Yesterday we featured some sharp-looking folks and their rides here at CC. Today we’ll keep the theme going thanks to these glitzy images showcasing one grand night and a snazzy display at Charlie Stuart’s Oldsmobile dealership in Indianapolis. The images date between ’58-’60, not long after Charlie Stuart opened his Olds dealership at 1510 Meridian St., which sat not far from his previous Studebaker dealer location.
The setup looks more threatening than inviting. Instead of “Come in and try it out!”, the message is “Don’t touch!”
This looks like a staged show, so yeah, Don’t Touch!
That, and the windows blocked by the curtains. A ‘private showing’ for the dealer’s best customers.
(That’s probably the dealership owner’s wife in the black gown by the white `60 Olds 88 cvt.)
EXACTLY! Back in the day, Showrooms seldom saw clients bringing children. And a visit was an event, as evidenced by the apparel worn in these photos. At a car show a vintage Oldsmobile wore a sign…Unattended Children Will Be Sold For Medical Research! 👍
Charlie Stuart sold a lot of Oldsmobiles back in the day. It eventually became Stuart-Skillman and today there are quite a few Ray Skillman dealerships in the area. But not Oldsmobile, of course.
North Meridian Street on the near north side had been dealership row for many years, but I believe they were all gone by the 1980’s, with the exceptions of Payton -Wells Chevrolet and Tutwiler Cadillac.
Payton Wells Chevrolet went into the old Charlie Stuart Oldsmobile building, well at least the same address. This dealer has been closed since 2007. I believe Tutwiler has been closed for a while now as well.
Fun fact: Charlie Stuart passed away the same year as Tom Wood, another Indy Mega dealer!
Last photo in post: You can see the snazzy red two-toning on the white ’59 Oldsmobile on the right. The color “shoots out” the back of the rocket fender ornaments. Such an imaginative concept! A one-year-only design–everything slowly got more conventional and boring after that.
Photo below: Typical two-tone scheme on a Dynamic 88 sedan–Burgundy Mist over Polaris White. There were, I think, three possible ’59 two-tone patterns a buyer could choose from.
My father’s aunt and uncle, whom I had grown close to throughout my life, always drove Oldsmobiles. He went from high school to Bethlehem Steel and ended up as the head of their HR department in Chicago, located on Michigan Avenue. They had a sweet litle house near the IC tracks and an Oldsmobile in their garage. My earliest recollections of their cars was the exciting cool tail light fins on their white 1959 Ninety Eight. I was standing on the transmission bump to see over the front seat of my dad’s 1959 Buick.
They had four or five Oldsmobiles from that time until Uncle Lee died in 1976. His last car was a Olds 4-4-2 Hurst that got my family to claim he was having a mid-age crisis. (He wasn’t) – but he definately wanted to avoid retiring and enjoyed chasing skirts in his offices. He was definately of the Mad Men Era and was a very cool and successful man within a family of laborers, farmers and habadashers.
My aunt drove it until she gave up driving and it was pretty funny seeing her and my grandmother riding around in that car. Two 70+ sisters tooling around in an old rusting muscle car.
But, they were, right to the very end, an Oldsmobile family.
These were some of the best Oldsmobiles of all time
I just love those big wrap around windshields and curved A pillars!
You won’t after knocking a knee on them getting in the car.
All the cars are white in the final photo. I don’t think I’ve seen a ’59 Olds before. It’s rather plain compared to the other divisions.
Wow, have times changed (and not necessarily for the better). Look at how nicely dressed all the people are!
Of the ’59 GM cars, both Pontiac and Olds are a hot mess. Front end of Olds is worst, back end of Pontiac. Both lack coherence. Buick, Chevy and Cadillac flow from front to back.
Those well dressed folks ! .
-Nate
Nothing is more pleasing to the eye (at least my eyes) than a well dressed attractive woman “of a certain age”.
Sadly we don’t see that many these days.
Thank you for reminding me with these photos.