Built in the early 1970s, Hart Motor Co.’s GMC showroom in Salem is a relic of the golden age of the automobile.
The sleek building is completely round and surrounded by large windows, with a sparse, minimalist interior.
When the showroom was lit up at night, it was a sight to see — the space-age aesthetic was used as a beacon to would-be car buyers.
In December, the futuristic building was added to the Virginia Landmarks Register. The structure is a prime example of 20th century car culture, according to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
It is unusual to see a car dealership remain so frozen in time.
New car dealerships are franchises. The franchise owner, GMC in this case, tends to be interested in maintaining its brand identity through the use of architecture, colors and logos. Sometimes, that can mean replacing old buildings.
But Hart Motor Co.’s 50-year-old showroom has held on.
The building sits close to the intersection of U.S. 460 and Virginia 419 in east Salem, close to the site of the old Lakeside Amusement Park. In fact, Lakeside was still operating when Emmett P. Hart opened his new Oldsmobile dealership at 1341 E. Main St. in 1973. It was Hart’s third building; the first two had been closer to the center of Salem.
Car sales were up, particularly Oldsmobile sales.
Sales at the dealership totaled 250 in 1972, according to Allison Blanton and Kate Kronau of Hill Studios in the Virginia Landmarks Register nomination they prepared at the request of Carl Hart Jr., Emmett’s grandson and the current president of Hart Motor Co.
After the new showroom was built, sales would skyrocket.
Between 1970 and 1980, the total number of households in the United States increased by 25%, according to a 1994 report by the U.S. Department of Transportation. During that same timeframe, car sales increased by 62%.
“The car culture had shifted to two-wage-earner households. No longer did families have one automobile, now they had two automobiles. And so of course that increased the use and the need for the automobile,” said Roanoke historian Nelson Harris.
“We were selling, a lot of times, 100 vehicles a month here regularly,” Carl Hart Jr. said.
He remembers standing outside the new showroom as a teenager and watching the Shooting Star roller coaster chug up one hill and then tear down another.
“Hearing it clackety-clack clack, clack. And then you’d hear the people screaming as they went down the hill,” he said.
That same sort of momentum had driven America’s car culture; as cities became less pedestrian-friendly, automobiles became more important.
New roads had been built. Roanoke and Salem residents saw the construction of Virginia 419, a state route, in 1970.
The highway was constructed because the existing two-lane road was getting a lot of use, according to Harris. People were driving between Salem and Roanoke and back again.
“There became this overarching need to bring the state highway system and local roads up to meet the amount of cars that were on the road,” he said.
The new four-lane road mostly cut through pastures at that time, Harris said.
Emmett Hart had identified one of those pastures as the ideal spot for his new dealership.
“Dad said his father bought this place and it was kind of like a farm,” Carl Hart Jr. said.
“There was a house … and there were a lot of chicken coops,” said Jack Hart, Carl Hart Jr.’s son and the dealership’s director of operations.
The pastoral scene didn’t last long. Emmett Hart built something right out of “The Jetsons.”
He hired the Salem firm of Kinsey, Motley and Shane to design the showroom in 1972, according to the nomination form.
Along the way, it was decided that the showroom needed to be a showcase. In the nomination form, the structure is described as a rare surviving example of the Googie style of architecture that was popular in roadside attractions of the day.
Googie architecture can best be described as a style of retro-futurism. The style became popular following World War II and often depicted a playful and obtainable view of the future. Think of Seattle’s Space Needle and Disneyland’s Tomorrowland. This was the architecture of Route 66, the architecture of the road trip, of the roadside motel, of the starburst and of the spaceship.
In the case of the Hart Motor Co. building, the showroom’s circular style, metal signage and pennant flags atop its roofline are reminiscent of the Googie style of popular roadside attractions.
The International architecture style, which also became popular post-World War II, is known for its modern, industrial touches including a visible steel frame and glass windows, open floor plans, a flat roof and focus on minimalism. This style is represented in the showroom’s large, airy interior space; wide, expansive metal beams; large glass windows; and minimal decorations. Outside, this style is evident in the building’s flat roof and general lack of decoration.
Combining the Googie and International architectural styles in Hart Motor Co.’s new showroom resulted in a building that was minimalist while also beckoning the customer to take a closer look.
