Hi guys,
I have an idea for a cool garage when I get around to building one. I am thinking of building it to look like an Olds dealership possibly from the late '60's early '70's. Does anyone here have any photos of dealerships from that time frame? Both inside and outside. The hard part of the build would be finding the period correct furniture, and Olds related memoribila (signs, posters, salesman brochures). What do you guys think? Anyone done this yet?
Jon

 

The "hard part" will be getting your neighbors and the zoning board to go along with your idea!

 

Gotta agree with "Yaros", as keep things as discreet as possible around here. All my cars are garaged, with no windows. Plus automated home lighting system. No one knows if I'm home or not, as nothings advertised. The people around here are pretty cool, but been broken into in other houses, so learned a few things.

 

I think the idea is to set up in an existing big shop, focusing mostly on the interior. Exterior mods would be for those in non hoa areas.
I am interested to see if anyone has done this! I have seen non-Olds setups in magazines and love them. Geez, I am cursing my tiny garage AGAIN!!

 

Well I think it will look like any other garage on the outside, but on the inside will look like a showroom on half the garage. I was thinking 40 x 60 split down the long side so I would have a 30 x 40 showroom and a 30 x 40 garage. I live out away from neighbors on 260 acres and I don't think the zoning board will care to much as long as it looks normal from the outside. Now to come up with the money.

 

What you could/should/would do depends on exactly what you mean. Do you mean showroom or Service garage? Not both, I'd think? If you're thinking of doing a showroom, and want it to look like a showroom, then you'd pretty much have to pick a year and do just that year. Any showroom only looked like one year at a time. And showrooms didn't have any "garage" items in them, so are you thinking of not storing anything in this building? It really amounts to *how much* you want it to look like a showroom. The buildings used for dealerships varied and and it was pretty much the decorations, signs, and displays that made them look like a dealership. Along with huge glass fronts.
I think trying to make something you intend to use as a garage really look like a showroom (or the Service area for that matter) would be extremely difficult.

 

Great idea if you have an extra fifty to sixty grand. If you are married you may need know a good divorce lawyer unless she has wheel bearing grease under the fingernails.

 

I was thinking showroom and service area. That is why I was thinking of splitting the garage down the middle. If I take a 40 x 60 building and split it long ways, I would have a 30 x 40 service area and a 30 x 40 showroom. I hope it isn't going to cost nearly 50 to 60 grand good lord. I was thinking pole building with steel siding and roof. We will probably do most if not all the work ourselves.

 

I was shooting approximate figures for a 40X60 Metal building sitting on 6" of 3,000 psi concrete capable of handling a two leg lift, 220/230 VAC electric wiring, and appropriate plumbing. No point in doing it without it being a proper shop. I've considered doing a similar structure many times, and each time the cost of doing it right just seems to discourage me from moving forward.

 

cool idea...hope you can make it work

for some pics of dealerships, see this other thread....

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-pictures.html

 

I tried to do that a little when I did my garage, however my garage is only a double. Turned out more like a rec room that the wife doesn't mind if you get dirty...but you do.



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http://www.atomicwarehouse.com/

this place might be helpful with sourcing furniture. i see you're in indiana. this is in harrisburg. cool place. i love the idea. cheers to no HOA! one of the freedoms which rural america has not yet been robbed of.