Text by Patrick Bell.
Our feature today is the grand opening of a new building for Jackson Motor Company, a dealer in Walla Walla, Washington, which had a very unusual lineup: They sold Lincoln, Mercury, and AMC/Rambler.
In the night shot shown above, there were two cars and little else in the showroom, so I am going to guess that this was a day or two prior to the actual grand opening celebration, which was in March 1965. On the left is a 1965 Lincoln Continental sedan, and on the right a Rambler Classic 770 convertible. In the lower right corner, you can just make out the left rear corner of a V8-powered 1955 Chevrolet, parked across the street. This was probably a 1955 Bel Air, which we will see from a different angle in another of these photos.
Jackson Motor Co. first opened in 1948 as a Lincoln-Mercury dealer. They were originally located at 38 E. Rose St. in Walla Walla. In 1958, owner-manager Harold K. Jackson arranged to take over the Rambler franchise of another Walla Walla dealer, Renbarger Motors. (Some of the Renbarger staff stayed on in the new Rambler sales and service department.) Jackson must have been successful with the arrangement, because in 1964, he started construction of this new, bigger building, which cost $100,000.
The above photo, taken in the daytime, was likely shot the same day or the following day. The same two cars were in the showroom, although the Lincoln Continental was in a different position, revealing what appears to be a black vinyl roof.
This photo is from the fall of 1964, showing the new building under construction. You can see the existing Jackson Rambler showroom on the right, a space which had been a Safeway grocery store in the past. The showroom had signage for the 1965 models, and a Classic could be seen through the window. Parked on the side street were a white 1961 Chevrolet Corvair Monza coupe and a 1962 GMC Wideside long bed with a V-6, parked across the street in front of what appears to be a 1956 Ford Fairlane Sunliner (mostly hidden by the Corvair). The car in the left foreground was a 1962 Buick Special.
This photo may have been taken on grand opening day, with the street to the left closed for the celebration. Two different cars were on the showroom floor: a 1965 Rambler American 440 2-door hardtop on the left and a Rambler Classic 770 4-door sedan on the right. The Lincoln Continental parked outside at the right may have been the same one that was inside the showroom in the earlier images. On the street at the far left was a 1964 Mercury Comet Caliente 4-door sedan.
This is a different view showing people attending the ceremony. It gives a better view of that fancy Rambler American, with its wire wheel covers and a non-factory racing stripe.
A showroom view — probably taken later, as the furnishings were now all in place. The car in the foreground was likely the same Rambler Classic 770 convertible from the lead photo. In the background was a V8-powered Comet Caliente 4-door sedan.
Now this was a nice service department. It was clean, including the floor, and had plenty of light, along with light-colored walls and ceiling. I’m sure it lost much of its newness fairly quickly. There was even a floor grease trap — those were always fun to clean out. On the right was a 1957 Ford Ranchero, perhaps the shop truck or an employee’s vehicle. Behind the Ranchero was a new Mercury Breezeway Sedan. On the other side, from left to right, were a 1964 Mercury Colony Park station wagon, a 1965 Monterey 2-door hardtop, and a 1963 Meteor 2-door sedan, followed by two Ramblers: a 1961–1963 Rambler American 4-door sedan and a 1965 Classic 770 wagon. The car at the far end was a 1965 Lincoln Continental sedan.
The Jackson Motor Co. used car lot was at another location less than a half-mile away. The front row appeared to be all new units, with a full-size Mercury and three Comets on the left. The balance were Rambler Classics, with two Ambassadors: a sedan to the right of the light pole and a wagon next to last on the right end. The used cars were farther back: There was a 1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan on the left, a Volkswagen Type 1 in the center, and on the right what looks like a 1954 Oldsmobile.
A staff of highly trained technicians were always ready to service and repair your car. They were posing alongside a 1961–1963 Lincoln Continental sedan.
Our last three images are in color and were shot at a different time, but likely in the same week, as there were still many flower arrangements on the showroom floor. Also on the showroom floor in the above photo were a white Ambassador and an American 440 2-door hardtop. Parked on the street was that familiar Lincoln Continental (maybe the boss’s car), with a gold 1965 Mercury Park Lane convertible behind it. In the driving lane were a blue 1954 Chevrolet Advance-Design truck followed by a white 1959 Mercury 4-door sedan. The limited photo notes indicated that Jackson kept the old store across the street (visible in the background) to use for Ramblers, but if that was the case, it seems odd they would also have some in the new showroom.
Here is a better view of the old facility. It still had the Mercury and Lincoln logos on the outer wall, and a new Ambassador 880 sedan on the showroom floor as well as the 990 2-door hardtop parked at the curb at the far left. Nearer the camera, you can see that the Lincoln Continental did have a Washington dealer’s license plate, although the county indicator (the letter on the end) appears to be for a county on the other side of the state. The two-tone car in front of the Rambler showroom was a sharp-looking, well-equipped 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Coupe, which looked very well-kept for a 10-year-old car. It was probably the same car visible in the corner of the lead image.
Our closing shot showed a better view of the white Ambassador 990 4-door sedan on the showroom floor in the new building.
“Intercorporate dual” dealerships like this were pretty rare in the 1960s: There were about 1,360 in the whole U.S. in 1962, and only 746 by the start of 1966, out of around 30,000 total domestic franchises. (This doesn’t include domestic-import duals, which were a little more common.) It must have been good business for Harold Jackson, though. For a while in the early ’60s, Rambler sales in Washington were actually greater than Mercury, Comet, and Lincoln combined.
Thanks for joining us at the grand opening and have a great day!
That is an interesting brand match up though I can certainly see wanting the Rambler franchise for the bread and butter sales being in such a small city.
Regarding the dealer’s plate, I’m not sure how they did it back then but for the 30 or more years the letter at the end denotes the number of the plate, ie you got 1234 A, 1234 B ect, so apparently they had at least 8 plates going by the H on the pictured plate.
Surprisingly today’s featured building survives while the former and other buildings across the street have been replaced by a parking lot.
So on Grand Opening day, where were they cooking the free hot dogs?
An interesting juxtaposition of two of the cleanest styling jobs of the mid-60’s, the Continental and the Classic. Very similar proportions and details to my eyes.
I can see why they bought the Rambler franchise in 1958: Mercury and Lincoln sales were in the dumpster and Rambler was red hot.
In 1965 they were selling the last flathead engine still on the market, in the American.
Weren’t there any manufacturer guidelines on “dualing”? I can’t see GM allowing both Oldsmobile and Plymouth, say, in that era.
Not a bad line up. Mercury was begging for deals during the late 50s, while Rambler was hot. Then it began reversing by 1965.
I’d like to point out that RAMBLER brought in the dough to pay for that new store in 1965! The Mercury kept it filled for the next 20 years.
Thank you for this – I love it when I come across dealership with unusual combinations of makes for sale, and we rarely get to find out detail about it!