TEG

I drove by today and all I could see was that a (chain link) fence had been installed around the place. It looked like there was a light on in one of the back service bays, so maybe someone is doing something inside, but outside it still looks run down and faded.

Kardax

There's obviously no rush if 2008 is sold out and no existing customers will need service for a while :)

-Ryan / Kardax

doug

With the LA center officially open, I thought we'd revisit the Menlo Park location.
This place is just off the Stanford main campus. I pass it every time I go grocery shopping at Safeway. A couple weeks ago, on my way back from the store, I blindly took a couple shots with my camera as I drove by. Sorry they're not too good. I kept my eyes on the road in front of me.




It looks like they've only done some basic things to the exterior. Patched up some cracks in the siding, etc. Sometimes when I drive past at night, I've seen lights on in that back garage, suggesting some activity back there. I once recognized a Tesla employee at the Japanese restaurant just across the street. That might have just been a coincidence, but it might also suggest something is going on in there. ;-)

doug

This particular stretch of El Camino used to have 3 or 4 car dealerships right next to each other. They've all closed down in the past several years.
If you look at this "Bird's eye" view from MS Live Maps and rotate the camera angle, you can see what the place looked like while still in business and after it shut down depending on when the image was taken.
Still in business
Out of business

It would be nice if MSFT and Google would time stamp their map images.

doug

The editor at the TM blog said, "We are targeting July for the opening of the Menlo Park Store."

TEG

You should have seen the time when someone jackhammered the "hetch-hetchy" water main in front of the Stanford Park hotel. It flooded that site (formerly Anderson Chevrolet) and there were lots of Corvettes floating around.

doug

I vaguely remember hearing about the floating cars some time ago. When was that? I had a friend/lab mate who lived in the apartment above the Oasis. Sometimes we'd have night shifts on the accelerator. He'd complain about how it was impossible to sleep at home during the day from all the El Camino noise. It was even worse when there was construction going on.


Do you know if there are any conceptual mock-up images of the Menlo Park site similar to these?

doug

Took another couple shots while stopped at a red light last night. Good thing I was driving the convertible.




Looks like maybe they're gutting the place. Don't know what the deal is with all the pallets.

Brent

I remember all those dealerships back in the late '80s when I'd make the odd bicycle slog to Safeway. Gone! Jeez -- I guess the riches of Silicon Valley didn't extend to buying cars in the neighborhood.

doug

I've been here less than a decade and as far as I know most of them were still open back in 2000 or so.