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Early US Rolls-Royce dealership?


MarrsCars

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I recently purchased this stack of original photos of early Rolls-Royce motorcars and among them was this dealership image. I believe all the pics to be taken in the US, and accordingly believe the dealership was to. Anyone know where this specific dealer was located and if so, do you have an address or general location so I can see what is in that location today?

 

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2 hours ago, alsancle said:

Nice photos!  Can you tell what state the plate is from?

 

Yes, it is a Mass. plate marked 1925.

 

1 hour ago, 1937hd45 said:

Quick glance reminds me of the Vintage Car Store in Nyack, New York, Ed Jurist sold a lot of Rolls in the 1960's. Bob

 

Extremely close but under close inspection there are enough structural differences that I do not believe this is the same building. What the heck is that little maroon car parked in front in the pic below???

00 13) L1011-Vintage-Car-Store-Nyack-NY-Renault-Peugeot-Rover.jpg

Edited by MarrsCars (see edit history)
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RR of America had "Factory Branches" in New York, Chicago and Boston. If your photos were taken in Massachusetts, the address of the branch was 1035 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston.

That was the only Massachusetts office. There were no "dealers" in the conventional sense.

The company did have conventional dealers in eight more cities as well as Montreal and Havana. This was early on. I don't have a list for the late 20s but the company was actually at its high  point in 1925.

Edited by JV Puleo
typo (see edit history)
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14 hours ago, JV Puleo said:

RR of America had "Factory Branches" in New York, Chicago and Boston. If your photos were taken in Massachusetts, the address of the branch was 1035 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston.

That was the only Massachusetts office. There were no "dealers" in the conventional sense.

The company did have conventional dealers in eight more cities as well as Montreal and Havana. This was early on. I don't have a list for the late 20s but the company was actually at its high  point in 1925.

 

When I zoom on google earth the original building details that remain visible do not match up. I think I'm on a mission now to discover those dealership addresses and try to compare. Thanks for all the info so far, very useful!

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My PI was about 8" taller – so tall we thought the body may have been on a ghost chassis at one time. My sister, who as about 15 when I bought it, could literally stand up in the passenger compartment.

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19 hours ago, alsancle said:

I think we need to start a "American RR" thread to talk about the PI and PII (and yeah, I count the PII).

Ok, I "found" the NYC Rolls Royce dealership demo in Stamford, Ct. back in the late 1970's. It was in a one car garage that reeked of cat piss. Had Dave Domidian run the number and it was an unknown "Lost" car at that time. Good news is that it is in one of the finest Vintage Ford collections in the country now. Bob

Edited by 1937hd45 (see edit history)
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How about JS Inskip the dealer in New York City, after RR of America went through bankruptcy about 1927-28,  Inskip bought the assets as well as the Brewster Body company assets. Inskip then proceeded to assemble the last of the PR series cars. My father purchased S205pr from Sam Aldelman in Mt Vernon New York in 1955. We picked up the car and drove it across the country to Seattle in the summer of 1956.

 

S205-PR was a St Regis sedanca. It had the late style headlights, the last style fenders and the long streamlined door handles. Inskip sold this car new in 1935( we have the original documents as well as the original purchaser documents) According to Dave Domidian our P-1 was one of the very last assembled and sold by Inskip. Dave often visited my parents and tried in vain t purchase our car. In fact my parents also stayed with Dave and his wife in their restored carriage house where  the hardwood floors were arranged to display the last Rolls Royces' manufactured in the USA. Dave had purchased several but could never pry my father's Rolls loose. Both Dave and my father have passed on but S205PR is still in the family now owned by my brother. I might add this car is totally original and unrestored, it runs and drives as new with only 24,000 miles showing. The only real work was to replace the aluminum cylinder head with a new one some 10 years ago.

 

Just sayin'

 

brasscarguy

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Dane Domidian and his wife were such a great part of the hobby, always looked forward to seeing them and the car they would bring to the Ridgefield, Ct. HCCA Fall Meet every year. He helped with a lot of Rolls restorations. It sure was a nice surprise to see the Atwell Windswept Coupe in the Petersen last year along with the ex Williamson Type 57SC Bugatti, two if the great cars I have had the honor of working on back in the Golden Years of the hobby. Bob

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On 7/29/2017 at 8:49 PM, Friartuck said:

OP: What is the lettering on the lower part of the front windows, on each side of the front doors? A magnifying glass should help.

 

Great eye, I thought those were interior reflections! I am including two images below I made through a magnifying glass. The last words are "Motor Co. Inc." I believe but, of course, the first word is blurry. To me it looks almost like "W. Astor" or "Jester" but a friend thinks there may be a "Z" in there, so feel free to make your guesses! The text on the other side is not as legible as this. This may help narrow it down, and we could probably deduce the name if we had a list of those from the time, which may be in the book that was mentioned earlier.

 

21 hours ago, alsancle said:

Not to distract from this thread which is awesome,  I started a thread down in CCCA to talk about the Ghost, PI & PII.

 

Absolutely not a distraction, thanks, exciting stuff!

 

2 hours ago, 8E45E said:

Looking at the bodies, those photos could have originated from the Springfield factory; not a specific dealer.

 

Craig

 

If you mean the building as well it doesn't appear so. It may be hard to tell from the pics but they are all very casual, there are three different cars pictured, and one is deep in the mud, parked at a gas pump, and generally enjoying being it's rugged and reliable self, it almost looks like an off-roader, but then weren't they all back then in a sense?.

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On ‎7‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 1:10 PM, alsancle said:

Not to distract from this thread which is awesome,  I started a thread down in CCCA to talk about the Ghost, PI & PII.

 

 

Sounds like a great idea, how does one get there? I rarely venture off the General Form into the basement. Bob

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1 hour ago, 1937hd45 said:

Sounds like a great idea, how does one get there? I rarely venture off the General Form into the basement. Bob

 

Bob,  the best way to read the entire forum is on the home page use the "unread content" button in the upper right corner under the "search" box.  You will get every new post from newest to oldest.  That way you won't miss all the great posts I make down in the CCCA forum.

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2 hours ago, alsancle said:

 

Bob,  the best way to read the entire forum is on the home page use the "unread content" button in the upper right corner under the "search" box.  You will get every new post from newest to oldest.  That way you won't miss all the great posts I make down in the CCCA forum.

Thanks! I'll see how that works. Should I let the CCCA guys know I sold my 1928 Packard 443 Roadster so I could afford to buy my 1912 Ford Touring? Bob

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7 hours ago, 1937hd45 said:

Thanks! I'll see how that works. Should I let the CCCA guys know I sold my 1928 Packard 443 Roadster so I could afford to buy my 1912 Ford Touring? Bob

 

We will keep that between us.  Did you see the 745 Roadster the Dragone boys are selling?  Wow!

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2 hours ago, alsancle said:

 

We will keep that between us.  Did you see the 745 Roadster the Dragone boys are selling?  Wow!

I'll have to check, last nice looking Packard Roadster they had wound up with Richard on "Gas Monkey Garage". That was the green one that was featured on the Pebble Beach episode. You can deny you ever watched the show, I am. Bob

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  • 6 years later...

I think the showroom pictures are of Vintage Cars of Nyack, 93 South Broadway in Nyack, now an Italian restaurant. Wish I would have taken a photo of the front! Ed Jurist did have me take a few photos of his cars AND I did get a great shot of his sign that sold for $4800! And thankfully on Kodachrome film! 

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