Charlie Stuart Oldsmobile, Indianapolis, IN.
Pontchartrain Motor Co., New Orleans, LA.
Butts Oldsmobile-Cadillac, Arlington, TX.
Deal Oldsmobile, Cape Girardeau, MO.
Money Oldsmobile, Phoenix, AZ.
Charlie Stuart Oldsmobile, Indianapolis, IN.
McKean Oldsmobile, Pittsburgh, PA.
Findlay Oldsmobile, Las Vegas, NV.
Bought a 1977 Olds Delta 88 from Butts Oldsmobile in Dallas. When I bought the car they had moved to far north Dallas.
Here’s the current location of what was once Pontchartrain Motor Co. in New Orleans. Not surprisingly, there nothing left of the facility.
Incidentally, the church tower in the background of the vintage shot was destroyed during Hurricane Betsy in 1965. The church building is still standing (though abandoned), but the tower is long gone.
Google StreetView link:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/eyEit8pEP54AQoNY9
Looks like the trees are still standing though!
The tree to the right of the dealership driveway is the the one on the left in the StreetView picture, to judge by the limbs
The rocket sign pole at Findlay Oldsmobile is fabulous!
Very Las Vegas!
Charlie Stuart Olds in Indianapolis. THAT is a HUGE showroom!!
That’s an outdoor section with rain protection, not the showroom which is off to the right.
Oops, I stand corrected – I didn’t notice the interior shot was of the same dealership as the exterior shown downthread.
Was thinking they must a been known for keeping a “huge selection” on hand! Both pic’s are “full of cars”.
Oof…those 1958s! The styling was so much better by 1960.
BTW, native Pittsburgher here, the city has an “h” at the end of its name.
The styling was so much better by 1959…
Was hoping for a better pic of “Mckean Olds”. That pic could really have almost any “location” attached to it.
Oops, thanks for the notice on that typo. It’s updated now.
Curious arrangement in 4th photo from top, Deal Olds, Cape Giradeau —
Shiny ’54 Olds 88 in the showroom.
But, the newer ’55 Olds 88 is outside on the street.
Windows are all down, altho looks like a dreary, cold day in October or March.
Go figure …..
Noticed that too……
Now that I am older, I find Oldsmobile to be a very attractive brand. These photos reveal very handsome cars – (exept the 1958s). I admire the brand’s focus on providing an attractive car that wasn’t crying out for immediate attention. Today, a number of brands have a similar approach. It is rather easy to overlook the styles of many cars today that aim for the old Oldsmobile economic demographic.
Perhaps it is a part of the reason there is no longer an Oldsmobile – there is so much competition for that economic segment. That-and making too many cheap little disposable Oldsmobiles for so many years, which diluded the brand’s appeal. It is one thing to be seen tooling around in an intermediate or full-sized Olds, or a Cutlass, and quite another to be waiting for your Omega to be serviced. Those small Oldsmobiles didn’t do Oldsmobile any favors.
McKean Oldsmobile, Pittsburgh, PA:
Notice the Frigiking stand to the left of the Oldsmobile. I would image this phased out when the take rate on A/C units grew with Detroit brands thru the 70’s.
They may have gotten a reprieve when Toyota and Datsun hit the shoreline. My ’75 Toyota had a dealer installed A/C unit that never worked well.
IIRC, in the late 70’s and early 80’s the Asian car makers offered A/C as a manufacturer’s option.
Our “78 Toyota” had dealer installed “a/c”. Worked quite well!
Pure eye candy to one who founded an OCA Chapter in ’84 and has owned 20 vintage Oldsmobile, many of these years here, 1936 to 1979 and one 1990!
Loved this!! “Can we build one for you?”. Yes!!
The shot of Charlie Stewart’s used car lot shows what appears to be a `60 Olds 98 cvt. front & center!! That would be my pick if I could go back in time to that location!
Wow, I want to go back in time and browse the 1966 Oldsmobiles in the showroom!
Charlie Stuart had been one of Studebaker’s most successful dealers. He chose the right time to sign on with Oldsmobile. Stuart’s successor (Stuart-Skillman) eventually became Ray Skillman, and they still run dealerships for several brands in this area.
Ray Skillman signed on as Charlie Stuart’s business partner in August of 1979. I read a story where one Sunday in August of 1979 Ray Skillman drove to 1510 N. Meridian and looked in to the showroom to see what he had just become part of. The following Monday he went to work there. It wasn’t too long before the dealership left North Meridian and moved to U.S. 31 South between Stop 11 Rd. and County Line Rd.
I am very familiar with Charlie Stuart Oldsmobile as my dad got a new Oldsmobile as a company car there every year from 1961 to 1976.
I remember Charlie Stuart Olds at that location when I was going to college in Indy. I worked and lived on Meridian at the time. Ray Skillman has a free automobile museum behind one of their dealers in Greenwood, Indiana. It leans towards muscle cars but usually has a good variety of everything. It is quite large and most of the cars are for sale.
In my family when you moved up from a Ford or Chevy you typically bought an Olds.
My grandfather was an Oldsmobile man–never drive anything better than what your patients drive. He bought all his cars from Royal Oldsmobile on West Ponce de Leon (I think) when I came around in the 1960s. I remember he had a ’61 black F-85 two door coupe with red interior–it also had the aluminum block engine that didn’t work out too well (one of my few early memories was seeing his car in the dealership service area with the hood up). My grandmother always drove Ninety-Eights and that was the travelling car for out of town for either of them. (He likely engineered the deal of trading in mom’s rusted out ’63 Ford ranch wagon for the ’65 Dodge Dart sedan in 1969 right after my parents divorced because he was a pillar of the community and long-time customer.) They had a ’64 Cutlass and ’64 Ninety-Eight when we moved back to Decatur, but shortly after they got their last cars, a ’68 Cutlass (bone stock) and ’69 Olds 98 sedan with the Rocket 455. Sometime during the 1970s Royal Olds moved over to Scott Blvd near Church St. where most dealerships were congregating away from the downtown. The dealership itself was gone by the 2000s but I think the Royal name is still around. I wanted to find a vintage picture of the dealership but didn’t couldn’t find one online. After my grandmother died we had the 98 for over a year and it was the car I preferred driving, and mom sold it for $800 to a family friend before I finished high school.
