I have a thing for posting dealer snapshots over the weekend, which I guess relates to my idea that Saturdays are ‘car shopping’ days. And while I’m not in the market for a new car, what’s the harm in daydreaming about it? Especially with the help of some visual aids from the past?
With that in mind, let’s see what the ‘Rocket 88’ Co. had to offer back in the ’50s, ’60s and early ’70s. As usual, locations have been noted when known.
The opening image is in Columbus, Georgia.
Cooper Oldsmobile, Decatur, IL.
Cunningham Buick-Oldsmobile, Burlington, VT.
Downtown Motor Sales, Warren, OH.
Halladay Motors, Oldsmobile-Cadillac, Cheyenne, WY.
Findlay Oldsmobile, Las Vegas, NV.
Hejahl Oldsmobile, Elmhurst, IL.
Collins Oldsmobile, Indianapolis, IN.
Brown Oldsmobile, Portland, OR.
The lead photo of the Columbus, Georgia Olds dealership with the salesman with two toned shoes featuring a two toned car is wonderful. Is the two tone matchup why you selected that picture?
Findlay Oldsmobile looks like a batwing dealership. That ’60 Impala looks perfect in front of it. Imagine a whole row of them.
The greeting salesman is what had me favoring the photo for it to be the lead, and the two toned shoes sealed the deal. Nice job by Mr. Salesman.
Great pictures Rich, especially the Collins Olds photo which appears to have been taken during the 1969 model year. This dealership was located at 4080 Lafayette Rd. in Indianapolis across from the Lafayette Square mall which was then in its prime; today, this mall has fallen on hard times and all but disappeared. The two other big Olds dealers in Indy then were Charlie Stuart at 1510 N. Meridian St. and Dellen at 5199 N. Keystone Ave. Charlie Collins was the dealership owner and Joe Myers was the sales manager. Their slogan was “Collins Olds will not be undersold”,
I have a pic that fits this theme; Hayes Olds in Kalamazoo, MI, around 1962.
Hayes picked up Mercedes in the 70s, and Mazda and Jeep in the 80s. Hayes was one of the dealers whose Mopar dealership was revoked in the Chrysler bankruptcy. Hayes sued and regained the Jeep store, which is now in a different building in dealership row on Stadium Drive, outside of downtown.
Last month, Hayes was bought out by the LaFontaine dealership group of metro Detroit.
I see a Renault sign along the front of the dealership. The Euro brands were in their sophomore phase in the North American market at this time .
The Subaru signage on Brown Oldsmobile in Portland foretells the future. I think today’s Subaru dealership is in the same building. The Las Vegas store is an architectural masterpiece. A perfect setting for a fleet of 1959-60 GM cars, and a few even in this later photo fit right in.
It is indeed a masterpiece, as was Ken Wilson Chevrolet (pics) here in Vestal NY, torn down by philistines who demolished it for a couple of wonderful new and exciting (sarcasm) chain restaurants about 10 years ago. Can you imagine instead making this the site of an MCM furniture store or truly upscale chef-owned restaurant ?
Neat to see the Hillman Husky 2dr wagon in the Halliday Olds picture.
What is the Euro looking car next to the last on the right front line in the Hejahl Olds picture?
Is that a Hillman? Looks more like a German FWD car … Lloyd or something. Paging kiwiwbryce …
That is an English Ford Taunus. Probably a `58-59 model.
Ford Taunus 17M
And a Borgward in front of the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz.
nice photos, I shared them with a friend who was the factory area represenative for Oldsmobile. He love them
nice photos, I shared them with a friend who was the factory area representative for Oldsmobile. He love them
One of the two Delta 88s in front of Brown Oldsmobile, almost looks junked or abandoned. lol. Various ’70s cars acquired that tired beater look, soon after being sold new. GM B-bodies had this feel. In fact, many new cars over the decades, being afflicted by this appearance of early aging.
Expansive roof surface at Collins Oldsmobile, perfect for showing who’s the new ‘King’ of car dealers.
Another great selection of photos! I’m always tempted to which of these buildings are still standing – several of them are from this set.
The Cooper Olds building in Decatur is still very much as it was when the building was constructed in 1950. StreetView is below. Cooper had been selling cars in Decatur for a long time, but shortly after this photo was taken, the dealership was sold, and it became known as Weidenbacher Oldsmobile. Eventually, Weidenbacher picked up a Toyota franchise as well – the company was sold again in the 1980s (then known as Crown Olds-Toyota), and still sold cars there for another few years. Crown Toyota is still in business at another location in Decatur.
StreetView link here:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/MfvBgHfEYX3Edn9x6
Excellent research! The original design’s facade was neutral enough, that it looks like a recent build. Similar to the retro brick exterior template used by some retailers in the last twenty to thirty years. Though, already out-of-style now.
Obsolete Tim Horton’s decor from the early 2000s.
