Photos of Vintage Auto Dealerships, Repair Shops, and Gas Stations
- Thread starter ayilar
- Start date
1921, Wheaton MN, 10th St. and Broadway. Built 1909, Chevy dealer was middle storefront. Still there, cosmetically different.
source: Vintage dealership buildings that are still around
source: Vintage dealership buildings that are still around
East Stanwood, Washington
Gotta love the roller skates
Town & Country Motors, Ford, Greenwich CT,
Albany, NY.
Obviously staged, but actual attendants are long gone. Today, you're lucky if the cashier isn't too busy selling scratch-offs to take your money.
Obviously staged, but actual attendants are long gone. Today, you're lucky if the cashier isn't too busy selling scratch-offs to take your money.
New Jersey Turnpike
315 Milbank, Greenwich, CT. Modern architecture, not sure year built. Still there, now an Infiniti dealer
1958
2022 - Cosmetic alterations to facade (windows, doors, paint).
One of the first gas stations in St Louis, MO 1916.
Looks different now.
Looks different now.
New Orleans
I think this is the building.
I think this is the building.
Knapp Chevrolet, Houston, TX
Same building, covered with new style façade.
Same building, covered with new style façade.
Apologies folks for the mini-rant.
I put a LOT of these giant barns from the early days of the automobile business. Three decades ago, when I thought I was "plugged in" to the folks trying to resurrect Detroit, some young professionals, with more ambition than money, were "smelling" money one day.
We looked at dozens of properties .. many connected to the auto industry. Factories, ex-car dealers, suppliers, etc. Long story short .. things we could gotten for $100,000 are transacting at 50-100X that today (yes, $5M-$10M a pop).
Posts #1,975, #1,977, #2,002, all the Albert Kahn buildings (& copycat structures), etc., --- BIG reinforced concrete boxes (multistory, 50,000+ sq. ft, brick, limestone, terra cotta with character ... hell, I just love em.
Age and poverty, without a Powerball win, erased that dream. But they're everywhere, some that probably broke their visionaries in half, others that made their sponsors a sh*t load of cash.
Then the serious money (Illitches of Little Caesars, Dan Gilbert of Quicken Loans, etc) showed up and did/led others to do GREAT things). Small fry like me and my buds could not compete. C'est la Vie.
Rant over. Here's another "barn"
Former Eldridge Buick (later Kauffman Buick, then Becker Buick until 1958), industrial modern style, built in 1925, First @ Cedar St. Spokane WA. Still there, wonderfully reused heading into its second century. 53,000K sq. ft. under roof.
This one caught my attention cuz I kinda recognized the street address. I did its repurposed neighbors in #1,975 (green arrows on aerial map) down First Street to the left at Adams St.
source: https://content.invisioncic.com/r27...mage.png.57aeb552dfae77e93f7ed5c68a31c20d.png
1926
2022
I put a LOT of these giant barns from the early days of the automobile business. Three decades ago, when I thought I was "plugged in" to the folks trying to resurrect Detroit, some young professionals, with more ambition than money, were "smelling" money one day.
We looked at dozens of properties .. many connected to the auto industry. Factories, ex-car dealers, suppliers, etc. Long story short .. things we could gotten for $100,000 are transacting at 50-100X that today (yes, $5M-$10M a pop).
Posts #1,975, #1,977, #2,002, all the Albert Kahn buildings (& copycat structures), etc., --- BIG reinforced concrete boxes (multistory, 50,000+ sq. ft, brick, limestone, terra cotta with character ... hell, I just love em.
Age and poverty, without a Powerball win, erased that dream. But they're everywhere, some that probably broke their visionaries in half, others that made their sponsors a sh*t load of cash.
Then the serious money (Illitches of Little Caesars, Dan Gilbert of Quicken Loans, etc) showed up and did/led others to do GREAT things). Small fry like me and my buds could not compete. C'est la Vie.
Rant over. Here's another "barn"
Former Eldridge Buick (later Kauffman Buick, then Becker Buick until 1958), industrial modern style, built in 1925, First @ Cedar St. Spokane WA. Still there, wonderfully reused heading into its second century. 53,000K sq. ft. under roof.
This one caught my attention cuz I kinda recognized the street address. I did its repurposed neighbors in #1,975 (green arrows on aerial map) down First Street to the left at Adams St.
source: https://content.invisioncic.com/r27...mage.png.57aeb552dfae77e93f7ed5c68a31c20d.png
1926
2022
Last edited:
Lynn, Mass.
Last edited:
Galax, VA
