The Lost Collection of Pellini Chevrolet

Pellini Chevrolet of Sebastopol, California was founded by the Pellini family in 1932. It survived the Great Depression, the recession of 1958, and the OPEC crises of the 1970s. It was Sebastopol's longest-lived car dealership, and competed with Carter Ford just down the block. Pellini's dealership was known for its collection of 1920s through 1980s cars which filled the showroom and were often used in town parades.
The Ford dealership closed in 2007, leaving Pellini with the only car dealership in town. General Motors' financial woes in 2008 along with badly declining sales of GM large trucks and SUVs hurt the 76-year-old business, and word of the federal bailout left the Pellinis skeptical about how GM would look and function afterward. Seeing the writing on the wall and thousands of GM-ordered nationwide dealership closures looming, they decided to exit the car business before things went south. The inventory and collection were sold off; the doors were shuttered. Customers can no longer "Buy local and save: time, money, and gas" as the painted sign on the showroom window once trumpeted; they are forced to head out of town. The former Ford showroom down the block now markets electric cars from upstart companies. Pellini Chevrolet sits vacant.

Here are the cars that once graced their showroom.

1932 Chevrolet Coupe

Cadillac Allante

1960 Chevrolet Impala

1958 Chevrolet Impala

1953-55 Chevrolet Corvette

1926 Chevrolet sedan

1923 Chevrolet Superior Touring

1941 Chevrolet Special DeLuxe convertible

Chevrolet Corvair 95 Loadside pickup

When I saw it, this truck had last been registered in 1974.

1981 DeLorean DMC-12

Dealership Shoot: 1966 Oldsmobile Starfire

Photos taken at the former Kassabian Motors in Dublin, CA (now MyHotCars, Inc. in Livermore).

Northern Neon: The Lost Facade of Don Wheaton Chevrolet

In early 2010 I was in Alberta, Canada visiting a friend. While we were in the capital city of Edmonton he showed me Don Wheaton Chevrolet-Buick-Cadillac-GMC Ltd., a dealership which has been in business in the same location on Whyte Ave since 1963. The building had undergone few changes in its 40-plus years and had been considered a fixture of the neighborhood. Even in 2010 it had retained its Oldsmobile and Camaro signage. Despite the vintage exterior, Wheaton's dealership was the largest GM distributor in Western Canada and one of the biggest sellers of Corvettes in Canada.

Photos by Jay Wollenweber

In 2011, though, progress came calling. General Motors in their infinite wisdom demanded that Wheaton modernize to the bland new corporate dealership look or risk losing the new car franchise. People complained, but GM prevailed. Wheaton renovated, removing all of the old neon signage and refacing the building. They included some neon on the corner of 82 Ave and Whyte, comprising the corporate logo, and the old signs on the roof remain because the building is a city landmark. It's not all bad - the service department is finally modernized and enlarged, the rooftop inventory lot is improved and the showroom is all new inside. Allegedly the corner sign is a replica of the original 1963 dealer sign (albeit a rather ugly one in my opinion), and plans included restoring the rotating "CHEV" sign on the roof which had been stationary for years. Renovations were completed in September 2012. But otherwise the dealership has lost much of the retro flavor made it unique among GM dealers. It's just as well. Don Wheaton passed away shortly after Christmas in 2011.


Photo courtesy Don Wheaton Chevrolet