Orbit Oldsmobile showroom, Michigan City, IN.
Capital Cadillac-Oldsmobile, Atlanta, GA.
Al Fink Oldsmobile, Nanticoke, PA.
Fred McKown Oldsmobile, Warsaw, IN.
Reid Motor Co., Chevrolet-Oldsmobile.
Everett H. Corson Cadillac-Oldsmobile, Hyannis, MA.
1959 models at Saul’s Motors, Carbondale, PA..
Orbit Oldsmobile, Michigan City, IN.
1964 models in display at Olds-GMC truck dealership.
Service area at Charlie Stuart Oldsmobile, Indianapolis, IN.
Man. Michigan City, IN was an OLDSMOBILE city! Good stuff in here, Rich.
Al fink has a ‘53 parked outside with air conditioning. Nice!
Great selection! The Olds-Rambler dealership was Saul’s Motors in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, about 15 mi. northwest of Scranton.
The building is still standing, though not a car dealership any longer:
Google StreetView link:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/fBvm1TESqhBfzksU7
It was an ice cream parlor in the 2006 street view images, then became a pizza & beer place, then the glass shop and instrument shop it is now.
The Olds/Rambler dealer was also a Mobil gas station – so many old dealerships hung off of gas stations. Rarely see gas pumps at modern dealerships.
Yes – looks to me that the proprietor (Saul Shinkman) opened a gas station in the early 1940s, and took on an Oldsmobile franchise in 1945-46, with Rambler added in the late 1950s. Once Rambler went away, the dealership continued with Olds, AMC/Jeep and Saab. Saul passed away in 1978, but it looks like the dealership continued into the 1980s, possibly run by one of his sons.
All those beautiful Oldsmobile’s. My heart really started to race seeing so many full size convertibles. Unfortunate not many color photos exist as auto colors of the period were amazing.
One minor drawback of growing up in and Air Force family is that I have a spotted memory of places we lived. Some I vaguely remember were Maryland / DC, New Mexico, California, Georgia, Japan, Germany. There were many other locations but as hard as I tried the US government has refused to give me information on our postings with the standard reply, over and over again, “classified”. The reason I mention this is I would love to know where my parents bought their two new 1955 Oldsmobile’s, because at age 4 or 5 this is my first memory of a car dealership. I remember my mother driving an early 50s Chrysler two door something with a colorless interior and we were stopped at a red light. A wreck at the intersection resulted in a motorcycle landing on our car hood, so perhaps that why my parents went car shopping. I don’t know where we were living in at the time but I have memories of that Oldsmobile dealership. The showroom entrance was at street entrance so I assume it was an urban showroom. I am a retired interior designer so that is why I also remember the showroom furniture was mid-century modern, Moms favorite style. The auto inventory was on a second floor parking garage and open roof top level parking. I remember like it was yesterday, getting off an elevator to the second floor and there was a row of 1955 Oldsmobile’s in a rainbow of colors. I spotted the two Oldsmobile’s I wanted, a ’98’ Holiday two door & a ’98’ Starfire convertible, both my parents bought. Strange how childhood memories stick with you over the decades. At age 4 or 5 I remember that dealership but shortly thereafter we went to Disney Land and all I remember was touring the ‘House of Tomorrow’ and while in the motel swimming pool someone walked through a guestroom glass sliding door (first memory of blood).
Thanks for posting pics of these Oldsmobile dealerships. What I don’t understand how some of these franchise dealerships worked? Olds & GMC Trucks, Olds & Rambler? I can understand Olds & Chevy or even Olds & Cadillac only because when I bought my 2011 Camaro it was sold at a Canada dealership with Cadillac, Buick, Chevy.
“What I don’t understand how some of these franchise dealerships worked? Olds & GMC Trucks, Olds & Rambler?”
Both make sense to me in a less urban setting. The Ford and Chevy dealers sold cars and trucks, as did Dodge. Oldsmobile was a mid-to-high priced car that didn’t sell volume in rural places, so make up the volume with either trucks or inexpensive cars.
Even today, a great number of Buick dealers also sell GMC.
Totally makes sense. I’m from a smallish town that had a Buick/Rambler dealer. They lasted though enough of the corporate changes to eventually build a stand alone Chrysler store down the street from the Buick building.
The Rambler thing was just a one off thing but Chev-Olds, Olds-Cadillac and Pontiac-Buick were common pairings with GMC ocassionally thrown in for good measure. GM seemed to prefer skipping steps on the ladder on dual in-house brands, presumably to preserve a price gap. It was pretty easy to load up a Chevy into Pontiac price range, a Pontiac into Olds territory, ect.
As Evan mentioned it was typically done for smaller markets so that a dealership would be viable. GMC was of course added on if there was enough truck demand in the market.
Indeed I’m not sure if there are any remaining Buick dealerships that don’t sell GMC. GM’s current policy is a preference for two channels – Chevrolet and Buick-GMC- Cadillac.
The 1960 models were starting to come into the Olds-Rambler place, note the 4-door American.
I do love a 1964 Olds Ninety-Eight Sports Sedan. Wish I could go shopping this weekend!
I vaguely recall Orbit Olds in Michigan City. I think it went through several owners and names before closing. The building became used cars and eventually was destroyed. In VALPARAISO, Indiana, we had Blaney Olds which traded buildings with FRENCH Ford (later Willett Ford, and eventually Currie Motors) sold to a Mister Hollingshead as HOLLY Olds. My H. was a very heavy man who drove a 64 98 4door with special heavy duty springs that made the driver side higher but evened when he got in.
That showroom, pic in “Mich City, IN”; bijillon cars in there! ((pic #1))
I guess “Nanticoke PA” still had still had some “coal money”, back in those days.
Are those ’62 convertibles at Orbit 🤣 Olds, supposed to look like cattle fur patterns?
After a ’49 Ford, which he said was junk, Dad was a 50-year Olds guy…….. until he went Camry.
1953: 98
1955: 98
1963: 98
1970: Cutlass. S
1980: Omega
1986: Cutlass Supreme
1999: Camry
2009: Camry
Nice, Oldsmobiles were always way above my pay grade / interest .
-Nate
Gotta like the “Orbit Oldsmobile” name. Fits the brand.
Love the photos!
Something else took me back, the photo of Fink Oldsmobile.
Fink was an average name, nothing different about it whatsoever. Then Steve (smok smok!)
Allen came along. I’m sure you fossils out there will know what I’m talking about.
https://www.amazon.com/Schmock-Schmock-Steve-Allen/dp/038509664X
Holmes Oldsmobile, Des Moines, Iowa.