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

Los Angeles Motorshow. 1929.

Before and after the fire. https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2014/03/05/the-day-the-los-angeles-auto-show-went-up-in-flames

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Interesting story .. lotta flammable-looking stuff around that tent set up. Yikes.

Off-topic a bit .. nothing to do with cars, garages, or dealerships. Just here because of the intriguing architecture nearby. Another pic (looking south to north) from that Hemmings piece.

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The distinctive old building in the center was standing when the 1929 fire occured, It is 155 W. Washington Blvd at Hill Street. The former Mode O'Day (a women's dress manufacturer and seller, now gone), building was built in 1927.

Below, ca. 1932 - three years after fire .. still nothing yet in foreground where fire was.
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Today. Still there. Romanesque-revival architecture, 150K+ sq. ft, still WITHOUT central AC no less.

Some even more giant. boxy building directly across the street, with now still vacant lots either side (east and west) of it. That big boxy building is on part of the locationi where the 1929 fire was.

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Interesting story .. lotta flammable-looking stuff around that tent set up. Yikes.

Off-topic a bit .. nothing to do with cars, garages, or dealerships. Just here because of the intriguing architecture nearby. Another pic (looking south to north) from that Hemmings piece.

View attachment 599631

The distinctive old building in the center was standing when the 1929 fire occured, It is 155 W. Washington Blvd at Hill Street. The former Mode O'Day (a women's dress manufacturer and seller, now gone), building was built in 1927.

Below, ca. 1932 - three years after fire .. still nothing yet in foreground where fire was.View attachment 599622



Today. Still there. Romanesque-revival architecture, 150K+ sq. ft, still WITHOUT central AC no less.

Some even more giant. boxy building directly across the street, with now still vacant lots either side (east and west) of it. That big boxy building is on part of the locationi where the 1929 fire was.

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Great to see it still standing today!
 
Hmm ...

Former E. Gray SmithPackard dealership, 2400 West End (at 24th street), Nashville TN. Pic is about 1940, building was built in the 1920's. The surrounding area was obviously a neighborhood back then.

source: CONTENTdm

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Packard's demise as a brand was 1956. It closed then became and women's clothing store, probably other stuff. Its last use was as a record store, then a video/musicc store until 2011. It was a HUGE building. Completely sub-divided, with the vid joint in the former Packard showroom

2011
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then it was gone in 2012.... or was it really? I'll explain cuz clearly they tore it down
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2014 - present. I thought for a second, they somehow had rebuilt/saved the facade of the dealership. They didnt. THe new Homewood Suites new building, at first glance, I thought was "magically" a refurbishd version.

Its just still and odd-looking add-on to the hotel at street level. I thought maybe an 'homage" to a Nashville building that was approaching 100 years old when they razed it? A cursory look for that possiblilty turned up nothing.

Anyway, they tore down the whole block and built that behemoth. I don't think they were trying save anything from the past. The red rectangle is where the Packard dealership was.

Google Maps and Earth
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Hmm ...

Former E. Gray SmithPackard dealership, 2400 West End (at 24th street), Nashville TN. Pic is about 1940, building was built in the 1920's. The surrounding area was obviously a neighborhood back then.

source: CONTENTdm

View attachment 599784

Packard's demise as a brand was 1956. It closed then became and women's clothing store, probably other stuff. Its last use was as a record store, then a video/musicc store until 2011. It was a HUGE building. Completely sub-divided, with the vid joint in the former Packard showroom

2011
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then it was gone in 2012.... or was it really? I'll explain cuz clearly they tore it down
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2014 - present. I thought for a second, they somehow had rebuilt/saved the facade of the dealership. They didnt. THe new Homewood Suites new building, at first glance, I thought was "magically" a refurbishd version.

Its just still and odd-looking add-on to the hotel at street level. I thought maybe an 'homage" to a Nashville building that was approaching 100 years old when they razed it? A cursory look for that possiblilty turned up nothing.

Anyway, they tore down the whole block and built that behemoth. I don't think they were trying save anything from the past. The red rectangle is where the Packard dealership was.

Google Maps and Earth
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That's awful! Can't believe they tore down that great old building. But you know why the did. There was money to be made and money beats everything else it seems, good or bad.
 
i feel two ways about this.

i get "progress". new -to-old-to something new and better again. I understand how people make money in real estate as well.

Still saddens me when neat, apparently still useful buildings, or cars, or boats --- whatever -- get destroyed on purpose.

im sure the land where Smith Packard was is more "valuable", to its owners and to the city writ large, than what was there. The megs-hotel brings economic activity/growth multi-fold what was there. everybody benefits.

BUT ... guess thats why we gather here around cars last made 45+ years ago. our affinity for cool old stuff that can be saved should be when possible.

:)
 
One of the big item especially here in California is seismic retrofit. More often than not it is cheaper to teardown and build new than it is to retrofit. So unless the building is historical and not just an old building it isn't likely to be saved.


