Schamberger Motors- Cedar Rapids, Iowa

[IowaEagle]

Originally a Nash dealership which changed over to Rambler.  The dealership pictured in these old photos were from their Nash days.  The dealership was on 3rd Avenue SE and their used car lot was on 1st Ave E.  This building is now a floor covering store.  Mr. Schamberger sold the business to Bruce McGrath in the late '70's and the dealership was moved to a former VW dealership (on Center Point Road and 42nd Street NE) when VW sales tanked in the area.  That dealership is still standing and I believe now for a GM product.  Mr. Schamberger was an avid collector of antique cars.  Including a very early Jeffrey Rambler, two Tuckers, several Stanley Steamers, othe Nash/AMC products and other makes of cars.  His son established a Classic Car dealership (after the elder Mr. Schamberger sold his AMC franchise) that is still a thriving business.







From NashParts.com.



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[Route 66 Rambler]

That first one looks like any commercial structure in the west, from the turn of the century on to the 70's.  That kind of building is disappearing faster than they can be photographed.

In the second one, you see a classic example of the 20's and up art deco-inspired commercial architecture movement.  This one has been modernized further by eliminating the curves, probably either built or modified in the late 40's to mid 50's.  Look at that big presentation area for the sign, integrated into the structure itself.  That's the stuff I like to see out on the old roads...
mike

[AMX]

Here is their rubber stamp from a 1975 brochure. Hard to say how this ended up in Ohio! Now we just need some current pics of the place...





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[IowaEagle]

Duffy is the son of the founder.  When he sold the AMC franchise to Bruce McGrath sometime in the mid 70's  he started up a classic car sales outlet.  Its a very impressive facility.  I will have to remember to take the camera with me to CR, next time I go.

[AMX]

Some more interesting items from this dealership found on the Hemmings Auto Blogs. It's interesting that they were still using the RAMBLER name even with 1973 model year cars on the lot!











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[IowaEagle]

Thanks for the memories.  I knew some of the people pictured in those.  William (Bill) Schamberger had a hard time letting go of the Rambler name.  He loved them!

[AMX]

That is so cool!  

I see another rounded brick showroom here, I'm beginning to think that was a Rambler dealership "trademark" at some point.

[Route 66 Rambler]

Eddie Stakes sent me these photos a couple of weeks ago, I hadn't gotten them posted yet.  Here is the writing from the inside of the flyer:

Schamberger Rambler
717 Third Avenue Southeast
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
PH#364-7185
"The past 33 years have seen much progress in improving the equipment and facilities of
the Schamberger Motor Company. Every Effort has been and is being made to bring our
customers the finest service obtainable anywhere. Through the efforts of our trained
personnel this organization, for the 33rd consecutive year, has been rated by American
Motors a 10 Point Select Dealer. We are very proud of this honor and you may be certain we
will continue the endeavor to better serve our friends and customers who in the final
analysis have made these achievements possible.

OUR SERVICE DEPARTMENT: (1) 20,000 satisfied new and used customers can't be wrong. (2) We
carry a stock of 30 to 60 new cars for your selection. (3) Best of all---Financing at Bank
Rates.

Eddie goes on to write:

"A few things worth noting in this flyer and
worth mentioning! On the front line of Quality Used Cars, there is a Papa John's Pizza
Camaro, like the owner of Papa John just paid $250,000 for his old car. Next to it is a
71-72 Cadillac, then Olds Tornado with hidden headlights, a 70-72 Ambassador, a Polara,
then Maverick. Next to the sign is a Gremlin, 71-72 Matador, Gremlin, and 72 Javelin.
Above the lot is a row of light bulbs, common at car dealerships back then, and along
front row next to street is those swirly fan things that spin wildly with any wind. In
front of the dealership there is a twinparking meter. Inside the dealership is a 73
Ambassador and a 1920s Nash, possibly 30s, but clearly visible thru big dealership glass!
That would surely make one slow down to do double take. Several of the neon signs in the
showroom facing outward are: Genuine Factory Parts and Quality Used Cars. The photo must
have been taken in winter as no vegetation on trees."

The names from the flyer:

Dick Metz,
Shop Foreman, Walt Kadlec, Parts Manager, Paul Kittlesby Salesman, LaVerne Hess, Salesman,
Yvonne Kirk,Bookkeeper, Pat Houdeshell, Assistant Bookeeper while owner Bill Schamberger
and Leo Damge proudly stand next to a 1923 Nash Touring car claiming "We Service Them
All!!!"

On the back of the flyer it honors the Service Department, letting everyone know there is
a whopping 78 years of experience! Elmer Netolicky 33 years, Marion Sommers 7 years, Rich
King 3 years, Ken Doling 30 years, Jim Ward 4 years and John Morgan 1 year.

A great looking American Motors dealership with a rich history from Cedar Rapids, Iowa! If
you would like to see some of these photos in larger image and higher resolution you will
find them under AMC DEALERSHIPS at www.planethoustonamx.com
Eddie Stakes
713.464.8825
eddiestakes@planethoustonamx.com
www.planethoustonamx.com"
----------------------------------------------------

I cut a few lines of commentary out about various things seen in the pictures, but most of what he had to say is presented here.
-mike

[IowaEagle]

Our '61 American wagon came from their 1st Ave. East used car lot.  My sister bought a Levi Gremlin from them in '76, about the last year they were in business before selling the franchise to Bruce McGrath who moved it out to a fairly newly built VW dealership that went under.  McGrath kept the Jeep franchise after AMC's demise, in the same building, and just a couple of months ago Chrysler closed the larger Chrysler/Dodge dealership in Cedar Rapids and gave the franchise to McGrath Jeep.  Ironically the McGrath's started out selling Pontiac, which they continued to do until recently.  They also own a very large Chevrolet dealership which they bought from another franchisee about 25 - 30 years ago.

I have a doctor's appointment in Cedar Rapids next week, I will try to remember to get a picture of this dealership so we can have a post AMC look.

Bill always had one of his antique cars in the show room.  Usually it was an early Rambler.  He was a avid collector of antique cars and had a large number of Stanley Steamers and not one, but two Tuckers.

[Route 66 Rambler]

I'll see what I can do to restore these pictures somewhat...


OK, I've done a little work editing these photos.  The single biggest thing that helped was simply to grey scale the pics.  Still not real good, but a little better than before, I think...


I think the red brick, rounded architecture is a Nash thing, actually.  The Jack Freese Nash store in Michigan and the Beebe-Elliott franchise in Ohio both have that look, and there are others like that also.  My impression is that these were Nash dealers first.