Thanks, there is also a lighter/music box that they want way too much for. I had sent them an offer, but they won't budge on the price. The match book does not come up with my ebay search, strange. I can see it with your link. The photo I posted sure looks like a very old building on the side but it looks like the front was changed. Your photo looks like they added something on to it in 2017.
If you go to the address on StreetView, you will notice that the front in your photos is the new front, built after the 2017 photo. That side looks like that because they removed the building next door after they finished the new building in 2017. This is what the front looked like in November 2015, nothing like the building in your later photo: 2017: 2019, the new narrowed front of the building, without the entrance door: Last month, 2023:
The image in the old advertsiment is the old building, it's much wider and there were two door in the front:
...my dad was service manager at Caithness Buick (04-103) in Bethesda MD, so I kinda grew up there, going to work with him on Saturdays, summers, and as my first job while I was figuring out what I wanted to be when I grew up. One of my jobs was parts runner, so I'm familiar with most Zone 04 Buick dealerships, and Bethesda dealerships in general. Tracing history of Buick in Bethesda, I started with Covington Motor Company. Covington started in nearby Rockville MD in 1922 (haven't been able to find anything about that location), moved to Bethesda by 1940 for sure, but may have been earlier. Was there in '42. Son went to war as B-17 pilot, was shot down over occupied France. French resistance got him to England. After war, he took over dealership, which by '46 had become a Packard dealer. Caithness Buick was started about this time a block up Wisconsin Ave and left 2 blocks down at 4718 Hampden La. Pic from '52 (best I could do). That rocket on roof is part of sign for Community Motors, an Olds dealer. Hampden La was pretty much auto row postwar. Covington added new showroom by '48. Covington added Studebaker when they merged w/Packard, went to Edsel when Stude/Packard failed, and after Edsel failed, returned to Buick in '61 with Covington Buick in downtown Silver Spring MD. Added Pontiac GMC when moved out to suburbs on Briggs Chaney Rd. Dealership closed about 2007. Caithness relocated about a mile or so up Wisconsin Ave to 7700 for '55 model year. Caithness died in '65. Ralph Brown Buick (04-143) took over Bethesda location '66-'82, moving from 622-24 H St NE Washington DC location ('60-'66). Brown's DC location taken over by Bob White Buick (04-151), who later moved to 2461 Wisconsin Ave NW in ’68. Ralph Brown Buick began in Monticello, IN ’54-‘60. Caithness didn't use tag frames, instead opting for trunk emblem. There are some loose ends I don't have for above Bethesda Buick dealers, but I keep looking...
...here's what I've found out about dealer who sold my '71, Schuman Carriage Co. Ltd. , (79-908), 1234 S. Beretania St, Honolulu, HI. Gustav Schuman arrived in Honolulu in 1884, went to work as harness maker until opening his own shop in 1893. In 1904, Schuman opens first auto dealership in HI, selling Model Ts. In '29, Schuman relocated to 415 S. Beretania, in a converted church. Don't know if he was still selling Fords. Gustav Schuman died in 1930, son "Scotty" took over. Scotty's son 'Dutch" took over in.'1956. Church pic. Interior view, notice stained glass windows. 1960 Ad. In 1961, dealership site, which was across from 'Iolani Palace, was chosen for new State Capitol. Dealership relocated to 1234 S. Beretania, selling Cadillac, Buick, and Opel. By 1964, Schuman had 200 employees. In 1968, GM named Schuman its top new/used car dealer. Before closing as Hawaii's oldest dealership in November 2007, Shuman had picked up GMC, Hummer, and Subaru...
