For today, a small sampling of Oldsmobile dealer postcards, mostly from 1958 and 1959. Interestingly, there’s a good number of imports being displayed on the 1958 ones.
In the lead pic, Crew Oldsmobile in Fullerton CA.
Wells Oldsmobile, Port Jefferson, NY 1958.
Dolan Oldsmobile, Worcester, MA 1958.
Don Singleton Oldsmobile, Kansas City, KS 1965.
Raymond P. Scott Oldsmobile, Wynnewood PA.
Very cool. I grew up in the Worcester, MA area and don’t remember Dolan Olds. My parents got all their cars from Gallo Olds on the east side of the city.
Not surprising that they skipped those horrible ’58s. They went all the way, picking Morris, Wolseley and Renault instead of the mini-Olds captive Vauxhall.
I thought Vauxhall was Pontiac’s captive import not Oldsmobile’s.
I never quite understood why Vauxhall was assigned to US Pontiac (or Olds?) dealers to sell while Buick was given Opels, which seemed not to mesh with Buick’s own models in the showrooms.
Yes, Pontiac dealers sold Vauxhall in the US.
Who knows exactly why Buick got Opel, but in the mid-’50s Buick was very successful (#3 or #4 overall in sales) and had an excellent dealer network. And contrary to what might be assumed, import car buyers had a higher income and education level than average. That alone might have made Buick a good choice.
Culture shock – Morris Minor with whitewalls!
I’ll take that Morris Minor 1000 .
I love looking at old dealers, so much hope and flash back then .
-Nate
“There’s a Rocket for Every Pocket!”
Good, good stuff. Thx, Rich
Love that shot of Wells Olds in New York.
When I was a kid in the ’60s and ’70s in Bellingham, WA, there was a chalet-style Volkswagen dealership built in the shape of the VW logo. Very cool, and the building is still standing on Samish Way. It was called Rothausen Motors in the ’70s, and that’s where my mom got her 1978 Audi Fox GTI. Great memories.
Geez I miss Oldsmobile sometimes.
The Scott Olds building in Pennsylvania is still being used as a car dealership. It’s been resurfaced and added on to, but the structure is still there. The Scott family may still own the building, though they don’t run the current Nissan dealership.
I remember the Scott franchise from when I lived in Philadelphia. Like the sign says on the postcard, they’d been in business since 1929, though it started as a Dodge and Plymouth dealership. Along the way, they picked up Oldsmobile (and possibly other brands at some time), and much later added a Saab franchise as well.
Wow. Probably more than one genuine ghost haunts that Nissan showroom.
I’ll take the two Magnettes next to the minor, my favorite MG.
The Raymond P. Scott Oldsmobile pic probably assured as pre-Energy Crisis, with the battleship Custom Cruiser as the featured car out front. And Ninety-Eights in the showroom. With no Omegas, to be seen.
Love the baseball bleacher-style lighting at Dolan Oldsmobile.
My grandmother Cavanaugh bought a number of Oldsmobiles from Raymond Scott at that dealership in Wynnewood, PA. The ones I remember are 88s from 1963, 1967 and 1971, and a Cutlass from 1976. There were probably purchases from before 1963, but those would have been before my time.
Great pictures!
Wells Oldsmobile, Port Jefferson, NY as not there in 1977.
The only new car dealer in Port Jeff was Giles Chevrolet.
Still in business in 2006 if I recall, but definitely gone now. Maybe one of the dealers that was closed during GM’s bankruptcy?
I remember Giles because it was the closest Chevy dealership, and also not “as modern” as the other dealerships in the area.
One of my favorite car dealership signs growing up in Houston was that for Bill McDavid Oldsmobile on the Gulf Freeway (Interstate 45). It really stood out among all the other stuff on that busy highway. The modern showroom was notable too.
Paddleford Oldsmobile, in Palo Alto, CA – classic dealership on the auto row of the town at the time. It’s currently a Whole Foods Supermarket.