For today, a few more images of Nash and Rambler dealers from the 1950s and 1960s. A few of these have appeared before in my previous post, while others are showing up for the first time.
The lede image is opening night at Jack Freese Inc. in 1952. Locations have been noted where known.
P. K. Williams Nash Co., Austin, TX.
Gil. Ashcom Nash, Alameda, CA.
Jack Freese Inc. Opening Night, 1952, Hazel Park, MI.
Hebbronville Motor Co. Inc., Hebbronville, TX.
Roseville Rambler.
Ken Seagler Rambler, MA.
Barton Motors, Staunton, VA.
Nye Motors, Ann Arbor, MI.
Alfred Rambler, Chicago, IL.
Rose Rambler.
Photo #6: Roseville Rambler
Have to laugh! This was the period of stand alone A/C units (vent in the center of the picture) which could blow the coldest air, enough to cause condensation in the windows, even in a heatwave. I doubt they were very energy efficient, but electricity was cheap back then.
Photo #6: Roseville Rambler & Photo #8; Barton Motors
Also, the wood paneling. Reminds me of the paneling my dad put in the kitchen and den. With each paycheck, he would buy 3 or 4 panels at a time. Some shades of the wood slightly different on each trip. He was good about hiding the differences behind the frig or stove or such. I would ride in the back of the Impala wagon to make sure they didn’t move around as he drove home.
The early 60’s, you had to be there!!
Rich, many thanks for these images!! Seeing vintage shots of car dealerships is a weakness of mine! And many of these photos I’ve never seen before. Here in Omaha where I am, we still have the old Scott Nash building on 29th and Harney, although after a transition to a Mexican restaurant, it’s now vacant. It had the rounded floor-to-ceiling glass that was so popular in the forties. It had opened in 1946. Wish I was around then to see it in all it’s glory!
these local dealers were usually local family owned and family members had different jobs like some being mechanic, salesman, bookkeeper,and car washer. Can remember a Nash Olds , Studebaker and Buick near me that were famly ran. Good thing if you were local all people in dealership were know. Usually the owner would talk to customers and make sure you were happy. My local Olds dealer was like this owner even knew my name from buying quite a cars from them. Now dealer have fancy buildings with no real connection with customers feel like hospitals not friends .
Jack Freese was located in Hazel Park, Michigan, just outside of Detroit.
The building is still standing, but is thoroughly mutilated:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Su6KZHz4h7vx7iGn6
Somebody did not like windows…
Between the bricked-over windows and the gray paint, that’s one ominous-looking building now.
Incidentally, before the Nash franchise, that building served as a Ford dealership:
This is the location of Barton Motors in Staunton, Virginia. The showroom was located in a converted house – the structure is still there, now used as a smoke and vape store. You can see in the modern image that the windows and outside topography match the vintage interior shot, so it’s almost certainly the same place.
Barton began as a Nash dealer in the 1940s in downtown Staunton, and relocated to this location in 1963. Looks like they remained in business – selling AMC – until about 1979-80, after which time the company remained in business for a few years as a repair facility, and then closed.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/JGWqF5LCBkKg4NGM6
You got to the missing “n” in the city’s name before I did.
Right… as a geography enthusiast and a Virginian, I couldn’t let that one go unmentioned!
I still remember a case I was involved in where a kid on a bike accidently broke an old-school plain plate glass window in an old building in a small town. He got some cuts, but it could have been much worse. The place had been built long before modern safety/building codes, and had been a Nash dealer for a long time.
And Hebronville Motor Co. figured out the sure way to make a Rambler look long, low and beautiful – park it next to an International pickup!
Rose Rambler was prescient in also becoming a Jeep franchise. I don’t recall AMC dealers in the ’70s and ’80s having separate Jeep signs.
Chuckled to myself at the lead photo…
The last time I saw a flower display like that was at a funeral home. 😉
These posts are always fun reading. Keep ‘em coming Rich.
Rambler. Yes, Coon Brothers Rambler on Telegraph road and Plymouth in Redford Michigan. Remember it will. Large dealership. Owner was a WW II war hero. We knew people who bought there car’s there. Enjoyed the remorie.
Nice .
Nash products in the late 30’s through the 40’s were so much prettier than the AMC stuff that followed .
-Nate
Freese reminds me of Stanford-Weese Nash, where my parents bought their ’60 Rambler. Similar building, located in a drab industrial area south of downtown. Not much glamor.
More great pics. So much classic style here, in the design and decor. What was original then, is now a great time capsule of ’50’s and early ’60’s pop culture, without the garishness put out by the Big Three.
“Rose Rambler” should have been “Rose AMC” by the time that “Javelin” came along.
I had a ’56 Nash Metropolitan coupe for years. Never got around to restoring it. Needed the space, so I sold it to a friend of mine. While I owned it I acquired a matching pair of Gil Ashcom license plate frames. I still have those. Until now, I never knew where it was located.
My grandfather had a Nash dealership, W.A.Nolte and sons, outside of Pittsburgh. Actually Nash, Studebaker,Mack truck and Datsun of all things. I don’t remember anything about it or have any pics. Shut down not too long after Studebaker went under. I guess I was born 20 years too late
My dad worked as a salesman at Home Acres Rambler on S Division Ave in Wyoming, MI (Grand Rapids) in the mid 1960’s. He would get “Demonstrator” cars to drive until he sold them. I thought that was great as a kid. The one we had the longest was a Marlin. Apparently customers didn’t like the purple color.
News: Paolo Pininfarina died this week aged 65. He took over the company in 2008.