quote:Originally posted by Swifster
OK, I was done with work early today and decided to do some sleuthing . I went to the Hillsborough County Library today and started searching the phone books for the local areas around me for 1963. Why '63? I figuire when the South Bend assembly plant closed, many dealers abandoned the sinking ship. Anyway, I limited my self to Hillsborough County and neighboring Lakeland. I found four dealerships. They are;
Fellows Motor Company Inc.
813 Grand Central Ave.
Tampa, FL 33606
The ironic part is that I don't know downtown Tampa that well, and I think I drove past the Fellows site on my way back from the library. There is a mixture of old and new so who knows if it's still there.
I think these will be road trip material to document what still exists.
OK, I was done with work early today and decided to do some sleuthing . I went to the Hillsborough County Library today and started searching the phone books for the local areas around me for 1963. Why '63? I figuire when the South Bend assembly plant closed, many dealers abandoned the sinking ship. Anyway, I limited my self to Hillsborough County and neighboring Lakeland. I found four dealerships. They are;
Fellows Motor Company Inc.
813 Grand Central Ave.
Tampa, FL 33606
The ironic part is that I don't know downtown Tampa that well, and I think I drove past the Fellows site on my way back from the library. There is a mixture of old and new so who knows if it's still there.
I think these will be road trip material to document what still exists.
The main dealership was at 813 Grand Central Ave. This is now Kennedy Blvd. The building has been changed over time.
This is the back side of the building. While not guaranteed, I'd bet the back lot was were the new cars were stored along with additional customer parking.
The used car department was at 1417 Grand Central Ave. Again this is now Kennedy Blvd. This is a good example of urban renewal. No signs of the original lot, but this was recently a Chrysler dealer that's just been torn down.
Another angle of the used car lot. It'd doubtful that all of this belonged to fellows. This is probably a double lot.
The sign showing the demise of the Chrysler dealer
The service department was at 114 N. Brevard Ave. at the corner of Grand Central Ave. (kennedy Blvd). This building is newer construction along with the medical office building next to it on N. Brevard.
I would almost bet my house that this sign was put up for the Studebaker service department. Can't you just see the "AUTHORIZED STUDEBAKER SERVICE" sign looking down at the passing motorists?
This is looking back down N. Brevard Ave. towards Grand Central Ave. You can see the medical office behind the AMSCOT building. This approximately where 114 N. Brevard should be.
This is the sign for the office that appears to belong to the University of Tampa. If you look past the sign at the building behind it, you can see that the dorm(?) is relatively new contruction and most likely would have interferred with the service department and it's parking lot.
I wasn't raised in this area, but it is rather interesting to see some of the former history as well as seeing what changes have occured and knowing what has been lost to time. This is two dealerships down and two to go .
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom - Valric
Comment