1940's Ford Woodys
Photos of Vintage Auto Dealerships, Repair Shops, and Gas Stations
- Thread starter ayilar
- Start date
'67 Buicks
'39 Ford showroom
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
November 1942. "Lititz, Pennsylvania. Showroom of the Pierson Motor Company
'57 Lincoln Mark II
Shelby Mustang assembly line. Note parts staged for the picture along the sides of the line.
Chicago. The main building appears to be gone, but I think that's the same building with some additions in the used lot.
Couple of folks have ribbed me about calling Detroit the equivalent of the "Silicon Valley" to the nascent automobile industry. Ain't hyperbole .. that's what is was like a century+ ago.
The men (mostly men back than) were moving the country from horses to cars. Course it wasn't "bits and bytes" like the computer revolution .. but it represented permanent change in the way everybody on the planet lived their lives.
It did NOT all happen in Detroit .. but a LOT of it did. They started their own companies, and moved around between 100's of auto/supplier "startups" (e.g, Walter P. once worked for Buick in Flint).
These cats put their names - Buick, Chrysler, Dodge, Olds, Chevrolet, Ford, Hudson, Lincoln, Packard, Cadillac, on and on -- not including the suppliers like Budd, Fisher, Briggs, Kettering, etc. - on their creations and their companies.
For every one of those, there were, however, DOZENS of others that DIDNT survive the industry as it matured and became scale-intensive. Four of them are below.
Anyway, I have seen this building for 50 years. Did NOT know what it was till today.
The Stuber-Stone_Building. 4221 Cass, Detroit, MI. Built 1916, in the classic, modern industrial ("Sullivanesque" - Louis_Sullivan" - Louis Sullivan) style. Brick & terra cotta facade, reinforced concrete construction.
It WAS originally (100K total sq.ft., built and sub-divided from the beginning) with dealership showrooms (lower floors, facing Cass avenue) and repair/service (assembly was done in OTHER facilities leased around the midwest) for Columbia and Abbott.
Later it served the same function for Hupmobile and Jordan.
By 1931 all those brands were gone - didnt survive the shakeout/consolidation of the industry. Their 110 year-old dealership building remains.
The cars.
1917 Abbott
1917 Columbia
1921 Hupmobile
1924 Jordan
Today, back to the architecture. Now, its the Stuberstone Lofts. Pricey digs .. start around $400,000 bucks each.
With enough money (and demand - parts of downtown Detroit are getting their mojo back), these early automobile industry barns can get cool reusage for another century.
I am sure ole' Louis Sullivan didn't see this usage sitting at his drafting table 110 years ago.
The men (mostly men back than) were moving the country from horses to cars. Course it wasn't "bits and bytes" like the computer revolution .. but it represented permanent change in the way everybody on the planet lived their lives.
It did NOT all happen in Detroit .. but a LOT of it did. They started their own companies, and moved around between 100's of auto/supplier "startups" (e.g, Walter P. once worked for Buick in Flint).
These cats put their names - Buick, Chrysler, Dodge, Olds, Chevrolet, Ford, Hudson, Lincoln, Packard, Cadillac, on and on -- not including the suppliers like Budd, Fisher, Briggs, Kettering, etc. - on their creations and their companies.
For every one of those, there were, however, DOZENS of others that DIDNT survive the industry as it matured and became scale-intensive. Four of them are below.
Anyway, I have seen this building for 50 years. Did NOT know what it was till today.
The Stuber-Stone_Building. 4221 Cass, Detroit, MI. Built 1916, in the classic, modern industrial ("Sullivanesque" - Louis_Sullivan" - Louis Sullivan) style. Brick & terra cotta facade, reinforced concrete construction.
It WAS originally (100K total sq.ft., built and sub-divided from the beginning) with dealership showrooms (lower floors, facing Cass avenue) and repair/service (assembly was done in OTHER facilities leased around the midwest) for Columbia and Abbott.
Later it served the same function for Hupmobile and Jordan.