Alan
 
I can understand that, MrMoparCHP. What amazes me is that the Bradbury building in downtown LA is still extant. I think it's on the historic places registry. And the LA Union Station is still around.
 
I can understand that, MrMoparCHP. What amazes me is that the Bradbury building in downtown LA is still extant. I think it's on the historic places registry. And the LA Union Station is still around.
Yes, those are Historic structures, probably on at least one list, National, State or City.

Union Station was built in 1939, a handful of years after the foundation of the retrofit and seismic standards were put in place.
The Bradbury Building was built in 1893 and retrofitted about 1990 as part of its restoration.

The expense on both was probably warranted.


Alan
 
Former Cullen-Thompson Motors (Chrysler dealer), 1000 Broadway (at 10th St), Denver, CO. Gothiic style, built early-mid 1920's, it was one of the very first Chrysler dealerships in the country.

Terra-cotta & limstone over steel/concrete structure. Used to be, when built, the upscale neighborhood in Denver

100,000 sqare feet. it was one of the first auto "palaces" that characterized auto showrooms in the 1920's, and certainly among Chrylser's first ones. I think there are interior pics of that newpaper clipping from 1925 in THIS thread somewhere. That grand staircase looks famility

Walter Chrsyler showed up himself for the grand opening in 1925.

Stayed a dealership until the 1960's. Somewhere in the past 20 years it got historical designation. It's empty right now while I guess the local folks are trying to figure out what to do with it.

sourcea: CHS.X7836, What Will Become of Sportscastle?

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Recent.

Was a few things things in 100 years. A local sporting goods outfit, that merged with Sports Autority. Sports Auhority store until 2016 (they went bankrupt).

Still had its stainen glass arch windowns from the 20's (covered with safety panes to protect them). The sporting folks took care of the building .. they just couldnt save their business apparently.

2015
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2021 Google. Boarded up a bit (to deter vandals/keep down the blight I assume), vacant, but still standing.
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Former Cullen-Thompson Motors (Chrysler dealer), 1000 Broadway (at 10th St), Denver, CO. Gothiic style, built early-mid 1920's, it was one of the very first Chrysler dealerships in the country.

Terra-cotta & limstone over steel/concrete structure. Used to be, when built, the upscale neighborhood in Denver

100,000 sqare feet. it was one of the first auto "palaces" that characterized auto showrooms in the 1920's, and certainly among Chrylser's first ones. I think there are interior pics of that newpaper clipping from 1925 in THIS thread somewhere. That grand staircase looks famility

Walter Chrsyler showed up himself for the grand opening in 1925.

Stayed a dealership until the 1960's. Somewhere in the past 20 years it got historical designation. It's empty right now while I guess the local folks are trying to figure out what to do with it.

sourcea: CHS.X7836, What Will Become of Sportscastle?

View attachment 599858View attachment 599868View attachment 599873View attachment 599859View attachment 599869

Recent.

Was a few things things in 100 years. A local sporting goods outfit, that merged with Sports Autority. Sports Auhority store until 2016 (they went bankrupt).

Still had its stainen glass arch windowns from the 20's (covered with safety panes to protect them). The sporting folks took care of the building .. they just couldnt save their business apparently.

2015
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2021 Google. Boarded up a bit (to deter vandals/keep down the blight I assume), vacant, but still standing.
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Damn shame those young vandals have painted grafitti on a proud old building. The city or whoever currently owns the building should eliminate that grafitti immediately. I guess nobody cares anymore?
 
#1,351 Followup.

Couple short videos (about 4 minutes total for both) about this Denver landmark. Maybe new owners can bring it back. Its about 6-7 blocks from downtown Denver. There is new construction around it so area must be generally viable to attract nee investment.

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Vids are cool.

This building is still full of "ramps" they used to store their cars on the upper floors. In the old days, the heyday of these car palaces, the "lot" was inside the building.

I think about the cost to build one (a buncha reinforced concrete) back in the 1920's (that economic model did not survive the 1940's), let alone what has to be done to renovate (remediate) one today.

I gotta figure you keep the ramps .. they do get people/stuff from floor to floor. But they take up a lotta salesable/leaseable space I would figure. Plus ya gotta climate control a bunch unsaleable/unrentable space.

Likely why vacant for nearly a decade, but still an irresistible, iconic property to try and find reuse for.

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2021
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As the cliché goes, there's good news and there's bad news. Bad news, at least to me, first.


McMillan Packard, Woodward Avenue at Philadephia, Detroit Michigan. Albert Kahn design (reinforced concrete, straight-lines, limestone-skinned) , built in 1926, 40K square feet or so.

Packard as a standalone brand was gone about 1956. Assume McMillan business went about that time.

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I found no other mages from the McMillan days save this 1948 advertising. However, let's further assume it bumped around from empty to other stuff .. from 1956 til until 1974 when it got a reuse.

