Looking for dealership info

[RobW]

My 73 CDV was originally sold by Center City Cadillac in Philadelphia, PA. I did a search here on the club forum and only found this dealership mentioned as closing some time in the 1980's. Anyone have anything more to add?  Would like to find some memorabilia like a dealership license plate frame or trunk emblem or whatever? Even a picture of the dealership would be cool to display with my car at shows.

[Mike Josephic CLC #3877]

Hi Rob:

I had the same problem with trying to find a picture of my car's dealer that went out
of business over 30 years ago. Try your local public library -- you'd be surprised at the
old newspaper clips they keep on file on microfilm.  Also, try the local chamber
of commerce.  There is a wealth of information out there but you will have to dig
for it.  Neither Cadillac (GM) or our museum kept any dealer records except in rare instances
for special cars.

Mike

[Alan Harris CLC#1513]

Center City Cadillac was located at the corner of Broad Street and Ridge Avenue in North Philadelphia. The building was a magnificent white 1920's multi story building with ceramic Cadillac emblems in the facade. Before it was called Center City Cadillac, it was known as Scott Smith Cadillac. The name changed in the late sixties.
The dealership closed around 1980. It was empty for many years and was torn down in the nineties.
When the place opened, North Broad Street was a fashionable area. It declined after WWII and was very seedy by the seventies.
When the dealership closed, the owners said that the cost of heating and air conditioning and maintaining the building had made it  impossible to continue.
The final owners of the place were the Eckenhoff family. They are still in the Cadillac business. I believe that some of them are CLC members.
Where are you located? It is always interesting to see how cars travel around as they pass through different owners.

[76eldo]

My father bought a new Sedan DeVille in 1964 from Scott Smith.  I was 7 at the time.  They used to send out a mechanic with a Harley Servi-Car, which was a 3 wheeled vehicle, and drive the car back to the dealership with the trike secured to the rear bumper.  It was gold, with special order perforated leather buckskin interior.  We took a cross country trip in that car in 1964, and I am glad that my dad got to do this because he developed heart problems in 1965, and passed away in 1967.  My mother kept the car until 1972, and got a new Plymouth Fury.  Not a Cadillac, but my sister's husband worked for Chrysler at the time, and this was a gently used executive car at a substantial discount.

One day she was going through some old papers, and handed me an envelope market "1964 Cadillac" containing the original invoice for the car, some other purchase papers, and the owners manual, which I still have.

In the late 1970's I actually tracked the car down and bought it back from the people that had it, but unfortunately, it needed a full restoration, which I was unable to do, and I had nowhere to store it.  It was parked out in front of my mother's house, and the township towed it away.  I went to the salvage yard that towed it, and it would have cost about $200.00 to get it back, and I still would have nowhere to keep it inside.

It broke my heart, but I left it there, to be crushed.  Before I left, I took the automatic headlight dimmer out of the dash, and the 4 hubcaps, which I still have, but I really wish I could have kept the car.

Brian

[Tom Hall 7485]

That location became Center City sometime between 1963 and 1969.  One of its salesmen was
David Pliner, one of the top ten Cadillac salesmen in the country in 1969.

I'd be grateful if you can supply the 5-digit dealer number for Center City.  It should begin "21..."
and would be on the factory's price sticker, build sheet or warranty materials.

If you look in the Philly newspapers during that time, you may find line art of the building.

[2danreed]

Rob,  I used to do a lot of photo research at the Philladelphia Free Library. They had an extensive photo library and you were allowed to reproduce photos without charge unless they were to be used for publication. Someone mentioned the dealer was located at Broad St. and Ridge Ave. and from what I remember you are able to do a search in the archive by street corner. If nothing were to turn up under the dealer name, then I would search for that intersection.

Dan

[Johnny]

Let me see if I can help with some hazy recollections that I have heard over the years concerning Scott Smith Cadillac in Philadelphia.

Yes, Scott Smith, later changed to Center City Cadillac, was located at Broad and Ridge, at the Northeast corner, close to the Divine Lorraine Hotel, which was owned at one time by Father Divine, which is a whole different story, but should be noted that Father Divine was a Cadillac customer, and a good friend of mine, has one of Father Divines limos, a 1965 series 75.  Scott Smith also had a dealership in Camden New Jersey.  Center City Cadillac did eventually go out of business, due to poor economic conditions in Philly, and in fact at the present time, there is no Cadillac dealerships in Philadelphia.  When they went out of business they held an auction to get rid of most of what was left in the dealership including some really nice vintage cars.

Scott Smith was eventually bought out by DeSimone Cadillac and opened a brand new dealership in Pennsauken, New Jersey, close to the site of the recent Grand National.  They opened in the late 60's and stayed there until the around the the late 1990's, when they relocated to Mt Laurel New Jersey. 

In any event, I just called a very good friend of mine, that is a long time CLC member, and used to be in the used Cadillac parts business, and he said he should have some Center City Cadillac memorabilia, including a front license plate with the dealers logo on it.  He seems to remember that they didn't put any sort of tags on the trunks of their cars, as most other dealers did.  Shoot him an email, and see what he can do for you.

Here is his email

Gary Anderson

eldoradogary@aol.com

[Johnny]

You gotta love google and ebay... Here's a picture from Scott Smith Cadillac that I found in a quick google search and its for sale on ebay


http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-50s-CADILLAC-DEALERSHIP-Original-SNOW-Pics-L-K_W0QQitemZ360080936782QQcmdZViewItem

It should be noted that the Scott Smith shown here was from a dealership in Ardmore Pa, which is a close suburb of Philadelphia.  Whether or not its the same dealership, I can not say with any accuracy.  Most likely is or at least part of the Scott Smith family, as there are a couple of different dealerships in the Philly area that owned by different members of families

This is the best picture I could find of Center City Cadillac, and its not much and only someone that was familiar with the area would even know it.  Look off to the extreme right hand side, and you will see half of the last few letters in Cadillac.  This is looking North on Broad Street with Ridge Avenue off to the right.

[RobW]

Hi guys thanks for all help!
The dealer # is 21163.

From what I can tell it looks like I'm the third owner. Car was sold in philly to a guy from Mass. About 16 months later it was sold to a woman in Pa. who owned it until I bought it, and brought it to The Bronx, NY. in Feb of 2008.

I have the Manufacturer's Statement of Origin showing the car going from Cadillac Motor Car Division to Center City Cadillac.  I have the Original Bill of Sale to the man in Mass. I also just recently found the build sheet inside the upper R/F door panel.

As a side note....

Back in Nov 1978 I was an 18 year old kid working at my second job for an auto wholesaler. My father had a 63 series 62 coupe he bought new and I wanted a caddy of my own. I went with my boss to an auction in Bordentown, NJ and bought a 73 CDV, white with red interior and a top that someone had dyed red over the original white. I had that car for about 15 years and since it wasn't garaged it finally became too rusted to keep trying to fix, especially in the days before the internet and ebay! Parts weren't easy to find like today. Anyway it kinda broke my heart to see it go and I always wanted another. Well one day day last Feb while looking around ebay I found its twin! Oddly enough both of them came from PA.

[Carstvn]

Scott Smith Cadillac Company had a branch at 87 E. Lancaster in Ardmore, PA in addition to the main dealership at Broad & Ridge.  The branch shows up in the May 1950 Philadelphia telephone book. A photo of the side of the building is in the background of a photo posted yesterday at The Old Motor, and can be found at the link below.

http://theoldmotor.com/?p=165477