Photos of Vintage Auto Dealerships, Repair Shops, and Gas Stations

Hucker's Garage Chrysler/Plymouth, Lake Villa IL

Of all the posts in this thread, this is one of the very few dealerships that were reworked for present day use that still looks good. (IMHO anyway)

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Big_John said:
Hucker's Garage Chrysler/Plymouth, Lake Villa IL

Of all the posts in this thread, this is one of the very few dealerships that were reworked for present day use that still looks good. (IMHO anyway)
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Agreed, and that is kind of what I had in mind when I started this thread.
 
Toronado bodies leave Fisher Body Euclid, Ohio, bound for the Oldsmobile final assembly plant in Lansing, Michigan

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ayilar said:
Agreed, and that is kind of what I had in mind when I started this thread.
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We've gone off that topic a bit in this thread and I'm very guilty of that.

I see it as not only the great architecture of the past, but a glimpse at a lot of other things associated with automotive production and sales that happened in those great old buildings. It's all fascinating to me. Showing the grandeur of a new car show 100+ years ago or the hand painted signage at the corner used car lot shows the varied history of interacting with the customers. Then there's the art of manufacturing (yes, it is an art) being shown with a fifties Chevy mating with the assembled frame. Think about the work that went into the design of that assembly line and how far it came from back when Ransom Olds started having his workers haul the frames to assembly stations using ropes. Ideas that probably started with chalk on the cement floor and now we program robots with a computer that might be miles away... or maybe not even in the same country.

The old gas station on the corner pics are wonderful too. The joy of riding your bike with a dime in your pocket to buy a Coke from that machine out front is something that a lot of people younger than me might not understand. Seeing a pic like that brings back a lot of good memories.

Then there's the cars and the people... The gas station in the background might not be award winning, but seeing a guy in a spiffy uniform filling the tank, washing the windshield and checking the oil of a 50's Desoto shows a time lost to the ages.

So, this thread has been really a lot of fun... It's brought back some memories here and there and showed a lot of history of the automobile.
 
I agree @Big_John -- and rather than be declared guilty of an imaginary sin, you are instead to be credited for finding interesting photos and always trying to provide context and information.

For example, I did not know of Shively Motors, and of the fact that they have a museum. This might be a nice destination for a run this fall or the following spring.

Cheers, and please keep them coming!
 
ayilar said:
I did not know of Shively Motors, and of the fact that they have a museum. This might be a nice destination for a run this fall or the following spring.
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It's about 35 miles from Carlisle.

Hmmm... Maybe a day spent doing Shively and the AACA museum in Hershey before or after Carlisle???
 
A gigantic reuse project of a former Hudson dealership in Los Angeles.

Built 1920, 65K square feet, 1200 Hope Street, Los Angeles, CA. Now called Hudson Loft, modernized and yet retains a lot of the original external and internal architecture.

Clearly of a size that makes commercial/industrial reuse the most viable economic use. Some residential, event rentals, etc., quite a few million dollars were spent over the years to make it into what it is today.

I think the building was something else before Hudson dealership moved in. Classic reinforced concrete, 20 ft. ceilings, "mushroom" columns, and rooftop views of downtown LA.

sources: Hudson Motor Car Company Dealerships A-C,https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/1200-S-Hope-St-Los-Angeles-CA/6284577/, A B O U T — hudson loft
Ad for Downtown Motors from 1935 - Shows the building, and a little of the interior (tiled floor still there).

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Current Day.
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1948 Willys Jeep show. A much different breed of Jeeps from what we have now.

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