Lou Reed Chrysler-Plymouth, Newport Beach, CA.
H. B. Ransom Motors, Chrysler-Plymouth, Fort Worth, TX.
Normandin’s Plymouth-Chrysler, San Jose, CA.
Stuart Motor, Chrysler-Plymouth.
Leach Motors, Chrysler-Plymouth, Fresno, CA.
Leach Motors, Chrysler-Plymouth, Fresno, CA.
Harry Sommers, Chrysler-Plymouth, Atlanta, GA.
Baumann’s Chrysler-Plymouth-Imperial.
Roberts Motors, Chrysler-Plymouth-Imperial-Valiant, Alton, IL.
Holt Motors, 1308 Hennepin, Minneapolis.
Step up and just have a look at this brand-nyew 1962 Dodge Lancer GT hardtop!
Interesting to see IH signs at Stuart Motor.
I believe that dealership was located in Wood River, Illinois. Not 100% positive about that, but there was a Chrysler-Plymouth dealer by that name in Wood River that also sold Internationals (though it’s unclear whether they were sold at the same location). I haven’t been able to find other photos of the place, though.
Chrysler-Plymouth dealers were a primary target of IH when they started selling Scout Franchises. It also wasn’t uncommon for rural/farming area C-P dealers to carry the IH Light Line so they had trucks to sell.
Thanks – that’s interesting. I didn’t know about the IH/Chrysler dealer connection.
The GM brands without a truck line would have been targeted by IH as well, if they didn’t have the GMC truck line option.
Take a walk on the wild side at Lou Reed Chrysler-Plymouth. The ad copy writes itself.
“Leach Motors”, appears to have quite an “inventory”.”Bauman’s” has the gas pumps right out front.
Poor Leach Motors: the billboard above their used car lot advertises Studebaker Larks!
The last picture (Roberts Motors) is actually in Alton, Illinois. There was a Roberts Motors in Altus, Oklahoma as well, but this is the one in Illinois. Roberts had been a Plymouth dealer in Alton for some time, but opened this showroom in 1962, and added Chrysler-Imperial to its franchise. In 1968, Roberts switched to being a Ford franchise. Oddly, this dealership is just a few miles away from where I think Stuart Chrysler-Plymouth was located (Picture 4)
The building is still standing, though creepily it’s painted black, with the windows mostly covered.
Google StreetView link:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/GN1QJnLfQZZvVX3r8
Thanks! I’ll update the post with this information.
Quite the transformation between the 2019 and 2021 views. In 2019 it was grey with smaller windows and window on each side of the building. It also appears to still have the light fixtures flanking the entrance that are in the early photo. For the 2021 view they have replaced the front windows with larger fancier units, uncovered at the time and the windows on the side of the building were filled. It looks like it may still have the original light fixtures, just missing the covers.
H. B. Ransom Motors, Chrysler-Plymouth, Fort Worth, TX:
I’m sure you could find a mechanic or salesman after hours in the cafe to the left of the photo. Must of been a popular watering hole.
Leach Motors, Chrysler-Plymouth, Fresno, CA:
To the left is a Studebaker, Packard, & Willis dealer. Let’s hope he picked up a AMC dealership via the Willis connection as time progressed.
These pics just confirm my love for ’55-’56 Chryslers and even Plymouths….great looking cars for that era
We lived a couple blocks from a Chrysler Plymouth dealer and my dad bought a used 55 Plymouth and as a kid I enjoyed the chrome and glitter of 1950s cars. I preserve and enjoy a still factory original one. That dealer was later on my newspaper route and I sat in the cars after passing my papers at 6am. Memories!
Normandin’s in San Jose caught my eye; I always knew it as Normandin (no possessive apostrophe as shown in the 1950’s sign). It’s still in business as a CJDR dealership, in fact it started as a blacksmith and buggy shop in the 1870’s, and is definitely now called Normandin. There’s more than one Normandin family member still involved so I guess it was easier to simplify the name rather than call it Normandins’. I’m pretty sure I test drove a Jeep Comanche there in 1986, even though that was before Chrysler bought Jeep.
Read years ago in Special Interest Autos that Normandin was the supplying dealer for Chryslers and Plymouths to the California Highway Patrol. SIA did a short piece on the dealer having a carriage in their showroom that it actually manufactured in the 1880s or so.
Also, Ransom Motors in Fort Worth–think the building is still there on West 7th Street, but the rest of the lot has been grassed over. An earlier CC posting of C-P dealers, someone noted the address as 1204 W. 7th, and while most of the surrounding buildings have been replaced, 1204 is still standing, according to Google Street View.
I just love these old time dealerships. They are exactly what I remember growing up. Not the sterile, impersonal places of today where you go to buy the generic crap that is pedaled today.
My Dad had ’54 DeSoto. We lived Richfield the first Southern burb of MPLS.
Green & Ivory exterior w/matching interior . Sunday drives in the country. I was 11 & 10 years younger than my brother & sister at the time
Other than Xmas & Easter it was our only family activity.
My Dad loved that car.
Seeing these early dealerships is both nostalgic and enjoyable. It’s of interest to identify the models that are sitting on the lots as trade-ins, which tells another part of the automotive story.
Annoying Comercials!!!