Tracing California Car History

[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.

[69 Z11]

Supposedly, my 69 Pace Car came from a dealership in San Bruno. Anyone know about a dealer around there?

I've got the old black and yellow plate, but I hear you can't get much info from the CA DMV.

Hey LS6 Rat, pm me! Maybe our cars are brothers, let's compare VINs!

[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!

[57chevypreterist]

427TJ:

"See Ellis Brooks today
For your Chevrolet
Corner of Bush And Van Ness"

Sung to the tune of "See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet" as Dinah Shore sang it!

By the way, if you like old Bay Area radio jingles, then you should check out my Yahoo Group:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thewor...tradiostation/

(Hint" "Sound Of The City")

Bryan

[scuncio]

Cool, I have a pair of Geer Chevrolet license plate frames. Love to hear about the CA dealerships - makes me want to move back. Someday I'll have to shoot pictures of all the CA dealer frames I've collected over the years.

[57chevypreterist]

Scuncio:

Would you be interesting in selling one or both of your Geer Chevrolet frames? Our friends who bought our '64 Malibu SS and restored it are looking for one.

If so, my e-mail address is [email protected]

Thanks,

Bryan

'57 Bel Air, 41,000 original miles

[hubleyman]

Scrounging through some old photos related to some of my past cars (this is from a 1966 Corvette) and came across another San Francisco dealership that might not have been mentioned earlier.

This window sticker was from George Olsen Chevrolet, Inc. which was on the corner of Van Ness and O'Farrell.