By 1931 all those brands were gone - didnt survive the shakeout/consolidation of the industry. Their 110 year-old dealership building remains.
The cars.
1917 Abbott
1917 Columbia
1921 Hupmobile
1924 Jordan
Today, back to the architecture. Now, its the Stuberstone Lofts. Pricey digs .. start around $400,000 bucks each.
With enough money (and demand - parts of downtown Detroit are getting their mojo back), these early automobile industry barns can get cool reusage for another century.
I am sure ole' Louis Sullivan didn't see this usage sitting at his drafting table 110 years ago.
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1958 pic, somewhere in Ontario. The gallons would be "Imperial Gallons" which is about 20% more than a US gallon.
Former Wagner Oldsmobile, 9001 Woodward, Detroit. Built 1949, Midwes t"Streamline" Moderne style. Neighborhood " around this one - got a lot "rougher" '60's through end of the 1990's.
Ceased being a retail dealership in the '70's as the inner city of Detroit hollowed out. I recall it as other things auto related and lost track of it when I went to college in the '80's and left the area.
Caught up with it again when I was into the Detroit real estate market a little bit 15 years ago ... it was WAY beyond my meager means by then (real estate speculation at a fever pitch after the 2007 market crash).
I never knew is was Wagner Oldsmobile before today.
A "white elephant" that never found a viable, long-tern alternative usage. Lcation about a mile north (toward Highland Park) of the OLD GM Buillding on Grand Blvd at Woodward.
2007
2019
2022 - becoming something else, though doesnt look like anything that was there was reused except the land.
2023 - Now, senior citizen residence. Righteous usage of the property on Detroit's road to recovery. Reflects many times, the urban footprints are more valuable to raze existing structured and build "Up" with something new.
In a way, the same economics of the early auto industry. Big box, multi-story buildings in urban areas, where people lived (no suburbs to speak of), BUT llnd was expensive (so, everything had to be "inside" the building).
Ceased being a retail dealership in the '70's as the inner city of Detroit hollowed out. I recall it as other things auto related and lost track of it when I went to college in the '80's and left the area.
Caught up with it again when I was into the Detroit real estate market a little bit 15 years ago ... it was WAY beyond my meager means by then (real estate speculation at a fever pitch after the 2007 market crash).
I never knew is was Wagner Oldsmobile before today.
A "white elephant" that never found a viable, long-tern alternative usage. Lcation about a mile north (toward Highland Park) of the OLD GM Buillding on Grand Blvd at Woodward.
2007
2019
2022 - becoming something else, though doesnt look like anything that was there was reused except the land.
2023 - Now, senior citizen residence. Righteous usage of the property on Detroit's road to recovery. Reflects many times, the urban footprints are more valuable to raze existing structured and build "Up" with something new.
In a way, the same economics of the early auto industry. Big box, multi-story buildings in urban areas, where people lived (no suburbs to speak of), BUT llnd was expensive (so, everything had to be "inside" the building).
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
I remember those blend pumps. When I was a kid pumping gas, a couple of stations I pumped gas for had them.
Currently, the Green Garage (a shared workspace company today, in 2022 they reported 50 companies were members), 444 Second Avenue, Detroit, MI.
Built 1921 as a Ford Model T showroom, its been a DOZEN things up to the present reuse as this well documented history shows.
Aside. For any of yor current and former locals, the is (was) the Cass Corridor. There was NOTHING more depressing about Detroit's decline than this part of town 1950 through 1990's.
Now, there are $400,000, 2,000 sq. ft lofts all over the place, when 40 years ago you could buy an entire 100K sq. ft. building (in which there are 30-60 of these pricey lofts today in some of them - Post 1,968).
My point.
Will Detroit proper (i.e., excluding suburbs) EVER be the world's capital of anything again, let alone be the 5th largest city in America again. Doubtful. But are they coming back?
Yup, IMHO, no doubt. Kudos to those folks.
Oh, if you watched Lions beat LA last night, that gleaming city IS Detroit .. I was stunned how far they have come in 30 years. Come far, far to go, but Wow!
