Pitcaim Oldsmobile, Langhorne, PA.
Raymond P. Scott Oldsmobile, Wynnewood, PA.
Warrington Oldsmobile, Philadelphia, PA.
Earl Oldsmobile, Cleveland, OH.
Bray Motor Co. Olds, Redwood City, CA.
Lubik Oldsmobile, Bordertown, NJ.
Hardin Oldsmobile, Los Angeles, CA.
Pryor Oldsmobile, Memphis, TN.
Dave Reese Oldsmobile, Drexell Hill, PA.
Don Singleton Oldsmobile, Kansas City, KS.
Collins Oldsmobile, Indianapolis, IN.
Ralph Oldsmobile, Smithtown, Long Island, NY.
Edward Oldsmobile, Phoenix, AZ.
Crisconi Oldsmobile, Philadelphia, PA.
Raymond P. Scott Oldsmobile, Wynnewood, PA.
I have seen at least one car I would like to test drive in each picture. I don’t think I have wondered around a new car dealership lot since the late 1990s. I remember car shopping with my parents since I was age four and have scattered memories of what the dealerships looked like where we bought cars. Strange how some memories of important events in your life last a lifetime while other memories just fade away.
Growing up in a military family, moving frequently, I have no memories of specific states, cities, or schools I attended in my early years. However, I have distinct memories, at age four, of the Oldsmobile dealership where my parents bought matching turquoise & white 1955 Olds ’98’ Holiday two door and Starfire convertible. No idea where this dealership was located. I remember the glass front showroom was very close to the street. Inventory was above on open sided parking decks. I saw what was to become our hardtop as soon as we stepped off and elevator. At the end of the row was a side view of the Starfire that I remember as clear as if it was yesterday. This must have been the moment I became a car nut.
There’s an architectural theme in some of these. Raymond Scott is the best of the bunch, a truly beautiful building. Earl, Collins, Edward, and Reese have echoes of the same shape.
There are two photos of that dealership – the last one looks great, but the one higher up looks like the stains need to be cleaned off the masonry. Almost looks like an abandoned building.
See my comment about the Bill McDavid Oldsmobile sign that existed in Houston for many years on this previous thread. https://www.curbsideclassic.com/vintage-snapshots-and-photography/vintage-dealer-postcards-oldsmobile-dealers-1958-to-the-70s/ Unfortunately, Oldsmobile, the dealership, and the sign are no more.
Lots of pictures here from the Philadelphia area!
I’d never heard of Warrington Oldsmobile before, so I looked it up. Turns out Warrington Olds began selling cars in 1929, and its main facility was about a block away from the lot in this picture (it was at 5649 Walnut St., and the structure is long gone). At first I thought the business may have started in Warrington, PA, a township about 30 mi. north of Philadelphia. However, I believe it started as a repair garage on Warrington Ave., a few miles away from the sales facilities. As far as I can tell, they went out of business in 1963.
Incidentally, the building next door was also a car dealership – it was Seatman Chrysler. I wish I could find a picture of the building when it was a car dealer; it was an interesting design, looking more like a theater from the outside. Seatman left that building in the mid 1950s. It’s still standing, and is used as a community health center of some kind (see StreetView link below).
I was surprised to see two car dealers in this part of West Philadelphia, since I don’t think that neighborhood had ever been a large retail/commercial center.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/pMWwKH8fgca4Cb6H6
Aren’t the two Raymond Scott photos of the same building?
Looks like a new, or quite new, “Vega”((sticker in window)) directly in front of “Criconi Olds” in “Philly”.
The “shadow effect” in the “Lubick Old’s”, pic is pretty cool.
Crisconi Olds was well-known in Philadelphia, because it had occupied that location on S. Broad St. for about 50 years. The company had an interesting founder – a great rags-to-riches story. John Crisconi, whose parents immigrated to the US from Italy when he was a toddler, quit school as a pre-teen in order to work odd jobs. Eventually he found he was a good salesman, and started selling flour, then other products, and eventually cars. He bought some kind of repair shop when he was in his late 20s, and founded his own Oldsmobile dealership in 1933. Initially the dealership’s name was the Philadelphia Motor Car Co.; he renamed it Crisconi Oldsmobile about 20 years later.
Throughout the 1950s-’80s, Crisconi Olds was Pennsylvania’s largest Olds dealer. John Crisconi became very wealthy, and became a well-known philanthropist as well. He died at age 92 (by accidental drowning in his swimming pool), and was still leading his company at the time. After his death, his daughter took over the dealership. The dealership moved to the “Automall” area around that time (they may have begun the transition before John’s death), but sank quickly into financial problems and went bankrupt in 1990.
