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Valley Cadillac

Started by 66trakpak, January 10, 2015, 08:12:23 PM

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66trakpak

Got my vehicle record for my 1940 6227c. Great piece of info, found out my car came from Valley Cadillac Rochester NY. Does anyone else have a car from this dealer? Found out they are still in business also. 

savemy67

Gary,

A very cool piece of information indeed!  I like the fact that Cadillac shipped the car to the dealership via steamship.  D&C Nav Co is probably the Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Company which serviced Buffalo, NY.  Buffalo is about 80 road miles from Rochester.  Rochester did/does have a port but I am not sure the port could handle the big D&C ships (some were about 500' long) in 1940.

The other thing that drew my attention was the fact that the invoice is from the parts department.  If $1287.25 was the amount invoiced to the dealer, I wonder what the sticker price was.  Cool stuff.

Christopher Winter
Christopher Winter
1967 Sedan DeVille hardtop

66trakpak

Quote from: savemy67 on January 10, 2015, 09:19:48 PM
Gary,

A very cool piece of information indeed!  I like the fact that Cadillac shipped the car to the dealership via steamship.  D&C Nav Co is probably the Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Company which serviced Buffalo, NY.  Buffalo is about 80 road miles from Rochester.  Rochester did/does have a port but I am not sure the port could handle the big D&C ships (some were about 500' long) in 1940.

The other thing that drew my attention was the fact that the invoice is from the parts department.  If $1287.25 was the amount invoiced to the dealer, I wonder what the sticker price was.  Cool stuff.

Christopher Winter
Chris, great knowledge you have of the shipping lines. I am amazed how  easy it was to obtain this info from GM. Wish I could do the same for my Oldsmobile 442's, but no such luck.

Bill Young

The Valley Cadillac Corporation at that time was located at 333 East Avenue Rochester , New York it was at that location from 1936 thru the late 1970's. The building still exists and there are bronze signs still in place on the building that say " Valley Cadillac and LaSalle Automobiles ". I remember very well being in that Showroom many times when I was a kid. I remember one night being there with my Father when he was thinking of buying a new triple black 1967 Sedan DeVille on that Showroom Floor. At that time also the International Billiards Champion Irving Crane worked there as a Salesman. He worked for Valley from about 1957 thru the early 70's, when he was not competing. If You Google earth that address I think you will see those signs I spoke of still on the building.

Glen

Had to go around the corner to get the picture.  If the signs are on the East Ave. side they are covered by awnings. 
Glen Houlton CLC #727 
CLCMRC benefactor #104

TonyZappone #2624

Like Bill Young, I grew up in Orleans county, west of Rochester.  I am pretty sure in the late forties Valley also sold Pontiac.  I think the castings above the windows also say Pontiac.  The castings, bronze or masonry are covered up by awnings.  The same family, the Mahers still own the business which is located in the suburb of Henrietta.   There was this huge warehouse in Buffalo, where many cars were stored when they came off the boats, or when they were factory cars, manufactured and stored there until the zone office placed them with a dealer.  We often picked up Oldsmobiles at the warehouse, when our district manager placed them with us.  These were "000" triple zero cars, or cars that had no dealer code on them.  eg. 05-630, Buffalo zone, dealer 630 (our dealership).  Again, this was for Oldsmobile.  I am sure Cadillac probably did the same thing.
Tony Zappone, #2624
1936 Pierce-Arrow conv sed
1947 Cadillac Conv cpe
1958 Cadillac conv
2016 Cadillac CT6 Platinum
2022 Chrysler Pacifica Pinnacle

TonyZappone #2624

I just remembered.  It was the Larkin warehouse, downtown Buffalo where the cars were stored.
Tony Zappone, #2624
1936 Pierce-Arrow conv sed
1947 Cadillac Conv cpe
1958 Cadillac conv
2016 Cadillac CT6 Platinum
2022 Chrysler Pacifica Pinnacle

936CD69

There is a price list included as part of the Vehicle information kit downloadable from the GM Heritage center. I tried to copy and paste unsuccessfully.

