The salesmen of Al Larson Buick, with a ’54 Buick in the foreground. It was located at 309 W. Michigan St., Michigan City, IN.
Al Larson Buick’s new facilities in 1958.
Another view of the 1958 models on display, with an Opel Rekord to keep them company.
Service area, taken in April 1958, with a pair of ’58 models and what looks like a ’53 raised by the wall.
Opposite view, with older models getting serviced.
Another view of the service area, with a ’56 Pontiac getting paint/bodywork done.
Sometime between 1958 and 1961, Al Larson became Bill Sherman Buick Co. at the same location. Here captured in 1966.
A slightly different view, same day. Window posters may be hard to read, but the ’66 Buick Golf Open is being promoted. A topic we touched on HERE.
A last look at Bill Sherman for today. An earlier image of the dealer was shown in THIS gallery. The building still stands, now as Brandt’s Pet Supply.
Love the ’58 Opel in the showroom… first i ever saw; folks had one in Mt. Kisco, NY
I remember seeing a fair number of these Opel Rekords and Olympias, and also a fair number of Vauxhall Victors as a child in the 1960s. Later on I recall seeing quite a few Opel Kadetts.
In marked contrast, I never saw any English or German Fords (not even a Cortina). At least not until the Capri came along in about 1970 or so.
I’ve never seen US sales figures, but I can’t imagine that either GM or Ford sales of European captive imports were more than a blip on the radar prior to the late 60s introduction of the Kadett.
In 1959, English Ford dealers sold more than 42K cars in the U.S., and Buick dealers sold 39K Opels.
I wonder if it might have been a regional thing.
Those figures are significantly higher than I would have expected. Honestly, I’m shocked!!
The ’50s were a huge import boom. And why would dealers bother to take on a line, stock, advertise and sell them if there weren’t decent sales? It’s not like anyone forced them to take these captive import lines on.
The Rekord and Vauxhall Victor were withdrawn from the US market fairly quickly once the B-O-P compacts were in the line for ’61. Opel regrouped and came back with the Kadett A in ’62 or ’63 which was purpose-built to compete directly with the VW Beetle where the Rekord was a size larger and cost more (very significantly so in Germany where Opel was #1 in the segment above VW and below Mercedes).
Pretty wild that a nondescript building on the edge of The Lighthouse Shops in Michigan City, IN was once a Buick dealership full of Big Ol’ Buicks. The Mrs. and I take trips up to Michigan City and Southwest Michigan so I recognized the modern day Google Maps view. We’re going there next weekend so perhaps 🤔 I’ll look for it.
Or I could just drive over to Shoreline Brewing a few blocks over and have a beer 🍺. 😄
2nd Photo: In the display window to the right is a neon sign highlighting the FireBall V8.
4th Photo: near the ceiling is another neon sign highlighting Buick Lubricare.
I heard of the fireball V8, but not Buick Lubricare. Both would true collector items today!
Here is another article with a much better shot of a Lubricare sign from the fabulous Mueller Hawkins in Tacoma Wa. https://www.curbsideclassic.com/uncategorized/vintage-snapshots-dealer-service-stations-in-the-1950s/ which is also featured here https://www.curbsideclassic.com/vintage-snapshots-and-photography/vintage-dealers-postcards-olds-and-buick-in-the-50s-and-60s/
Big, ole “Rambler”, wagon really stands out in final pic.
I wonder if the two young men in the first picture who look like twins are related to the owner?
Ah, the good old days when the only car that would knock a Roadmaster off the road was another Roadmaster.
In neighboring Valparaiso we had a long-term Buick dealership. I don’t know exactly when it opened but remember it in the early 50s. In the mid 80s it was sold and became Kennedy Buick Mazda. When Pontiac was dropped, Buick gave the franchise to the local Pontiac dealership (higher volume).So much for LOYALTY. Kennedy is still selling Mazdas.
Nice, I remember my dealership days .
The Opel Rekords sold pretty well for the first year or so, in 1969 I was traveling America and was surprised to see more than a few still doing Yeoman duty in Washington but then the PNW was always a good place to find decently kept oldies .
-Nate