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

[amazinblue82]

Des Moines, IA, E 2nd at Court Street. Vehicle inspection facility, mid 1930's to about 1960. Photos self-explanatory with description below it..

I guess mechanical inspections were a thing in these days. For most of us I woul guess it is (was) emissioins testing, but manny states threw basic mechanicals on top of that.

source: From the archives: Photos of Des Moines' Motor Vehicle Inspection Station

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The Municipal Court building still there, the parking lot was where the inspection building was.

 

[Big_John]

In the Henry Ford Museum, donated by Texaco.
Note the car next to it.

At its original location in Kingston, Massachusetts, 1986.

 

[Big_John]

 

[Big_John]

Alpine, TX 1935

 

[Big_John]

Oklahoma City 1946

 

[Big_John]

1953

 

[Big_John]

 

[Big_John]

Atlanta, GA

1955

1962

1965

1970

 

[Big_John]

Arp, Texas 1931

 

[Big_John]

 

[Big_John]

Jacksonville, FL 1949

 

[Big_John]

Benton Harbor, MI 1940

 

[Big_John]

"The George A. Simpson Lunch Boat, aka S.S. Three Kids, at the intersection of Tavares, Mount Dora and Eustis Roads, was a pleasure steamer which sailed the waters of Lake County Florida. Formerly, The Three Kids was used as Dreamboat night club in 1935. It was originally built by William Bennett Baker and later bought by George A. Simpson who renamed the Dreamboat and had it moved here for a gas station, diner and Coca-Cola stand."

 

[Big_John]

 

[Big_John]

Fort Wayne, Indiana 1919.

 

[Big_John]

Dealership display, 1940 Mercury and Ford.

 

[Big_John]

Oak Park, Illinois

Presently a Japanese BBQ restaurant, where you grille your own food, shown under construction in this 2024 pic. I have trouble heating up mac and cheese in the microwave, so going to a restaurant where I cook my own food just sounds like a disaster waiting to happen for me, so I won't be making reservations any time soon.

 

[Big_John]

 

[amazinblue82]

Alledged to be 1963, Stafford Oldsmobile, in Greenview NC. Cool, sqarishlLate mid-century moderne architecture, appears to be purpose-built (boxy with curvilinear roof, ceiling height, etc) as a vehcile dealership;

I looked at came up with nothing in that city.

 

[amazinblue82]

Photo from the 1960's, assserted the be March's Mobil, Gratiot at Florence in Roseville MI. Locals recall it to have started life as a Sinclair, among other brands over the years.

sources: March Mobil Gas,

If any of that is true, NOTHING there today resembles this station. Streamline modern, alleged to have been built in late 1930's, porcelain over brick common of the brandboxes of the major oil company brands.