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Would like to direct your attention to the interesting Noller Bros photo now current on the upper right of the home page here.

First is that they are an International Harvester dealer and they have one of the standardized IH buildings that were designed by Raymond Lowey iirc. There were two of these 40's modern IH dealership within 20 miles of home when I was a boy. Fine looking buildings and good for brand recognition. Do any still exist?

I see a Packard neon sign through the show window and a second Packard 2 door in the background--wonder how they integrated Packard and tractor sales. Wait--is that the sound of the first brick falling out of the bridge on East Grand Boulevard?

Now to the car. I want it. Bad. A '48 Eight, not Deluxe--note that there is no stainless trim around the window area. No antenna in sight, base hood ornament, blackwalls and the base small diameter hubcaps. We hope it at least has overdrive and a heater. It is tricked out with dual side mirrors. Color is almost assuredly Egyptian Sand with a Sardonyx or Packard Blue roof. Oddly, it has chrome bumper centers rather than painted . Hard to imagine how that happened. Inside you will find a vast acreage of brown houndstooth check, durable but without a pleat in sight. Woodgrained dash, but on this low-end model what one would expect to be chrome is painted brown. Sad.

Very spiffy new styling, and for an exceptionally brief moment in time, quite modern looking. Sadly, over in the GM machine shops dies were being cut to produce new Oldsmobiles, Buicks and Cadillacs that would take its modernity away in a flash and show it for what it was. To play on Studebaker's neat slogan, Packard was first by far with a prewar car. The chassis, roof, deck and a multiplicity of details were carryover from the '41 Clipper and led to a highly compromised design especially when viewed in direct profile or 3/4 rear. Sigh. As much as I like it, and the way I know it would drive, and the impeccable build quality, I can hear the hinges of the coffin closing.

Ross, brilliant observation about the Noller photo! Setting my Packard bias aside I must agree about the fumbling that started to run rampant by senior management post-war. Would Mercedes allow a John Deere dealership on the same property? I think not. Again, kudos for a wonderful and in my mind entertaining essay!

While searching for information about Kikers Packard, Plainview Tx., selling dealer of my 1951 Packard 200, I came across a newspaper add for Chastain Packard a nearby Packard dealership also marketing trucks and tractors. The link I posted below shows the newspaper ad I found in an old newspaper archive.


https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/uploads/photos/11714.jpg

Wasn't the overall quality of dealerships and in particular dualed and multi car dealerships that sold such wildly diverse product one of the things Nance was fighting almost from the day he arrived?

Looking at some of the old dealership photos in the archives shows a vast difference in presentation. Some of the businesses are in decent buildings and others look like they are on skid row. Selling Packards out of gas stations and ramshackle buildings on the "wrong" side of the tracks or having to walk around a tractor to get to sit in a car I imagine would not go very far with the town banker or doctor when they could visit a Cadillac or Buick dealership that probably had a bit more class.

Speaking of "the wrong side of the tracks," here's some shots of Kline Motor Sales in Akron, Ohio during 1941. I guess they're waiting for a brand-new Clipper to put on display...

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The first photo and, as mentioned by HH, looks like they are "Selling Packards out of gas stations and ramshackle buildings on the "wrong" side of the tracks".

There are at least of couple of those IH dealer buildings still in use locally: Hoober Equipment (formerly Tull Brothers) still sells Case International in Seaford, DE. In Hurlock, MD the former Parker IH is now a convenience store.

I have an ashtray for Quillin-Valliant International-Packard. Not sure where they were located? Especially in small towns there were all sorts of strange bedfellows. I know of one dealer that was very big in Rambler while also being very big in heavy GMC trucks. Another sold Ford tractors & Rambler from the same lot. In Dover, DE you could buy, from C.F. Schwartz, Chrysler-Plymouth, International trucks & Toyota off the same lot well into the 90's (just Toyota these days, probably a very good business decision!).

All the independent automakers were having trouble attracting and retaining dealers. They were desperate to maintain market coverage, would grant franchises to dealers in agricultural implement, other make new cars as a second line and even used car operations. The agri-business was unlikely to have selling skills applicable to a clientele seeking medium and luxury segment car. Notice in the Noller Brothers showroom, there are also appliances which IH dealers handled at the time. Appliance usefulness notwithstanding, Packards displayed alongside refrigerators and freezers plus tractors, etc. did nothing to bolster an upscale image.

"To play on Studebaker's neat slogan, Packard was first by far with a prewar car."

Consider that Packard was the only automaker still selling a restyled 1941 car through the 1950 model year. Although holding over a body series for eight years or more now is common practice, back then it was a lifetime. With the war over, in a brave new world of peace and prosperity, the public was attuned to and eager for what was new and exciting found at other make dealerships.

Note in the rightside window of the Kline dealership a "Graham" neon sign. Graham-Paige had quit car production in September 1940 to concentrate on defense work. Their last model was the Hollywood with its recycled Cord 810/812 body. Having one's new model displayed next to that of a failing company wasn't helpful.
Steve

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sources
pic #1 & 2 - geometria.ru
pic #3 - 9gag.com
pic #4 - 3d-car-shows.com

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Good one Gerd!