turbo.


Courtesy of The Old Motor.

 

A group of women and 1962 Olds hardtops photographed in front of Mitchell Motors on May 5, 1962 for some sort of a promotion.

Courtesy of The Old Motor

 

Four full-sized Oldsmobile four door hardtops in front of the Dealership onSeptember 31, 1965.

Courtesy of The Old Motor.

 

The “71 Olds Is Here” banners and new 71 models in the showroom on October 9, 1970. It appears Mitchell Motors also handled the Rolls Royce at this time, note the sign on the left rear corner of the building.
Clearly the exterior of the dealership has had an overhaul. I think I prefer the way it looked before.

Courtesy of The Old Motor.

 

"'71 Olds is here! But Dr. Oldsmobile is not!"

 

I agree. It was much flashier in ‘65.

 

The Goad Motor Company began selling automobiles in the 1920s in Texas and was based in a number of different locations through the years before having this modern new car dealership building constructed at 1214 West 6th Street in Austin, Texas in the early-1950s. The lead image dating to January 8, 1952 contains a view of the used car lot and the service department behind it.



The picture below, taken five months earlier on July 31, 1951, shows the entire complex close to being finished with the showroom filled with new Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles. You can take a look back to an earlier post here with other photos of the Dealership and link to a complete history of the Company.

Courtesy of The Old Motor

 

Back in time, new car introduction day was a major event that resulted in showrooms filled with people and traffic jams caused by drivers cruising by to catch a glimpse of the new offerings. Today hardly anyone pays attention when new models are unveiled, and most trips to the local dealer are to the service department and end up with the visitors sitting in the waiting room staring at the television or their smartphone.

This scene at Capitol Chevrolet in Austin, Texas, at West 5th Street and Lamar Boulevard on October 19, 1956, shows a number of people congregated there, and the parking lot is filled. Out in front of the dealership, a salesman is taking a couple out for a test drive in a left over 1956 Chevrolet sedan. Across the street is Davis Motor Sales that apparently sold used cars. Capital Chevrolet is still operating today in a different location at 6200 Interstate Highway 35 in Austin.


Courtesy of The Old Motor

 

For a change of pace here is the impressive Stanley Porter Mercedes-Benz operation located in Cape Town, South Africa on Buitengracht St. photographed in 1961 is our focus.



Exactly how long Porter sold and serviced the Mercedes-Benz in Cape Town is not know, although a reference was found to his son Alan Porter operating the dealership after his father. Auto Union came under Daimler-Benz ownership in 1957 and at some point after that time, Porter also took on the DKW franchise.

It appears that the showroom was on the ground floor and the second and third stories contained the service department. The fourth floor was mixed-use with a rooftop parking garage and the three floors above it apparently contained the Company offices. The impressive seven-story building was capped with a rotating Mercedes “Silver Star.” A second photo of the dealership in 1963 is visible here.

 

Here's an image of Jack Henry’s Midtown Chrysler-Plymouth, which was a part of the WBAP NBC 5 Fort Worth, Texas news station collection (now KXAS) and is dated to 1962 by the source. The exact location of this dealership is not known, although WBAP served the Dallas-Fort Worth area so it is likely that it was located in one of the two cities.

I wonder if they went back two years later?
I'm digging the wagon pulling the boat.

 

I remember as a kid having to go out at night and the next day Saturday so you could see the cars in the daylight, and drink the soda, and eat hot dogs. Friday night they usually had the big spot lights and the showroom wrapped in butcher paper. I remember the Lincoln Mercury dealer had a real cougar in a cage in the showroom. When I was a kid in California I remember the Chevy dealer had the cast of Bonanza there signing photos. That was the 1966 Chevy Introduction. Today it’s hardly an occasion. They introduce the cars at various times of the year, and with so little change year over year. Who cares?

 

I had the misfortune of hatching in Michigan. Otherwise, I would have had the possibility of getting Hop Sing to sign my mom's rice steamer