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Center City Cadillac Philadelphia, PA

Started by RobW, September 07, 2015, 03:55:09 PM

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RobW

Anyone have any info or pictures of this dealership . My 73 coupe was bought there 12/31/72. I have a few items from there. The original embossed leather key case, the front plate dealer logo, a sales brochure with the dealership stamp on the back cover, and a service reminder tag for the rearview mirror.
Rob Wirsing

jaxops

I was there a lot picking up cars with my father but I also only have a front license plate.
1970 Buick Electra Convertible
1956 Cadillac Series 75 Limousine
1949 Cadillac Series 75 Imperial Limousine
1979 Lincoln Continental
AACA, Cadillac-LaSalle Club #24591, ASWOA

RobW

Here's some pics of what I have. Would like to find a picture of the dealership
Rob Wirsing

RobW

found this on facebook. Guess the dealership is around the corner?
Rob Wirsing

Alan Harris CLC#1513

The building shown is the Divine Lorraine Hotel, which was next to the dealership.

The hotel is still standing, but is a derelict. The dealership closed in the late seventies or early eighties. It was torn down in the nineties

It was a beautiful 1920's building. I have looked high and low on line and cannot find any photos of it in its glory days.

North Broad Street in Phila was up and coming in the teens and twenties, but went to seed in the years after WWII.

Center City Cadillac was Known as Scott Smith Cadillac for many years. Scott Smith owned multiple Cadillac dealerships in the Philadelphia area. He eventually sold them off. The last owners of Center City Cadillac were the Eckenhoff family. They said in the newspapers when they closed that the cost of operating the building made the dealership impossible to sustain.

Big Apple Caddy

Quote from: RobW on September 07, 2015, 03:55:09 PM
Anyone have any info or pictures of this dealership .

You may want to try contacting Eckenhoff Automotive in Cherry Hill, NJ.  The Eckenhoff family had owned Center City Cadillac from 1966 until it closed in 1979.  They might have old dealership pictures they’d be willing to share.

Jacklasalle

Sorry to inform everyone, the Eckenhof family has sold the property in Cherry Hill, NJ.  They no longer own any dealerships.

RobW

Probably why they never answered my email! LOL!
Rob Wirsing

Cadillac Jack 82


They are renovating the Devine Lorraine as we speak.  There will be retail down below and apartments above.  There also building a new 21st century building next to it.  Guess we'll have to wait and see what happens over the next few years.  I plan on driving my 57 up there in the spring once the salt washes away.  I'll have to take some photo's near there and post them to the forum
Tim

CLC Member #30850

1959 Cadillac CDV "Shelley"
1964 Cadillac SDV "Rosalie"
1966 Oldsmobile Toronado "Sienna"

Past Cars

1937 LaSalle Cpe
1940 Chevrolet Cpe
1941 Ford 11Y
1954 Buick 48D
1955 Cadillac CDV
1955 Packard Clipper
1957 Cadillac Series 62
1962 VW Bug
1962 Dodge 880
1966 Mercury Montclair
1967 Buick Wildcat Convertible
1968 Chevy Chevelle SS
1968 Plymouth Barracuda
1977 Lincoln MKV

Alan Harris CLC#1513

I always thought that the dealership was oddly situated. Ridge Avenue cross Broad Street at an angle. The Hotel fronts on Broad at the point and the dealership was right behind, fronting on Ridge. Going north on Broad, the dealership was visible, but going south. it was hidden by the hotel.

Considering the amount of money involved, I always thought the location could have been better.

I always wondered if anyone saved the tile Cadillac crests from the façade of the building.

The hotel was part of the empire of Father Divine, the leader of a cult who believed that he was God. He was also the owner of a Deusenberg "throne car" that still exists. Some of his elderly followers still operate a church and some real estate holdings in Philadelphia.

Big Apple Caddy

Attached is a showroom picture of Center City Cadillac from a 1979 article on its pending closure.  Shown in the picture was dealership owner Ted Eckenhoff.

The article talked about the high overhead and that while the dealership had been in the black every year under Eckenhoff ownership, profits had sharply declined in the last couple so they decided to close instead of risk facing potential bankruptcy.   It's interesting that the dealership profits dropped so much when Cadillac sales were reaching record levels, peaking in 1978.