Nice pictures, talk about aspirational =8-) .
I feel sorry for the guy in Phoenix who bought that wagon in ’58 .
-Nate
At first glance I thought that the showroom in the first photo had the back wall covered in mirrors to create the illusion of a larger space. Then I realized the ones in the “reflection” weren’t the same color/model. Quite a large showroom with 12 or maybe 13 cars in there and they are far from crowded together.
Speaking of large Findlay’s rocket is the biggest one I remember seeing.
One of the first things my Dad had to do after he started working in Essex Jct. was to buy a replacement for the ’63 Rambler Classic wagon that got totalled in front of our hotel in Catonsville Md. We’d just vacated our house and were staying in the hotel preparing to drive up to Vermont, when my Dad was trying to make a left turn into the hotel parking lot on route 40 when 1 guy waved him to go, but the guy in the other lane didn’t. I remember my Grandmother who was staying with us picking shards of glass out of my Dad’s skin (wonder why, if it had safety glass?) but our plans had to change, instead we were to stay with our grandparents (it was June 1965 so school had just ended for the summer) but my Dad had to start his new job, first going to East Fishkill for a bit then to Essex Jct which was the plant he was to work at.
He bought a ’65 Olds F85 wagon, his first V8 (with the 330) which he drove to pick us up at our Grandparents. We never lived closer than about 3-4 hours drive from them, it was about 6 up to the north end of Burlington where our house was. Dad bought it at Val Preda in South Burlington…I didn’t know but originally the dealership was on North Avenue (major road in north end of Burlington) but in the late 50’s had moved to South Burlington.
It was my Dad’s only Oldsmobile (had it till ’69) but I remember being there a decade later after we’d moved twice (away from Burlington to Virginia, then back to Vermont, this time to Shelburne) my Grandfather had driven my Aunt’s 98 up to visit us (she no longer was driving, she’d had a stroke) and had some small problem, I think an oil leak, which we’d taken it to the dealer to fix. My Aunt bought only Oldsmobiles since probably the 1930’s, my Uncle took over her old ’62 F85 after she’d bought the 98, he stated it had a hot rod engine, apparently the dealer sold her the biggest one (I had 2 spinster Aunts who lived together and shared the car).
Dad bought several Chevrolets in the years to come, but no other GM car..he bought a smathering of other makes as our main car, when he eventually got a 2nd car he bought imports until 1980, when he switched to domestics, never bought another foreign car (’76 Subaru DL was his last import). He’s been gone 8 years now.
Deal Oldsmobile reminds me of the many small, one and two car showroom dealerships that were common during the fifties and into the sixties. Seems that every city and small community had a healthy selection of them, usually family owned. Compare that to today, where they all were replaced by a few corporate mega dealerships in suburban auto parks, having hundreds of cars in inventory. I understand modern economies of scale dictate this, but has the consumer revolution benefited?
Sold Oldsmobiles for many years beginning in 75 until the end in the early 2000’s. Worked for Ferman Olds in Tampa and Lokey Olds in Clearwater Florida. Both still in business but selling several different makes which seems the norm these days. Restored 3 Oldsmobiles a 65 442, 60 Super 88 and a 70 442. Here’s the 70.
In Houston, Texas we had several Oldsmobile dealers. Sam White was the one on the SW side, and Sam Montgomery was the one on the Northside. They had a huge rocket sign with neon in many colors; the dealership was advertised as “Sam the Rocket Man”. Of course the dealership and sign have been gone for many years. I think the Olds dealers had taken on Datsun/Nissan cars as a second line, and they “transitioned” to selling those makes when GM shut Oldsmobile down.
I remember that Oldsmobile used to have a nice exhibit at the annual new car show here in Houston, with several cars. The Oldsmobile Bravada (a dressed up Chevy S series Blazer) had very comfortable leather bucket seats. Alas, by that point our family was no longer buying new cars…..
Oldsmobile became the high tech Division at GM .
A test bed for many new idea.
The styling in the sixties perfect for the time; as it was quintesstial contemporary mide century .
A professionals car , who wanted to be more low key , sedate .
I recall MDs, and lawyers , accountants driving them.
Richard Nixon was an Oldsmobile man !’
He bought a blue 98 in 61 , when he lost the election to JFK .
The 88 Convertible & Dynamic 88 Sedans are sharp !
Based on a Pinnaferrena Design study for Cadillac , called the Jackyyn..
Yes , Olds going to compact : Building their versions of Cadillac Cimmerron before, Cadillac did, didn’t help their image ..
I don’t have a picture but Erie Pa has the oldest Cadillac dealer in the country. Roth Cadillac was I believe started in 1905.
I have a Cutlass Convertible similar to 1st photo, Mine is white. Cool Pic’s.
I do miss Oldsmobile. My dad’s business had 88s for salespersons, a 98 for himself and later a Toronado which became mine, before the local dealer tried to get around a favorable lease my dad worked out and he became friends with the Buick dealer. I later bought an Aurora in the 90s which my brother drove a total of two days, enough to cause suspension damage. By that time the second generation, less of a car, was out and I moved on.
On the Money Olds pic the loudspeaker has what appears to be a separate promo item, for KOY radio, which I think is still in operation but at the time was one of the major Phoenix radio stations.