Vintage Chrysler Corp dealership pics

[amazinblue82]

Colonial Dodge, Gratiot Avenue at Stephens, Eastpointe MI (12 miles NE from downtown Detroit).

Circa Mid 1960's (?)

2012 Picture (still looked the same in 2015 when a developer bought it) of the closed Colonial Dodge (in 2008) West Side Bldg, another bldg is directly across the street to the East (right).

 

[polara71]

View attachment 82062

Hey that reminded me of something

View attachment 82061

I 'll trade you a shirt for it

 

[tallhair]

I 'll trade you a shirt for it

Sorry I don't know where to send it

 

[polara71]

Was gonna hand deliver.... but be that way. Guess I should open that PM

 

[tallhair]

Was gonna hand deliver.... but be that way. Guess I should open that PM

Oh well in that case I'd love to have you visit then

We'll make pies and welcome you with mid-west hospitality

 

[amazinblue82]

All the the Plymouth and Dodge dealers in Metro Detroit in 1939 - according to someone. I will take this as a fact .. i recognize all these cities/streets.

If you were to drawn a semi circle, with downtown Detroit by the Detroit River as southern border (Journey didn't quite get it right in their lyrics .."south Detroit" is "Windsor Canada" ), the radius would be 30 miles to get all the listed cities on the map.

60% of these dealers however, were within about 15 miles, so mostly in Detroit city limits (dark yellow on the map, and where that color stops to the north is 8 Mile road) and 40% in adjacent suburbs or nearby cities.

aside - Detroit proper (not including suburbs) has more square miles (119 roughly) than Manhattan Island, San Francisco, and Boston combined. It once had population of 2 Million people too. 700,000 now. hence the blight issues it faces -- but perhaps I will take that to the Urban Sprawl thread with the politics left out

Looks like I have a winter project -- unfortunately I can already tell its gonna be a bit depressing - there are some rough Detroit neighborhoods NOW where many of these places WERE. But the buildings may still be there, however, the dealers are LONG gone.

The outlying areas - Romeo, Trenton, River Rouge, Mt. Clemens, Wyandotte, Ferndale, and Royal Oak - have a higher likelihood of standing buildings with businesses still in them.

 

[300rag]

Not really vintage, but this is the deterioration of a building over 7 years. I noticed this dealership while in Cambridge, Ontario last month. The lot is even more overgrown with weeds this year.

Operational store in 2007

Close-out in 2009

Still for sale 2015. The banners in the window say Crossfire, PT Cruiser, Magnum, Pacifica

 

[amazinblue82]

One down, 30 to go. No. 16 Freedman Motors, 3000 W. Davison, Detroit Mi.

NO record of Freedman Motors at that address after 1943. Here's whats at that address today...a corner lot OLD building that has a "dealer" vibe and then a new strip mall that runs the rest of the block for 700-800 ft.

 

[commando1]

So you thought these multi-franchise mega-dealers was only a recent trend?

 

[amazinblue82]

No. 15. Raynal Bros. Dodge, 9103 Chalmers, Detroit MI. Closed in 1981.

This was a beloved Detroit dealer it seems (you gotta know the history of this neighborhood to appreciate what the business meant to the community).

Link below written by Bob Raynal's nephew. A bittersweet story .. the "neighborhood ate it up" he says. The economic decline of Detroit at its worst.

I'm officially "depressed" now - I knew this sh*t would happen but i' m learnin' stuff too.

Back to my Roots

Couldn't find many vintage pictures, except one that i tried to manipulate Google Maps to duplicate (see below).

About late 1950's(?) looking southerly down Chalmers, Raynal on right in the distance.

Roughly the same shot as above in 2013

2013

I STAND CORRECTED .. guess I should read the blogs where I find stuff.

Raynal took up almost FOUR blocks on Chalmers..Yes, that ONE grey building is 9103 Chalmers, but to the NORTH (right), that beige building was Raynal property too. It dominated the local community.

Anyway, the vintage B&W photo (that funeral home on the right is 9401 Chalmers) was taken next to this apartment building -- which is still there, but now with a high metal fence around it. the neighborhood has changed.

 

[amazinblue82]

Number 2. Cass Motor Sales, 5800 Cass Avenue, Detroit MI

I knew this building as Dalgleish Cadillac. I tried to buy it in 2003 but couldn't get it zoned for residential (I was gonna keep the fleet here and use as a residence - i was 9 years too early).

No historical photos yet... but just this description:

"The three-story Cass Motor Sales building is significant as a fine example of 1920s Art Deco styling as applied to commercial structures, in this case an automobile dealership that originally sold vehicles of the Marmon Motor Company of Indianapolis, Indiana.

Cass Motor Sales was established as a Chrysler dealership in 1925 and the building was constructed in 1928. The building is three stories, and was designed as an integrated showroom, sales office, and service center.

The relationship between Cass Motor Sales and Marmon Motor Company is illustrative of a phase in the history of the automobile industry when, before the Great Depression of the 1930s, numerous small and medium size automobile manufacturing companies occupied a tiny but significant sector of the marketplace.

Cass Motor Sales also reflects the transition in land use within the University-Cultural Center, away from a more strictly residential area to a commercial and mixed-use area."
​

NOW, its a Carhartt Store

Aside, a 1933 Marmon vehicle and a vintage ad. Never heard of 'em.

Marmon Motor Car Company - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Then, they started building trucks from 1963 to 1997. Never heard of a Marmon truck either.

Marmon Motor Company - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Big_John]

Anyone ever know of this place in New London, CT? This is on the back of my 53 Windsor.

I've read that it was opened in 1946. It was sold and became Paul Bailey C-P in the late sixties and then sold again becoming Michael C-P after that. They sold the Chrysler franchise around the time the Plymouth brand died. A Toyota dealer now has the property.

 

[amazinblue82]

Number 7. Teagan Motor Sales. 8403 Grand River, Detroit, MI

Teagan had two dealerships on Grand River: a Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge dealer at 8403, and a Studebaker store at 6325. Both were near the old Olympia Stadium (Grand River at McGraw) where the Detroit Red Wings played until 1979.

Both Teagan buildings still there. One appears to be vacant still - the Studebaker store (notice the bricked over showroom windows ..typical when you see them today) was last a plumbing store.

The other, the former Chrysler store, is Steve's Soul Food Restaurant and the Cadillac Body Shop

6325 Grand River

8403 Grand River

 

[C Body Bob]

 

[amazinblue82]

Number 13. Hodges Auto Sales (Dodge), Ferndale MI. Founded 1925.

Hodges Dodge 1950

Hodges Dodge, this photo already in post #31 above, mid 1960's, apparently some connection to the famous "Ramchargers" racing outfit?

Today, its Hodges Subaru

'

 

[C Body Bob]

 

[amazinblue82]

No. 10. Colville-Moore Dodge, 10200 Grand River, Detroit MI.

This one looks like its still there. A Detroit freeway cut through the area in the 1960's (Interstate 96) .. I imagine Colville-Moore was long gone by then.

January 1933 Detroit Free Press Advertisement. Upper left though illegible print, are two guys maybe Colville and Moore and a picture of their dealership. Look at inset photo and the building sitting there today.

2015 Street View and Earth view -- Now a Bible Store, eight bricked up showroom windows, funny looking shapes on roof, and a big adjacent vacant lot ... looks like it might have been a dealership once.

 

[commando1]

I don't know the name of the dealership but the location is 175th & Broadway in NYC.

 

[70_NPORT]

wow..things sure change over the many decades. The stop light isn't even there anymore.

 

[commando1]

I'm willing to bet that is the same building and has been radically altered over the years. I see a lot of visual clues.