Now I went and did it, bought an old DeSoto/Plymouth dealership!

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HemiSSDart

HemiSSDart

Dartus Interuptus
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I was made an offer I couldn't refuse, my old boss from Mr. Norms Garage sold me the building that his business worked out of! It started out as a DeSoto/Plymouth dealership in Rockford, Illinois known as Strandquist and Beckman in 1944 and moved into this building after the war. It is 35,000 sq. ft. with a drive-up ramp to the second floor. It was one of the dealerships that got it's franchise pulled in 2009 which basically killed the original owner as he died 6 months afterwards. They sold used cars until 2010 when it closed for good. The building was bought in 2011 and Mr. Norms Garage was located there for a few years until it became a body shop/tire store then the person who leased it left September 1st of this year. I was taking care of the building until it was offered to me, so I bought it without a business plan! I now have to figure out what I am going to do with it, until then it is just storage for me and my many Darts and parts. Here is a picture of it in 1962 with the new Rockford Police department Fury's outside. It used to have a gas station in the corner under the building so people would fuel-up and salesmen would come out and ask if they needed a new Plymouth!

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Very cool! Looking forward to seeing more photo's!
 
All the signage was sold off at auction, I am trying to track some of it down. The porcelain service department sign was just resold at another auction in April, so I hope I find some of it! I will post a couple pics, the showroom is pretty cool. I hope to open up as an A-body restoration shop next year, but I know I will have to offer cheap rates...LOL
 
One of the upstairs storage area. There is a paint booth and wash bay upstairs. I have a winch to take non-running cars up and down the ramp, though it is a pretty scary thing to do. You wonder how they liked getting 40's DeSoto's up there!

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That's awesome I'm from down by Springfield,Illinois and come to Rockford sometimes because my daughter in law is from there I would love to take a tour when you get something going
 
That is just awesome. Congrats.
Turn her into a mopar fulfillment center where folks like me that have
product but limited storage and shipping resources can pay you to disperse a product.
 
I am so envious. I would drive from Atlanta metro to check that place out. Way cool. Congrats!
 
Its a no brainer. Use it for classic car storage, but more than that, it could be a country club for car guys who need a place to hang out other than a golf course for a monthly membership fee. With a party room, local car clubs could use it for special events (hook up with a caterer and you could host other events).
Here's a place in Maryland that does the car storage. The most difficult part of this type of business will be insurance. Your coverage will need to change as the value of the vehicles being stored changes. You may think twice before allowing a $500k+ 1955 gullwing Mercedes or 1935 V16 Cadillac into the place. Also there will be steep liability insurance rates if you allow customers to work on their own cars there. But for the most part, people who pay for storage are not likely to want (or have time) to do more than changing their oil or rotating their tires.
Collector's Car Corral | Luxury & Classic Car Storage Facility | Collectors Car Corral
Here's a place in Florida that uses a personal car collection and garage for weddings and special events.
Horsepower Events

Of course you'll want to start locating replacement signs and fixtures to recreate the original look as well. Nice that there was a gas station there too as restored gas pumps will be a great addition as well. A local AACA club member inherited the building his grandfather had built for a Nash AMC dealer and he has recreated the original look inside and out.

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As far as storage goes,i do not insure customers goods. A guy down the road had a storage building collapse due to snow load on the roof. Vehicles got damaged, boats were destroyed.
After mess was cleaned up,a few insurance companies went after property owner. Wanted him to pay for damages. As an act of nature caused roof to collapse and was out of his control there was no recourse.
Plus if he had to pay for all the write-offs,they would have to return them to him,as technically he would own them.

I cannot insure your goods. No matter what the circumstances.
 
By the way, that is an awesome building,hope you can put it to work....
 
Current pictures of the outside please? Awesome cool!
 
I'm an officially envious!!!
 
Cool buy. I wish you well with it. Subrogation is big business for the insurance companies now. It's worth it to them to pay lawyers to go back after other parties after they pay a loss. I wouldn't store anything of value for anyone. Getting paid to take the risk would make it cost prohibitive for anyone wanting to do it.
 
Turn it into a place like Welborn's Muscle Car Museum in Alexander City, Al
 
Being a car history buff, This sounds like a good story to follow. Good Luck and keep us posted and please post some pictures.
 
SUPER cool!

I have a clause in my lease that states the contents are stored "at will" and that they are not insured, and also that they are not valued over $5,000, or if they are, proof of insurance is required to be on file.

The commercial real estate lawyer that handled the purchase said that was a very smart thing to do and that he rarely sees it.
 
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