United Motors Service Neon Sign: Rare Dealership Automobilia – NS6341
A Real Collection Centerpiece That Has The “WOW Factor”, For Even The Most Serious Automobilia Aficionado, This Extremely Rare, 8 Foot Wide, Double Sided, Genuine Porcelain Enamel, Roadside Dealership Service Advertisement Is 1 Of Just 6 That Were Made, And Is A Genuine Piece Of History From The Earliest Days Of America’s Automotive Industry
This Sign Is In Unrestored, Survivor (Nearly New/Old Stock) Condition, Including All Original Neon, Electrical Components, And Transformers (Pictured), A Fully Original Item Of This Age And Rarity Is Truly A General Motors Collector’s Dream
Description
United Motors Service Neon Sign: Rare Dealership Automobilia
This vintage United Motors Service neon sign is one of the earliest signs, and was manufactured near the time that the company was founded, in 1916. At ArtFactory.com we specialize in those truly rare items that the serious automobilia aficionado are after, and this one is so special that it would be a collection centerpiece for virtually any collector. This sign really has the "WOW Factor" and then some! It is a double sided, working neon sign with a porcelain sign face, and is in remarkable condition for a sign of its age. This is sign is in 'survivor" condition meaning that it is 100% original and unrestored. Even the neon is original. This United Motors Service sign is one of the earliest examples of signage from the American automobile industry. It is an oblong sign face measuring 8 feet wide by 4 feet tall, and is 16 inches deep with the heavy metal electrical housing can. The sign has an orange background, and a navy blue stripe just inside the outer edge of the sign around the border. The words "United/Motors" are printed navy blue lettering in the upper, and lower areas of the sign respectively. There is a navy blue graphic of an automobile from the era in the center of the sign, with the word "Service" in white lettering on the car. The border of the sign lights up in white neon, and around the edges of the car graphic light up in orange neon, with extremely rare animated flashing wheels.
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This United Motors Service Neon Sign Is 1 Of Only 6 Ever Produced
This sign was made by the now world famous, Walker Sign Company, and there were only 6 of this sign ever made. This is 1 of the original 6, and is in fully original condition inside and out. Almost old/new stock, because Durant went bankrupt and changed the name of his company to General Motors then; in the same time created Chevrolet, Buick, Olds, and the rest of GM line of brands.
United Motors Service Neon Sign Specifications
- Type: Genuine Vintage Porcelain Enamel Neon Hanging Sign
- Sides: Double Sided
- Shape: Oblong
- Company: United Motors Service
- Product: Dealership Services
- Era: 1916
- Color: Orange/Navy Blue/White
- Neon Color: White (Border Of Sign)/Orange (Border Of Car)
- Feature: Animated Flashing Tires
- Dimensions: 8 Feet Wide By 4 Feet Tall (16 Inch Deep Heavy Metal Housing Can)
- Weight: 407 Pounds
- Condition: SURVIVOR: Original Porcelain Enamel Sign, Not Restored Or Doctored
- Neon Details: Original Unrestored Including Original Transformers/Flasher
- 1 Of Only 6 Produced In This Size
United Motors Service Neon Sign Addition Details
This vintage United Motors Service neon sign is original memorabilia from one of America's most iconic brands. This extremely rare, and iconic Automobilia sign is museum, and investment quality original collectible memorabilia, signed and certified by award winning artist H.J. Nick. This signature means each item bearing this certification is backed by over a century of manufacturing fine art, hand made furnishings, and restoring America's finest collectibles to original condition. It is sold in original unrestored condition because our belief is that signs should not be restored because every ding, dent, and blemish is part of the history and story of the item. We are a one stop shop when it comes to outfitting your man cave or game room. We can can outfit an entire gas station or automotive themed room for you, or help you find that one special item that has been missing from your collection. In addition to signs, we have vintage visible gas pumps, oil pumps, lubesters, and more that we have fully restored to working, museum quality condition. Our vintage automobilia restorations are the best in the business because nobody has been doing it longer, or pays as much attention to detail.
