Gillman Pontiac At 1621 Milam St.

[hindesky]

I was getting my Subaru XV Crosstrek serviced at the Gillman Subaru on Beltway 8 southwest corner this morning and they had this pic on their walls. Anyone know when this might have been and is it south or north of the old Humble Oil building?

[kbates2]

Former Houston Press building, demolished earlier this year.

[crock]

i too was getting my car serviced there this morning.   creepy. 

Edited December 26, 2019 by crock

[MaxConcrete]

That building lasted much longer than the Frank Gillman Pontiac dealer in Sharpstown, which replaced the downtown dealership in the photo. (But it is surely possible the downtown location remained open after the Sharpstown dealership opened.)

 

There was also a Mitsubishi dealer at the Sharpstown Gillman campus, and my father bought a Mitsubishi Tredia in 1984. That car became a thrasher car for my brother when he went to college in 1986.

 

The dealer complex was closed, buildings were demolished and the land was vacant for a long time until it became the sports field complex for St Agnes Academy, which is about a mile away.

 

So I became curious about when the dealer closed and found this online from a 22-December-1997 report.

 

Quote

On a mission to steer some of its Houston franchises toward suburbia, General Motors Corp., will purchase Gillman GMC, the city's oldest Pontiac dealership, and move its location next year. The Gillman Cos., owner of 13 stores offering 16 different franchises in Houston and around the state, will sell its Pontiac/GMC dealership back to Detroit-based General Motors Corp. in January, says owner Ramsay Gillman.

The dealership, which opened downtown before World War II and moved to 7611 Bellaire in 1967, has been under the Gillman name since Ramsay Gillman's father, Frank Gillman, entered the car business in 1938.

Gillman says he doesn't know where General Motors plans to relocate Gillman Pontiac/GMC, but says the transaction is part of GM's attempt to remove non-GM cars from its dealers' showrooms. In GM circles, the strategy is called "Project 2000." GM officials were not available to comment on the strategy, but it clearly is threatening to shake up the local dealer lineup.

 

 

Edited December 27, 2019 by MaxConcrete

[dbigtex56]

https://www.houstonarchitecture.com/Building/2804/The-Houston-Press-Building.php

 

[Tumbleweed_Tx]

Those Bonnevilles are the 1965 model, so it's between late 64 and mid 65

 

edit... the 4 door behind the 2 door is a 66 model.

 

(I'm a Mopar or no-car guy)

Edited December 27, 2019 by Tumbleweed_Tx

[Ross]

I bought my first new car from Gillman Pontiac in 1980, at the Bellaire location. That was a time when there will still a lot of dealers on Kirby, and a couple of dealers still near Downtown.

[Specwriter]

Tumbleweed, I'm pretty sure the light colored 4-door behind the 2-door is a 1965 Tempest (Pontiac's intermediate comparable to a Chevrolet Chevelle). When I zoom in on the image I can see a name badge low on the rear fender. It's not distinct but it looks more like "Tempest" than "LeMans" which was the up-level trim on that particular car just as the Chevrolet Malibu was a trim upgrade of the Chevelle.

 

My 4th grade teacher (who was a tennis player and had an uncanny resemblance to Chris Evert) had a blue 1965 Tempest. The back fence neighbor had a 1966 full-size Pontiac wagon and the mother of my 3rd grade crush drove a 1965 Catalina 4-door sedan. My father was a Pontiac guy (would be still if Pontiac was still around). He had five of them between 1957 and 1986.

 

I remember shopping with Dad along Milam back in the day. His 1964 Catalina 2-door hardtop with the Ventura trim option was lost in a garage fire in early 1968. Of course he was looking at Pontiacs but the cousin of a good friend of his, a salesman at Bland-Willis Cadillac, hooked him up with a 1967 Cadillac that some River Oaks dowager had turned in on an almost identical 1968 model(!?) Ah, the mysterious lives of the wealthy.

 

The Caddy was a heck of a road trip car. It swilled gasoline like Capt. Morgan drank rum but covering 600+ miles a day was a no-sweat proposition. When Dad goes on a road trip he really goes.

[mollusk]

All four cars are '65s - Catalina, Catalina, Tempest, and the grille of a Ford (most likely Galaxie).

 

That was in my prime car spotting days - I could even tell what year a given VW Beetle was. 🤷‍♂️

 

[dbigtex56]

13 hours ago, Tumbleweed_Tx said:

Those Bonnevilles are the 1965 model, so it's between late 64 and mid 65

 

edit... the 4 door behind the 2 door is a 66 model.

 

(I'm a Mopar or no-car guy)

I like Mopars too, but if Gillman's had a LeMans OHC 6 Sprint lurking in the background, I wouldn't turn my nose up at it.
My cousin had one, and it was gorgeous and fast (for the era).
And my first car was a '67 Tempest, also with the OHC 6 (unfortunately not the Sprint option, and a 4-door, with that darn 2 speed automatic).

 

Edited December 27, 2019 by dbigtex56

[Specwriter]

2 hours ago, mollusk said:

All four cars are '65s - Catalina, Catalina, Tempest, and the grille of a Ford (most likely Galaxie).

 

That was in my prime car spotting days - I could even tell what year a given VW Beetle was. 🤷‍♂️

 

It takes a good eye to differentiate a '64 from a '65 Beetle, mollusk. I do recognize a few running changes like the increasing size of the tail lights over time. I'm glad you mentioned the Galaxie. I noticed it but was already far enough off-topic. Ah, the OHC 6; if only more people had been enlightened in the day.

Edited December 27, 2019 by Specwriter

[hindesky]

[NenaE]

My father drove a two-door '62 Pontiac Bonneville. It was white with a beautiful maroon interior. The upholstery and details were so impressive. 

I wonder what happened to that neon Pontiac sign in the original post photograph.

[hindesky]

Nov. '93.