Price of car delivered at Detroit:     $1605.00
Group A                                               29.00 includes licence frames, 4 wheel discs and grille guard
Ventilating heater (dealer installed)      31.50
Total      MSRP                                $1665.50  plus destination charge taxes etc

Anyone know what E.O.H. stands for out of curiosity?
Craig Brillhart CLC# 26217
1993 Sedan deVille Spring Edition Carmine Red White Top-SOLD!
1993 Sedan deVille Spring Edition Triple Black
CLCMRC Benefactor #302

Big Apple Caddy

Quote from: 936CD69 on January 11, 2015, 08:22:31 AMAnyone know what E.O.H. stands for out of curiosity?

Excise, Overhead, Handling

Eric DeVirgilis CLC# 8621

By way of interest, there is another Valley Cadillac dealership located in Roanoke, VA that continue to thrive to this day. 
A Cadillac Motorcar is a Possession for which there is no Acceptable Substitute

66trakpak

What history in that place, love the signs on the building.

Bill Young

All that is left are the Bronze signs. most of the inside area of that building has been walled off and subdivided.

Andrew Trout

Yup, my Dad's 1961 convertible was purchased at Valley Cadillac as well.

If I remember the history of the car correctly:

The car was purchased by the owner of a local produce company. The car never saw salt as each winter he'd put the car on a truck and take it down to Florida with him. Eventually he was looking to expand his operation and wanted to buy some more trucks. He didn't have the money to purchase the trucks outright so put up his Cadillac as collateral on the loan. The trucks spent more time in the shop than delivering produce, so the Cadillac was taken by the guy who issued the loan, who (I believe) operated in the Webster, NY area and did his deals with a handshake under a tree.

A bachelor in Rochester bought the Cadillac and had it for several years until he fell ill. My Dad was looking to get a Cadillac as he'd borrowed a friend's 1959 (I think?) Cadillac for a date and said "Oh man, I have to get one of these!" He passed on a late 40's Cadillac as it needed more work than my Dad was looking to do. He got wind of a 1961 Cadillac convertible ("I'd never owned a convertible!" my Dad told me.) and bought it. He took out a few extra dollars on the loan and had new shocks put in, along with a paint job. My Dad purchased the car in 1974 or so, and has had it ever since.

As for Valley Cadillac: Yes, the signage is still there. My fiancée and I were in that area on Sunday and I pointed out the signs to her. If the signs ever come down I may try and buy/steal them.  >:D

The garage for Valley Cadillac used to be on 1 Ryan Alley, which has been converted into a bar/night club. Valley Cadillac is now out in Henrietta, NY and hosts a show/meet for the CLC of Western NY during the summer.

Rochester, NY
1961 Convertible

Tom Hall 7485

Trakpak, I don't want to spoil your fun, but what that invoice tells us is that GM billed the car to the distributor in Rochester, which at the time was Valley.

What remains to be seen is whether that distributor sold the car to another authorized dealer in its territory (whatever that consisted of; it may have included the dealers at Batavia or Medina), or Valley could have made the retail sale.

This is the problem of tracing during the wholesale system.
Tom Hall, CLC Member 7485, Lifetime member since the mid-1990s.

TonyZappone #2624

there were also sub dealers in Brockport, Albion and probably Canandaigua also.
Tony Zappone, #2624
1936 Pierce-Arrow conv sed
1947 Cadillac Conv cpe
1958 Cadillac conv
2016 Cadillac CT6 Platinum
2022 Chrysler Pacifica Pinnacle

66trakpak

Quote from: Tom Hall 7485 on January 14, 2015, 02:43:54 PM
Trakpak, I don't want to spoil your fun, but what that invoice tells us is that GM billed the car to the distributor in Rochester, which at the time was Valley.

What remains to be seen is whether that distributor sold the car to another authorized dealer in its territory (whatever that consisted of; it may have included the dealers at Batavia or Medina), or Valley could have made the retail sale.

This is the problem of tracing during the wholesale system.
[/quote Yes,I understand that now.What I do know for certain is the car was here on Long Island as far back as 1970. Is it possible it could have been sent as far south as Long Island to a dealer?

Tom Hall 7485

(Tony, I'm not sure that Albion, Brockport or Canandaigua had an authorized dealer for model year 1940.  If you know otherwise, please let me know.) 

Trakpak, yes, if the Long Island distributor needed a 6227 and couldn't get one quickly enough from GM, Long Island could very well have made a dealer trade with Rochester.  I wouldn't bet on it, though.  Cars just have a way of getting around, don't they. 



Tom Hall, CLC Member 7485, Lifetime member since the mid-1990s.