Investment Quality Collectible Memorabilia From ArtFactory.com
This one-of-a-kind, vintage United Motors Service neon sign is the perfect conversation piece that will wow your friends and clients alike. Like all of our vintage collectible signs, it is guaranteed authentic, investment quality memorabilia. We specialize in those hard to find signs that serious collectors are looking for. All antique collectables offered are genuine memorabilia and appreciable assets, not fake reproductions. All items are fine collectable art at the highest world class collector level. Contact us today for pricing on this collectible vintage United Motors Service neon sign or any of our collectible Americana, antique signs, old gas pumps, and classic collectibles at 1-800-292-0008.
A Rare Survivor With All Original Electrical Components And Maker's Plate
United Motors Service (Now ACDelco) Company History
United Motors Corporation was formed by William C. Durant in 1916 as an automotive component and accessory holding company. Durant was the owner of Buick and founder of General Motors in 1908. After he lost control of General Motors in 1910, he founded Chevrolet in 1911 with Louis Chevrolet and the profits from this permitted him to regain control of GM in 1916. At approximately the same time, he assembled United Motors.
Durant's founding of United Motors has parallels in his earlier experience in the horse-drawn carriage industry in Michigan. In the late 19th century he was co-owner of the Durant-Dort Carriage Company, one of the nation's leading carriage manufacturers. Concerned that they could not source components and raw materials at affordable prices or in sufficient quantities, Durant-Dort created a vertically-integrated operation owning hardwood forests and manufacturing its own bodies, wheels, axles, upholstery, springs, varnish and whips.
United Motors initially included Alfred P. Sloan's Hyatt Roller Bearing Company (antifriction roller bearings), New Departure Manufacturing Company (ball bearings), Remy Electric Company (electrical starting, lighting, and ignition equipment), Charles Kettering and Edward A. Deeds' Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (DELCO automotive ignition, starters and generators), and the Perlman Rim Corporation.
Durant appointed Alfred P. Sloan, who had been president of Hyatt, as president of United Motors. In the next two years, Sloan bought the Harrison Radiator Corporation, Lovell-McConnell Manufacturing Company (renamed Klaxon company to make Klaxon horns) in September 1916, and organized United Motors Service to sell and service the entire line of products nationwide.
Read More At: ACDelco On Wikipedia
Alfred Sloan was founder of United Motors Service Division in 1916, and was a long-time president, chairman and CEO of General Motors Corporation. Photo from Wikipedia.
More About The Founding Of United Motors Service
The United Motors Service Division was founded on May 11, 1916 by Alfred P. Sloan in New York City, New York as the United Motors Corporation. It was a consolidation of the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company, Hyatt Roller Bearing Company, New Departure Manufacturing Company, Remy Electric Company, and Perlman Rim Corporation. Its industry is automotive parts and its headquarters were in New York City, New York (1916-1918) and Detroit, Michigan (1918-present). The firm was acquired by the General Motors Company in 1918. In 1974, it merged with GM's AC Spark Plug Division.
Read More At: MyCompaniesFandom.com United Motors Service Division
About William C. Durant And The Founding Of General Motors
Photograph of William Crapo Durant from the book, "History of Genesee County, Michigan, Her People, Industries And Institutions, Volume 2, 1916.
William Crapo Durant (December 8, 1861 – March 18, 1947) was a leading pioneer of the United States automobile industry and co-founder of General Motors and Chevrolet. He created a system in which a company held multiple marques – each seemingly independent, with different automobile lines – bound under a unified corporate holding company. Durant, along with Frederic L. Smith, co-founded General Motors, as well as Chevrolet with Louis Chevrolet. He also founded Frigidaire.
On November 1, 1904 he assumed control of the troubled Buick Motor Company and used the financial and manufacturing resources of Durant-Dort to correct Buick's course. With Durant pushing and marketing the Buick name, the company was able to become the best-selling automobile in America. Utilizing Buick as the base, along with a 15-year contract for motors to be provided to R. S. McLaughlin, Durant envisioned the creation of a large automobile company, which would manufacture several independent marques and control subsidiary component-making companies, much as Durant-Dort had done for carriage- building with R S McLaughlin.
On September 16, 1908, Durant and McLaughlin opened an escrow account, with which they founded General Motors Holding Company. They also exchanged a large amount of Buick stock for an equivalent amount of McLaughlin's eponymous company stock, making McLaughlin one of General Motors' biggest shareholders. On November 12, 1908 Durant purchased Olds Motor Works (Oldsmobile). Durant consolidated 13 car companies and 10 parts-and-accessories manufacturers under the new holding company's control in 1908.
