Rumble Pontiac Buick Demolished

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

Rumble Pontiac Buick Demolished

red rat · Guru

I remember the ads on the radio, never saw the place though.

67BBSD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Sign of the times

I find the change sad

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Rubble Pontiac?

It's always sad to see them go, more so when your Cp actually was sold out of there.

My deepest simpathy goes out to you Ray.

norontcan · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Ray, thanks for the post.
from another Rumble car owner.

Jonno · Poncho Master!

My dad's '81 and '84 Buick Skylarks were leased from Rumble, company cars.

Always used to enjoy taking the Bayview TTC GMC Fishbowl bus past Rumble's when I was a young teenage kid and eyeballing the lot as we went by. There were no GM dealers within walking distance of where I lived, Bayview and Sheppard, just Northtown Ford and Dodge Ontario at Yonge and Finch, and Sisley Rambler which became Sisley Datsun and later Sisley Honda over by Maclean Hunters at Yonge and the 401.

If I was really ambitious and had to go to Towne and Country Mall, Weitzes Motors before they were Toyota (they were Rootes and Isuzu)were just to the south on Yonge always had lots of wacked out cars around, so did Yonge and Steeles Motors Volvo Citroen Fiat, with two locations just north of Steeles.

For a 13 year old car crazy, lots of hot stuff.

It is a whole different world there now!

-- Edited by Jonno on Sunday 6th of March 2011 11:26:28 AM

Redneck Rydes · Veteran Member

I remember that place when I was a youngster,north west corner,had the big rumble sign out front,If I remember correctlly,there was a Karbelt Speed and Custom up behind it to the north.used to go there around 1976-78 to get parts for my 1968 Olds 442.Ah the memories,The old dealerships don't look the same anymore,

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

Karbelt was to the south in the next block towards Eglinton Ave East Redneck Rydes, but you describe the area.

Jonno · Poncho Master!

Hey I remember the Karbelt, had forgotten all about that!

One fun thing about taking the Yonge line subway downtown was you could see into the service lane of MacMillan and Saunders as you went by around Eglinton and see all the crapped out British cars hanging around in various states of disrepair. Circa 1969.

Gateway Mercury up at Yonge and Steeles were aways advertising $99 used car daily specials in the Toronto Star and my buddies and I would often zip up to check them out. Good times!

-- Edited by Jonno on Friday 11th of March 2011 06:24:05 AM

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

Redneck Rydes wrote:

I remember that place when I was a youngster,north west corner,had the big rumble sign out front,If I remember correctlly,there was a Karbelt Speed and Custom up behind it to the north.used to go there around 1976-78 to get parts for my 1968 Olds 442.Ah the memories,The old dealerships don't look the same anymore,

I remember Rumble etc.
Hey Geoff, I used to own a aqua/black '68 Olds 442 convertible ... by far, my favourite ride! Nicer than the '69, because of the separated headlights by the parking lights. In my top ten cars ever made list!

CdnGMfan · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Yes I remember Rumble and later Brennan. I drove by the excavation yesterday in fact. I was raised in the Hamilton area (Ancaster) and as such didn't normally see the Toronto dealers in the heart of the city before the 1980s. I remember seeing and visiting Robertson Motors ("Old Reliable" was what the dealer nameplates said), a Chevrolet-Oldsmobile dealer that stood on the Danforth near Coxwell Ave. for 50 years. I guess it must be almost 20 years since they tore it down (hard to believe it has been that long!)I drove by the vacant Bob Johnston Chevrolet-Oldsmobile dealership this morning. Opened in the fall of '72, it has been vacant for 3 years this month. Farther east along Kingston Road stands the vacant Jim Davidson Dodge-Chrysler dealership. It closed suddenly in November 2008 after being a solid dealership since the 1940s. They used to sell DeSotos back in the day according to the nameplate I saw on a gorgeous 1961 Chrysler 300-F. I arrived 1 day too late for pictures with the signs still up. It was still the old style Mopar dealership with an elevated showroom, situated along Kingston Road back before the 401 existed and Kingston Road was the main highway.Our local car club (now defunct apparently) would put on a car show in the East End of Toronto at the Rylander Shopping Center. At one show I chatted with the owner of a 1971 MGB who told me his MGB was sold new on the very spot we were standing. I remember the days in Canada when British cars were all over the place. Gulliver Motors was a large BMC / British Leyland dealership in downtown Hamiton. I also remember Montclair Motors in downtown Hamilton as a Studebaker - Mercedes (later Mercedes - Datsun) dealership, although I also have Rover sedan brochure from them as well.

I'm attaching a picture I took of the vintage sign at the old Golden Mile Chev-Olds dealership on Eglinton Ave. just before they took it down. It was a real 1950s era sign from the days when "Golden Mile" described the post-war manufacturing prosperity of that stretch of road in Scarborough. Practically next door was the GM Scarborough Van Plant (formerly the GM Fridgidaire plant)

It is sad to see these old dealers disappearing.

On a happier note, at least City Pontiac-Buick-Cadillac is till around and thriving. Although they have replaced the Pontiac brand with Chevrolet, their sign still carried the Pontiac name. I had better grab a picture before that changes. My cousin used to be General Sales Manager there and would bring me all the brochures right at official introduction time of next years models. That could be the topic of a whole other thread

Golden Mile.jpg

-- Edited by 73SC on Friday 11th of March 2011 12:28:14 PM

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

Redneck Rydes wrote:

there was a Karbelt Speed and Custom up behind it....

1971 KARBELT - expanded to part of a highly visible location at 1830 Bayview Ave. in Toronto. Just one year later, they expanded again from their initial 5,000-sq. ft. to a larger 20,000-sq. ft. and finally in 1979 the Head Office and warehouse expanded to encompass the full 32,000-sq. ft. available. This location served as the Head Office until December 1995.

2drpost · Uber Guru

what happened to the golden mile sign? thought it was designated a historical whatever.

Ghost Post · Poncho Master!

Wow on the Rumble buildings!.
Big bummer on any and all of the cool old dealer signage lost!!!

On the Karbelt thing, I have a few more I can post if anybody cares but here below is one of the best pics I have of my buddy Carl during the glory years w/ 'Percy Also' his famous Karbelt sponsored Fiat!.
Rip Curly...miss ya' brother!.

~

-- Edited by Ghost Post on Friday 11th of March 2011 03:46:16 PM

Timrs2001 · Newbie

I think someone on here asked if there is a recording of the old Rumble radio ad. I found this awesome link of an old CHUM clip at http://rockradioscrapbook.ca/rivers-tribute.html. Click on the Tom Rivers, CHUM February 21, 1970 (31:57)

About halfway in there's a clip of the Ramble into Rumble ad. I listen to this whole thing when I'm driving and feel like I'm back home again. There's a lot of great memories.`

Enjoy,

Tim

Magician40 · Poncho Master!

The Fiat coupe being driven by Carl Roland was sponsored by Karbelt. I went to high school Winston Churchill with Carl and his brother Wayne. Great memories.
Brian

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

Great link! I'm currently listening to CKSL from London Ontario 1980. Just finished listening to an hour of London's rock station CJBK from 1974.

65Camino · Uber Guru

Interesting to read about Karbelt. I worked there for a while in the early eighties. Remember the wooden floors. Dreaded going downstairs to get stuff as there was no order but lots of dust.

long stroke · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I can not help but feel kind of sad myself and as a kid growing up in Toronto, i remember their jingle "Ramble into Rumble".

Greaser · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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