Beverly Hills Cadillac Dealer Closes Doors

What is the world coming to? You can’t even buy a new Cadillac in Beverly Hills anymore.

That’s the sad situation since Hillcrest Motor Co., the only Cadillac dealer in the affluent city, recently closed its sales and service operations, apparently as a result of high real estate values and growing sales of expensive imports. Hillcrest will retain only a car-leasing showroom at 9230 Wilshire Blvd.

Since 1927, Hillcrest had sold Cadillacs to the well-heeled of Beverly Hills. Its countless celebrity clients ranged from silent screen star Clara Bow to rock ‘n’ roll king Elvis Presley, according to James B. Duffy III, a 16-year employee who is now curator of the company’s collection of rare and antique cars.

“Elvis always bought his cars here, and sometimes he bought eight or 10 at a time,” Duffy said. “They were not all new cars. Some were used. But a sale is a sale.”

In a written statement, Hillcrest President Willet H. Brown said he decided to close the sales and service facilities “to free up the considerable real estate holdings, primarily on Wilshire Boulevard . . . so that they can be developed to a much bigger and more profitable use.”

Edward I. Brown (no relation to the owner), who has just completed a term as Beverly Hills mayor, said city officials are concerned about the loss of Hillcrest and the potential closure of other car dealers.

“Dealerships provide a tremendous amount of sales taxes to the city, and Hillcrest is a major contributor (of sales tax revenue),” he said. “By losing them, we lose that source of revenue.” Auto dealerships provided about $1 million in sales taxes to Beverly Hills last year.

Despite his lament, however, the mayor acknowledged that property in Beverly Hills is so valuable that it may not make economic sense to use it for car dealerships that require a substantial amount of space.

Changing Tastes Cited

The former Hillcrest properties most likely will be developed for three-story office or medical buildings, he said.

Local auto dealers also said changing tastes of the affluent affected sales of Cadillacs in Beverly Hills. Younger people whose parents bought Cadillacs now often buy European imports such as Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs. And that, plus the increased value of the Hillcrest real estate, made the demise of the dealership practically inevitable.

One dealer said the cost of land in Beverly Hills eventually may push out all of the city’s auto dealers, especially on pricey Wilshire Boulevard.

Of the city’s six remaining dealers, only two are wholly located on Wilshire; two have showrooms on Wilshire and service facilities in less expensive neighborhoods of West Los Angeles, and two are on Olympic Boulevard.

“It’s my personal opinion that in 10 years I don’t think that you’ll find any of us here,” said John Beven, sales manager of Gregg Motors Rolls-Royce of Beverly Hills.

He said the cost of doing business in Beverly Hills can be absorbed more easily by those who sell ultra-luxury Rolls-Royces and Aston Martins, while dealers selling other makes face competition from those elsewhere offering discount prices.

End of an Era

For Duffy, the end of the Hillcrest sales and service operation is also the end of an era.

“Fathers would buy their cars at Hillcrest, and when the next generation came up, they would too,” he said wistfully. “Even the employees stayed with us. It was a store to work in, and retire from.”