[hpp]

Dealer Im at is Pete Baur Pontiac Buick GMC in Strongsville Ohio. He bought it in 1975,before that is was a Pontiac dealer also. I cant remember the name. A friend of mine ran a PHS on his '67 GTO and found out it was sold new there. When your in the service dept or bodyshop you can tell where the old building used to stop. It used to be a small place. There's still a brand new 1979 Trans Am in the show room that was never sold. I dont have any old pitchures of the place,but Im going to try and find some. I'll post the name of the old dealer soon as I find out.

[uforacing]

Originally Posted by hpp

Dealer Im at is Pete Baur Pontiac Buick GMC in Strongsville Ohio. He bought it in 1975,before that is was a Pontiac dealer also. I cant remember the name. A friend of mine ran a PHS on his '67 GTO and found out it was sold new there. When your in the service dept or bodyshop you can tell where the old building used to stop. It used to be a small place. There's still a brand new 1979 Trans Am in the show room that was never sold. I dont have any old pitchures of the place,but Im going to try and find some. I'll post the name of the old dealer soon as I find out.

Back in 86 I bought a 65 GTO convert from a guy in Harriman TN. His shop used to be an old dealership and he had 6-7 GTO's for sale. When I got there I almost bought a 69 RAIII car he had for the same price. The reason I bring it up is two fold. He had a 79 SA 4 speed car in the window with 70 some miles on it. He mentioned that a dealer down the road could not sell it and he got it for a song.

Also in the spring of 1980 I went down to my Pontiac dealer and tried to order a new Grand Am. After an hour I found out that production had been canceled. The sales guy was nice and steered me to a 79 SA car that was still on the lot. I wanted no part of a TA back then because everyone had one. I did get my Grand Am a few months later though not how I would have ordered it.

I have heard many stories of 79 Silver Anniversary sitting on the lots well into 1980.

[hpp]

Few pics of the T/A in the showroom today. Although not for sale anymore.

[mike nixon]

Here're the local ones still standing. I'll label the Photos as I post them.


These two are of a Rambler / Studebaker dealer that folded in the 50's when the highway was moved per my Dad's memory. It's now a regional office for Pak A Sak convienence stores.

[mike nixon]

These two Are of Dealers long gone.

The bldg with the red awning is a local appliance store. It was a Pontiac / Oldsmobile /GMC dealer from sometime in the 60's until 1981 or so. My dad bought our 69 Catalina there and our 78 Catalina there. It was originally Ford Bros then became Royal In about 1979.



The second photo was The Olds dealer prior to it's being moved to the first bldg pic'd and it's new owner. It was also a service point and loading stop for a bus line that I don't know the name of. It's currently an exhaust shop. They do most of my custom bent work. Note the house built up against the bldg that is not accessable from the shop. I've always wondered why it was constructed that way.

Mike

[mike nixon]

The first pic is of the local Chevy dealer. It's been a Chevy dealer since the 30's from what I've been told. It was first Hardy , Then sold to Milligan, Then Coby-Brookbank and currently Ken Kunkle. It's been added on to numerous times.


The second and third Photo are of the dealer I worked at. Lyons Buick, Pontiac, GMC truck. It was built in 1947 as Harshman Motor sales and was a Buick dealer until 96. In late 94 the business was sold to Sharpe. A yr or so later it was closed due to fraud charges that were accurate.The construction on this bldg was experimental and is the only surviving structure built this way in the county. It has to with the block placement in the walls.

In 1982 Veryl aquired the Pontiac GMC lines from the defunct Royal Pontiac mentioned above. I thought the Bonnie in Pic # 3 was kind of cool as it was sold new at this location. The used car lot was on the Bonneville's side of the bldg, The other side was the new lot. The upstairs was large parts storage and the service bays were in the single story portion. For 9 of the 10yrs I worked there we were in the top 5% of GM's custom order sales nationwide. Our Customer service rating was 100% for the same time period. Currently the lower level is vacant and the upper is apartments.

[mike nixon]

The first photo in this set was a Dodge dealer in the 30's. It's currently a Regional provider for the arts that my wife works at. She has some pics in the bldg of it when it was an active dealer. If she can scan them I'll post them as well.


The second pic is where the Pontiac dealer was in the early 60's and prior. It was recently remodeled and houses several local community offices. My wife works part time in one of them. She has a pic of this one from 1958, with a Bonnie out front, if she'll scan it I'll post it also.
The garage entrance was from the alley on the right side of the photo. The left side, which is now an empty lot, was a bar that had been in business for yrs. My dad talked about going there in the late 40's to have a beer and watch fights or ball games on TV. We also patronized it for several yrs until it sold and became a sports bar. It's closed shortly after that, The city aquired it due to back taxes and demo'd it.

Mike