My old computer took a dive and wouldn't let me retrieve my email contacts, so I don't have your email address anymore. Your PM is disabled. Just wanted to let you know that today I heard that Beurge Ford will be closing it's doors on March 15th. Another one bites the dust

 

Sorry to hear that....you gonna go try to buy some of there old parts? I know if I had the cash and one closed near me I would try.

 

That's amazing!

Walker Motor Co. opened on Whittier Blvd. in East LA in 1915, moved to 11750 Santa Monica Blvd. in West LA in 1940 (location formerly Reme Nadeau Ford). Maurice Buerge became a partner.

1959, opened a new facility at 11800 S/M Blvd., became Walker-Buerge Ford.

Don't recall exactly when, but Buerge bought out Walker sometime in the 1980's, several years later, Maurice's son John took over the biz, changed the name to Buerge.

There's also Buerge Chrysler-Jeep, located one block east.

btw: Stockton Quincy Ford, that had been located in Westwood since the 1930's, "merged" with Walker-Buerge in October 1967.

Walker-Buerge acquired all the new cars and the ones that were on order. One of these was a Shelby GT500 KR that had been ordered by Jim Morrison of the Doors.

Morrison took delivery of the car in March 1968, sometime in 1969, one of Morrison's "gofers" supposedly took it to a body shop on La Cienega, then he disappeared.

Where the car is today...no one knows. A Shelby 'nut' contacted me recently, wanted to know if I knew anything about it, since I used to work for Quincy & Walker-Buerge during this time frame.

I told him no...then asked him if he knew the name of the body shop, he didn't. He has the VIN, but it's no longer in the system.

 

Sad when so much History comes to a fleeting end...............

 

I heard that there was something going on with the land lease and John Buerge didn't renew the lease.

 

AFAIK, the Walkers own the property at 11800 S/M Blvd., and the service dept parking lot behind it on Westgate Avenue. When Maurice bought the Walkers share of the biz, he didn't buy the property.

Dunno who owns the property where Chrysler-Jeep is located. Originally this was W/B's body shop and an extension of the service dept, before that, Streit Chevrolet.

I called Bo @ Mustang Service Center in NoHo, he was a parts guy at W/B for 20 years. He was unaware of the closure, said John had retired and his son was running the whole shebang.

 

Yes, Jim Buerge had been running it for a while now.
Chrysler/Jeep address is 11800. I worked there in the late 80's-early 90's. My brother in law was the shop foreman on the Jeep side up until a few years ago.

 

I worked at W/B...twice, and lived 5 blocks south on Stoner Avenue for 21 years. But I didn't know that the Chrysler-Jeep address was 11800, thought that was where Ford was located.

Makes sense now that I think about it, since Walker was located at 11750 up until the new facility opened in 1959. Last time I whizzed by 11750, it was a bike shop.

Some dealers use their used car address for the whole shebang in ads. Ralph Williams showroom/service/parts dept was located at 11770 Ventura Blvd., but the ads said 11800 Ventura, where the used car lot was.

I also worked for Ralph twice. The TV commercials were filmed on Tuesday evenings, sometimes I stuck around to watch...cuz crazy things could occur.

Chick was usually stoned, so he and/or the "rented" German Shepherd he called 'Storm' might P on a tire!

 

Nice.
A friend that I've known for almost 30 years was the W/B front end guy until he injured his back many years ago. Keith Atkins is his name.

 

I know Keith, I seem to recall that he worked at Stockton Quincy, then moved to Reno and worked for Jones-West Ford. He moved back to LA, then went to work for W/B.

 

Small world. Yeah, he's retired up in Auburn, CA now.

 

Back problems are bad, even worse when one is tall. Keith and I are about the same height and I had to retire because of congenital spinal stenosis.

Back problems are typical for front end guys. Picking up wheels and installing them on vehicles while they're up on a rack will kill the back sooner or later.

A pal of mine was the front end guy at Campus Wheel & Brake when they were located on Sepulveda in Westwood. He had to retire after ruining his back.

 

Incidentally, I saw someone else you know not too long ago. I was getting a script filled at the local Kaiser on my lunch break and I saw Bob Haddad in line. I remember you said you knew him. He was talking to the pharmacist and I had to get back to work so I didn't get a chance to say hi. He was the parts manager when I worked at Sunrise, when it was still in Tujunga. The other parts guy there was Kenny Burke. Kenny also worked for Arnold at Mustangs Etc. on the weekends.

 

I know Bob, since we both worked at Ralph Williams. Bob moved out here from the east, had a '30's Ford hot rod. I knew he was the P/M at Sunrise.

I ran into him in about 10 years ago, but I don't recall where. I was retired and he was goofing off.

I have my cars serviced at Stupor Ford in the City of Industry. Ran into Russ Solari of Hollywood Auto Parts (he formerly worked at Ralph) and Steve, Cal-State's salespeep.

Steve said...why are you here, are you looking for a job? Hell no, I moved out here to the sticks in 2001, this is the closest dealer, so I'm having my 2011 F150 Lariat serviced.

I also know Arnold, I knew Kenny, but don't recall where I know him from.

Jack Boardman was the P/M at both Beverly Hills and Town & Country. He was so cheap he squeaked...and bathed maybe once a year...maybe not.

One day in the 1990's he showed up at Santa Monica Ford, needed a tail lamp for his Fairmont wagon. I spotted him at the front counter, came up and waited on him.

He asked me if I would give him a discount. "Sure, you bet Jack...10% off after I raise the MSRP 25%!"

Sold it to him for actual cost + 10%...but after I made the smart *** remark, he wanted to look in the price book...to see if that was what he actually paid.

When I left Ralph the 2nd time, went to work for Jack at B/H/F. I asked him for a pen once, he said you'll have to provide your own.

I found out later he got a 'rake-off' if he didn't exceed his yearly parts budget. Knowing Jack, I doubt he ever did.

Did you ever attend those FoMoCo MVP dinners for parts and service guys at Sportsman's Lodge in Sherman Oaks?

 

I seem to recall attending some kind of Ford employee event where they handed out shirts, belt buckles, coffee mugs, etc. but I can't remember if it was at the Sportsman's Lodge.