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I went to this place several times after it opened. Had just gotten my driver's license. To this day, I did not know the history of the building. My only memory of it was it was a BIG-*** McDonalds. Biggest I'd ever been in before or since.

Obviously made the local news. Biggest in Michigan, third biggest in world -- at the time. 260 people capacity, and INDOOR parking for 100 cars (the back-end of old dealership) too boot.

Dunno how long it was Mickey D's. I know it kept getting robbed while I was in HS. Look at the dirty/buckling facade so they didn't do much to maintain it.

This part of town like other areas (Woodward between downtown and Six Mile Rd) was in decline back then (late 60's-late 80's). I would NOT go there at night .. let's just put it like that.

Now 50 years later, its been coming back -- that's the good news. Makes me smile. Detroit's comeback is going pretty well by most accounts.

Stay with me. Good news is coming. A little more background

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Aerial photo above from 1973. Red box is McMillans/McDonalds, and nearby/one street over, is Green box on 40 Hague Street called Packard Showroom.

It's history is as a "Packard Showroom", buillt two years after McMillan in 1928. They were practically touching, separated by a narrow alley. Must have been related somehow I reckon.

I CANNOT find any more history on the Packard Showroom. But more to come.

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McMillan's/McDonald's was razed in 2005 (so much for urban reuse back then :() and replaced with this non-descript thing above. The dreaded urban "strip mall", concrete "block". Lotsa security cameras, few doors or windows, etc.,

Not exactly a "Neiman Marcus" neighborhood when the "dollar store" shows up (no diss - I shop at my nearby dollar General right now). They cater to the majority of the clientele in some of these areas.

Fast forward a bit.

Red circle below is the Family Dollar, and Green circle, again 40 Hague Street, is the "Packard Showroom" 100 years old, 39K square feet, BEFORE its new life for the 21st Century.

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sources: $8M Packard showroom redevelopment may start soon, 40 Hague | Residential apartments in Detroit's North End

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Just finished last year, and $8M later, meet the "40 Hague". 38, middle income, loft apartments, IN Detroit proper. Amazing.

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Thats the good news. A really neat re-purpose of a 100 year old, Kahn, Packard showroom for the 21st century... and beyond ... this building will stand another 500 years its so durable.

Only if Detroit's comeback (and again it IS coming back) started 30 years ago, or better yet if its decline never happened (e.g., no riots, no hollowing-out of the inner city, etc) at all.

McMillan Packard building might still be around and righteously reused like its "cousin" around the corner on Hague perhaps.
 
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Former Packard Dealership, 925 Green Bay, Chicago IL. Built 1923, renovated 1994 as ... loft apartments. These Packard guys ... they were something else in their day.

Large windows, high ceilings. perfect for two story loft-type apartments on each original floor.

Chicago did 30 years ago what Detroit is just now getting around to. 100 years its been renovated, added onto (somewhere in those years -- in 1925 all that stuff out back wasn't there yet) , re-roofed, climate-controlled, but largely well-preserved.

sources: 925 Green Bay Rd, Winnetka, IL 60093 | LoopNet. Dealership List - Packard Motor Car Information, https://www.rentcafe.com/apartments/il/winnetka/925-green-bay-rd/default.aspx

ca. 1925
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Today. Looks like a Kahn design as he was popular in Chicago too.

But, wooden floors it seemed .. the style Kahn moved away from (recall he was using his relatives "patented" reinforced concrete method to give open factory floor plans that dominated the mass production era.

Or maybe that was the renovation/interior designer's choice (ceiling treatment to match the floor choice)?

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Former Packard Dealership, 925 Green Bay, Chicago IL. Built 1923, renovated 1994 as ... loft apartments. These Packard guys ... they were something else in their day.

Large windows, high ceilings. perfect for two story loft-type apartments on each original floor.

Chicago did 30 years ago what Detroit is just not getting around to. 100 years its been renovated, added onto (somewhere in those years -- in 1925 all that stuff out back wasn't there yet) , re-roofed, climate-controlled, but largely well-preserved.

sources: 925 Green Bay Rd, Winnetka, IL 60093 | LoopNet. Dealership List - Packard Motor Car Information, https://www.rentcafe.com/apartments/il/winnetka/925-green-bay-rd/default.aspx

ca. 1925
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Today. Looks like a Kahn design as he was popular in Chicago too.

But, wooden floors it seemed .. the style Kahn moved away from (recall he was using his relatives "patented" reinforced concrete method to give open factory floor plans that dominated the mass production era.

Or maybe that was the renovation/interior designer's choice (ceiling treatment to match the floor choice)?

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looks pretty pricey
 
looks pretty pricey

I think that's right.

That's up around Highland Park, Glencoe, etc. along Lake Michigan north of downtown Chicago. I seem to recall that's fairly upscale even 100 years ago (Packard put all their showrooms where the people had money), as well as now.
 
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