Thank you for the pics, Eric703… these are good solid buildings, and still standing…
In exploring downtown Decatur IL via Google Street View, I’m struck by how empty and almost “post – apocalyptic” this once – busy downtown was… it’s almost like a scene from that History Network “Life After People” series from about 15 years ago…
Decatur’s population – like most all of the smaller cities in “downstate” Illinois – has plummeted precipitously, losing almost 25,000 people since 1980; at least the area does not appear derelict, as many of these towns have become. Once thriving, it’s now lower – income, with a 22% poverty rate; thousands of good industrial jobs vanished:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decatur,_Illinois
At one point there were even auto companies in Decatur; from 1917 to 1922, Decatur was the location of the Comet Automobile Company, and the Pan-American Motor Corporation:
https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/archival-collections/404257/
“George W. Jagers established the Comet Automobile Company in Decatur, Illinois, in 1917. The six-cylinder Comet — an assembled car built from components manufactured by outside suppliers — was a steady, if not spectacular, seller in the Midwest. But Jagers expanded too quickly, building a new factory in 1920 that Comet couldn’t afford. The company’s assets were liquidated in 1923…”
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-American_Motors_Corporation
“The company was founded in Chicago , Illinois in January 1917 . The production of automobiles began. The brand name was initially Chicago Light Six . In February of the same year it was announced that another factory would be sought in the same state and that the brand name would then be named after the new city. In December 1917 the company moved to Decatur , Illinois. Contrary to the announcement, the vehicles were now called Pan-American . From 1918 Edward Danner was president. After the end of the First World War, financial problems arose during the Depression. In 1921 the secretary-treasurer WA Phares disappeared. After that, $ 40,000 was missing . Phares was later found and arrested…
In December 1921, Danner announced that he was dissolving the company, even though it was still solvent. The sell-off began in January 1922. In July 1922, the remains of the company were auctioned off…
A total of 2,200 passenger cars were built…”
Here to report that the Findlay family is still very much in the car business in Las Vegas, although they don’t have an Oldsmobile dealer anymore, for obvious reasons.
I’ve bought a couple used cars from Findlay Toyota. They also have Honda, Acura, Chevrolet, Kia, Cadillac, Lincoln, Mazda, and Volkswagen. I guess they’ve done pretty well.
Collins Oldsmobile in Indianapolis was a really big dealership, and was one of Oldsmobile’s top dealers into the 1980s or 90’s. The building is still there, though I am not sure what (or if) business operates there. My 1984 Ninety-Eight coupe was sold to its original owner by Collins.
There was a big Collins Oldsmobile dealership in Fort Wayne too – I was never sure if it was owned by the same people, but would not be surprised. My mother bought her 72 Cutlass Supreme there.
That 1958 shot from Downtown Motor Sales in Warren Ohio – at least Oldsmobile outlasted Stripe toothpaste. 🙂
Good points JP. Before Collins relocated to Lafayette Rd. sometime in the late 1960″s they were at 2444 W.16th St., which later became Indy Saab. While there Collins billed themselves as a small dealer who could sell for less as their overhead costs were much lower than Indy’s other bigger Olds dealers.
Signage and decor at Hejhal Oldsmobile, brash for a new car seller. It may have been possible to convince the dealership owner to add an Isetta on a pole.
The Burlington VT dealer must be playing host to demo cars from out of state, maybe the Boston zone office. Vermont license plates didn’t go to 6 digits until 1990.
Actually, I think that dealership was located in Burlington, Wisconsin.
I think you’re correct about Wisconsin vs Vermont.
Here’s an early photo of the dealerships for the Burlington Wisconsin Historical Society. Photo found in the gallery of Burlington business:
http://flowpaper.burlingtonhistory.org/BurlBusinesses/index.html#page=4
Also, there’s a discussion of subsequent owners in v8buick.com:
https://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/looking-for-cunningham-buick-in-burlington-wi.248754/
Yet another photo of the dealership 1978:
http://flowpaper.burlingtonhistory.org/BurlBusinesses/index.html#page=29
I haven’t lived in the Burlington area for more than 40 years (my niece lives in South Burlington but haven’t visited her yet)…but my Dad bought his new 1965 Olds F85 at Val Preda’s on Shelburne Rd. Apparently they’d moved there from North Avenue (which is around the area we moved to in 1965) to South Burlington in 1950’s. I kind of doubt there would have been more than 1 dealer for Olds in a town the size of Burlington (Val Preda also handled Cadillac, don’t know who took over that brand since).
Parents lived in Burlington from 1965-1969 then Shelburne from 1975-1982 (last move to Texas in ’82 settled them down…haven’t moved since after spending most of their younger days on the move)
Looks like “spring” is springing in that pic.
Truth in advertising: Brown Oldsmobile. Yup, there’s one!
The Halladay building is still standing at the northwest corner of Lincolnway and Maxwell. Furthermore, it is still owned and used by Halladay though now it is the “collision center”. The dealership campus is on Westland Road – a few miles west of the old place. Halladay currently sells Cadillac, GMC, Buick, Subaru and Nissan. I’d guess the Buick franchise is in jeopardy due to the Buick electric mandate; the Cody and Powell, Wyoming Buick dealers have dropped the brand.
Anyone know what the black, boxy , “lil truck/car” is. It’s along the curb, in front of the “Halladay” showroom.
Hillman Husky, maybe?
Goliath/Hansa 1100
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Wonderful pictures .
I miss these old style dealerships but they’re courting new Customers not folks who like older things .
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-Nate
Yes, Cunningham Buick/Oldsmobile was located in that building in the wonderful little town of Burlington, Wisconsin. They moved into this building in 1947 or 1948. I had the pleasure of working there as a 19 year iold in 1976.. They stayed in this building until 2003 when Oldsmobile went away and the Buick franchise was taken over by the Lynch automotive group where it remains to this day.. It was the most fun I ever had on a job! Very pleasant memories!
My Dad worked for Sam White Oldsmobile in Houston Texas thier original dealership was at Main @ McGowan just south of downtown, I have many fond memories of that place