Studebaker Dealership Site (WA)

[texbodemer]

Here is a link to a website devoted to Washington State Studebaker Dealerships. Please feel free to post pictures of other Washington State dealerships, as well as other information.

[r1lark]

Tex, not sure if it's my computer playing tricks on my or not, but I don't see a link anywhere........??

[texbodemer]

Oops:
http://studebakerdealers.webs.com

[StudeRich]

That will be a neat site if they can get some contributions, and a little maintenance. So far only copies of 2 Dealers, really old, small, poor quality Dealer documents that can't be viewed because they are not rotated.

It's a good start to something that could be quite cool, I am sure from 1900 to 1966 there were a lot more than 30 Dealers in Washington.

[Clem64]

Thanks for finding this site. I particularly liked the Moller Motors dealer photos. In the 60s and 70s I purchased Plymouths (one was a new 66' Belvedere Satellite 426 HEMI) from Don. During that time I became friends with Don and his wife Susie and several of the employees there. Some of the other young customers like myself would hang out there several evenings a week and wash our cars and of course shoot plently of bull. There was and still is a nice long straight stretch of highway between Snoqualmie and North Bend that we occasionally utilized it for "road tests". I have always regretted not having taken photos of the dealership during those times. Don's father had the Studebaker dealership for many years, and when he retired and turned it over to him around 1964 they ended the Studebaker part and Don got a Chrysler Plymouth dealership. During the years that I went there you could still see the large painted Stude emblem sign showing through the coverup paint high up on the wall of the taller adjoining building (Cub's Cafe) on the right side of the dealership as you face it from the street. The photo that shows the Chrysler Plymouth sign is how dealership building looked during the years that I went there. When Don retired in 1978 or thereabouts he sold the building to the City of Snoqualmie and it become the city garage. When I was younger I can remember going by in the car with my dad when we were going fishing and would see Studebakers there. This was a very popular and well regarded dealership, both as Studebaker and Chrysler Plymouth, around the valley. People who had bought Studes later traded them in on Mopars, and Don quite often had used Studes on the used car lot. It has been quite a few years since I last went by there and as I recall the building is gone now. Sadly the Snoqualmie and North Bend area suffered incredible growth in the 90s and looks nothing like it did when I was there.

[Clem64]

Got an addendum to my previous reply. After doing the above reply, I remembered that when Don Moller retired in 1978, he leased out the building to Sumner Ford and they sold Fords for about two years then closed. After that Don then sold the building to the city.

[texbodemer]

As of today, the site has been updated with more dealerships, and original advertising for the dealerships. Expect more to come!!

[Don Kelstrom]

Great information. I've been putting together a booklet on car dealers in West Seattle since they are all gone now. Sorry to say I don't have anything for Collins and Winquist other than a small advetising screwdriver for when they were located at 4550 38th S.W. (now condos) They later moved to 3801 S. W. Alaska (Earlier a Hudson Dealer and then a Buick dealer, then Studebaker, then Mercury/Lincoln/Edsel, then Rambler, and finally a Jeep dealer) They then moved to a building on Fauntleroy S.W. (became Oschner Used Cars later and is now an empty building) There was another Studebaker at 330 Main in Renton in 1956. A friend, who was a mechanic at Collins & Winquist related a story about when the new 1950 Studebakers came out. They snuck the key out of the manager's office so they could look at the new cars that were down in the basement and covered up. The mechanics weren't supposed to see the new cars until they were shown to the public. I can remember the spotlights guiding you to the dealerships when the new models came out. The cars that excited me the most were the new Corvette, Buick Skylark, and finally the Thunderbird. Don't know why I can't recall going to see the new Studebakers.

[4hawks]

Tex,
Thanks for digging up the info on the dealership in Cle Elum, (Juris Motor Co) My 59’ Scotsman Truck was sold new from that dealer. I have been trying for sometime now to get information on the dealer and could find anything. The photo you posted was a nice surprise!!

Thanks,
Mark,
Poulsbo

[StudeRich]

You Know, there are good pictures of some of these SAME Dealerships either right here on our forum or on sites linked from this post and others.

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?1021-Studebaker-Dealers&highlight=studebaker+dealers

Also several other Stude. Dealer Posts that have Washington Dealers. It would be great if the Website owner, whoever that is, can get permission to use them. As long as you do not derive any profits from them, I am sure it would be OK.

Here's one from this post:

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?34119-Studebaker-Center-Seattle&p=337023#post337023

Here's the Pic, courtesy of Studebaker Wheel, Richard Quinn.

And another Courtesy of Museum of History and Industry, Seattle

[texbodemer]

I'm glad that you enjoyed the site that I have been putting together.

[4hawks]

Hey Tex,
I was wondering if you had any other information or pictures on Juris Motor Co. in Cle Elum?

Mark

[oregonroses]

Tex,

I have quite a bit of information on the Studebaker Dealership in Wenatchee Washington in several formats (digital photos, hard copies, power point, etc). My Great Great Grandfather started Wenatchee Produce Company in 1901, and started selling Studes in the mid 20's. What's the best way to coordinate with you?

Robert Rose

[texbodemer]

send me a private message.

[texbodemer]

As of today, a simple paper model of Moller Motors (as it looked in 1955) can be found on the site.