Mark Downing Ford, Huntington Beach, CA.
Kestner Ford Sales, Downers Grove, IL.
McCafferty Ford, Trenton, NJ.
Bob Drewer Ford, Phoenix, AZ.
Hy-Road Ford Motors, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Miracle Ford, Dallas, TX.
Valley Ford Sales, Fresno, CA.
Anderson Ford, Sarasota, FL.
Marty Franich Ford, Watsonville, CA.
Mainway Ford, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Hatton-Marks Ford-Mercury, Davis, CA.
Wallace Ford, Bowling Green, KY.
Fairway Ford, Stockton, CA.
G&W Ford, Modesto, CA.
We had Ford dealers but not so many of those Fords, I forget the import quota numbers but we had far more British Fords than north American models and by the mid 60s Aussie Fords were here.
Hy-Road Ford would be breaking the law nowadays with all those English signs – https://www.montrealgazette.com/news/provincial-news/article935358.html
Dealerships in the early ’60s liked having separate signs for each model, like Falcon and Thunderbird at Mark Downing Ford.
The overhang at Anderson Ford lends a neat “mid-century modern” vibe to what is otherwise a mundane dealership building.
Recall that until 1960, most of the major American brands sold only one size of car, full-size. (Setting aside Thunderbird and Corvette.) So when the compacts came out in 1960, they were almost considered “sub-marques” and dealers felt they were separate cars. If a man said he drove “a Ford”, it was implied that he drove a full-size car, not a Falcon. The Chrysler Corporation went so far as to badge the Valiant as its own marque. Plymouth dealers added “Valiant” to the main signage.
The building that housed Anderson Ford in Sarasota was a mid-century modern design in the style that is known as Sarasota School of Architecture. It featured precast concrete and terrazo floors in an open concept layout. That building was repurposed by the Center for Architecture Sarasota and is now known as the Mcculloch Pavilion. As Googie is to Los Angeles, the Sarasota School of Architectureis to the Sarasota area. It influenced many commercial buildings along with the unique residential structures accredited to that design school.
My dad was born in Montreal. And grew up there. In the 1950’s, the English language dominated the city. Including advertising, and signage.
It played a huge role, in the Quiet Revolution in Quebec in the 1960’s. And the rise of French nationalism.
All California shots from the Central Valley.
Mostly, except for the Huntington Beach dealership and Marty Franich in Watsonville, which is now just Watsonville Ford. Same building, little changed.
Long-time Phoenician. I don’t remember Bob Drewer Ford…
I don’t believe Bob Drewer Ford was around for long – best I can tell it was from 1964 to 1966.
Drewer took over Downtown Ford (which earlier had been Madison Ford) located at 525 N. Central Ave. After just two years, the Drewer dealership was bought out by a man named Wade Zellner, who changed the name to Canyon Ford, and quickly relocated the dealership to a larger location on Grand Ave.
Thanks Eric! No wonder I didn’t remember it. The timeline fits given the Falcon visible in the showroom. I do remember Madison Ford which, IIRC, moved to Camelback road in Scottsdale. I do remember Canyon Ford as well.
Interesting that Kestner Ford was in downtown Downers Grove, IL and not where all the car dealers have been for decades on Ogden Avenue. I did a Google on them and they were at 1016 Warren Ave, which parallels the Metra Rail / BNSF train tracks that run through the middle of Downers Grove. Nothing sits there now. I wonder if they were closed or bought out and moved.
Looks like the signage wasn’t standard until the 70s. Each dealer had its own version of the old script oval and the newer block letters.
The very first image of Mark Downing Ford shows a tiny building the *exact* copy of which was a Ford dealer in San Pedro, Ca. the building still exists and is now an independent British car shop .
I wonder if that building was a corporate approved or mandated design .
-Nate
I don’t think there was much in mandates about building design then but I can see Ford commissioning some designs and offering them to dealers.
The other possibility is considering their relative locations is that the builder and/or architect were the same and just reused the same plans.
Mainway Ford, Toronto, Ontario, Canada:
Every inch of showroom windows used to advertise:
Far Right:
Brand New 68 Ford Cortina 2 DR, $1991
Middle:
68 Full Size Ford $2495
Left: (can’t read all the words):
68 Mustang (xxx) $991 Difference with your (xxxx) PRICE IS NO PROBLEM
I’m curious what the Mustang deal is. Knowing dealerships, I doubt it’s in the customer’s favor.
The GW Ford dealership photo is probably from 1978 because of the single gen 2 Bronco on the corner.
Couldn’t find a good picture of Towson Ford, where Dad got 2 cars, a ’62 Fairlane 500 and ’64 Custom 500 but it’s (at least the sign is) sorta visible in this photo looking S on York Rd. My Jr. High school was located directly behind it, and as I walked to and from school back then I often walked over after school (ca. Fall ’62 to Spring ’65) to look at the cars in the back lot. No one ever bothered me, even when I sat in some of the new cars that had unlocked doors. I recall not liking the heavily re-done ’65 nearly as much as Dad’s 64,
pic ca 1970?:
as I recall some of their shop + parts dept were across on the other side of York Rd.