Like its neighbor 6028 to the east, 6032 Hollywood Boulevard has home to a smorgasbord of automobile dealerships, including the first Toyota dealership in the USA.

The parcel was vacant until 1920 when siblings Frank Rich and Bessie Rich Garlock had a 1-story retail building constructed here. With space for 5 retail stores, it was addressed as 6030-6032-6034-6036-6038 Hollywood Boulevard. Rich & Garlock were the adult children of Edwin Rich, who owned the adjacent parcel (see 6028 Hollywood Boulevard). Their uncle was Sanford Rich, of 6048 Hollywood Boulevard, who had been mayor of Hollywood from 1904 to 1905 before it was annexed by the City of Los Angeles in 1910.

The building housed various small, mostly short-lived businesses- an automotive supply, a plumber, an architect, a hat shop, a luggage maker.

On June 2, 1928, local papers announced that the property had been leased to Leo G. Coryell, Hollywood Oakland-Pontiac dealer.

Though the papers stated that the existing 1-story building would be demolished and a new auto showroom built in its place at a cost of $20,000, that was either a mistake or a deliberate fib- the same day of the announcement, the siblings obtained a permit to modify the existing building at a cost of $20,000. From now on it would be 6032 Hollywood Boulevard.

Coryell had been a salesman for the Albertson Motor Company Dodge distributors. For several years in the early 1920s, the firm supplied a fleet of Dodges for the LAPD.

By 1927, Coryell was a dealer for Oakland and Pontiac automobiles. The Oakland Motor Car Company was founded in 1907 and purchased by General Motors (GM) in 1909. Pontiac was a also a GM brand, created in 1926.

Coryell had his formal opening for 6032, with motion pictures, lights, prizes and a general good time, on August 25, 1928.

 

H. H. Goodrich, president of Leo Coryell, Inc., took over the dealership in April 1932, now selling the Pontiac only as GM phased out the Oakland in 1931. He was only in business briefly and closed out the shop in November 1932.

 

 

On March 1, 1933, it was announced that Hudson Essex dealer Glenn B. Austin had opened a branch at 6032 for his used car department, The cars sold here were largely demonstrator models with only a few miles on them.

Named for department store owner Joseph L. Hudson, the Hudson Motor Car Company was founded in Detroit in 1909. The company introduced the Essex in 1919. It began phasing out the brand in 1932, replacing it with the Terraplane.

Austin was only here briefly, through May 1933. Hudson would return to this vicinity in 1941- when Sunset Motors moved next door at 6028. By then the Terraplane was no longer made- Hudson discontinued it in 1938.

From August 1933 to September 1935, 6032 Hollywood Boulevard served as an auction house.

In October 1935, 6032 again became a Pontiac dealership when Pontiac dealer A. E. (Ab) England announced that he was moving into what he called “one of the finest and best equipped automotive establishments in the movie capital.”  England and his brother C.P. England came to Hollywood from Phoenix, where they’d been in the auto business with their uncle O.T. England.

This section of the Boulevard was still fairly undeveloped at this point. The south side of the block was largely devoted to auto dealerships interspersed by the shaded lawns of the Mountain View Inn. Across the street, there was the Marcal Theater and some small retail buildings but the rural Brokaw property was still undeveloped, but for a defunct miniature golf course. That would change between the years 1936 and 1940 when the Palms Grill, Hawaii Theater, Florentine Gardens and Hollywood Food Mart were built.

Many auto manufacturers like Pontiac were already working on military contracts prior to the US entry into World War II. Domestic auto production shut down in February 1942 as the auto industry turned 100% to the war effort. Dealers like A.E. England focused on maintaining and repairing existing cars in the service departments and buying and selling used models.

A. E. England Pontiac moved out of 6032 after September 1944, relocating up the block at 6161 Hollywood Boulevard.

6032 again languished as an automotive building. It became the new home of the Hollywood Gun Shop from March 1945 through December 1949. The shop also sold items such as bicycles, fishing rods and reels and other sporting goods equipment. It moved to the former Paul G. Hoffman Studebaker building at 6116 Hollywood Boulevard.

In March 1950, the building returned to automotive use as the showroom of “Roi’s of Hollywood” used cars. Roi’s remained here through early June 1950.

On June 22, 1950 it became Hollywood Nash. Nash had previously operated next door at 6028 in 1936 to 1937 when 6032 was a Pontiac dealership. Nash Motors Co. had become Nash-Kelvinator Corporation in January 1937, and operated as the automotive division of Kelvinator, manufacturer of refrigerators and other appliances.

