Car Wash 1950s - 1960s - Centre de lavage auto

Five Points is a car wash. In Whittier. That looks like it's about to launch into outer space. There ain't much more to say about it than that.




Five Points Hand Car Wash (Whittier, CA) – This sign dates back to 1963, the height of the Googie movement, when this car wash first opened its doors to the public. Back then it would continuously rotate 360 degrees. But when I came across it in 2012, it had been sitting still for over 20 years. Even worse, this iconic sign is now considered illegal since it no longer meets zoning code requirements and is scheduled to be taken down by 2017. However, there is still some hope… In 2010, new owners purchased the car wash and brought with them a spirit of preservation. They are among the many individuals who consider this sign one of the most authentic examples of Googie architecture still in existence. Efforts are ongoing to designate it as a historical landmark, which would provide protection and avoid its removal altogether – the ideal solution. This is yet another example of the kinds of preservation issues that vintage signs and other roadside attractions all across the US are facing.Five Points Hand Car Wash (Whittier, CA) – This sign dates back to 1963, the height of the Googie movement, when this car wash first opened its doors to the public. Back then it would continuously rotate 360 degrees. But when I came across it in 2012, it had been sitting still for over 20 years. Even worse, this iconic sign is now considered illegal since it no longer meets zoning code requirements and is scheduled to be taken down by 2017. However, there is still some hope… In 2010, new owners purchased the car wash and brought with them a spirit of preservation. They are among the many individuals who consider this sign one of the most authentic examples of Googie architecture still in existence. Efforts are ongoing to designate it as a historical landmark, which would provide protection and avoid its removal altogether – the ideal solution. This is yet another example of the kinds of preservation issues that vintage signs and other roadside attractions all across the US are facing.

Googie-style car wash on El Camino Real in Santa Clara, CA. The roof is supported by a succession of steel boomerangs with ornamental swiss cheese holes

Significance: Castle Car Wash was built in 1925 and is the last remaining historic gas station structure on Route 66 (Ogden Avenue) in the city limits. Chicago was the eastern terminus of Route 66. Originally Murphy's Filling Station, the building stopped functioning as a filling station in 1966 and later became a car wash. The Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program of the National Park Service recognizes this building, with its unique castle design, as one-of-a-kind along the roadway and in April of 2005, the building was determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.


Current Condition and/or Status: Castle Car Wash is currently owned by a towing company and is vacant and minimally maintained. In early 2008, due to safety violations, the owner removed the distinctive crenellation at the top of the tower. Castle Car Wash is indicative of a disappearing building type – the uniquely designed early-20th century filling station.



http://www.landmarks.org/2008_1.htm



Castle Car Wash
3801 W Ogden Ave
Chicago, IL 60623
United States

Premier is a car wash. In Encino. That looks like it's about to explode. There ain't much more to say about it than that.



The Premier Car Wash was built in 1966. It was originally known as the Auto Laundry

The Googie-style car wash is a fairly common building type across Los Angeles, but few of them retain their spectacular original details like this Encino specimen. Designed by an unknown architect for owners Mandel, Helfing, and Lash and completed in 1966, the car wash at 17438 Ventura Boulevard was originally known as the Auto Laundry.



It features a flat roof with wide overhanging eaves sheltering the actual washing process as well as spaces for a customer waiting room and cashier area. The building is a simple steel affair, with its robust framework serving as decoration as well as structural support. The roof is supported and pierced by enormous vertical, angular steel beams that shoot up into the air, each topped by an inverted triangle holding aloft a three-dimensional atomic starburst.



The mere shape of the building advertises it as a car wash, and the starburst-crowned vertical beams cannot fail to draw the eye. But just to make sure, massive signage also spells out C-A-R-[PREMIER]-W-A-S-H along the edge of the low metal roof. An additional vertical pole sign stands tall on the street to announce the presence of the business. If you had to choose one Googie car wash along Ventura as your favorite, this one wouldn't be the only option—but it might just be the best.

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