Photos of Vintage Auto Dealerships, Repair Shops, and Gas Stations
- Thread starter ayilar
- Start date
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
Not much architecture here in this auto-related segment. The automatic car wash. People deep into this debate when/where the FIRST one was -- I am staying out of that.
They didnt start as "automatic " (assembly line style -- chain drags car through, nozzles, spinning brushes, hi speed air dry, etc.) .. they were all manual labor start to finish.
circa. 1920's, location unknown but typical of first car washes taking the shape (drive through a building).
Alleged first one was in Detroit in 1914, cost $1.50 (that's like $38.00 today). Also alleged the first "automatic" was also in Detroit.
Paul's Auto Wash, 541 Fort Street, Detroit, MI. Built 1947, mid-century moderne, glazed porcelain exterior, neon signage you could spot from outer space. Gone at least 20 years now.
Not sure when the Fort St Location closed and was torn down (its now a parking lot). As a lad, even as a yuppie professional working downtown Detroit in early 1980's. I went there.
Paul's had maybe 10 locations around Detroit .. when the population with cars moved to the suburbs, so did Paul's. There may be a couple left. The downtown location catered to a bustling urban area .. execs, and other people working downtown after the war until downtown emptied out.
All over Detroit, the carcasses of closed, dilapidated, converted-from-something-else carwashes & detail shops are as ubiquitous as phone booths USED to be. Probably the same in other urban areas (Chicago I know for one).
sources: How it All Began - An Automatic Car Wash History and More, Paul's Auto Wash, Paul's World's First Automatic Car Wash 14 x 10 - David CLEMENTS Productions,
https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago...shers-converging-on-chicago-to-celebrate.html
circa, 1960 to about 1985
Today
They didnt start as "automatic " (assembly line style -- chain drags car through, nozzles, spinning brushes, hi speed air dry, etc.) .. they were all manual labor start to finish.
circa. 1920's, location unknown but typical of first car washes taking the shape (drive through a building).
Alleged first one was in Detroit in 1914, cost $1.50 (that's like $38.00 today). Also alleged the first "automatic" was also in Detroit.
Paul's Auto Wash, 541 Fort Street, Detroit, MI. Built 1947, mid-century moderne, glazed porcelain exterior, neon signage you could spot from outer space. Gone at least 20 years now.
Not sure when the Fort St Location closed and was torn down (its now a parking lot). As a lad, even as a yuppie professional working downtown Detroit in early 1980's. I went there.
Paul's had maybe 10 locations around Detroit .. when the population with cars moved to the suburbs, so did Paul's. There may be a couple left. The downtown location catered to a bustling urban area .. execs, and other people working downtown after the war until downtown emptied out.
All over Detroit, the carcasses of closed, dilapidated, converted-from-something-else carwashes & detail shops are as ubiquitous as phone booths USED to be. Probably the same in other urban areas (Chicago I know for one).
sources: How it All Began - An Automatic Car Wash History and More, Paul's Auto Wash, Paul's World's First Automatic Car Wash 14 x 10 - David CLEMENTS Productions,
https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago...shers-converging-on-chicago-to-celebrate.html
circa, 1960 to about 1985
Today
This image came to mind...
and its story is here: Auto Wash Bowls of the Roaring 1920s
Honestly, car washes have always fascinated me. I still remember my Dad stopping at the car wash and us getting out to watch the his '57 Windsor get chained up and pulled through the wash. It's one of my earlier memories.
I have a contract for my daily drivers that allows me to get them washed any time they're open. It's almost as much fun as it was when I was a little kid.
Random car wash pics!
Los Angeles
my then seven year old daughter, now 34 and literally a "rocket scientist" today, announced she wanted to be a "car wash lady". Why?
I was a company car driver with a duty to keep the sleds clean .. I would crack the rear windows when we went through the drying section .. both my girls thought it was a hoot .. scary fun like an amusement park ride.
When I was growing up it was strictly buckets in the driveway -- more water on us than the car. I didnt get into automatic washes until I was a wage earner in mid 70's.
Even then, I "lost" (about 1977 or so, it was a joint just like the movie about the same time) a perfectly good set of Appliance Cross Wires (the virgin aluminum got "etched" by the chemicals) to whitewall cleaner (prolly an early version of "Bleche-White) at an auto wash. And many a radio antenna!
They had to be wheeled out professionally after that.
I was a company car driver with a duty to keep the sleds clean .. I would crack the rear windows when we went through the drying section .. both my girls thought it was a hoot .. scary fun like an amusement park ride.
When I was growing up it was strictly buckets in the driveway -- more water on us than the car. I didnt get into automatic washes until I was a wage earner in mid 70's.
Even then, I "lost" (about 1977 or so, it was a joint just like the movie about the same time) a perfectly good set of Appliance Cross Wires (the virgin aluminum got "etched" by the chemicals) to whitewall cleaner (prolly an early version of "Bleche-White) at an auto wash. And many a radio antenna!
They had to be wheeled out professionally after that.
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Another story to tell... LOL
When we fired our head salesman, I needed another car, so I grabbed his Impala. It was probably three or four years old... The car was filthy inside and out. I mean really filthy... The guy never ran it through the car wash, and his dog must have lived in the back seat. It was disgusting. First time in it, my wife was with me and she had an asthma attack. We had it professionally detailed with at least a couple days worth of the ozone generator in it to kill the smells.
I said something about hiring him back just so we could fire him again....
Now I have the song from this movie stuck in my head...
"Googie" architecture, a So. Cal. take on steamline/mid-century modern ("space" age, "jet" age, etc.) , 1950's-1970's.
