Let’s visit a few Ford dealers of the past. We’ll start with this night shot of Graham Ford, in Downey CA, 1957.
Blue Ridge Motors Ford, Anderson SC, 1957.
T. Lyell Pucket, Alhambra CA.
Smail Ford Used Cars, Pleasantville NJ, 1960.
Mock’s Ford, Grant Pass OR, 1960.
Santa Anita Motors, CA.
Bushong Ford, Van Wert OH, 1963.
Mark Ford, Guilford CT, 1964.
Warrington Ford, Warrington FL, 1967.
Jordan Motors Ford, San Antonio TX, 1973.
Love the opening nighttime shot. Very timely!
+1
Young PRNDL loved the first photo and greatly enjoyed this post!
Until I read the caption, I thought the photo was Graham Ford in Columbus, Ohio. Went there several times to pick up parts for repair projects. Looked them up and was surprised to learn that they opened in 1971. Have missed their presence near downtown Columbus since they closed in 2008.
Photo lost during edit. (??)
It looks like Mustangs were very popular in Warrington, Florida.
Looks to me like the dealer had way too many and was eager to get rid of them. Mustang sales dropped very substantially inn 1967.
Such nice cars – until 1973. Yowzah! Growing up within a Ford family, it was getting harder for me to get excited about Fords. They kept getting chunkier and blowsy after 1969. Sheesh. That’s why I was so grateful for the Fox body cars showing up in 1978. Those to me, were the first appropriately sized and modern designed Fords between 1967-1978. At least regarding Ford automobiles. Thankfully, Ford always made a good truck throughout those years – not always as attractive as Chevrolet, but still a very fine vehicle.
However, in Chicagoland, pick up trucks had to be registered as work vehicles and off the streets after sundown. So I wasn’t at all acquainted with the F-150 until I was already driving. As late as 2016, Pickup owners in Chicago were required to adhere to rules reserved for big-rigs. No matter the size of the pickup, Chicago residents have had to deal with some tough policies: no parking on boulevards, permit-only parking on residential streets and a vehicle tax over double that of cars. You couldn’t even drive a F-150, or Silverado on Lake Shore Drive.
So when my uncle, who worked for Ford over 30 years, bought an F-150 for daily driving, it was quite a scandal. He had to buy a special truck license, then buy a permit, then paint the registration number on the bed of his truck, right behind the cab on both sides. He was also not permitted to park on any residential streets after sundown. How was it scandalous? The image. Trucks were dirty work vehicles, not acceptable daily family transportation. My cousins were embarrassed being taken to school in a pick up truck. My aunt wouldn’t ride in it. It was my uncle’s “work vehicle”. When he drove it to church, there was talk.
This was happening in Chicago even as the best selling vehicles were all pick up trucks. It wasn’t until after 2016 that the laws were changed regarding what is commonly accepted as a regular family vehicle. I grew up in that era, so the idea of wanting a pick up truck was just like wanting to wear bibbed overalls to a funeral. Gasp!
Were Rancheros and El Caminos treated like pickup trucks, or were they considered cars?
Glamorizing the Falcons seems like a misplaced marketing move. Falcons were selling fine without any glamor. The big Ford needed help in ’60. Lean the girls against the back fin to hide the non-Ford taillights.
The Santa Anita Ford photo, along with a number of the photos in this ongoing series, appear to have been taken from area high school or college yearbooks. As such, they represent photos of local students arrayed around the cars at the dealership, likely taken by other students or local photographers. They typically do not have the staging, lighting, and other more “professional” features of the photos taken for postcards or other promotional uses. I enjoy seeing the somewhat improvised yearbook ad photos, which show the clothing and appearances of the youth of the day, as well as the other more staged shots.
Is that a bug eye MG or Triumph in the far left of the Mark Ford photo? I’m sure a young man got married and traded in the sports car for a nice Ford sedan.
Let’s hope there were no regrets…in the marriage!!
Good eye –
Definitely a Triumph TR-3.
Another distraction:
4th photo from top:
Front left fender of a Volvo 544, behind 2-dr.1960 Ford wagon.
The Volvo is making a statement:
“Suddenly it’s 1948! 😎
“Small Ford Used Cars, Pleasantville NJ”.
I think the sign on the building says “Smail Ford”, no?
Yes, but it is also small!
That’s a good catch. I was thinking that “Small” was kind of an arbitrary distinction around what type of used cars to sell 🙂
Yeap, it’s a typo. It’s fixed now. It was just a ‘smail’ mistake.
The Ranch Wagon at the curb in Pleasantville, NJ caught my eye. Very attractive.
Wouldn’t you just love to live in a town called Pleasantville?
A Blue Ridge Ford Ranger dealer-installed package, might have been an interesting regional offering. Featuring John Fogarty’s ‘Jambalaya’ in TV and radio commercials.
Graham Ford in the first pic is beautifully styled, except for the oversized, and garish-looking ‘Ford’ typography. Otherwise, a very attractively presented dealership.
Love the Ranchero at Mock’s Ford, whitewalls, spinner caps, somebody’s pride and joy.
This is the Smail Ford site today. The brick building (I presume the new car showroom) is still standing, though the brick has been covered up and the building’s details are gone. The building’s current tenant is a flooring company. The converted house that served as the used car building is gone, though the house next door is still standing.
https://goo.gl/maps/Ps7Pv75ZuEx98KAR9
Excellent find, and genuinely heartbreaking loss of much architectural beauty.
I wonder if the used car building might have burned down or something as clearly the site was never re-developed into another use (like the new car showroom was), and they never could or did get rid of the concrete apron where the used cars parked.
Oh how I miss the days, before enforced corporate design, when different dealers looked different. Love that pix of Graham Ford.
I love the ’57 Fords, the entire line looks great to me .
Cool photos all ’round IMO .
-Nate
Wonder how Mark Ford got the car in the showroom. Hardly worth the trouble for just one.
The “Datsun dealer” in my hometown fit two cars; was a tight fit.
Wow, Bushong Ford!! My father got both his 70 Mark III and his 72 Mark IV from Bushong, that was also selling Lincoln and Mercury by the late 60’s. He may have gotten his 69 LTD there too. Clark Bushong was a friend of Dad’s during that period of time. Dad lived about halfway between Van Wert, Ohio and Fort Wayne, Indiana. He worked in Fort Wayne, so Bushong must have treated him well to go to the complete opposite direction for his car. I remember a few trips there for service and such.