.

the car junkie daily magazine.

.

These Images From A 1930s Era Boston Buick Dealership Are Breathtaking –


These Images From A 1930s Era Boston Buick Dealership Are Breathtaking –

1932 wasn’t exactly a banner year in the USA. While it was the year that the iconic ’32 Ford came out, it was also the year when the Great Depression reached its bleak crescendo (along with ’33 in many respects). The country was largely in an economic tailspin, people were losing jobs by the millions, and many people were in the grip of financial panic. Despite all that bad stuff there were bright spots, or a least glimmers of hope. One of them seems to have been the Noyes Buick Company of Boston which was a huge Buick dealer and the regional distributor of Buick vehicles to the dealer network in the New England region. The images you will see below all come from an amazing book published by Noyes Buick in 1932 called, “The Romance Of Wheels”. Lots of the book documents transportation and its effect on human existence, but the last third or more concentrates on the story of Noyes Buick.

It began in early 1900s with a small garage in Lowell, Massachusetts that sold Buicks. The Noyes operation was a tightly run ship and soon gained a strong reputation in the region and rose to become one of the largest volume Buick dealers in the country at that time. They moved so many cars WC Durant actually visited the place personally in 1908 and extended an invitation to Mr Noyes to run the Buick factory branch in Boston. He did this with much success again and in 1915 he managed to gain the New England Buick franchise, making him the central hub for all Buick activity in the region. He distributed cars and was essentially the hub of a large spoked wheel of dealers. By 1923 he had a warehouse to hold 3500 cars at a whack, he was processing four train loads of Buicks a week and he had to have been one of the richest guys in a region with a lot of rich guys. In 1932, this book claims that the company sold 35,000 cars and  employed over 9,000 people through a network of dealers and businesses.

We could go on for days about the logistics of the operation, but these photos do a better job to showcase the company’s headquarters which was located at 855-859 Commonwealth Ave in Boston. The Building still stands, now owned by Boston University. We’ll show you some “then and now” photos below. Enough babbling…onto the photos!

SCROLL DOWN TO GET A LOOK AT WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE AT NOYES BUICK IN BOSTON CIRCA 1932!

Noyes Buick Boston360

This was HQ for the Noyes Buick Company in Boston. Not some of this building…the whole damned thing.

Noyes Buick Boston361

People make a big deal of indoor new car lots now. Noyes had one in ’32 and before! Look at the size of this place and how many cars are in there!

Noyes Buick Boston362

The parts department at the dealer. It is neat as a pin and according to their literature there were more than one million parts in inventory. Not part numbers mind you, but physical pieces.

Noyes Buick Boston363

How cool is the coat this guy has on? Also, we know he is a top flight mechanic because he has a lift. As you’ll see, there weren’t many.

Noyes Buick Boston364

This is not a camera trick with mirrors, these are the offices of the sales people. It looks like something out of an old palace or something with how it seems to go forever.

Noyes Buick Boston365

The used car business was housed in the same building. Again, the mammoth scope of the room is simply too cool.

Noyes Buick Boston366

This was a section of the service department designed for “quick repairs”. From the reading, this was stuff like fixing a bulb, swapping a belt, or other quick jobs that could be handled and the people could be on their way without tying up a mechanic who was working on a larger project.

Noyes Buick Boston367

Here’s why the dude with the lift was living large. Most of the mechanics had these table style jobs, which certainly aren’t bad, but not a luxo as the lift.

Noyes Buick Boston368

This was the freaking showroom. What else can we say?

Noyes Buick Boston369

Another shot of the army of mechanics hard at work. Selling lots of cars meant fixing lots of cars, especially in an age where roads were still more often dirt and rocks than pavement.

Noyes Buick Boston370

There is coolness just leaping out of this photo in all directions.

Noyes Buick Boston371

A Buick coupe wrecker…..look at this thing. Sweet mother of mercy it is a Buick coupe wrecker!

Noyes Buick Boston372

Here’s another vantage point of the showroom that people walked into. How could you not feel like a captain of industry strolling through this room.

Noyes Buick Boston373

These cars were all getting their final once over before being handed off to their new owners.

Noyes Buick Boston374

Here’s a mechanic power washing parts.

Noyes Buick Boston375

We’re thinking that an alignment may be taking place here? The guy in the hat looks like a mobster.

Noyes Buick Boston376

Pretty much all car dealers have a massive grand staircase these days right? Oh no, that’s right they just have a water cooler.

Noyes Buick Boston377

We want one of those jackets badly!

Noyes Buick Boston379

Noyes received four train cars of Buicks a week back in the 1930s. Incredible.

The Noyse Buick building yesterday and today.

The Noyse Buick building yesterday and today.

 

 

 

 


  • Share This
  • Pinterest
  • 0

18 thoughts on “These Images From A 1930s Era Boston Buick Dealership Are Breathtaking –

      1. the passenger

        They also own a building across the street that was a Cadillac dealership (the area around the main campus was home to many car dealerships at one time).

  1. Don

    Outstanding ! Much better than the assault of Guido salesman with slicked back hair and a Mr. T starter kit you get when walking into a Dealership these days. Great pictures.

  2. Rvinyl.com

    Amazing photos! My how times have changed. GM is actually backing Buick again as a luxury marque especially in China so although we will never see the type of quality and care evidenced in the photos of ’32 the vehicles themselves may be on an upswing.

  3. Dan Stokes

    Brian, THANKS for posting those. Just wonderful.

    The Buick logo featured in these pics was the one we had on our uniform shirts when I worked at Feigley’s in Milford, MI. There was pride in being a dealership mechanic in those days – and money. It was a highly regarded career, not just a job. Even in the mid-60’s early 70’s when I worked there I was proud to say where I worked.

    From what I understand it’s now just a way to earn a living. Too bad.

    Dan

  4. Scott Liggett

    That picture of the showroom was wild.Take out the cars and add some sofas, chairs, some fancy schmancy lamps and it’s the lobby of a swanky hotel.

  5. Anthony Castillo

    Unreal photos! That place looked awesome. Brian I like the way you write about this stuff as much as I like the photos. I can really tell you’re feelin’ it. Ya, that Buick coupe wrecker is beyond cool.

    1. 1984twodoor

      This wasn’t to ruin the mood BTW! Just to show how bad the true Toyota brain washing has become! These pictures are amazing! I wish I could just have a small carry box for all my tools! Not the case today…

Comments are closed.