’68 Catalina outside, and ’73 models in the showroom.
Swartzlander Motors Inc., Cadillac-Pontiac, Michigan City, IN.
Backus Cadillac-Pontiac, Savannah, GA.
Taylor-Crawley Pontiac, TN.
Swartzlander Motors Inc., Cadillac-Pontiac, Michigan City, IN.
Padgett Pontiac-Cadillac, Waycross, GA.
Service Area, Swartzlander Motors Inc., Cadillac-Pontiac, Michigan City, IN.
Cooper Pontiac-Oldsmobile.
Roc Cutri Pontiac, Southgate, GA.
Boomershine Pontiac, Atlanta, GA.
Rosenthal-Hayman, Alexandria, VA.
Mecham Pontiac, Glendale, AZ.
Mecham Pontiac. Evan Mecham was an Arizona car dealer who became Arizona’s 17th governor. Quoting from Wikipedia:
“Mecham served one term as a state senator before beginning a string of unsuccessful runs for public office. His victory during the 1986 election began with a surprise win of the Republican nomination, followed by a split of the Democratic party during the general election, resulting in a three-way race. While Governor, Mecham made statements and actions that were widely perceived as racially charged or racist. Among these actions were the cancellation of the state’s paid Martin Luther King Jr. Day and creating an unpaid King holiday on a Sunday, attributing high divorce rates to working women, and his defense of the word “pickaninny” in describing African American children. In reaction to these events, a boycott of Arizona was organized. A rift between the Governor and fellow Republicans in the Arizona Legislature developed after the Arizona Republic newspaper made accusations of questionable political appointments and cronyism.
“Having served from January 5, 1987, to April 4, 1988, Mecham was removed from office following conviction in his impeachment trial on charges of obstruction of justice and misuse of government funds—funds that Mecham maintained were private. A later criminal trial acquitted Mecham of related charges. Following his removal from office, Mecham remained active in politics for nearly a decade. During this time, he served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention and made his final runs for the Arizona governorship and also for the U.S. Senate, in which he unsuccessfully challenged John McCain as an independent.”
Interesting times.
Mecham Pontiac. Evan Mecham was a Glendale, Arizona car dealer who ran for Arizona governor multiple times, always unsuccessfully, until he won the 1986 election through a bizarre turn of events that gave him a plurality (out of three candidates). He took office in January 1987, and was impeached and removed from office in April 1988. It was an interesting time.
In the first photo, they have two Le Mans Knife Jobs parked facing in. All they have to do is back it up a bit and it will cut through that glass like a hot knife through butter.
The Alpha Romeo sign strikes me as odd. What is apparently a GM dealer would also be selling Alphas on the side, in 1973 seems unusual.
Love the 61 Caddy in the second photo.
That dealership is Carbone Pontiac in Yorkville, New York, just outside of Utica.
Curiously, they sold not just Alfas, but also Hondas and Subarus in the early 1970s, apparently all from the same facility.
Carbone continued at that location (as a Chevy dealer) until 2022 when it was taken over by another firm. The building is still standing, though heavily modified.
Google StreetView link here:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/w1qyqrwteqUmyRaG7
I believe my aunt/uncle got their “Pontiac” from “Hayman”, in “Alx, VA”. “Rosenthal” hadn’t usurped them yet.