Text by Patrick Bell.
Welcome to Jack L. Hunt Chrysler-Plymouth at 1714 Fourth Street in San Rafael, California. The date range of these photos is late ’55 to mid ’56. Jack Hunt Sr. first started selling cars in 1927. He became a Chrysler-Plymouth dealer at some point and probably about twenty years later turned the business over to his son, Jack Hunt Jr., who built this facility in 1950. Today Jack Hunt III is still in business at this location. Not as a C/P dealer, but new and used cars and mechanical / body work including classics.
And if this photo looks familiar you are correct, since it was featured in a Vintage Dealers gallery in October of 2024. Today we are going to look at some more images from the same dealership, mostly taken on the same day as this one. The photographer was Waldemar Sievers, a professional in the area. The occasion apparently was a new sign.
Here is a shot from the other side. The car shown in the wall mural/sign is actually a ’55 Plymouth Belvedere. I wonder if they did not want to spend the money to upgrade it, or if it was early in the model year and it hadn’t worked its way to the top of the list. You can see the workers on the roof. Their trucks are a ’52-’53 Chevrolet COE with a crane, and a V8 powered ’54-’56 Dodge Job-Rated pickup. In the street is a ’51 Ford with a visor and a ’53 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Coupe. There is an Oldsmobile dealer down the street, and a bus stop in the foreground.
This shot is back on the first side shown, further back from the street. In the foreground is a ’55-’57 Volkswagen Type 1 with a sunroof and a clean ’39 Plymouth. In the row facing the building are likely used cars, from the left a ’53 Lincoln coupe (the fender is visible in the first photo), ’50 Chrysler 4 door sedan, and a ’52 Dodge Meadowbrook 4 door sedan. In the background is the new ’56 Chrysler New Yorker 2 door St. Regis Hardtop seen in the first photo. In the street is a ’49 Ford convertible followed by perhaps a ’50 Plymouth. And if you need some tires they are having a sale.
The details of the sign truck with the extended outriggers are evident in this photo as well as the Standard station sign up the street and the New Yorker in the showroom. Across the street is a Texaco station and further up a used car lot.
Now we have a view of the service department. In the entrance lane is a clean ’51 Cadillac Series 62 Sedan and further up is a new looking ’56 Plymouth Plaza 4 door sedan in police service with the roof lights and antenna on the left quarter panel. In the building on the left is a light color ’50 Cadillac Series 62 convertible, and the one on the lift may be a ’49 Plymouth or Dodge Club Coupe.
This is an older photo as the new sign is not on the roof. But the same ’39 Plymouth is in the foreground and it looks like the same ’51 Cadillac on the service drive. In front of the Plymouth is another one, a ’46-’48 Special De Luxe Club Coupe. In the used car line a dark ’49 or ’50 Ford Fordor and a lighter color ’49 Plymouth.
Charlie’s Market was across and down the street about a half of a block. It must have been a favorite go-to for groceries, liquor and produce to warrant a shot in this series. From right to left a ’53 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible, ’54 Chevrolet 3600 Advanced Design pickup, and the one at the far curb I am unsure about. Across the side street is a light color ’52 or ’53 Lincoln Coupe followed by a darker ’55 Pontiac.
Thanks for joining us on our tour today!
For more information: https://marinmagazine.com/community/local-business/80-years-and-still-selling/
Current Google Street View can be seen HERE.
That 56 New Yorker St. Regis hardtop in the top photo – I have had a crush on those cars for a long, long time!
Me too!
Ditto.
I liked the ’57-58 models when they came out. I thought the height of the ’55-56 models made that design look older by comparison. Still does, but now I see that as a good thing rather than a bad thing. Those ’55-56 models were such comfortable cars. My own aging makes me appreciate the design in a way that was lost on my youthful self.
The remarkable long life of the Volkswagen Type 1, gives it great relatability and a certain modernity, as the cars around it may appear thoroughly dated in any scene. Even though, the Beetle’s styling is already ancient in this context.
+1 on the VW styling. Ancient, but ahead of its time.
A fellow in my area has a similar st. Regis…what a car. The 39 Plymouth reminds me of my dads 39 Royal he had after the war
Patrick’s universal mastery of details raises the challenge level for those of us who know a FEW details really well.
How did he know it’s a ’52 Dodge and not a ’51? Because the chrome strip stops short of the taillight in ’52. That’s universal mastery!
But in the 6th picture it’s a ’49 Ford, not a ’50. Pullout doorhandles instead of pushbutton. That’s one of the FEW details I know.
I agree – I’m incredibly impressed by Patrick’s mastery of identification. Adds a lot to these posts.
I’m swooning over these pictures .
Long long ago I had a 1939 Dodge four door .
-Nate
Even back then apparently people didn’t know proper use of the apostrophe…see the sign pic.
unless it was referencing the “100 Million dollar look” and not just a plural. Could be.
I think it was referencing the “100 million dollar look” – that was part of a 1955 Chrysler ad campaign, and was used quite a bit in dealer promotions at the time.
The sign in the picture combines the “Plymouth for the Young in Heart” imagery with “Chrysler’s 100 million dollar look” and the two just appear to run together. I assume that in person the colors were different, so it didn’t appear quite so jumbled.
The ad below is from another dealership, but uses the same “100 million” phrase.
Here’s a close-up of the Young in Heart couple on the sign – this couple was also used in a few 1955 Plymouth ads:
I wonder if the ’39 Plymouth and the VW were for sale or just street-parked outside the dealership.
The AD Chevy COE would be a 5400, 5100 would be a tractor and 5700 had a longer wheel base, the trucks got longer as the numbers got higher!