Sunday, January 25, 2009

Flint Artifacts: Vern Parsell Nameplate


UPDATE: John said...

Do you know those little confectionery chocolate drops with tiny white candies embedded on the top? They're called "nonpareils." But in my family, they are called Vern Parsells.




7 comments:

  1. Do you know those little confectionery chocolate drops with tiny white can candies embedded on the top? They're called "nonpareils." But in my family, they are called Vern Parsells....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Vern was a friend of mine. May have been one of the best promoters in the car business. His early use of TV was far ahead of it's time. I will always fondly remember "The 'ole Ringmaster"!

    I was there when his family spread his ashes in the pond at #18 at Warwick Hills. Warwick, The Buick Open and Vern Parsell should always be said together.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I always liked it because my granfather's name was Vern.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Big 3 dealerships of days yore...

    Slivka Buick
    MacGillilvray Buick
    Blain Buick
    Parsell Buick
    Eastside Buick

    Knickerbocker Oldsmobile

    Summerfield Chevrolet

    Bennett Ford
    Graff Ford

    ReplyDelete
  5. To add to Würstside Warlørd's list: Applegate Chevrolet. I bought my first new car there in 1969 for $1,100.00 using a credit coupon book at 1.5% interest. A 1970 Vega. I lived 2 miles away but I think the Vega started rusting out before I was 1/2 way home. I learned early to hate GM but I learned it too slowly. I bought 5 more Cevy models and 1 Olds before I woke up and went Japanese in 1984. I wish as part of the bailout, they would have to return with interest all the money I wasted.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Does anyone remember when Blain Buick offered special Century and Regals in the spring of '74, 75' & '76...special paint colors like pink or lilac? All of them had special flowered landau tops? Flowered like your mom's shelf paper or the vinyl cushions on your glider? I was in flint last week, drove the length of Clio Road and thought about those landau tops...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wasn't Vern Parcells Buick where the Koerts glass shop was?

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.