Ford Dealership in Chester, NJ

[Will_Vanderburg]

Going through the files, I came across the following information.

Morris Chamberlain owned a Ford Dealership in Chester, NJ. Morris sold Model T's that were shipped to him in crates. At some point in history, he got into an argument with Henry Ford and would stop selling Fords. When Morris died in 1952, two brand new Fords still in their crates were found in his garage.

The garage building was built in 1912. The post card is dated 1915.

The post card picture shows the garage in the background behind the Model T parked at the William Savage barbershop, Masonic Lodge and candy store. Another building, Skellenger's, can barely be seen to the left of the Masonic Lodge.

All three buildings still stand to this day, although they have been modified and re-purposed.

[Will_Vanderburg]

Street view

[CudaMan]

By 1952, finding two unsold, knocked-down condition Model T Fords would have been newsworthy! A quick Google search found this, but hopefully there is more:

http://chesterlib.org/chesterlibrary/wp ... script.pdf

[Will_Vanderburg]

I don’t know when he stopped selling Ford products but I’ve seen literature from 1923 saying he sold Lincoln’s. The brochure above is from 1922.

According to the article, the knock downs were $600 bucks. However in 1922, only the sedans sold anywhere near that price. The tourings and roadsters were $355 to $420.

He also had a patent for a transmission brake issued on May 18, 1926. He was mostly a machinist but sold Ford parts and cars . According to the historical society, he built the town’s first fire truck out of a Pierce Arrow.

[Will_Vanderburg]

Popular Science Magazine volume 161 number 2 and dated August 1952.

Herb Singe, who at one time was director of the NewJersey Division of the AACA, bought a partially crated 1923 coupe from Morris Chamberlain in 1950 for $100 bucks. Singe stripped the original cracked paint off and applied 20 coats of lacquer when he restored it, painting the wheels red which he later found out isn’t authentic. In total, the article says he spent $675 dollars to restore it.

Herb has a museum in Hillside, NJ.

[Will_Vanderburg]

BTT