Today’s collection of vintage dealer postcards features a nice variety of Chevrolets in their 1960s and 1970s prime selling days. A series of images that showcase the fun signage of the era, as well as a wide variety of models to be seen. Take your time to check them out, I’m sure there’s a good deal to be made in some of the Chevys on display.
Our opening image is at Taylor Chevrolet, in Lancaster, OH.
Altman Chevy, Sarasota, FL.
Gault Chevrolet, Endicott, NY.
Madison’s Chevrolet, Scottsdale, AZ.
Best Chevrolet, Modesto, CA.
Phillips Chevrolet, Frankfort, IL.
Patterson Chevrolet, La Mirada, CA.
Roger Dean Chevrolet, Palm Beach, FL.
Bruce King Chevrolet, Lake Park, FL.
Montgomery Chevrolet, Louisville, KY.
Colonial Chevrolet, Schaumburg, IL.
Swenson Chevrolet, Westville, NJ.
What, no OK used car signage, AFAIK every chevy dealer had one
There’s an OK sign on the far-right hand side of the Best Chevrolet photo.
And several in the distant left in the Altman image, plus what appeared to be one on the left edge of the Colonial image, under the Chrysler pentastar.
Scarcely a truck to be seen. From an era in which urban and suburban Chevrolet dealers didn’t sell many trucks, or kept them off to the side.
Nice, these make me want to go car shopping……
-Nate
Gault Chevrolet is less than 2 miles from our current house (next month to change to Colorado), and their cool late ’50s building has been “updated” and now looks boring just like most of them, and they’ve added BMW to their franchise.
Colonial Chevrolet has more lawn than I have ever seen in front of a new car dealership.
The lawn actually lasted until the 1990s before being paved. Colonial Chevrolet changed ownership in 1992, and I think the paving happened shortly afterwards.
The building’s still standing, but the lawn and the faux colonial architecture are long gone:
I’m curious as to why the Colonial Chevrolet sign has two posts holding it up whereas the otherwise identical Parts-Service sign next to it has only a single post. I wonder which was cheaper to buy, and cheaper to maintain (if these have any maintenance beyond changing light bulbs).
I think the apparent sign size is an optical illusion. The two post sign looks quite a bit larger to me, but it’s further away which causes the illusion.
Two posts were standard with all GM “Mark of Dealership” make and dealership name signs. Some dealers had the auxiliary sign for “Parts-Service” or “OK Used Cars” and those smaller signs would have only 1 post.
The dealer sign was huge and at least 2x as large as the sign in foreground. Easily dwarfed the building itself.
Looks to me like they widened the road to bring the curb up to about where the signposts were. I think the architecture and large lawn made an appealing combination. Roger Dean’s in Palm Beach is a nice setup too.
I wouldn’t be surprised, golf road is 6 lanes wide today, back then it may have been narrower. I was actually just across from this spot last week getting plates, the DMV is right across the street from Ziegler Chevrolet
Yes Golf Road was 2 lanes (1 each direction) when the dealership opened in November 1971. Even when widened to 4 lanes (2 each direction) the lawn was still there and cut back. I think the grass area was finally eliminated when Golf was widened to 6 lanes total, 3 in each direction.
Actually your comment about the building still there was true until October 2025. Bob Rohrman had been operating a Kia dealer in there until 2024 when a gigantic Honda store was built directly in the open space to the west between the older building and the Hyundai dealer (nee Fireside Chrysler-Plymouth).
The showroom and offices were bulldozed, but the service area still remains, now used as a “prep” area for Schaumburg Honda.
Must’ve been ’77 new-model time in the top shot, with one of every Caprice-Impala variant in the showroom.
The white Impala looks like mine from back in the day (although mine was a 4-door; the one pictured appears to be a 2-door).
Colonial has cute architecture. Those display circles are a neat idea, resembling spotlighted areas on stage.
Swenson Chevrolet claims to have been “born in the centennial year” .
I wonder what they sold and serviced back in 1776 ?
Well….the centennial year would have been 1876. Perhaps they sold Studebaker horse-draen carriages!
The sign actually does say “bicentennial year”, which could also be interpreted to mean born in 1976.
I’d love to see a photo of a horse-drawn Studebaker dealer, or better yet, a pic from the decade-plus when they built horse-drawn wagons, gasoline-powered cars, and EVs all at the same time!
Pre-WW2 dealership photos seem scant, although film cameras were widely available by 1900.
If I had to guess, I’d say that the cars they were selling were “Born in the Bicentennial Year”. The Malibu appears to be a new ‘76 model.
And I made this comment earlier, but Akismet ate it when I edited it to correct a grammatical error…
That Lincoln seems oddly out of place in this photo.
That Lincoln is definitely odd, especially since this was an actual postcard. I guess the intent was to proclaim “people trade late-model Lincolns for our Chevys!” – but it’s just weird.
And Swenson Chevrolet was, in fact, opened in 1976. This was one of those dealerships that’s had lots of name changes – it was Briskin Chevrolet beforehand. “Swenson” lasted less then 10 years, and then the place was known as World Chevrolet, then Sport Chevrolet. Amazingly it’s still a Chevy dealer (Pellegrino Chevrolet), which its been known as since 1997.
It’s crazy how many different colors were actually available and in stock
Sharp looking Monte Carlo with Rally Wheels in front of the Phillips Chevrolet, Frankfort, IL.
I’m guessing a ’71 or ’72 based on the Impala/Caprice immediately behind it.
Checked it out as well, wasn’t sure, observed the Egg Crate panels on the Corvettes . Guess it had to be a 70/71 ? I’m guessing.
The green Caprice was a 1972 model, and there was a ’72 Chevelle on the showroom floor under the “Corvette” sign. The Monte Carlo and Corvette’s are undetermined, but most likely ’72’s as well.
The dealer in “Sarasota” occupied a lot a space.
Patterson Chevrolet is now a strip mall. Owner opened it in 1966, retired in 1981 and passed away in 2022. I don’t know when the dealership closed. Looks like they sponsored a lot of youth sports in La Mirada.
The Monte Carlo is probably a ’72 if the other cars are. The simple way to tell is the grilles and headlight bezels and trims, and turn signals and front bumper, are different for each first generation year(1970-71-72). I had a ’70 many years ago, that came to me with the ’72 front end. I speculate it had been wrecked and this was the easiest way to repair it….. That car was a mix of parts, and I never could get the 350 to run decent. Dad got a couple of ’72s, a running but wrecked car and a parts car. We made valiant attempts to get the running car while, but finally gave up as we had other vehicles that needed to be fixed worse(we were actually using them for work). Still have a few parts though…. including two of those enormous hoods.