Battjes Chevrolet, Elkhart, IN.
Les Vogel Chevrolet, San Francisco, CA.
Ben Geller Chevrolet, Chicago, IL.
Bob Peck Chevrolet, Arlington, VA.
Jack Douglass Chevrolet, Hinsdale, IL.
Coggin Chevrolet showroom, Nashville, TN.
City Chevrolet, San Diego, CA.
Chase Chevrolet, Stockton, CA.
Clasen-Morse Chevrolet, Overland Park, KS.
Woodard Chevrolet, Cadillac, Oldsmobile, Fairfield, CA.
Steve Ferrara Chevrolet, Penns Grove, NJ.
S&K Chevrolet, Vallejo, CA.
Woodard Chevrolet in Fairfield CA has a new name, no longer owned by the Woodard family, but despite exterior refreshes looks pretty similar, in the same location overlooking Interstate 80. A Subaru dealership next door, with the same owners, seems about as big … I suspect that if it weren’t for Chevy trucks, Subaru probably outsells Chevrolet here.
Les Vogel was one of two, maybe even three, Chevy dealers in San Francisco; now there are none.
Que the music; “You should get a Bob Peck, Chevy. Check with Peck before you buy..”
The jingle I remember is “Come to Chevy City and check with Peck before you buy”. Ran unchanged for about 15 years.
Don’t recall “BP” ever being called “Chevy city”. “Chevyland” was “Chevy Chase, Chevrolet”.
At “Ourisman Chevrolet”, you “always got your way”.
“Battling Burt Lustine”, touted “Lustine Chevrolet” .
“Criswell Chevrolet”, in “Gaitherburg MD” had a tune too. Don’t remember it though.
Love that City Chevrolet sign. Ben Geller’s neon is nice too. Funny how Jack and Steve worked their first names into the signage.
Interesting that Les has a couple of pickups in the window, though it seems he keeps most of his stock indoors. Seems like a real pain when you actually make a sale and you’ve got to fire up a half a dozen of those cars that spit out a ton of HC and CO, particularly on a cold start. Must give the whole building a great smell. Though I’m guessing for the owner that was the smell of money.
Google shows the Ferrara building is still there, now housing a limousine service.
New 68 chevelle cars..Woodard..everywhere
How exciting going to a car dealer used to be, Coggin Chevy with the blue SS on the left, what more could a person want !
Two of the Chevy dealers in the post cards are around, and you can recognize those 1960s buildings in the buildings in operation today.
McCarthy Chevrolet 9201 Metcalf Ave, Overland Park, KS
Fairfield Chevrolet 2501 Martin Rd Fairfield, CA
Bob Peck Chevrolet was town down years ago and a tall office building now sits on the space. But for once, an effort was made to honor the old dealership building – the bottom is round, has a lobby that mirrors the appearance of the old showroom, and uses the distinctive blue-diamond signage (minus the “Chevrolet” lettering of course). The illuminated blue diamonds are actually new but the same shape and color as the old ones, which were either in too poor condition or not up to modern electrical code so couldn’t be reused, or maybe it was just too difficult to incorporate the originals. There’s a historical marker noting the former dealership at the site too. Bob Peck Chevy dates back to 1939, although the Glebe Rd. location opened in 1964.
I was in that dealership once. The inside was disappointingly generic compared to the outside.
Was in there “Circa, 85”. By then the widened road was encroaching on the lot, front lawn.
Showroom was showing serious fatigue.
Recall a yellow “Chevette”, a blue “Malibu”, burgundy “Caprice” (or “Impala”)
I was dropping off a co worker, waited to be sure they got their car before leaving.
Fair amount of “Cavilier’s” scattered about.
I remember Clasen-Morse Chevrolet from the ’60s although I never visited their dealership, I don’t know if they are still in existence. It’s enjoyable to look at how unique the appearance of the dealerships was then. Today, it’s the corporate look and the dealterships are almost identical.
Love these, show more! I was in Chevy, Buick and Pontiac/GMC dealers in Houston, Texas area frequently as a kid, Dad was a GM man. We had three GMC pickups bought new in the 70s, from local dealers, and Mom’s ’81 Monte Carlo was bought new from George Pharis in Sugar Land. Now they are part of the Classic chain, after being Bill Heard for several years. We also often looked at the new models at Frank Gillman Pontiac GMC across from Sharpstown Mall, in SW Houston. Another dealership I remember is Richardson Chevrolet in SW Houston; they also had a very distinctive building. They were on a corner lot at a major intersection and US 59/Southwest Freeway, and had a semicircular showroom with Bowties around the roof edge above the windows. All faced the proper direction except for the last one on the north end, it was reversed. Somewhere I might still have an invoice from the parts department…it had a line drawing of the building on it and was really cool looking. The dealership was also a Cal Worthington franchise for a few years, and yes we had the famous ads with “his ‘dog’ Spot”. One of the other dealers was Mike Persia Chevrolet, with a jingle my Mom remembers even now, and we never even bought a car from them! Richardson/Worthington ended up moving up the freeway several blocks, and took over where a large hotel had been, that was knocked down. Their previous location is now a gas station and shopping center…. You know you have lived in the Houston, Texas metro area for a while, when you can go back several steps, on “what was there before what’s there now?” Life in a boom town….
Who remembers searchlights at the car dealers when the new cars came out in the fall? It was exciting to go see the new model of cars!
So many beautiful Chevrolets I either had or wanted back in the day .
-Nate
The last picture, with the new “standard” GM sign, is an appropriate finale. The sheer variety of pre-standard signage is so much more interesting!
I worked for a few of these crooked theif owners back in the day! They screwed so many customers that dealers reputations have been ruined by their stingy and decieptfull operations. Not only did they chest the customers but the out and out theivery they extorted on their employees was horrible. Most people wax nostalgically about the pictures of the cars and the buildings themselves, but if you showed a picture of one of those shyster chisler owners people would remember the bad experiences they had with these stingy crooks!
David Gold Chevrolet Manchester Tennessee
to la673: I had to laugh when you mentioned the Bob Peck Chevrolet jingle. The tune came instantly to mind as soon as I saw the picture of Bob Peck Chevrolet. And yes, “Come to Chevy City, and check with Peck before you buy” was on the radio for YEARS. I think it disappeared around 1978 or so.
I remember hearing it well after that. It always sounded like a pop song from 1971, never updated to reflect more modern styles. The other two local Chevy dealers with omnipresent TV and radio jingles was Ourisman (here: youtube.com/watch?v=Ih6Rj95qyP4 – this one I think did get updated) and Lustine which I can’t find online. Lustine’s distinctive building is still there and still called the Lustine center, although it now houses a gym.
I’m surprised that Felix Chevrolet here in L.A. at Figueroa & Jefferson, across from the USC Campus wasn’t included in this Photo Gallery, they just Expanded its Service Area & Storage area within the Last couple of Years.
Been in Business since 1921.