I'm looking for a few shots of this dealership, "Mr.Norms" place, formerly located on the intersection of Grand and Spaulding streets in Chicago.
I've been to Mr.Norm's website, and there are several shots there, and those shots keep circulating on the web, popping up in various discussions.
I'd like to see some new pictures of the old days, if possible.
I've got this picture to start with. Maybe somebody else has a better quality copy of this?
wow to go back in time.......
There must be a shot of the car lot out there?
This WAS the #1 Dodge dealership in the world!!
I have a number of photos of it as it exists today if you want?
I've got a shot of a car that was sold new from GSD........ :icon_smile_big:
Quote from: Ghoste on December 05, 2007, 08:51:56 PM
I have a number of photos of it as it exists today if you want?
Are they the ones on Barry's site?
Don't know. I don't recall sending them to anybody but if he has some and they are from another source I doubt if they are much different. An empty lot and an old building.
Why sure, I'd love to see what you've got!
Here is a vid I found on Youtube. http://youtube.com/watch?v=N0ymfZOuBOY
Seen...pretty cool too!
Left a comment for the videographer :2thumbs:
Hmmm....anyone been inside that place? Maybe some NOS parts left behind!!
Quote from: 1FastCharger on December 06, 2007, 11:29:23 PM
Hmmm....anyone been inside that place? Maybe some NOS parts left behind!!
Yeah...maybe there's a whole bunch of NOS parts....still in their "Mopar Parts" boxes.....he he he :icon_smile_wink:
Quote from: C_stripes on December 06, 2007, 06:22:25 PM
Here is a vid I found on Youtube. http://youtube.com/watch?v=N0ymfZOuBOY
Cool video until he flips the camera around and does his "Blair Witch" impersonation. ;)
If I lived around that area, I would have "borrowed" those street signs long ago. :angel: It's not like anyone in that area of town would care.
Quote from: Chris G. on December 07, 2007, 12:02:51 AM
Quote from: C_stripes on December 06, 2007, 06:22:25 PM
Here is a vid I found on Youtube. http://youtube.com/watch?v=N0ymfZOuBOY
Cool video until he flips the camera around and does his "Blair Witch" impersonation. ;)
If I lived around that area, I would have "borrowed" those street signs long ago. :angel: It's not like anyone in that area of town would care.
I don't believe it! Chris! Are you condoning thieving?.......Cooooool......
Quote from: Magnumcharger on December 07, 2007, 12:22:45 AM
I don't believe it! Chris! Are you condoning thieving?.......Cooooool......
I said borrow. :whistling: :angel:
Of course you know...now the race is on!
I predict an ebay auction, featuring that very item, within the month! :lol:
Quote from: Chris G. on December 07, 2007, 12:31:08 AM
Quote from: Magnumcharger on December 07, 2007, 12:22:45 AM
I don't believe it! Chris! Are you condoning thieving?.......Cooooool......
I said borrow. :whistling: :angel:
and the difference is???
:rofl: :smilielol: :haha:
I stepped just inside the service bay through a big bay door and all of that part was empty except for a small collection of guys at the far end who running some kind of car detailing business there. I think it was around 2004? Anything good is long gone and as for the street signs, Chris is right about the area. Some of the locals were tending their drive through non prescription pharmaceutical enterprise on the corner and they weren't too happy to see my caucasian stupidity wandering around with a camera. I took my pictures and split. Norm has been saying for a few years that someone was negotiating with him to buy it and turn it into some sort of automotive museum but I can't see that happening myself.
Quote from: Ghoste on December 07, 2007, 04:49:14 AM
Norm has been saying for a few years that someone was negotiating with him to buy it and turn it into some sort of automotive museum but I can't see that happening myself.
From my mental picture of your description of the neighborhood, I can't imagine a museum opening up there either. Or if it does, the museum artifacts probably won't be there long... :smilielol:
Unfortunately, it was probably the demise of the Grand-Spaulding Dodge dealership that precipitated the economic decline of that neighbourhood, resulting in the conditions that now prevail.