In 1909, Durant's GM bought Cadillac, and Oakland Motor Car (eventually replaced by Pontiac), along with many parts-manufacturing companies, paint and varnish companies, and other accessory manufacturers owned by General Motors. By 1910, the rapid-fire acquisitions Durant had made caught up with the business, which caused Durant and the corporation to have become grossly overextended with so many imprudent acquisitions. The corporation faced a cash shortage, and in the aftermath, Durant was forced out of the company. But Durant would not be bowed and he backed Louis Chevrolet's eponymous company in 1911, with J. Dallas Dort serving as the vice-president and director of the company. In 1913, Dort stepped down as vice-president of Chevrolet, and in 1914 Durant disposed of his share of the Durant-Dort Carriage Company. By 1915, R.S. McLaughlin was building Chevrolet to allow that 1916, Durant had leveraged Chevrolet's sales to regain control of General Motors, and he went on to lead GM until 1920. While in charge of Chevrolet, Durant created other companies, including Republic Motors, mainly to produce Chevrolet. He was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1968.
Read More At: William C. Durant On Wikipedia
Walker & Company (Sign Company Of Detroit) History
(Excerpted from Detroit Historical)
Circa 1940, Walker & Co. Headquarters at 88 Custer Street in Detroit, Michigan. Photo from DetroitHistorical.Wordpress.com
Walker & Co. was the ubiquitous outdoor advertising company in Detroit during the first half of the twentieth century. Founded in 1885 by brothers Henry W. and John D. Walker, the small company grew when Henry’s ambitious and innovative son, Harry Collins Walker, joined the company in 1895. By 1913 there were outposts in, Monroe, Mt. Clemens, Ypsilanti, Pontiac, Flint, and Saginaw.
Outdoor advertising became increasingly effective during the 1920s, as more and more people began owning and driving cars. Also during that decade, Walker & Co. bought a former indoor equestrian academy at 88 Custer in the New Center area for its new headquarters. Clients included many top auto manufacturers, department stores, beverage makers, and newspapers. Eventually the company expanded its reach across the state, and it was an early adopter of new technologies such as neon and fluorescent lighting. Both the lighted ball on top of Penobscot Building and the illuminated lettering on top of Ambassador Bridge can be attributed to Walker & Co.
Read More At: DetroitHistorical.Wordpress.com
More History On Walker & Company Of Detroit
(Excerpted from BrewAF.com)
By the 1950s, ninety-five percent of auto company and auto dealer signs were produced by Walker & Co., and it was top five nationally in outdoor advertising. Some of the major clients that Walker and Company produced and manufactured large outdoor signs were for companies like Pontiac, International Harvester, Case, Ford, Chevrolet, Federal Trucks, Texaco, Esso, Phillips 66, Sinclair, Gulf, Shell, Atlantic, Mobil, Firestone, Good Year, and United Service Motors just to name a few.
Their main competitor was a local outfit called Mulholland Sign Company located in Kalamazoo, MI. Mulholland Sign Company produced similar outdoor porcelain enamel neon signs too but mainly for Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln.
Read More At: BrewAF.com
More Vintage Collectible Neon Automobilia Signs For Sale From ArtFactory.com
United Motors Service Neon Sign Info
When we use the terms "Museum Quality" and "Historically Correct," we are indicating our world-class process. We absolutely preserve all original signs, badges, glass with anomalies, natural aged patinas, and everything that makes a vintage item collectible. Maintaining non-structural damage, all age, wear, and tear is proudly displayed to showcase each item's unique charm.
Due to our earned reputation, we have the good fortune to be in high demand by collectors. Because most of our items have a waiting list, if you're looking for a specific collectible, please ask to be put on our first come, first served list (refundable deposit required).
We are the oldest and largest seller of fine art, historically correct, museum quality antiques and genuine, investment quality classic Americana.
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- Restored To Full Working Order
- Historically Correct
- Genuine From Top To Bottom
- Delivered To Your Home
All Vintage Memorabilia Offered Is A Genuine Collectable And Appreciable Asset
All Items Are Of Highest Museum Quality World Class Collector Level
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