It’s hard to see the name “Lou Reed” and not start singing “Hey, babe, take a walk on the wild side…” But that song didn’t come along until 1972, so the person who took this photo on July 23, 1955 wouldn’t have been humming “And the colored girls go doo do doo do doo do do doo…” Lou Reed’s Chrysler / Plymouth Dealership at 1200 Pacific Coast Hwy in Newport Beach was one of the biggest of its type in Southern California. I do like the striking, dramatic lighting featured in this showroom, which was probably the whole eye-catching point.
These days, 1200 Pacific Coast Hwy is still home to a car yard. This image is from June 2022.
Modernist, but note how they are already decorating the walls with historic references…looking forward but anchored in the past. Wish we knew what that black & white aerial to the right was looking down on…the roadway to bankruptcy?
The B&W aerial appears to be a shot of that stretch of PCH. https://i.imgur.com/tvXEQPw.png
The others may be of the Honorable Mr. Reed himself.
https://i.imgur.com/4RXEBE0.png
Yes, it might be the Honorable Mr. Reed. (But doesn’t look like he ever took a walk on the wild side.