And, shameless plug - yeah, one game, but its been nearly 100% of my adult life coming again
.
1920's
1960's
Today- Green Garage people even rebuilt the original garage bay on left and resorted the facade.
Built 1921 as a Ford Model T showroom, its been a DOZEN things up to the present reuse as this well documented history shows.
Aside. For any of yor current and former locals, the is (was) the Cass Corridor. There was NOTHING more depressing about Detroit's decline than this part of town 1950 through 1990's.
Now, there are $400,000, 2,000 sq. ft lofts all over the place, when 40 years ago you could buy an entire 100K sq. ft. building (in which there are 30-60 of these pricey lofts today in some of them - Post 1,968).
My point.
Will Detroit proper (i.e., excluding suburbs) EVER be the world's capital of anything again, let alone be the 5th largest city in America again. Doubtful. But are they coming back?
Yup, IMHO, no doubt. Kudos to those folks.
Oh, if you watched Lions beat LA last night, that gleaming city IS Detroit .. I was stunned how far they have come in 30 years. Come far, far to go, but Wow!
And, shameless plug - yeah, one game, but its been nearly 100% of my adult life coming again
.1920's
1960's
Today- Green Garage people even rebuilt the original garage bay on left and resorted the facade.
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The former Riegel Dodge, 1301 West First Ave at Adams, Spokane, WA.
Built 1918. its been a few things since it ceased being a dealership in 1969. Classic, industrial architecture post WWI, brick and limestone. Art deco followed a decade later, but tons of buildings around America built in this style.
They are event using the roof as a green space it appears.
source: Then and Now: Riegel Brothers Dodge
ca. mid - 1960's, still Riegel but light on the signage. Could be why it closed?
Today, still there and remarkably well preserved though clearly the city was growing up around it.
Tangent -- there is a HUGE, similar vintage building across the street on 1229 W. First St.
Darn thing is a block long, and surely NOT an ex dealership. Something industrial IMHO, still there, and looks to be fully occupied/sub-divided,AND converted to ... drumroll ... LOFTS.
Must be money in this kinda development .. except everybody is doing it, which usually means all the profit is rung out of it.
Any of you locals know what this was before this mixed-use (commercial lower level, residential upper level) property?
Built 1918. its been a few things since it ceased being a dealership in 1969. Classic, industrial architecture post WWI, brick and limestone. Art deco followed a decade later, but tons of buildings around America built in this style.
They are event using the roof as a green space it appears.
source: Then and Now: Riegel Brothers Dodge
ca. mid - 1960's, still Riegel but light on the signage. Could be why it closed?
Today, still there and remarkably well preserved though clearly the city was growing up around it.
Tangent -- there is a HUGE, similar vintage building across the street on 1229 W. First St.
Darn thing is a block long, and surely NOT an ex dealership. Something industrial IMHO, still there, and looks to be fully occupied/sub-divided,AND converted to ... drumroll ... LOFTS.
Must be money in this kinda development .. except everybody is doing it, which usually means all the profit is rung out of it.
Any of you locals know what this was before this mixed-use (commercial lower level, residential upper level) property?
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Ah, hope against hope.
Neo-classical style, common for luxury brands (Packard, Cadillac, and Lincoln used it a lot). Built 1926, limestone over brick, reinforced concrete.
Platte Lincoln. They built this building.
1930's A. W, Reister Ford. Rather ungainly architecture butchery to get the neon flourishes.
ca. 1960. Jefferson Lincoln Mercury for a hot sec, then Bart Lincoln Mercury from mid 60's till bankruptcy in 1984. At least they ditched the goofy neon. on the building .. tho the lot had some bling.
Dénouement?
Its been gone at least two decades.
Shopping center (probably another crane of mobile carrier now) and related other retail occupy the site.
Approximately, the sidestreets were changed as well so addresses are not quite the same but this was it.
Neo-classical style, common for luxury brands (Packard, Cadillac, and Lincoln used it a lot). Built 1926, limestone over brick, reinforced concrete.
Platte Lincoln. They built this building.
1930's A. W, Reister Ford. Rather ungainly architecture butchery to get the neon flourishes.
ca. 1960. Jefferson Lincoln Mercury for a hot sec, then Bart Lincoln Mercury from mid 60's till bankruptcy in 1984. At least they ditched the goofy neon. on the building .. tho the lot had some bling.
Dénouement?
Its been gone at least two decades.
Shopping center (probably another crane of mobile carrier now) and related other retail occupy the site.
Approximately, the sidestreets were changed as well so addresses are not quite the same but this was it.
Meet our great, great, great ... Mopar ancestor. United States Motor Company. Yes, some architecture is coming. but a little "Silicon Valley Detroit" auto history.
source: United States Motor Company - Wikipedia.
"The United States Motor Company (USMC) was organized by Benjamin Briscoe in 1910 as a selling company, to represent various manufacturers.
It had begun life as the International Motor Company in 1908 in an attempt to create a major consolidation within the industry with Maxwell-Briscoe and Buick, which did not succeed. International Motor was renamed USMC in December 1909.
By the end of 1910, there were 11 constituent companies, each still headed by the individual who had built each company originally.
In 1910, rumors surfaced that United States Motor Company was going to merge with General Motors, but Briscoe scotched the rumors by stating that any attempt to integrate General Motors into USMC would create chaos.
This was an effort to try to save several independent automotive manufacturing companies who were having great difficulty in getting the necessary financial backing.
Those 11 companies included: Maxwell, Stoddard-Dayton, Grabowsky, Briscoe, Courier, Columbia, Brush, Alden Sampson Trucks, Riker, Gray Marine, and Providence Engineering Works."
Long, well actually, short story short, as early as 1910 there might have been 100 companies in US alone, trying to put the world on wheels.
Not just daring entrepreneurs and inventors, but money bag investors looking to get FILTHY, STINKIN' rich replacing the horse -- many of them did.
Ever heard of Benjamin Briscoe? Me either. What about William Crapo Durant? Oh, he was the one that put together General Motors, an obvious survivor of the "Car Wars".
USMC was trying to bring a few good and a few rag-tag companies together. One included Maxwell (actually some thought IT was a "big three" in 1919, with Ford and GM .. no Chrysler yet).
In 1925, Maxwell, by then running on fumes itself, was acquired by Walter P. and rolled into Chrysler, then Daimler, then Stellantis (with US government and Cerebus mixed in there)
source: United States Motor Company - Wikipedia
1911
2012 - the last time it was occupied. Not the highest quality businesses it seems.
Today
Woodward, looking South, toward Detroit River and downtown skyline.
I do not know what the plans are for this 113 year old building. 2959 Woodward, Detroit, 34,000 square feet, not including basement.
The fact that it is STILL there, and smack-dab in the middle of Detroit's hottest market (Fox Theater, Little Caesar's Arena (the pizza company billionaire's development company owns it), Ford Field, Comerica Park, etc.
I am kinda giddy what they will turn the neo-classical gem into. Will take DEEP pockets tho to save it.
source: United States Motor Company - Wikipedia.
"The United States Motor Company (USMC) was organized by Benjamin Briscoe in 1910 as a selling company, to represent various manufacturers.
It had begun life as the International Motor Company in 1908 in an attempt to create a major consolidation within the industry with Maxwell-Briscoe and Buick, which did not succeed. International Motor was renamed USMC in December 1909.
By the end of 1910, there were 11 constituent companies, each still headed by the individual who had built each company originally.
In 1910, rumors surfaced that United States Motor Company was going to merge with General Motors, but Briscoe scotched the rumors by stating that any attempt to integrate General Motors into USMC would create chaos.
This was an effort to try to save several independent automotive manufacturing companies who were having great difficulty in getting the necessary financial backing.
Those 11 companies included: Maxwell, Stoddard-Dayton, Grabowsky, Briscoe, Courier, Columbia, Brush, Alden Sampson Trucks, Riker, Gray Marine, and Providence Engineering Works."
