Scottsdale: Lost, and Found, Dealerships

Heading out to Scottsdale a couple of weeks ago, the farthest thing from my mind at the time was snapping a few shots of vintage dealership emblems; our main focus was covering the five auctions quickly, yet efficiently. Somewhere along the way, I managed to snap off a few shots of emblems – or ghosts of emblems – that caught my eye’s attention, which somehow triggered a response in my brain to capture it digitally. Looking back, I wish I had remembered to think of it sooner.

While looking through the rows of vintage Buicks at Desert Valley Auto Parts, I stumbled across this 1968 (or 1969) Skylark Custom…

…with the ghostly outline of Charles Reed’s dealership based in Memphis. Upon my return to the office, a quick search online revealed that the dealership still exists, albeit under a different name, and no longer selling Buicks. According to their website, it was started by Reed in 1949, and then handed over to his son-in-law – Jim Keras – in 1973.  I’m sure a little more digging would be able to uncover where the dealership was located when the Buick was new, but today it’s located here, still in Memphis, Tennessee.

Around the corner from the Skylark was a 1961 Le Sabre with a haunting image of Young Buick on its deck lid, which was located in Tucson, Arizona. Again, a search online generated a few other passing comments about the dealership, going back to at least 1955, however the automaker’s official search engine indicated that only two dealerships in Tucson are currently selling Buicks, and neither of those companies make mention of Young Buick in their history. Can any of our readers in Tucson shed any light on the topic?

In keeping with the Buick theme, I ran across this emblem from McAndrews-King in nearby (to us in Bennington, Vermont) Adams, Massachusetts, at the Silver Auction in Ft. McDowell. The one owner car, a 1976 Electra 225, was bid up to $7,000, but failed to sell. One can easily speculate how it got from one coast to the other, but what’s interesting is that the dealership still exists in Adams here; currently, there’s no street view of the area. (We spotted another McAndrews-King nameplate back in July at one of our cruise-ins.)

Finally, I ran across this tailgate to a mid to late Fifties Chevy, also at DVAP.

This one is more of a stumper. Clearly, the location portion of the badge has been damaged to some degree, which means that its origins could be Muskogee or Muskocee, or a variation of. What I am certain of is that it did not come from the only City Chevy dealer that I am aware of, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and owned by NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick. Any input on this other City Chevy dealer (likely from the Midwest) is welcomed.