Dunlap’s Oldsmobile, Ames, IA.
Walz Oldsmobile, Alton, IL.
Pontchartrain Motor Co., New Orleans, LA.
Al Fink Oldsmobile, Nanticoke, PN.
1958 Olds (and Cadillac) in the showroom.
Mossy Oldsmobile, New Orleans, LA.
Logan Oldsmobile, Portland, OR.
Stafford Oldsmobile, Company Inc.
Charlie Stuart Oldsmobile, Indianapolis, IN.
The dealership in New Orleans, Pontchartrain, is one gorgeous dealership. As for the dealership in Nanticoke – WOW! The buyer is taking delivery of an Olds 98 with factory Air Conditioning! Fun photos including the one iwth an old International pickup in front and another with a 1949 Plymouth across the street from the Olds dealership.
Seen with today’s eyes, it is fascinating how inconsistent the dealer’s appearance was in terms of lettering and signage. No brand identity recognizable. Not just here.
Agreed, except for the rockets on the roof of two dealerships. That was brand identity.
There may not have been recognizable branding in these photos, but growing up in the burbs way back then it seemed most people knew the local dealers, brands, and locations.
There weren’t as many back then and by in large they had the same owners and salesmen for years upon years. They had their reputation and image to maintain. (My parents bought three Pontiacs from the same dealer/ salesman). Many were inolved in their community; cars for driver’s ed classes, community events, etc.
Today’s dealers…well…it is easy to distinguish a Ford from a Chevy dealer.
My town of 15 years, came for college and never left. You can read more about Dunlap Motors here: https://ameshistory.org/content/dunlap-motors
Ransom Eli would have loved seeing these thriving dealerships for his merry Oldsmobile. I always believed part of Oldsmobiles decline was the name OLD, in a youth oriented market. Not Your Father’s Oldsmobile and YOUNGMOBILE seemed to emphasize Oldsmobiles attempts to draw younger people. Unfortunately, Oldsmobile and Pontiac are long gone. Buick and Cadillac are focused on SUVS. 🤮. As Archie and Edith sang, Those WERE the days.
Charlie Stewart Oldsmobile was at 1510 N. Meridian Street in Indianapolis, and claimed to be Indiana’s biggest Olds dealer in the mid 60’s. He had also been one of the largest Studebaker dealers in the country before he diversified to Oldsmobile.
Pontchartrain Motors – what did they do on the second floor of those buildings? Was it used for offices, storage, or for service bays?
We had a dealer in downtown Toronto that had its service bays up on the second floor in a similar looking building. It was a pretty severe angle to drive up to get up to the second floor.
It varied. I’ve seen pictures where the upstairs was used for storing inventory cars and parts. And as you noted some had service bays. Most of these buildings like this had very strong concrete floors so it could be used in multiple ways.
The Walz Oldsmobile franchise pictured here was actually in Alton, Illinois rather than Minnesota. Evidently there was a Walz Oldsmobile in Winona, MN as well, but this is another dealership.
Below is a then-and-now comparison of the location. At some point the glass was covered with wood siding (likely during one of the energy crises). The building is currently used by some kind of service facility.
Google StreetView link here:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ddJbx6yQJA9i2ph59
Oh Lord ! How much better it looked then !
Thanks Eric! The location has been updated.
Love those old showrooms with the large glass windows to show off the product best .
Hard to choose just one of the many lovelies presented .
-Nate
GM seemed to have ignored their brand’s legacies and heritages, except to give stylists a direction for retro designs. There was value in defunct brands that weren’t used. Oldsmobile actually shunned their heritage as it went downhill. Their communications and marketing people were idiots who were clueless about the brand’s legacy and ignored it for the next shiny thing. These fools flush 100 years of branding because they couldn’t figure out how to market it. There was a place in GM’s line up for an Oldsmobile. Perhaps not as a line of GM knock-offs, which weren’t really Oldsmobiles, but as an awesome vehicle/s that captured buyers who valued the quality and style the Olds brand represented.
” There was a place in GM’s line up for an Oldsmobile. Perhaps not as a line of GM knock-offs, which weren’t really Oldsmobiles, but as an awesome vehicle/s that captured buyers who valued the quality and style the Olds brand represented.I
An interesting thought that I can relate to. Something like an American Volvo, perhaps?
BUT: The development of such products would have cost money. So the shareholder’s rate of profit would have been reduced. So not GM’s thing…
Have owned many years of Olds from 1936 to 1977. Every one of them was a great car, they nearly always had some of the best drivetrains and styling produced by GM.
Our local dealer was Stu Berger Olds on York Rd. Every Fall I rode my bike there to look at the new cars on the lot, and from the time in ’65 I saw a new Burgundy red ’66 Toronado in their showroom, and even picked up a little promo record narrated by John “Shorty” Powers of NASA introducing the Toro and Delta 88s, Olds became my favorite brand. When our next-door neighbor on Piccadilly Rd got a new Delta 88 coupe in gunmetal blue metallic with a huge 425 engine which Mr A. showed me, I spent hours just looking at that big beautiful car. It’s been a long time ago but Olds still is, and will always be, my favorite automotive brand… RIP.
Here’s a then-and-now comparison of the Dunlap’s Oldsmobile site in Ames, Iowa. The main building is now covered in aluminum siding – the secondary building is still original, but both are still standing. These buildings were built in the 1920s as a Chevrolet dealership – Dunlap’s Oldsmobile moved there in 1939 (Cadillac was added in 1948) and continued in business until 1970 when the Dunlap family sold the franchise.
Google StreetView link:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/29coZ9rmucrXtEcv9