In other words: It's Mr.Norm's fault.
knowing norm he wants a mint for the land also .
Got this email re: this thread (and one like it on Moparts)
Darryl Dayton :<darryl@sedonarental.com> wrote:
There isn't much else to see. There was the building which was an old converted gas station. They then bought the lot next to it and that is where there were a few used cars. G-S rented empty lots and warehouse buildings all around the area to store their inventory. The building/service area/lot were less than impressive or what you would expect to see from one of the worlds largest Dodge dealers in the new hipo cars days of the era. There was no comparision to what you would see for a dealership holding that designation today.
I was a salesman for a Dodge dealership in Illinois from 68-74, about 150 miles from G-S. Some of my Mopar buddies and myself made a couple of trips to G-S in the years 69 and 70 just to check out his inventory and to check out the street action at Skip's Feista. I was really disappointed in what I saw. Basically, as a customer you want into the small showroom, contacted a salesman, and after qualifing the customer, the salesman would then take you to a lot or warehouse to look at the car you were interested in.
Skip's Feista was the local drive-in not too far from G-S where all the heavy hitter street racers hung out. It is the only drive-in resturant I ever saw that had speed bumps in the drive way. There were cars cruising the drive-in with the headers uncorked. It was really a trip and an episode right out of American Graffiti.
Darryl Dayton
From: Robin McQueen
To: Darryl Dayton
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2007 4:16 PM
Subject: Re: Grand Spaulding Dodge ~ Vintage Photos or otherwise?
Darryl,
Sounds like it would have been very interesting to have seen that place in it's heyday!
Did you happen to take any pictures of the place when you were there, way back when?
And would you mind if I posted your story, as you wrote it?
And of course, credit goes to you!
Robin
From: Darryl Dayton
To: Robin McQueen
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2007 4:37 PM
Subject: Re: Grand Spaulding Dodge ~ Vintage Photos or otherwise?
Robin,
No I didn't take any pictures.
No problem if you want to post the story.
BTW, when I went there in 1970, sitting in front of the showroom on the street was a Challenger with dealer plates on it. It was a 440 SIX PACK, 4 speed console, Panther Pink with Black top, Black rear window louvers, Black interior, Black T/A hood and Black side stripe. The car was STUNNING.
Darryl
Here is some GSD stuff from my 71 Sixpack car....
:2thumbs:
I got some Ads from old late 60's magazines if Interested in seeing them? :shruggy: LEON.
Maybe not so much old ads....but more of this kind of picture:
Liberated from the "Charger Racecar" thread.
A flopper on the sidewalk in front of GS.
I had a flash of inspiration, and this is the result.
You can really get a feel for how this operation looked by seeing it's relation to the "lay of the land" so to speak.
And a few shots from Hamtramck-Historical.com.
I may have found these pics on Mr'Norms site.
You gotta love the aerial shots huh? I scanned some of my pics that aren't exactly like those, but I have to crop and resize to put them up. I'll have to post them later. I took mine on July 9, 2003.
Here is the first one. This, obviously is the one everyone takes to duplicate the famous period photo from 69.
This one is from across the street (Grand) looking straight on at the front door and the showroom.
Looking west (I think) of the showroom and still from across the street.
Standing on the main lot and looking east back towards the showroom and offices.
At the far west end of the main building still standing on the primary car lot and looking north to the back of the property.
Looking in a service bay door near the far west end of the building. (more to post in the morning)
to bad you couldnt have gotten in there with your camara. that wouldve been cool
Ghoste: Thank you for taking the time to scan those pictures for my (our) benefit!
Did you just happen to be in the neighbourhood at the time, or did you go there specifically to see the dealership?
It would have been cool to see the interior of the garage...if not the showroom too!
I can't imagine why or how the place was abandoned the way it was. And continues to be for that matter!
Inside the service department looking east towards Spaulding.
Also from inside the service area and looking towards Spaulding but alongside the wall which faces Grand. I would have tried to get further in and more pics but there were some guys in there running a car detailing service who seemed about as happy to see me as the pharmaceutical salesmen on the corner.
