A Questions for the Dealership Guys

[Swifster]

Back in the day when there were smaller dealerships, what was their floor plans like. 10 cars? 15 cars? How about the used car department? Close to the same. I'm looking at a model car project with a two car showroom. I figure there would be two or three demonstrators. But what would a typical small dealer keep as inventory?

[StudeRich]

Studebaker Dealerships

I guess a lot depends on just HOW small a Dealership we are talking about.

Medium to Large Dealers only had 5 or 6 Cars in the showroom, and no general use demonstrators.
That is because 5 or 6 Salesmen, the Owner, his Wife, the Sales Manager, and his wife ALL had Co. Cars, that except for the wife's Cars, could be used as demonstrators because they were on site during open hours.

If a certain model or Transmission type was needed for a Demo Drive, a Car from inventory was washed and a Dealer Plate slapped on the rear bumper with spring hooks, and off they went.

Medium sized Dealerships like Dad worked at, had a large Parts Dept., full Service Dept. a Truck Shop, Alignment racks (2), a Paint and Body Shop, a wash rack or space and a Used Car Lot with over a hundred cars. There was also a next door "Back lot" with the unwashed "Inventory" parked in it.

Most Studebaker Dealerships may not have been as large as other makes, so my guess at "Medium sized Studebaker Dealership" could very well be considered Large by most Stude. Dealers.

It should be remembered that I am not from Kansas or Iowa, but Southwest Los Angeles, where there were the MOST, or near most number of Cars in the Nation. More customers, more Money, more dealerships and larger ones.

[clonelark]

Fill up as you wish

[BobPalma]

Tom, my father would always have qualified as a small dealer in a small town; Paris, IL, population 10,500 when we lived there; June 1953 through July 1962...during which I advanced from age 7 to age 16.

Even after he and his brother merged with the Studebaker dealer (June 1, 1955) and then sold Packard, Nash, and Studebaker out of the same store (June 1, 1955 through July 31, 1956), they would have no more than maybe two of each make, sometimes three, in inventory. They would have maybe one "demo" of each make, too, in addition to the maybe two of each make ready to go.

Back in those days, people weren't as impatient as they are today. They would be just as likely to order a car and wait for it to be built as they were to buy one from inventory. It was actually a big deal to order a car, tell all your friends about it, and then anticipate its arrival.

Today, with limited option, color, and trim packages, and internet connections to move inventory around the country, few people actually sit down and order a car and wait for it to come in, built to their specs five or six weeks later. BP

[8E45E]

Today, with limited option, color, and trim packages, and internet connections to move inventory around the country, few people actually sit down and order a car and wait for it to come in, built to their specs five or six weeks later.

Another huge reason is all these rebates, 'employee pricing' and other incentives often do not apply to special order vehicles.

Craig

[Gunslinger]

Another huge reason is all these rebates, 'employee pricing' and other incentives often do not apply to special order vehicles.

Craig

That's because inventory sitting on the lot costs the dealer money...interest on the financing to "floorplan" the car. They have a vested interest in moving inventory rather than special ordering which ultimately costs the dealer nothing...it gets paid for by the buyer when delivered with no overhead interest. That's why many, if not most dealers give a better deal at the end of the month before an additional month's interest accrues on inventory. The longer a car sits in inventory the more it costs the dealer so they're doing their utmost to sell.

[52hawk]

None of the local dealers in my area had a showroom big enough for more than 4-5 cars. The Studebaker dealer my father bought his '62 wagon from[the one and only new car he ever bought] ,was in an old restaurant building.It probably held 2 cars,and a couple of desks. Garage work was done at the same dealers Cadillac store,on the same block.

[swvalcon]

I knew a guy that sold new cars and he said at the end of the month if they needed to sell a few cars to hit a number for bigger factory kick backs they would sell them at break even or a loss just to move them. Makes sense as the kick back is a percent on all cars sold that month and could end up being a lot of money.

[sweetolbob]

After your question, I thought back to all the car dealerships I could recall from the 50's and 60's in this town of about 30K and a county of about 70K including the 30K in the city.

To a dealership they were essentially a store front with room for 2-3 vehicles in the downtown area. From Crosley to Cadillac. Service was generally out back with enough room for 1/2 dozen cars inside and generally one lift. The first dealership that was purpose built like Clonelark's example was in the early 60's for the local Chevy dealer followed by the Ford operation. Late 60's they began to leave the city center and move to the outskirts and you saw larger showrooms and larger service areas.