Jeepers Creepers

Did most dealers have their decal on the back window?
Kevin and Astrid Campbell
Australia

76eldo

North Broad St in Phila was know as automobile row.
Most brands had a presence on Broad St including Packard and Rolls Royce.
Now there are only a handful of new car dealers in the city limits and those are mainly in the North East on the Roosevelt Blvd.

Brian
Brian Rachlin
Huntingdon Valley, Pa
I prefer email's not PM's rachlin@comcast.net

1960 62 Series Conv with Factory Tri Power
1970 DeVille Conv
1970 Eldo
1970 Caribu (?) "The Cadmino"
1973 Eldorado Conv Pace Car
1976 Eldorado Conv
1980 Eldorado H & E Conv
1993 Allante with Hardtop (X2)
2008 DTS
2012 CTS Coupe
2017 XT
1956 Thunderbird
1966 Olds Toronado

clarkitect

Hey I know this is old so sorry if I annoy anyone, but I was searching around for Center City Cadillac and came across this thread. I have a keychain like the one pictured above that I had used for my Corvair for years. My father was a service writer at Center City Cadillac back in the early 1970's, until about 1973 when he went to Faulkner Oldsmobile in Warminster. 

I used to go to work with him on Saturdays at the Cadillac dealer and really loved it. It was so cool riding in the cars up the ramps, or taking them up the elevator to the detail shop on the upper floor. I still  remember the smell of that polish they used. They had really cool cars too, like a flower car that was like an El Camino, and someone had a Caddy station wagon. That car was pretty unique.

Sure wish there were pictures available. I can remember my dad talking about Ted Eckenhoff, but can't recall if he was fond of his boss or not.

He used to buy some cool cars from there too, like a 1960 (I think?) Brougham that was a pink metallic. Very rare Pininfarina designed car that is probably worth money today, but sat behind our garage for a few months.

Anyway, just reminiscing. Thanks for your tolerance!

eldoradogil

Mr. Clark,  My father William Dobbins was the serviced manager from 1958 until 1973 when he was fired by Ted Eckenhof.Scott Smith Cadillac was a Distributer.  Therefor they made a profit on EVERY Cadillac sold in the Zone.  With the loss of the distributorship they lost major income, hence the end of the company.  Mr. Clark was a service writer, but my father was in charge of 6 floors of service/repair work.  Nepotism took over and that was the end of the company.  I owned the pink 1960 Brougham.  It had major body damage in the 1970's and was never repaired 100%.

jaxops

I was there at least once as a kid in the 1960s. Don't remember much other than it was huge, especially to a young boy.  My father was a competitor so we didn't do a lot of business except to buy his used cars from time to time.  He had his own source through Hess + Eisenhardt in Cincinnati.
1970 Buick Electra Convertible
1956 Cadillac Series 75 Limousine
1949 Cadillac Series 75 Imperial Limousine
1979 Lincoln Continental
AACA, Cadillac-LaSalle Club #24591, ASWOA

76eldo

My father bought a new 1964 from Scott Smith Cadillac in Phila.  They used to come and get the car for service by sending someone out with a Harley Servi-Car that then got clamped to the rear bumper and the service guy drove off towing the Harley.  How they did that without scratching the rear bumper is a mystery.
Brian Rachlin
Huntingdon Valley, Pa
I prefer email's not PM's rachlin@comcast.net

1960 62 Series Conv with Factory Tri Power
1970 DeVille Conv
1970 Eldo
1970 Caribu (?) "The Cadmino"
1973 Eldorado Conv Pace Car
1976 Eldorado Conv
1980 Eldorado H & E Conv
1993 Allante with Hardtop (X2)
2008 DTS
2012 CTS Coupe
2017 XT
1956 Thunderbird
1966 Olds Toronado

The Tassie Devil(le)

Quote from: 76eldo on February 21, 2021, 10:55:00 AM
My father bought a new 1964 from Scott Smith Cadillac in Phila.  They used to come and get the car for service by sending someone out with a Harley Servi-Car that then got clamped to the rear bumper and the service guy drove off towing the Harley.  How they did that without scratching the rear bumper is a mystery.
Boy, couldn't do that these days with all those plastic bumper bars, or should I say, panel adornments.

Bruce. >:D
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe