Clearly some auto show... How can you not love the signage??
Photos of Vintage Auto Dealerships, Repair Shops, and Gas Stations
- Thread starter ayilar
- Start date
On that location now... A lot of you buy parts from these guys.
Former Texaco Station, 144 Main Street, Flemington, NJ (25 miles north of Trenton).
Original streamline moderne design, being converted to an eatery with a period-correct design of an old Texaco (they studied OLD designs to give this a art deco look it NEVER had but is correct for Texacos built in the '30's & '40's).
Millie's Bruncheonette will be the new thing. ~1,200 sq ft original building, will have ~2,300 sq. ft. added. Website has lots of photos of the cleanup of the abandoned gas station
Site needed remediation/environmental, plus they removed the one post lift (under 5 ft of reinforced concrete, 10 ft in the ground), and the TWO oil tanks NOT remediated when the gas tanks were removed (so they had to physically go INSIDE them to make sure NO oil was in them BEFORE they could dig them up).
Could be dropping a few million $$ on all this. Admire their initiative, and hope its a nice place for a long time to come.
source: Millie's | Brunch and Coffee | Flemington, Flemington vacant gas station eyed for new restaurant
Old (per Google in 2009, then when bought in 2020 per new owner)
Coming later this year.
Original streamline moderne design, being converted to an eatery with a period-correct design of an old Texaco (they studied OLD designs to give this a art deco look it NEVER had but is correct for Texacos built in the '30's & '40's).
Millie's Bruncheonette will be the new thing. ~1,200 sq ft original building, will have ~2,300 sq. ft. added. Website has lots of photos of the cleanup of the abandoned gas station
Site needed remediation/environmental, plus they removed the one post lift (under 5 ft of reinforced concrete, 10 ft in the ground), and the TWO oil tanks NOT remediated when the gas tanks were removed (so they had to physically go INSIDE them to make sure NO oil was in them BEFORE they could dig them up).
Could be dropping a few million $$ on all this. Admire their initiative, and hope its a nice place for a long time to come.
source: Millie's | Brunch and Coffee | Flemington, Flemington vacant gas station eyed for new restaurant
Old (per Google in 2009, then when bought in 2020 per new owner)
Coming later this year.
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Not the style that I am writing about in this thread, but I am positing while hoping that @Ripinator will share some stories about Bonfield's Auto Repairs, as he told me that he used to get gas there back in the day. Perhaps @Imperialist67 could chime in too -- I have a recollection that he once told me that it was good for work on older cars.
The small facility is located on McArthur Blvd in Brookmont, MD (an unincorporated area that falls within Bethesda's 20816 zip code) and is located just west the Palisades area of DC.
"The Bonfield family opened an auto repair garage here about 1927. For 70 years, Walter Bonfield, inheriting the business from his father, operated the garage and lived in the second-level apartment over the shop. Adjacent to the building are open-air grease pits, predating the hydraulic lifts in today’s service stations. Bonfield expanded his business in 1936, installing gas pumps to supplement the automobile repair service. The 2½-story front-gable structure is a traditional building form used for commercial structures as early as the mid-1800s. In contrast, the metal streamline sign announcing Bonfield’s services was a response to the faster pace of the automobile age."
The Library of Congress has 8 photos of what it looked like:
The above photo looks like it was taken on the same day, from a slightly different angle, as the one now on new owner Wagshal's website:
The repair shop is listed by Google as "permanently closed. It is currently being made into Wagshal’s Market and BBQ at Bonfield’s.
The small facility is located on McArthur Blvd in Brookmont, MD (an unincorporated area that falls within Bethesda's 20816 zip code) and is located just west the Palisades area of DC.
"The Bonfield family opened an auto repair garage here about 1927. For 70 years, Walter Bonfield, inheriting the business from his father, operated the garage and lived in the second-level apartment over the shop. Adjacent to the building are open-air grease pits, predating the hydraulic lifts in today’s service stations. Bonfield expanded his business in 1936, installing gas pumps to supplement the automobile repair service. The 2½-story front-gable structure is a traditional building form used for commercial structures as early as the mid-1800s. In contrast, the metal streamline sign announcing Bonfield’s services was a response to the faster pace of the automobile age."
The Library of Congress has 8 photos of what it looked like:
The above photo looks like it was taken on the same day, from a slightly different angle, as the one now on new owner Wagshal's website:
The repair shop is listed by Google as "permanently closed. It is currently being made into Wagshal’s Market and BBQ at Bonfield’s.
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While this pic is unrelated to the Canadian dealership, driving a Plymouth around on 3 wheels must have been a marketing stunt. Honestly, I'd never heard of this.
Probably touting the unibody construction that was new for 1957.
241-249 S Cameron St, Harrisburg, PA. Has to be late 20's. They are selling Goodyear tires, Texaco gas, Stutz and Blackhawk cars and Republic trucks. I think the LaFrance is Ward LaFrance, rather than American LaFrance. Ward LaFrance Truck Corporation - Wikipedia
BTW, BlackHawk was a cheaper, less powerful car that Stutz built as a separate make. Blackhawk (automobile) - Wikipedia
BTW, BlackHawk was a cheaper, less powerful car that Stutz built as a separate make. Blackhawk (automobile) - Wikipedia
I read that there are only about 20 of these original Stuckeys stores left, down from 350.
Former Mohn Bros Buick, 939 North Prince, Lancaster, PA (about 75 miles west of Philadelphia). Built in circa 1950, streamline moderne. About 20K sq., in an urban area.
Currently owner is vintage car dealer/restorer and knows/proud of the building's architectural heritage, even maintaining the neon signage.
sources:Midcentury modern design brought clean lines, bold shapes to postwar buildings around Lancaster County [architecture column], Horsepower Enterprises | About
Today
Currently owner is vintage car dealer/restorer and knows/proud of the building's architectural heritage, even maintaining the neon signage.
sources:Midcentury modern design brought clean lines, bold shapes to postwar buildings around Lancaster County [architecture column], Horsepower Enterprises | About
Today
Former Drew Ford "Roundhouse of Values", built 1967, demolished 2018, 8970 La Mesa Ave, La Mesa CA. Built to emulate the Ford Pavillion at the 1964 World's Fair in NY.
Local controversy between preservationists and new owner (who tore it down and built a new glass box modern Ford dealership building). Sometimes these "grass roots save-the-whatever" efforts work, sometimes not.
This was one where the compelling new alternative won out, and the preservation didnt.
source: Wrecking ball target: Drew Ford roundhouse, Iconic La Mesa dealership, the Roundhouse of Values, being demolished
1964 World's Fair Ford Pavilion
Demolition 2018
Today - A Penske complex
Local controversy between preservationists and new owner (who tore it down and built a new glass box modern Ford dealership building). Sometimes these "grass roots save-the-whatever" efforts work, sometimes not.
This was one where the compelling new alternative won out, and the preservation didnt.
source: Wrecking ball target: Drew Ford roundhouse, Iconic La Mesa dealership, the Roundhouse of Values, being demolished
1964 World's Fair Ford Pavilion
Demolition 2018
Today - A Penske complex
Some old speed shops.
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
Former Amoco station and Ford dealer, 701 Person Street, Raleigh, NC.
Looks like a "pre" art deco design that could even before before 1920 judging by construction (canopy with tile roof, style of gas pumps) and the vintage of vehicle (Ford?).
Could have been a lot things in 100 years, but currently at eatery & bar that may have been there for many years.
Source: The Station – at Person Street • Raleigh
circa: 1920 (?)
Today
Looks like a "pre" art deco design that could even before before 1920 judging by construction (canopy with tile roof, style of gas pumps) and the vintage of vehicle (Ford?).
Could have been a lot things in 100 years, but currently at eatery & bar that may have been there for many years.
Source: The Station – at Person Street • Raleigh
circa: 1920 (?)
Today
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Justin Plant
Well-Known Member
weren't they full frame cars, torsion bar suspension?
I was just testing you guys to see if anyone knew... LOL
OK... I had to look it up. I was thinking it was 1957 for the unibody, but yep, 1960 for the unibody and 1957 for the torsion bars.
1912 France auto show.
Ripinator
Old Man with a Hat
I remember Bonfield's well. As a teen, I used to cruise MacArthur Blvd almost every night. Before the road was named MacArthur Blvd, it was named Conduit Road, because the main water pipe for Washington DC water ran under the road. Mr. Bonfield was originally a Rolls Royce mechanic and was known for the high quality of his work. I went to Boy Scout camp one summer in the fifties with his son Walter.
MacArthur Blvd was a great road for taking a ride. Back in the 1940s and 1950s, you could start out in Georgetown and make stops at several road house bars all the way to the end - beginning with a bar at the corner of Foxhall Road and Mac Arthur. The next bar was the Hill Top Inn next door to Bonfield's. Then you could stop at Trav's next to Glen Echo amusement park and finally the Old Angler's Inn at the end of the road. Sometimes the bar hopping patrons would race each other on MacArthur on their way back to town. I vividly remember a very bad fatal wreck that occurred at MacArthur and Cathedral Avenue just two blocks from my house.
In my day, the Water Works (Army Corps of Engineers) had their own two-car police force that patrolled MacArthur Blvd ('58 six cylinder Chevies). We called them "Gully Guards." They chased us a few times for speeding, but nobody ever got caught. . .
Oh what I wouldn't do if you could still get a car worked on there..... as I drive by it ALL the time.............. the building HAS been nicely preserved, though.......... about to re-emerge (again) as a convenience store........
Vancouver 1928
The address is 822 Seymour St.
I can't find a newer picture where I can match background.
The address is 822 Seymour St.
I can't find a newer picture where I can match background.
Sterling Heights, MI
OK, not a car plant, but close.
OK, not a car plant, but close.