Mitchell Cadillac was one of the last to leave the city. There is a good shot of the service center in one shot and one of the showroom in 64. You can see how small it was. The photos give a perspective of small town dealerships in this area through the 60's.

http://thebaycitymotorcompany.com/about/our-history

The local Classic Auto Dealer now occupies the 3rd iteration of the building series.

If you are into Art Deco, this restaurant used to be the Olds dealership.

http://www.atriumbaycity.com/atrium/Welcome.html

Supposedly an early Studebaker dealership that eventually housed Larson Salvage and My FIL's auto parts store just to the right that he sold years ago.

https://www.facebook.com/396752837032187/photos/a.396773423696795.90991.396752837032187/396773427030128/?type=1&theater

Bob

[sasquatch]

And for a really small dealership c.1948 (in Powers Lake, ND), maybe no showroom.

[j.byrd]

Swifster, here is a photo of the 1st dealership my Dad worked at in Clinton, Tennessee. We didn't move there until late 52 as the 53's were just coming out. The business had changed to Bailey Motors by then. As you can see, the showroom was probably big enough for 2 cars, but I don't remember more than 1 at a time in there. There were NEVER this many new cars on the lot by then, and I don't remember but a couple of used cars ever setting on the right hand side by their wrecker. I spent a lot of quality time there, even slipping out of school in the 1st grade and hiding behind the shop till someone found me. I LOVED that place ! The owners son either owned or got to drive one of the lime multi-toned Speedsters in 55 and I thought there could never be anything top that. Later, at one of the Knoxville dealers he worked at, the Avanti appeared, also in a no more than 2 car showroom, but I have no pics of the other places he worked at. Oh, Clinton's population back then probably wasn't more than 3000, but Oak Ridge and other towns were near.

[studegary]

A lot depends on what you mean by "back in the day" (what day?), the area served and the brand involved.

Around here, the Studebaker dealerships were two car showroom stores with larger service facilities. By comparison, the Chrysler product dealer (that I later worked at) was located between two Studebaker dealerships and increased their showroom size in 1952 to hold 16 cars (in a village of 1000).

What I am saying is that there is no good single answer to your question. The Studebaker dealer in the village of Wappingers Falls had a two car showroom that was a long, narrow building with one car behind the other and with desks where they fit. This showroom building was fetured in a Studebaker Corp. publication in c.1946 so I guess that it was either to a Studebaker Corp. plan or at least acceptable to them.

I do not like the loss of individuality in current new car stores.

[Bish]

"I do not like the loss of individuality in current new car stores." - Gary

I agree, but even Studebaker was looking for "uniform identity"

Bish

[Gunslinger]

I agree, but even Studebaker was looking for "uniform identity"

Bish

That's true. Studebaker put out a dealer packet for standardizing appearance and displays. I guess they wanted potential customers to recognize a dealer as a Studebaker dealer. Kinda like a lawyer's office...if you look successful you'll be perceived as successful...perception is everything.

[556063]

This number would vary greatly, and likely depended much upon the market the dealer was trying to serve, and the dealer's relationship with their banks.

I can imagine some dealers, especially those dualed with Farm Equipment and the like, in extremely small markets, sold mostly out of the literature. One to five cars were likely the most their bank would let them carry.

By the 1980's, when I was in the business, at average invoice close to $10K, it was nothing for the dealer I worked for to have $1M in inventory at any given time. That's in a market that saw 400 retail new and used sales a year (one or so a day). My boss used to come to work in the morning and lament he'd be better off liquidating everything and putting it in a passbook savings account. And, with interest rates where they were then, he would have made more money in a passbook than the few hundred over invoice we struggled to get back then. You had to enjoy the business to stay in it. You weren't doing it to get rich.

Putting all the economies of scale we see today with the Mega Dealers aside, interest rates weren't what kept Studebaker dealers from accumulating inventory in the 50's and 60's. The heavy hand of their bankers kept their inventories in check. Toward the end, a New Studebaker had less loan value than many other one year old used cars. And, it's doubtful the smallest of the dealers ever enjoyed a generous floor plan or attention from anyone other than their smallest local bank. They probably gritted their teeth every time someone ordered a Studebaker with a small deposit. Where would they get the money to carry the car if the deal fell through? It couldn't have been easy to be a Studebaker Dealer back then.