Somehow, time slipped past me in an effort to get stuff cleared off my desk so that I could make the trek down to the New York Auto Show; that is, everything except the Ad of the Week. To make up for it, I spent time last night digging through my collection and found no less than six import ads in a single issue of Motor Trend from June of 1959. Looking back, I probably should have done a comparison, for I’m sure the import ad count rivaled that of domestic ads in said issue. Appearing in alphabetical order this week: BMW, DKW, Mercedes, Opel, Toyopet (Toyota) and Triumph.
This week, we’ll go into bonus coverage – some of these ads provide an address for the company’s stateside offices.
BMW was imported by the Fadex Commercial Corp., located at 487 Park Avenue in New York City. DKW American also had an office in the city over at 630 Fifth Avenue, as did Standard-Triumph Motor Corporation at 1745 Broadway. Over in Los Angeles, Toyota Motor distributors kept the Toyopet rolling into the states via their 8701 Beverly Boulevard location on the corner of N. Sherbourne Dr. – rather than an office, it’s now a deli.
