True after the closing of Dalgliesh Cadillac? The last new car dealer? Or the last Big 3 dealer?
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True after the closing of Dalgliesh Cadillac? The last new car dealer? Or the last Big 3 dealer?
The Motor City as we knew it is dead!
There are several dealerships inside the city limits.
Maxey Ford, Jorgensen Ford and possibly others.
Dalgliesh Cadillac closed??!?!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Meddle
Massey Cadillac Detroit
24600 Grand River Avenue
Detroit, MI 48219
James Martin Chevrolet is literally across the street.
DADA.org still lists a number of dealers in the city. I don't know when this was last update:
Bob Maxey Ford, Inc. 1833 East Jefferson Avenue
Bob Maxey Lincoln-Mercury, Inc. 16901 Mack Avenue
[[Dalgleish Cadillac, Inc. 6160 Cass Avenue) closed
James-Martin Chevrolet-Buick 6250 Woodward Avenue
Jefferson Chevrolet Company 2130 E. Jefferson Avenue
Jorgensen Ford, Inc. 8333 Michigan Avenue
Massey Cadillac, Inc. 24600 Grand River Avenue
Meade Dodge, Inc. 18001 Mack Avenue
Park Motor Sales Co. 18100 Woodward Avenue
Quote:
Originally Posted by Meddle
NOT TRUE AT ALL!
Ray Laethem Pontiac Buick GMC on Mack Avenue near Cadieux is still open
There are also other Big 3 dealers on Mack Ave, as well as Jefferson, and Woodward among others
DELETE THIS THREAD!
How long would it have taken to verify before spewing this garbage.
They finally corrected it at 3:00 PM
"Only Cadillac Dealership In Detroit Closes "
lol, close, but no cigar...Quote:
Originally Posted by leland_palmer
Quote:
Massey Cadillac, Inc. 24600 Grand River Avenue
Question I have is what's going to happen to that building on Woodward, it's huge. Hopefully it won't get stripped out.
I heard through the grapevine that Cauley Chevrolet on Orchard Lake Road in Farmington Hills is closing too, at the first of next year. That information came from a good but not great source.
Damn, I sure hope the Dalgleish building does not get stripped out.
Often overlooked, but I recall hearing this building, at Cass and Amsterdam, was one of the 1st Ford factories- became part of Cadillac when Henry Ford quit that partnership.
[[Edit) Reading the news links about Dalgleish closing- some stories mention the Cadillac factory was on the corner Cass/Amsterdam, but across the street)
And then that building was the Oldsmobile factory sales outlet for many years.
One of the last of the multi-story car dealers left around Detroit. Cars were moved up to the 2nd and 3rd floor driving up a ramp. There was no elevator for people. Either walk up the stairs, or get a 'shuttle ride' up the ramp on a golf cart.
Every time I visited that dealer I snook in and took the employee entrance to upstairs- cool 'elevator'- all it is is a moving belt with steps and grab handles. Jump onto the next 'step' that comes around, hang on, and jump off at your 'stop'.
Parking for WSU?
Quote:
Originally Posted by softailrider
Massey Cadillac looks to be on 'life support'. Last time I was in the area, August- I walked around the parking lots, looked in the showrooms.[[on a Sunday). There was only 1 brand new car on the showroom floor, rest were used. The parking lots outside had a few used cars and again, only ONE brand new car with a sticker in the window. The cars were strategically spaced to hide how sparse the inventory was.Quote:
Originally Posted by 313WX
But, maybe this dealership will stay open. Owned by Sonic, same as Don Massey Cadillac in Plymouth. Enough power and clout to avoid forced closure.
That's a paternoster, aka "toe chopper." ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by econ expat
Nope. That paternoster looks interesting though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimaz
Dalgleish's 'elevator' is much more primitive.I'll try to describe it better:
-Open up the elevator area door
-face the moving conveyor belt and wait for a handhold and a 'step' to come up [[there are several on the belt)
-ride up the conveyor basically facing the belt and jump off at your stop.I heard there was some sort of a safety device that would stop the conveyor if someone missed the uppermost or lowermost floors. I was never brave enough to test it!
Well, I stand corrected then. It sure would be interesting to see the other version!
The first Cadillac plant was on the NW corner of Cass and Amsterdam, although it did have various buildings associated with it on all four blocks. Ford was a partner in the short lived Detroit Auto Co, which lasted about a year; he then opened his first factory on Mack Ave. Leland took over that bldg the following year to start Cadillac. Looking at the earliest aerial photo I could find, most of that area has been a parking lot for over 60 years. [[There was also a DPD firehouse right on that corner, Eng 17) The back part of the factory [[newest addition) on Amsterdam is still standing, used by Wescott.Quote:
Originally Posted by econ expat
The SE corner where Dalgleish is/was located was home to a Detroit United Rwy streetcar barn before.
Many of us can no longer buy a new car, anywhere.
Bought my last one three years ago.
http://www.mlive.com/business/detroi...st_cadill.htmlQuote:
Dalgleish Cadillac, last Cadillac dealership in Detroit city limits, shuts down
By Aaron Foley | MLive.com
November 21, 2009, 2:08PM
As of Friday, Motor City residents in search of a CTS or an Escalade can't buy one within the city limits.
Dalgleish Cadillac, the last Cadillac dealer in Detroit, closed its doors on Friday. More than 50 employees will be out of a job, WDIV reports.
As earlier reported, Dalgleish was one of dozens handed a closure notice from General Motors when the automaker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Its original closing date was September 2010.
The dealership stopped selling cars in October, but will continue to service them.
"It's been like a death," relative Keith Dalgleish tells WDIV. "The anger has been very difficult to get over. I think after today, getting this behind us is going to help a lot."
Commenters in the WDIV story noticed something odd about the story's headline. It reads as "Only Dealership in Detroit Closes," although there are still several dealerships in the city.
"The only dealership in Detroit? Really? I guess we should let James Martin Chevrolet which is just across the street know, perhaps the rest of the dealers in the city too," one commenter writes.
The thing about Massey Cadillac, low cost of flooring with only one new model.
By this account, even jjaba could afford to run that place. Maybe jabba will find hisse'f a vacant bldg. on the Westside and get some inventory [[one car).
Name some famous car dealers. jjaba can think of Packer Pontiac, Floyd Rice Ford, Woody Pontiac, Hodges for Dodges, Coon Brothers Nash, Krajenke Chevrolet.
jjaba, sad any ways you look at it.
Last I knew Massey Cadillac was still open. Remember when it was Dreisbach&Sons. The round showroom on GrandRiver. Sometimes I think the media likes to lie, well alot about stuff.
Add another dealership to the list on the Old Car Dealership thread, and wait to add more. Sad to see any business that is legal shut down. But as things go and have been its getting old hat.
The Dalgleish building looks to be very old. If so, I doubt it was used for a streetcar barn. The building is not as big inside as it looks from the street. And there is no way to get a streetcar up onto the 2nd and 3rd floors, unless there used to be a huge elevator, there is no car elevator there now. The ramp is somewhat narrow, steep, and has curves. Dalgleish workers had a hard time getting the old 'finned' long wheel base Caddys upstairs, as well as modern pick ups and Escalades.Sometimes took alot of stop, back up, turn, then try again maneuvers.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hornwrecker
A former coworker of mine was so obese his shuttle ride up the ramp on the golf cart drained that battery fast- the ramp is also somewhat steep.
It was built as Klett Cadillac, yes I remember when the showroom revolved [[and when they built the place). Last few years they used the former supermarket on 7 Mile as their new car showroom.Quote:
Originally Posted by reddog289
But I heard the only reason that dealership survived was to hold onto a 'territory' and prevent a new dealership from taking business from the Plymouth Don Massey. Former employees told me Dreisbach got permission to move towards Novi, then Don Massey bought the dealership to prevent that move.[[This was just before Sonic bought all the Don Massey dealerships) I wonder if there ever was any serious effort to move or if that was a bargaining 'chip'.
In any event, its sad to see that dealership declining, it was a showplace when built, about 40 yrs ago. Sad to see lights burnt out on the signs, cracks in the parking lot, sparse inventory, etc.Obviously Sonic/Don Massey has the resources to maintain/upgrade the Detroit dealership.
Media may have overlooked Massey Cadillac as a Detroit Cadillac dealership if the business address [[principal dealer address) is mingled with the 'sister' store in Plymouth.