Long, well actually, short story short, as early as 1910 there might have been 100 companies in US alone, trying to put the world on wheels.
Not just daring entrepreneurs and inventors, but money bag investors looking to get FILTHY, STINKIN' rich replacing the horse -- many of them did.
Ever heard of Benjamin Briscoe? Me either. What about William Crapo Durant? Oh, he was the one that put together General Motors, an obvious survivor of the "Car Wars".
USMC was trying to bring a few good and a few rag-tag companies together. One included Maxwell (actually some thought IT was a "big three" in 1919, with Ford and GM .. no Chrysler yet).
In 1925, Maxwell, by then running on fumes itself, was acquired by Walter P. and rolled into Chrysler, then Daimler, then Stellantis (with US government and Cerebus mixed in there)
source: United States Motor Company - Wikipedia
1911
2012 - the last time it was occupied. Not the highest quality businesses it seems.
Today
Woodward, looking South, toward Detroit River and downtown skyline.
I do not know what the plans are for this 113 year old building. 2959 Woodward, Detroit, 34,000 square feet, not including basement.
The fact that it is STILL there, and smack-dab in the middle of Detroit's hottest market (Fox Theater, Little Caesar's Arena (the pizza company billionaire's development company owns it), Ford Field, Comerica Park, etc.
I am kinda giddy what they will turn the neo-classical gem into. Will take DEEP pockets tho to save it.
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67newport
Old Man with a Hat
67newport
Old Man with a Hat
Franklin PA 1959
Former Cities station, 1119 White, Key West Florida. As far west as you can go almost in Florida.
Built 1938, art deco, originally just under 1,000 square feet, twin canopy, single-service bay "icebox" (i'e', clad in white porcelain over cinder blocks). There were nearly 10,000 of these, across many brands, in USA prior to WWII.
Today, extensively remodeled creating more indoor space, now 1,900 sq. ft, offered for sale at $1.1 million.
To me, looking at one of these architecturally distinctive, ex- gas stations (< 2,000 sq. ft) is a highly speculative investment UNLESS:
(1) one is a"real estate" investor justifying a property based on an economic business case (especially IF ya gotta dig up the tanks, remediate for lead/asbestos, climate control, etc if you need to exit without losing your a**,
and/or
(2) one finds the "neighborhood" allows for a space, safety, etc, at a reasonable rent/acquisition cost for personal vs. commercial use.
asserted to be ca. mid'60'd to early '70's, somewhere in there it stopped being a gas station
ca. 2017 - If you didnt know what it was, you wouldn't know what it was. Corner lot, curb cuts on TWO sides, is a hint location might have been a gas station.
Somewhere along the way, they "filled in" the left canopy footprint, and the service bay, but kept some deco styling (some lines, colors, etc.
Today
Built 1938, art deco, originally just under 1,000 square feet, twin canopy, single-service bay "icebox" (i'e', clad in white porcelain over cinder blocks). There were nearly 10,000 of these, across many brands, in USA prior to WWII.
Today, extensively remodeled creating more indoor space, now 1,900 sq. ft, offered for sale at $1.1 million.
To me, looking at one of these architecturally distinctive, ex- gas stations (< 2,000 sq. ft) is a highly speculative investment UNLESS:
(1) one is a"real estate" investor justifying a property based on an economic business case (especially IF ya gotta dig up the tanks, remediate for lead/asbestos, climate control, etc if you need to exit without losing your a**,
and/or
(2) one finds the "neighborhood" allows for a space, safety, etc, at a reasonable rent/acquisition cost for personal vs. commercial use.
asserted to be ca. mid'60'd to early '70's, somewhere in there it stopped being a gas station
ca. 2017 - If you didnt know what it was, you wouldn't know what it was. Corner lot, curb cuts on TWO sides, is a hint location might have been a gas station.
Somewhere along the way, they "filled in" the left canopy footprint, and the service bay, but kept some deco styling (some lines, colors, etc.
Today