That was new — Emmett Hart’s previous showrooms were located in much smaller buildings. There wasn’t room for as many cars, Carl Hart Jr. explained. That wasn’t the only change.
Dealerships grew larger than they had been in the early days of car culture in the ’40s and ’50s, according to Harris. They moved from downtown corners to large parking lots, like the one that the Hart Motor Co. showroom sat on. This allowed them to carry all kinds of models of cars.
“[It was] a very robust manifestation of car culture,” he said.
Hart Motor Co.’s primary pie-shaped building has not changed much over the years.
The building is streamlined, with large windows encircling three sides of its exterior. The flat roof is accented with metal fascia and red and white checkered flags. “Hart Motors” is spelled out in a simple font above the main doorway.
Inside, the large, airy showroom retains its original terrazzo flooring. The exposed steel columns remain intact, and the space is largely unspoiled by the cubicles common in modern showrooms. A few offices unobtrusively ring the outside of the primary space.
The Hart Motors building is one of the last remaining Googie-style car dealerships in Virginia. There weren’t many to begin with, according to the nomination form.
Richmond was home to the Lawrence Chrysler-Plymouth dealership, which featured a round showroom and a parachute-shaped roof. That dealership has now been demolished.
In Newport News, Casey Chevrolet features a round showroom similar to the one at Hart Motors. Casey’s building has seen some updates, with a towering addition that broadcasts the dealership’s name to passing vehicles. No other significant changes have been made to the building’s exterior, according to Casey Auto Group employee Barbara Smith.
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Carl Hart Jr. says he once faced pressure from a former brand representative to tear down his dealership and build a new structure, though it is unclear what year that occurred. He is concerned that he may face growing pressure in the future.
“As corporate image and branding continue to dictate the design and appearance of dealerships, these historic, circular-form showrooms are threatened with demolition as they do not conform to current corporate standards,” stated the Virginia Landmarks Register nomination form.
“It’s a distinct form of architecture. It is certainly a unique cultural expression. … The Hart Motor building and others that have that kind of architecture to them, I think, [are] true pieces of Americana,” said Harris.
Hart said he doesn’t believe the building is currently in danger of demolition.
“That’s a real dance around thing that I really don’t like to talk about much because [the car brands are] always wanting to change,” he added.
Megan Soule, director of communications for Buick and GMC, said she did not have insight to comment specifically regarding Hart Motor Co.
“GMC does have facility image requirements and dealers updating their facilities will enroll with the brands’ design firm for guidance on the process,” she said in an email. Dealers who do not want to update their facilities are not required to enroll, she wrote.
The building was added to the Virginia Landmarks Register along with 10 other historic sites, according to a Dec. 19 press release.
The recognition signifies that the state acknowledges that the building has historic, architectural, archeological or cultural significance. It doesn’t prevent owners from altering, demolishing or otherwise disposing of the site, according to the Virginia Historical Register’s guide for property owners.
That same guide indicates that if the owner donates a historic preservation easement on the property, receives federal or state tax credits, or accepts certain federal or state grants, then restrictions on alterations or demolitions may apply.
Hart Motor Co. has not donated a historic preservation easement on the property, according to the Salem real estate assessor’s office.
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Hart has made some additions to his property over the years.
He added a Suzuki arch to the building in 2006 but has since stopped selling Suzuki vehicles. GMC would probably like him to remove the arch, Hart said. He sees a benefit in leaving it as is.
“We’re still doing parts. We’re still doing recalls. We’re still doing airbags and stuff,” he said.
Hart’s Kia dealership sits next door. Carl Hart Jr. purchased that property from the Shelton-Witt Equipment Corp. in the 1990s and upfitted the building to fit Kia’s standards at that time. They had to renovate the building again around 2012-2014, Jack Hart said.
Virginia law places restrictions on how often franchise owners can require car dealerships to make building improvements, according to Carl Hart Jr.
State law specifies that brands cannot require facility improvements, including new signs or franchisor image elements, or alterations to those facilities, signs or elements, more often than every 10 years.
Hart did not say how much improvements to his property had cost over the years, or how much he could be required to spend to maintain consistency with the image of the brands that he partners with.
“It could cost a few hundred thousand to millions [of dollars] if they want a big change,” Jack Hart said.
Carl Hart Jr. says that working together with the brands is an essential part of the business. “We have to try to get together the best we can,” he said.