Very cool! Thanks for sharing all this research. FYI This is the state capital building they built in place of that lovely church:
Muzi Ford was not a Buick dealer, but I bought my first two cars there and they were both Buicks. It opened in 1932. John Muzi was an Italian immigrant who started with $200 that he invested in a Tydol gas station. He eventually started selling cars of various brands until he became a Chrysler-Plymouth dealer. He switched to Ford after seeing the '62 Plymouth - "I can't sell these" he said. Upon John's death his son Fred who was a friend of my late wife, took it over. Fred eventually retired and left the business which now also was a Chevrolet dealer - the Chevy franchise became available when the Needham, Massachusetts Chevy dealer folded. The business continued and was a landmark along I-95 (State route 128 to long-term natives). In 2022 a real estate developer bought the place and it's prime land for $52 million from Fred's sister and a long-term employee who had been second in command for decades. It's now gone, but was a going concern for 90 years. The land will be a mixture of businesses and apartment buildings. If you google Muzi Ford there are lots of sites about the dealer and at least one video and some photos.
The local buick dealer to me closed many years ago. Still had signage 4 years ago but all gone now. Meant to take a photo of my buick in front of the sign but waited too long.
Here's a Streetview photo from November 2012: But, the screenshot above is from 122 W Lexington Street. According to the Buick dealer code list, Ingram was located at 112 W Lexington Street. (1961-1973) At number 122 there was a Buick/Chevrolet dealer located with the name YATES-WOODARD BUICK-CHEV INC (1973-1981) Even when 112 is a typo, why isn't the name Yates-Woodard on the building? They ran their dealership (with a different dealer code) in later years, also according to the list.
Our 66 GS post car came from Bones Hamilton Buick in Van Nuys. You can see the dealership in the background of the old Van Nuys picture of the girls in white shorts!
The first 1965 GS I bought was sold new at Orange Buick in Orlando, FL. Began operations in 1929 on Orange Avenue where they remained for seven decades before moving to their current location on West Colonial Drive. I still have a copy of the original bill of sale. Sold the car about 10 years ago to a gent in Ohio.
...Pic is evidence that Ingram was last dealer at 122. As for 112 in code list, could be typo/transposition/something else. My experience with Buick Zone 04 dealers tells me that dealer codes are assigned ordinally. Dealerships can change location and/or terminate franchise. If a dealer moves within same Zone, his/her code goes to new location, even if move is to a location of a prior Buick dealership. When a dealer is new to Zone, he/she is assigned a new code, even if location was a prior Buick dealership. If anyone knows this to be generally untrue, please correct me. Applying my understanding to this example, Yates-Woodard was the older dealership of the two. If it had been at 122, it would have been before Ingram. Perhaps Yates-Woodard was at 112, or some other location altogether. Now, not only is address suspect, but also Years Active. Only way to resolve these conflicts would be to find someone with first-hand knowledge, or local newspaper archives, looking for ad dates for both dealerships. I ran into similar accuracy problems when I tried an Ancestry trial membership some time back. I discovered errors in census records, and where another researcher had gone awry by introducing a person into the family tree with a different middle name which was then propagated by other inexperienced researchers. I cancelled my membership 2 days in. I wonder if some records were filled in while census taker was sitting in a bar...
I maintain a Pontiac dealer list, far larger than both the Ultimate GTO list (dormant for 14 years now) or Wallace Racing's list. I have seen dealer codes transfer to a new owner at the same location (tho this may only have been a within-family scenario), and I have seen codes follow dealers who move. I have also seen the same dealer at the same location have more than one code. Note that GM did a 'dealer code revamp' in '87, where (at Pontiac)- a few zones got combined with another & one went dormant, and new dealers were no longer 'inserted' into the existing number range, but added to the 'back end' numerically. What did you mean by >"dealer codes are assigned ordinally"<? Pontiac, when setting up their dealer code system in '61, went alphabetically... but that would have started to erode as soon as owners/ locations changed / went out of business. Buick appears to not have gone alphabetically, but I'd like to see the list organized numerically rather than by city/state. The Buick dealer list 'years active' is often way off, tho to be fair; it may be a 'years active at least'- many of those dealers are older than the common "1961".