From the open service door looking back along the car lot towards the showroom.
From in front of the showroom looking along the car lot.
Standing in front of the showroom and looking across Grand at the warehouse where Norm kept a LOT of his inventory.
In front of the showroom but looking across Spaulding. The pickup is parked approximately where the 69 Charger 500 is in the famous period photo.
I have some others but they are more or less redundant of what else has been posted.
Quote from: Ghoste on December 11, 2007, 05:07:13 AM
In front of the showroom but looking across Spaulding. The pickup is parked approximately where the 69 Charger 500 is in the famous period photo.
I have some others but they are more or less redundant of what else has been posted.
I'd still be interested in seeing them.
And here's a thought: Even knowing the state of the neighbourhood, and the possibility of running into unsavory characters.....wouldn't it be cool to see a bunch of neat Mopars parked on that lot again?
Or at the very least, maybe a Charger 500 on that spot, with a Superbee across the street?
Maybe I overstate. It was most assuredly NOT the worst neighbourhood I was ever in but it is not prime residential either. For all I know the three dudes that were on the corner lived nowhere near the place although I imagine they were homeys. As for the guys inside, well, they were running what appeared to be a legal business and I suppose it must have been a bit shocking for them to see a white guy with a camera walk into the place in the middle of a July day wearing a suit. They probably thought I was the po-po or something.
In any case, I can't envision a museum there but I will scan the rest of my pics.
Here's a picture I made in Adobe Photoshop a couple of years ago.
I'm building another picture of the dealership from some of the shots that were posted on this thread.
A work in progress if you will.
Here is the first of those redundant shots Magnumcharger.
The second. These are pretty self explanatory.
A third. This is from in front of the warhouse he had across the street looking at the main lot. It's the last shot I took wandering free. As I was taking this photo, the businessmen on the street corner had finally had enough and were making their way towards me and the cabbie had suggested we leave "right now". :icon_smile_big: Those previous two pics were taken driving away.
This is one that didn't really turn out. It's the Dodge sign over the car lot and when you saw it in person, you could see that they just spray painted red over it. The "Dodge" was still faintly visible, unfortunately it doesn't come out in the picture.
Hope these are new to you.
Quote from: Magnumcharger on December 06, 2007, 11:42:03 PM
Quote from: 1FastCharger on December 06, 2007, 11:29:23 PM
Hmmm....anyone been inside that place? Maybe some NOS parts left behind!!
Yeah...maybe there's a whole bunch of NOS parts....still in their "Mopar Parts" boxes.....he he he :icon_smile_wink:
Yes there were - 4 skids worth - and I have them. :2thumbs:
Quote from: Ghoste on December 14, 2007, 08:01:09 PM
This is one that didn't really turn out. It's the Dodge sign over the car lot and when you saw it in person, you could see that they just spray painted red over it. The "Dodge" was still faintly visible, unfortunately it doesn't come out in the picture.
I have that sign - the red paint came off ok.
Quote from: maxwellwedge on January 13, 2010, 11:06:06 AM
Quote from: Ghoste on December 14, 2007, 08:01:09 PM
This is one that didn't really turn out. It's the Dodge sign over the car lot and when you saw it in person, you could see that they just spray painted red over it. The "Dodge" was still faintly visible, unfortunately it doesn't come out in the picture.
I have that sign - the red paint came off ok.
PICS, MAXWELL, PICS!!! :icon_smile_big:
:popcrn: :popcrn: :popcrn:
Steve
I forgot about this thread. Looks like I got to see the place before it started getting too far gone?
I'll take some pics of the sign. It is not "mint" but it is what it is. A lot of the parts were picked over but I managed to find a few gems. The Chrysler labels that have G-S Dodge on them are cool!
A few pictures that I just came across:
And a few from the way back machine!
Pretty cool (new) shots! :popcrn:
I drive by there every so often....
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4044/4412252883_c2f30b1052_b.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2748/4413021652_ac952072d3_z.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2748/4412254369_692917bb4f_z.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2706/4413022750_fe00f6392d_z.jpg)
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/4413023218_dfd9cb3df4_z.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2801/4413024206_771aa66592_z.jpg)
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4052/4413024710_04b628782b_z.jpg)
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/4412250879_e8eb08d1aa_z.jpg)
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4058/4413017548_8243da446a_z.jpg)
Ryan
Hmmm....the position of that excavator looks ominous!! :eek2:
Mr Norm's Charger at Mopars in the Park in Farmingtion MN '09.
(http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i286/GPULLER/mopars%2009/DSC06660.jpg)
(http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i286/GPULLER/mopars%2009/DSC06659.jpg)
(http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i286/GPULLER/mopars%2009/DSC06662.jpg)
As of today....
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6135/5986733424_cff15b82e0_z.jpg)
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6001/5986173281_0718ddebe1_z.jpg)
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6021/5986732854_5f9373008b_z.jpg)
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6018/5986172451_489de97f72_z.jpg)
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6021/5986172207_5a5065da16_z.jpg)
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6011/5986171977_c163737a24_z.jpg)
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6143/5986171755_e555d61b45_z.jpg)
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6016/5986171533_4b8729df16_z.jpg)
(http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6141/5986171083_e6a0bc3412_z.jpg)
Ryan
Thanks for the update Ryan! That place is literally going to seed.
Robin, did you try any more of those pics with the old cars ghosted in?
I did one for Barry Washington, the one at the beginning of this thread.
I was working on restoring a Grand Spaulding promotional photo for awhile, but it was a colossal effort and I lost interest after awhile.
Which is why I started this thread, in an attempt to find some better vintage pictures!
Wow, is that area as bad as it looks?
i thought that ghosting pic was fantastic. if anyone can photoshop those it would make an awesome calander or poster? any interest? mabey do one and get it on next years dc.com calander? :shruggy:
Quote from: 1BAD68 on July 29, 2011, 08:05:11 AM
Wow, is that area as bad as it looks?
Yes, yes it is.
good pictures Ryan thanks for sharing :yesnod: :2thumbs:
Quote from: Ghoste on December 14, 2007, 07:59:22 PM
A third. This is from in front of the warhouse he had across the street looking at the main lot. It's the last shot I took wandering free. As I was taking this photo, the businessmen on the street corner had finally had enough and were making their way towards me and the cabbie had suggested we leave "right now". :icon_smile_big: Those previous two pics were taken driving away.
i don't see anyone in the pics........................... don't u kno u need to have evidence in case YOU don't make it back????
Love those pics !! What year did he close his doors ? Note that charger funny car and that ford t-bird is roughly 1983 +
Here is a aerial shot from 1972.
historicaerials.com (http://historicaerials.com)
Quote from: maxwellwedge on January 13, 2010, 11:25:42 AM
I'll take some pics of the sign. It is not "mint" but it is what it is. A lot of the parts were picked over but I managed to find a few gems. The Chrysler labels that have G-S Dodge on them are cool!
:popcrn:
Here it is as of Sep. 2014 according to Google maps street view. Looks like demolition is taking progress. The infamous staircase is torn down. :(
I don't know if its demolition, when I stopped there in the spring of 2014 there was a company using it as a warehouse to store steel (I think?) and they were knocking some walls down and stuff like that to make it more useable for their purposes.
Weird to think my car was sold new through that old building. My car has faired better over the last 46 years than that building has!
Quote from: Ghoste on February 09, 2015, 06:52:15 AM
I don't know if its demolition, when I stopped there in the spring of 2014 there was a company using it as a warehouse to store steel (I think?) and they were knocking some walls down and stuff like that to make it more useable for their purposes.
Yea I was going by the pic seeing the piles of rubble and it being barricaded with a chain-linked fence with tape in it :shruggy:
And it very well COULD be slated for demolition but my first guess goes with the renovations by the most rrecent tenant. It was a bit of a surprise to me how freely they let us wander around there that day with the work they were doing. No fence or anything like that so my buddy and I each went and scarfed a couple of bricks from it and got Norm to sign them a couple of months later in Columbus.
But it could be demolition too. :shruggy: