Old car dealer dept.
2780 Delaware Ave. today
If the address 2780 Delaware Ave. sounds familiar, car dealerwise, until very recently it was the home of Kane-Doyle Jeep. Back in 1965 it was the home of Brown Rambler, and by 1975 they’d morphed into Allen Brown AMC. But back when this ad ran, it was Brown Motors, “Headquarters for imported cars.”
...from 1955 ad
This might not seem so unusual today, but we’re talking 1955 here — Brown was selling the “Amazing German DKW,” which was built by Auto-Union. Never heard of them? Their logo was four intertwined rings; we know them today as Audi. Brown was also selling Swedish Volvos and British Triumphs, and, in what might have seemed quite a coup at the time, they’d just added the complete British Vauxhall line! I imagine all of Brown’s Vauxhall buyers could hold owners’ club meetings in the dealer’s restroom — if they even needed that much space.
I’ll say this much for the Brown Motors’ folks: they were certainly ahead of their time.
1955 DKW
1955 Vauxhall Cresta
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Many thanks for the reflection on Brown. In mid 50’s Buffalo, I suspect that it was a risky business proposition to take on unknown manufacturers as DKW, Vauxhall and Volvo – which was still considered an unknown except for American GI’s who became fond of the cars’ resemblence to the pre and post war Fords. Well done!
Comment by Max Planck — June 13, 2009 @ 10:54 am