Tracing California Car History

[ken_z]

Thanks to everyone for the information. The DMV form
went out today, hopefully I'll get something useful.
I'll be hitting a phone book as well for numbers for the dealers offered up.
The library may also have old phone book or two.

Ken

[tirebird]

Thanks everyone for the trip down memory lane. "Geer" Chevrolet was Geary(named after the street)and is now a Toyota dealership. Gateway Chevrolet closed several decades ago. It's a microcosim of the automobile business. A city with several domestic dealerships now has only 3, one for each of the major manufacturers. One of my biggest regrets was looking at a 1987 Buick GNX sit unsold on the showroom floor for two years at the Buick Dealership, from 87 to 89. The car was finally sold for 30K to a local roofer who drove it to his garage and kept it there until 4 years ago when he sold it for 60K. It had 1800 miles on it. Oh well, 30k was a lot of money to me in 1987.

[ANDY M]

Ken, check the library's R. L. Polk City Directory for the years that you are looking for. You might be surprised with the information you could find.

[hubleyman]

"Geer Chevrolet" actually was "Geer Chevrolet" and not "Geary" named after the street..... It's stamped and preprinted that way on all my documents from that dealership.
It's was probably related to "John Geer Chevrolet" based in Sacramento at that time where some of my other Camaros came from......
Good luck with your search !! Charlie

[57chevypreterist]

I grew up in the City. Stewart Chevrolet was located on Army St. in the Mission before it moved. Les Vogel Chevrolet was also in the City, on South Van Ness (next to the Mel's Diner used in the film "American Graffiti") and it's where my '57 Bel Air was originally purchased (I have the original sales receipt and license plate frame). My dad bought our '64 Malibu SS convertible new from Geer Chevrolet on Geary.

Hope this helps!

Bryan

[57chevypreterist]

(Continued) The only other Chevy dealer in the City from that time frame was Ellis Brooks on Van Ness. They had a metal dealer ID "badge" that they would permanently affix to the rear of the trunk lid of the cars (on the left side as I recall), so chances are if your car came from that dealership, it would have that tag on it (or two holes where it used to be mounted).

[LS6 RAT]

My '69 Camaro pace car came from Courtesy Chevrolet, I think they are in south bay.

[427TJ]

[ QUOTE ]
(Continued) The only other Chevy dealer in the City from that time frame was Ellis Brooks on Van Ness. They had a metal dealer ID "badge" that they would permanently affix to the rear of the trunk lid of the cars (on the left side as I recall), so chances are if your car came from that dealership, it would have that tag on it (or two holes where it used to be mounted).

[/ QUOTE ]

I grew up in the east bay and I remember those Ellis Brooks emblems! "See Ellis Brooks today for your Chevrolet" was a radio jingle from the 1960s. I went into Ellis Brooks one evening on a SF layover a few years ago since our layover hotel was a block away on Van Ness. I sat in a new Corvette and the salesman didn't know a thing about the car.

Oh, and sky-high rent is probably another reason why there is only one dealership remaining for each of the Big Three in the City.

I gotta' get "The Streets of San Francisco" (a Quinn Martin production) on DVD. I think it's out now.

Cue the fog!

[69Z28Freak]

Hi Ken what car do you have? I purchased my car from the original owner who lived in San Francisco. He purchased the car at Raines Chevrolet in Sunnyvale California in the Bay Area not far from San Francisco. Are you sure your car was purchased in the city? Also knowing which car you have might make it easier to narrow down the dealership as Copo's and other high performance models were more likely to come from dealerships that were known for selling those type of cars.