Regarding John Crisconi, he also led a group of people who tried to buy the Philadelphia “Athaletics” (spelled as a Philadelphian would have said the name) from the Mack family(sons and grandsons of Connie Mack, team co-founder) in 1954, and keep the team in Philadelphia. The Cliff’s Notes version was that the NY Yankees were losing money when they came to Philadelphia, and the Yankees were able to get American League owners to reject the Crisconi bid, and accept a bid from Chicago businessman Arnold Johnson to buy the team and relocate the team to Kansas City. Articles, and, I think a book, were written about this affair.
I can’t see a period Oldsmobile dealership without thinking of The Blues Brothers crashing through the dealership window in the mall. “New Oldsmobiles are in early this year.”
Animal House from two years earlier had an Oldsmobile-dealer bashing too. Both films directed by John Landis – did he have a thing for Oldsmobiles?
Dixie Square Mall never had an Oldsmobile dealer in it in real life; it was added for the film, as was the Toys ‘R’ Us. I’m obsessed with the mall chase scene in The Blues Brothers; it’s so awesome. Disco Pants and Haircuts!
My Grandmother Cavanaugh bought multiple Oldsmobiles from Raymond Scott. And the only Olds I ever owned (1984 98 coupe) was purchased new at Collins in Indianapolis. The Collins building is still there.
I wonder if Hardin Olds is any relation to Hardin Buick/GMC and Honda in Anaheim AC..
Just think how hard it was to sell the 1958 Oldsmobiles. I’m sure there income dropped at least 50%. That year.
Anything of Regal Oldsmobile in Winston Salem NC? I have a 1972 Cutlass Supreme that was purchased new from there.
The Scott Oldsmobile building in Wynnewood, PA is still there and remains recognizable. It’s a Nissan shop now.
The McDavids (David and his late brother Bill) inherited their father’s Pontiac store in Ft. Worth decades ago. The brothers later split their empire. Bill sold out his franchises after his cancer diagnosis, and David sold his stores to a holding group. His name still graces a dealership, as he bought a Ford store near his late brother’s old former Pontiac store.(now a Buick/GMC store). The McDavid name was also found in Austin years ago, but it was Dawn McDavid Acura. At one time, the McDavid name also graced Honda, Lincoln-Mercury, Saturn, and Subaru stores.
As much as I miss the variety and often stunning architecture and signage from these old postcard photos, today’s selection makes it clear why nearly every brand has since required standardized signage and general appearance from their dealerships. Several of these buildings aren’t even obviously car dealerships, or look a bit run down. It’s difficult for a brand to convey a consistent image when every dealer sign is in a different color, shape, and font, on a completely different-looking building. Imagine a world where every McDonalds or Home Depot or Apple Store had a completely different look and different signage with the variety you see here. You could be passing by one every day and not know it’s there.
My favorite here is Bray Olds due to its choice of font. Gotta make sure computers can read your sign!
My 1972 Olds Cutlass Supreme came from Scott Olds in suburban Philly. Most reliable car I have owned. Put 200,000 miles on it and ran perfectly for 23 years and sold it to a collector. Scott Olds was popular on Philadelphia main line of upper middle class folks. Good dealer for the little service that Olds needed.
I’m sure Nate and others in SoCal will remember Albertson Olds in Culver City – always enjoyed the seeing the rocket while driving down Sepulveda.
Good memories here .
-Nate
One that sticks in my mind was the old Bell Oldsmobile, at the intersection of MA Route 60 (American Legion Highway) and MA Route 16 (Revere Beach Parkway). The traffic circle there has been known as Bell Circle to generations of Metro Bostonians, for the now defunct Oldsmobile dealer that was there for decades. The official name given by the state for the rotary is lost to history, but the name of the dealer lives on. A T-Mobile store occupies the building used by the dealership now, and it looks nothing like it did when Oldsmobile and the dealer selling Oldsmobiles were in their prime in the 1960’s. This is a primary route to Boston’s Logan Airport from the north shore, so it is familiar to anyone who has to go to the airport from the north of Boston.
If anyone can find pictures to post of what the dealership looked like back in the day, I’d really appreciate it!
I think that the Hardin Olds photo is mislabeled as being in Los Angeles. My dad worked for Hardin Olds, Honda and Marine in Anaheim from its opening in 1957 to his retirement in 1999.