Nash Motors Company, based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was founded by former GM president Charles W. Nash in 1916 when he acquired the Thomas B. Jeffrey Co., which had manufactured a horseless carriage called the Rambler from 1902 to 1914. Nash introduced its Rambler for the 1950 model year along with the Nash Statesman and the Nash Ambassador. The Rambler was considered a compact car for the time. Nash began using the distinctive “Airflyte” aerodynamic body styling in 1949.

In November 1950, manager Ted Faull announced that a modernization and reorganization of the space was nearing completion. Customers would now be able to enter the service department from Hollywood Boulevard but would exit onto Carlton Way, thereby avoiding traffic on the Boulevard. This indicates the dealership must have been routing customers along the south (rear) part of the property, and to the east past 6028 and 6000 Hollywood Boulevard to the alley called Brokaw Place that connected Hollywood Boulevard to Carlton Way between 6000 and the Mountain View Inn at 5956 Hollywood Boulevard.

Hollywood Nash remained here through December 1953. It moved to 5239 Sunset Boulevard. In 1954, Nash-Kelvinator merged with Hudson to form the American Motors Corporation (AMC).

From January 1954 to May 1957, 6032 was used by J. F. O’Connor and Son  Lincoln-Mercury, who had moved to 6028 in 1949, and then by O’Connor’s successor, Pearson Lincoln-Mercury. By this time both parcels were owned by Mark M. Hansen of the Marcal Theater and his wife Ida. Hansen had acquired 6032 by 1940 and 6028 as of 1952 for sure. Pearson left in May 1957 when Hollywood Ford took over 6028 Hollywood Boulevard. Likely Ford was using this property as well.

 

In July 1957, Reuters and other news correspondents reported that the Toyota Motor Company of Nagoya, Japan was to begin exporting its Toyopet passenger cars in the USA, an attempt to capture the growing market her for smaller, more fuel efficient cars. Toyota officials scouted locations and decided that Hollywood was the ideal place to open its first dealership.

 

Los Angeles Toyota fans with a paid admission to the Imported Motor Cars Show, held at the Shrine Auditorium January 9-19, 1958, got to see the new Toyopet Crown- the first showing in the USA.

While the show was still underway, on January 18, 1958, the Hollywood Citizen-News reported that Toyota had been granted a license to sell their vehicles in California. Toyota sales director Masuyuki Kato announced that their first dealership would open at 6032 Hollywood Boulevard in February 1958. On March 1, the paper reported that Toyopet parts had arrived at Los Angeles Harbor, bound for the brand’s showroom at 6032 Hollywood Boulevard. The cars themselves were expected in late March. The article indicates there was a Toyota Land Cruiser, 2 station wagons and 4 passenger cars on hand here. These were likely demonstrator models and not for sale.

 

 

Late March came and went. The first shipment of Toyopets for retail sale arrived at LA Harbor on June 20, 1958 and would be available for public viewing on July 18. That date got pushed back to July 31, 1958. And when the Toyopets were finally put on the market, it does not appear that they were sold at 6032 Hollywood Boulevard, after all.  Holt Motor Company Dodge-Plymouth dealer in the Valley at 5230 Van Nuys Boulevard claimed the first public showing. A local Toyopet ad published July 31, 1958 lists all the So Cal Toyopet dealerships. 6032 Hollywood Boulevard is not mentioned. If Toyopet vehicles were being sold or displayed here at this time, it wasn’t hyped.

 

In September 1959, Stan Brucks Oldsmobile had an import division called Brucks Imports at 6032 Hollywood Boulevard, and was an authorized dealer of the Toyopet along with other import makes- including Triumph and Singer motor cars from Britain and the Volvo.

 

Brucks continued to advertise here through November 1959.

July 21, 1961 was the first advertisement for Hollywood Toyota Motor, Inc. at 6032 Hollywood Boulevard.

Hollywood Toyota moved to a new building at 1000 N. Vermont Avenue May 24-26, 1968, and later moved again to 6161 Hollywood Boulevard- the onetime home of A. E. England Pontiac.

The address 6032 Hollywood Boulevard does not appear to have been used after Toyota moved out. In June 1970, Hollywood Ford at 6000 Hollywood Boulevard had all extant structures on 6032 and 6028 demolished and the entire property from 6000 to the corner of Gower was addressed as 6000 Hollywood Boulevard.  Hollywood Toyota moved back to this location (as 6000 Hollywood Boulevard) in 1983. Today it remains Hollywood Toyota.