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

Former Gilmore Oil, art-deco structure built 1935 reused as a Starbucks drive thru. Location is Highland at Willoughby, Los Angeles. Kudos to Starbucks for staying true to the architecture.

source: https://www.lamag.com/driver/open-now-hollywoods-gilmore-gas-station-starbucks/

Before
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After
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Los Angeles, 1930's, Westwood @ Wilshire, looking north/south. Plus some examples of specific gas stations.

LONG GONE ... and anybody from here knows what it looks like now. 90 years ago ... look at the style of the gas stations. As art-deco as you could get.

source: Water and Power Associates

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An aside.

In the eastern US, photographs like this one below are rare. Why? The east was built up. California (Los Angeles in this case) was not.

Also, 100 years ago, there was this relatively NEW thing called the "airplane" and photography was actually fairly advanced. (cameras much more portable by then, suitable to be carried by airplane).

Those of you from the area who are history buffs? You know what this looks like now. Only thing recognizable are the "hills" in the distance to the north.

:)

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I dont know my LA that well but Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Beverly Glen road (not there yet), Holmby Hills, Sunset Blvd (not there yet), Mulholland Drive (not there yet) etc. would eventually be on this land.

Keep going left a few short miles in the pic and you will hit the Pacific Ocean. And this fellow "Wolfskill" (struck gold in the 1849 "Rush") is famous name in LA history. Donated what would become LA National Cemetary and UCLA (the 405 cuts through that land now).

The "Black Gold" oil guys? Those cats got really RICH .. how else do you build brick towers, on your gas stations as advertising structures, tall enough to make ANOTHER building if you wanted to with the bricks.
 
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This is most likely Lindbrook Drive, Westwood Boulevard was a 4 lane divided at that time.
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If I backed up a little you would see the curve in the road but would loos the one building still there.
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This is from 1938, it looks like one of the stations is already gone, looks like another two that were not seen in the picture.
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Alan
 
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amazinblue82 said:
Los Angeles, 1930's, Westwood @ Wilshire, looking north/south. Plus some examples of specific gas stations.

LONG GONE ... and anybody from here knows what it looks like now. 90 years ago ... look at the style of the gas stations. As art-deco as you could get.

source: Water and Power Associates

View attachment 566650View attachment 566651
View attachment 566652View attachment 566653
An aside.

In the eastern US, photographs like this one below are rare. Why? The east was built up. California (Los Angeles in this case) was not.

Also, 100 years ago, there was this relatively NEW thing called the "airplane" and photography was actually fairly advanced. (cameras much more portable by then, suitable to be carried by airplane).

Those of you from the area who are history buffs? You know what this looks like now. Only thing recognizable are the "hills" in the distance to the north.

:)

View attachment 566655

I dont know my LA that well but Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Beverly Glen road (not there yet), Holmby Hills, Sunset Blvd (not there yet), Mulholland Drive (not there yet) etc. would eventually be on this land.

Keep going left in the pic and you will hit the Pacific Ocean. And this fellow "Wolfskill" (struck gold in the 1849"Rush") is famous name in LA history. Donated what would become LA National Cemetary and UCLA (the 405 cuts through that land now).

he "Black Gold" oil guys? Those cats got really RICH .. how else do you build brick towers, on your gas stations as advertising structures, tall enough to make ANOTHER building if you wanted to with the bricks.
Click to expand...
Ahh, the good old days of the U.S., before over growth and over-building. Beautiful
 
Howard Motor Car CompanyBuilding, 356 S. Western Ave., Los Angeles. Started life as Buick dealership

Built in the 1920's. still there but the old girl ain't what she used to be....looks like some sort of retail "mall" thing now with some ghoulish "add ons" over the years

source: https://martinturnbull.com/2015/12/...ny-at-4th-street-and-western-ave-circa-1920s/

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These Howard folks did some nice buildings. We have another one in Pasadena at post #72
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Built 1921, 819 Brand Ave, Glendale, CA. McDaniel Motors, a car dealership . Love this clean, blocky, understated art-deco style.

Long gone.
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Today - about where the behemoth on the left is now..
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Circa 1939, art-deco Shell Gas Station, corner of Wilshire at Wetherby, Beverly Hills, CA. This zip code? Its GONE now. If you note the aerial photo, you can see Bev. Hills city Hall .. its still there.

source: Water and Power Associates

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Today . Where the Shell Station was.
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Beverly Hills City Hall - today. Off topic, but still a cool building, in the California Churrigueresque style (a form of Spanish architecture) built 1932
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And we have seen this architrcture on a dealer building. again back to posts #72 & #265
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Here's one you dont see everyday .. and its 100 years old. Still there still being use by a diverse set of businesses.

Several usages since and still an auto repair business is in part of the complex. The small building on the corner by the stoplight was a gas station that was part of the original build on the site.

Source: Unique Auto Dealer Building in Springfield, Illinois

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Built as a Cadillac-LaSalle-Oldsmobile dealer in the 1920's . The complex is located at S. Fifth St. and Cook St. in Springfield, Illinois.

The main showroom wing has the ambiance of a church complete with a choir loft and timber framed cathedral ceiling. It had to make a very classy impression in its day. After the dealership no longer used the building, the showroom became a wedding chapel for a time.

The large service department wing is still used today as an independent auto service garage. The triangle shaped gas station building on the corner was part of the dealer business, as was common in the 1920s.

The showroom and gas station office are used today by an antique store.
 
67newport said:
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I was on the tail end of many gas stations like this, probably on their third or fourth owner as they seemed to stay under an owner for a long time. I can picture an almost exact building I had driven by countless times and delivered to on occasion. Since replaced with a more modern facility.
 
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