Brooklyn Parking Garage, Destroyed After 92 Years, Reveals Vintage Car Treasure Trove
Brooklyn’s “Auto Baby Sitters” was a parking garage that stood for nearly 100 years (92 years) before getting razed to make room for new development. The location of the massive parking complex will transition to a 79-unit apartment building. Before the ancient parking structure got pulled down, some incredibly cool vintage cars were pulled out and saved.
They pulled a 1959 Cadillac out of the Brooklyn parking garage
Let’s cut right to the chase and talk about the coolest car pulled from the Brooklyn parking garage; a 1959 Cadillac four-door sled.
This is one of the toughest-looking cars ever made. These Cadillacs, like the Series 62 and Coupe Deville, are about as long as a country mile. In New York, a car like this would have to go into a garage because parking one in the street would be nearly impossible. This Slick Black Cadillac came out of the parking garage looking like it’s been there for a long stretch. In fact, the team that pulled the Cadillac out found a 1984 North Carolina inspection sticker, as well as parking permits from Durham, NC, which expired in 1981 and 1984, respectively.
The problem with these long Caddys is that with all that bodywork, they are vulnerable to damage, which they almost always have. This one is no exception. The ‘59 caddy has dented, scratched, and crumbled bodywork in the rear quarter panel. Bits of trim are missing, and some of the damaged metal has rusted. Even with the damage and dirt, this Caddilac is a wonderful car to receive salvation from the dank Brooklyn parking garage.
Need a cheap mid-engined sports car?
The next interesting car to escape the defunct parking garage is a mid-’80s Pontiac Fiero. This redneck Ferrari was Pontiac’s attempt at copying the Italian thoroughbreds. While Fieros have yet to capture the hearts (and wallets) of collectors, these cheap little sports cars are well positioned to be a future collectible thanks to their properly sporty design, small footprint, and history of getting insane mods and body kits.
Can you buy an original New York Checker Cab?
In the most Brooklyn thing you’ll see this week, the team also pulled a proper Checker Cab that was lost to time in the depths of the Brooklyn parking garage. Although someone has painted over the iconic yellow paint with a sort of teal/blue, that color is giving way to the original yellow. The results are one of the coolest New York barn finds.
The Checker Marathon cabs are icons. They didn’t achieve this status by being great cars or anything; they did it by being ubiquitous in NYC from 1961 until 1982. In fact, according to The Drive, the last one retired from service as late as 1999.
A few other, less exciting cars were pulled out as well; a sixth-gen Mitsubishi Galant and a boogered W108 Mercedes. There is little other info on these cars as of now. We aren’t sure if the garage owns them now or if someone was paying the fees for them. All we know for sure is that we are glad they got saved.
