Description
* Classic 60s/70s Dealership for Import Car Brands
* Multiple Import Brand Signs Included
* Rooftop Sign
* Colorful Decals
* Molded in 3 Colors & Clear
Foreign brands have been part of the American motoring scene since the early
days. It was a Benz car tootling around Detroit in the 1890s that caught the
attention of an Edison Illuminating Company engineer named Henry Ford who had
been working on his own idea for a car.
Even as the American auto industry flourished, there was always a trickle of
foreign cars as celebrities and the well-to-do selected Rolls-Royces and
Mercedes. The trickle became a flood in the years following World War II: the
United States was essentially the only significant new car market in the world
and American GIs returned from serving in Europe with a taste for the small,
sporty cars they found there. By 1959, about one car out of every ten sold in
the U.S. was an import.
Sales of imports dropped in the 1960s but came back strong with the oil crisis
in the early 1970s, when small cars from Europe and Japan offered relief from
gas lines and high prices.
Since few of the European manufacturers had actual representation in America
during the 1950s, 1960s and even into the 1970s, importation and distribution
were usually handled by independent entrepreneurs, such as Max Hoffman in New
York City, and most U.S. dealers offered several different brands.
Freed from the requirements imposed by the Detroit automakers, import car
dealerships were typically small and occupied a variety of different structures
that offered space for a display and a service bay. The Walthers Cornerstone
Import Motors kit is just right for an independent dealership. There are two
service bays and space for a small showroom in front. A small lot adjacent to
the building will be plenty to handle the limited inventory these businesses
generally carried.