Participating in this thread, I have seen the style/term come up a lot .. thought it had something to do with "Google". It does not. It was an LA coffee shop, built 1949, demolished 1988 - 8100 Sunset Blvd.
source: Googies Coffee Shop - Wikipedia
A bunch of eateries, and car washes/gas station combo shops, ALL over America, are in the "Googie" style. Link has about a dozen of them in LA area. Prolly many repurposed/ demolished past 30 years.
Sources: George Tate | Carwashes - POBA, Mid-Century Modern Car Washes | RoadsideArchitecture.com
Including this one. Euclid Car Wash.
circa: 1970, 1135 N. Euclid St, Anaheim, CA
Today - Still there. 50 years later.
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Liverpool, NY.
This is a parking lot for a restaurant now.
This is a parking lot for a restaurant now.
A "googie" dealership.
Originally Lew Willams Chevrolet, 2020 Franklin, Eugene, Oregon. Built 1960, still there.
source: Lew Williams Chevrolet Dealership (an Oregon group interested in documenting/preserving the "Modernist" (post WWII era) architecture movement, or which "googie" is a part.
circa: 1960
Today - Google
Originally Lew Willams Chevrolet, 2020 Franklin, Eugene, Oregon. Built 1960, still there.
source: Lew Williams Chevrolet Dealership (an Oregon group interested in documenting/preserving the "Modernist" (post WWII era) architecture movement, or which "googie" is a part.
circa: 1960
Today - Google
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Dunno if same "Lew Williams" in Eugene OR. Seems likely tho.
Former Lew Williams Chevrolet City, 2323 Leopard Street, Corpus Christi, Tx. Built 1965, another "googie" modernist structure. Still there.
sources: http://www.planethoustonamx.com/Corpus-Christi-1960s/lew-williams.htm, Twitter, Corpus Christi Electric Company (Lew Williams Chevrolet Dealership)
circa: 1965
today -Now the Corpus Christi Electric Company
Former Lew Williams Chevrolet City, 2323 Leopard Street, Corpus Christi, Tx. Built 1965, another "googie" modernist structure. Still there.
sources: http://www.planethoustonamx.com/Corpus-Christi-1960s/lew-williams.htm, Twitter, Corpus Christi Electric Company (Lew Williams Chevrolet Dealership)
circa: 1965
today -Now the Corpus Christi Electric Company
A tale of three dealerships -- three buildings that is. Art deco, mid-century "googie" style, now a "brand-box'.
Original Vandergriff Chevrolet, 220 N. Center Street, Arlington TX. Built 1928, arat deco, historical structure, repurposed/subgidvided as office space.
sources: The Vandegriff Building – Way Cool, Inside & Out, Vandergriff Chevrolet Center and Texaco service station, Arlington, Texas
circa: 1930's
circa: late 1940's .. a tire store and a Texaco on the site somewhere. Looks like corner of Center @ Division St.
Today - Arlington's oldest commercial building (city's governmental policy was to demolish structures that "outlived their usefulness").
If you may have noticed, a LOT of HVAC/Electrical work is needed in these pre-WWII building restos. Just check out the ceilings .. not just "open" for aestetetics .. needs ductwork of ALL types, and in some jurisdictions $$$ asbestos/lead paint remediation.
Many a building resto gets economically defeated by the updating costs to modern usability. Its defeated my modern "hobby house" plans several times (acquisition + resto costs = legacy debts to my children at our current ages. Crikey!)
Vandergriff stayed in town, built a "googie-like" mid-century moderne building in Arlington somewhere (original address I could not locate .. its been torn down nearly 30 years).
They saved the iconic "V" in an Arlington park ("Vandergriff Park". prolly near were this Chevy dealership was).
Vandergriff's "third" Chev. building is a modern Chevrolet "brand-box" like any other dealer around the country.
sources: Texas Car Showrooms & Dealerships | RoadsideArchitecture.com, Vandergriff Chevy Values | Vandergriff Chevrolet Services | Arlington TX
circa. 1960's-1970's
Today -- all thats left of the mid' 1960's building and then the ongoing business structure. there may be other franchises in this group in the area.
Original Vandergriff Chevrolet, 220 N. Center Street, Arlington TX. Built 1928, arat deco, historical structure, repurposed/subgidvided as office space.
sources: The Vandegriff Building – Way Cool, Inside & Out, Vandergriff Chevrolet Center and Texaco service station, Arlington, Texas
circa: 1930's
circa: late 1940's .. a tire store and a Texaco on the site somewhere. Looks like corner of Center @ Division St.
Today - Arlington's oldest commercial building (city's governmental policy was to demolish structures that "outlived their usefulness").
If you may have noticed, a LOT of HVAC/Electrical work is needed in these pre-WWII building restos. Just check out the ceilings .. not just "open" for aestetetics .. needs ductwork of ALL types, and in some jurisdictions $$$ asbestos/lead paint remediation.
Many a building resto gets economically defeated by the updating costs to modern usability. Its defeated my modern "hobby house" plans several times (acquisition + resto costs = legacy debts to my children at our current ages. Crikey!)
Vandergriff stayed in town, built a "googie-like" mid-century moderne building in Arlington somewhere (original address I could not locate .. its been torn down nearly 30 years).
They saved the iconic "V" in an Arlington park ("Vandergriff Park". prolly near were this Chevy dealership was).
Vandergriff's "third" Chev. building is a modern Chevrolet "brand-box" like any other dealer around the country.
sources: Texas Car Showrooms & Dealerships | RoadsideArchitecture.com, Vandergriff Chevy Values | Vandergriff Chevrolet Services | Arlington TX
circa. 1960's-1970's
Today -- all thats left of the mid' 1960's building and then the ongoing business structure. there may be other franchises in this group in the area.
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Knoxville, TN
Restored a few years ago.
Restored a few years ago.
