Moonart Lincoln-Mercury, Milwaukee, WI.
W. Harold Northrup Lincoln-Mercury, Batavia, NY.
Clay-Dutton Lincoln-Mercury, New Orleans, LA.
Fitzgerald Lincoln-Mercury, Ann Arbor, MI.
Lincoln-Continental, Mercury, Comet, Clearwater, FL. Photo dated to 1960.
Wagner-Waldorp Motors, Greenville, NC. Photo dated to 1961.
Duffield Lincoln-Mercury, Long Beach, CA.
The dealership in Ann Arbor looks rather humble. Theone in Batavia is a nice piece of Art Deco architecture. The Lincoln in Greenville does not appear to have tinted glass. Perhaps it is also not equipped with air conditioning. Thanks for the photos.
The “NC Lincoln”, sitting prominently under the “Rambler” sign is a “hoot”.
The street, in front of the “Clearwater FL” dealership, appears to be missing. Coming out a the driveway, there is about a “three foot drop” to the mud.
I did a double take at the Monart Lincoln Mercury sign, initially reading it as ‘Monarch’.
Monarchs, as we know :-), were Mercurys rebranded as Fords in Canada, so Canadian Ford dealers had a mid-price car to sell, and the typeface for ‘Monart’ is very similar to the ‘Ford Monarch’ logo. Seeing what looked like a ‘Monarch Lincoln Mercury’ on an American Mercury dealership sign was a little disorienting.
Milwaukee is relatively close to the border – that could explain it, or maybe it was just a coincidence.
There was actually a Monarch Lincoln-Mercury dealership in Louisville, Kentucky that operated from the 1950s until the early 2000s:
So if it were the late seventies, you could buy a Monarch Lincoln-Mercury Mercury Monarch in Kentucky. 😉
That’s almost as big of a mouthful as the tires I bought yesterday.
(see my reply to you at the previous post)
The Northrup Lincoln-Mercury building in Batavia, New York is still standing, and largely original. Currently tenanted by an electrical supply business:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/nTLutDLAQy4MBtxh6
These are all great, but I especially like the color shot of the dealership in Clearwater, FLA.
That saucer-shaped building just screams “Take Me To Your Leader.” Space-age design at its finest.
I don’t know… that dealership looks like a converted Ho-Jo’s to me…
Considering that it is going to be around 99-100 where I am today that shot from New Orleans had me cringe a bit. Coat, shirt and tie indoors in a notoriously humid environment. Did buildings back then have A/C?
Great pics capturing their time and place and a different world in many respects. Greenville, NC would’ve been quite a small town/county with plenty of unpaved roads and residential driveways, but still jarring to see sparkling, expensive Continental presented to proud new owner on a muddy dealership lot with tires already heavily soiled.
Hudson Rambler at the front of the used lot of Fitzgerald.
I don’t know why anyone wanted to buy the ’49-’51 Lincoln after seeing it next to the Mercury! Same car with an ugly front or an attractive front. Buy the attractive front and pay a lot less.
Monart in Milwaukee was a special L-M dealer with an unique history.
In the WW2 years of no commercial car production, station wagons were especially in demand but none were being made. Monart converted existing Mercury two or four door sedans into wagons, or “Carry-Alls”. As steel was dedicated to the war effort, the conversions were all wood (which was available). The car was designed by Brooks Stevens – a more significant Milwaukee name.
Monart was at 631 North Cass in downtown Milwaukee. Their wagon conversion was their main source of income during the war. Monart the dealer went out of business in 1955 due to “financial impropriety”.
Greenville NC: the Gray and Bland Body Shop could make a killing painting cars today.
Comet was a separate marque for only two years (1960-61) but several of these seem to be from that period, hence the separate “Comet” signage.
Clay-Dutton Lincoln-Mercury, New Orleans, LA:
Note how skinny the tires are in proportion to the width of both cars.
Just barely wider than a VW Beetle.
Doesn’t look like handling was not a top priority for domestic cars in the 50’s.
During WWII, Milwaukee-based industrial designer Brooks Stevens created a Monart Mercury 6 and 9 passenger woody wagons for this local dealer, to be converted from coupes and sedans in inventor:
http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/m/monart/monart.htm
I wouldn’t be surprised if his firm also designed this dealership, as it has a lot of cues they used in building projects around the same time for Miller Brewing and others.
I wonder if any of those Monart wagons survived ? .
So many cool dealer pictures .
-Nate