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Brooklyn’s 92-year-old “Auto Baby Sitters” parking garage is soon to be no more. Demolition permits were filed earlier this year, and the building, located at 827 Sterling Place in Brooklyn, New York, is set to become a 79-unit apartment building. But the most interesting thing to enthusiasts like us (besides that awesome sign) is what’s being dragged out of the place.
First up, there’s a four-door 1959 Cadillac sedan that looks like it hasn’t seen daylight—much less a car wash—in nearly 40 years. It rocks a 1984 North Carolina inspection sticker, as well as parking permits from the city of Durham, NC, which expired in 1981 and 1984. It’s also got mismatched license plates that look to be of a similar vintage.
The Caddy looks to be in rough shape, with dented bodywork, missing trim, and rust perforating its hood and sills, but it still wears three original hubcaps. Still, it’s pretty cool to unearth a land yacht from the era when tailfins reigned supreme, and I’d love to see AMMONYC’s Larry Kosilla work his magic on it.
Next, we have a Pontiac Fiero—GM’s ‘80s flirtation with a mid-engined econo-sports car. Judging by the exterior, it looks to be either a 1984 or 1985 model, but I’m not totally sure. It’s red, of course, and nearly as grimy as the Cadillac. It’s also missing part of its engine cover and has four flat tires. LeMons race car, anyone?
The ultimate New York “barn find” is an old Checker Marathon cab that curiously appears to have been painted blue at some point. The teal overcoat is flaking off, exposing its original taxi-yellow hue. Checker produced the Marathon virtually unchanged between 1961 and 1982, and it was the iconic New York City taxicab until the last one retired from service in 1999. Today, they’re mostly used as picture cars for film and TV productions and as wedding props, so seeing one on the street is a special treat. Behind the Checker, already loaded onto a flatbed hauler are a sixth-generation Mitsubishi Galant and an incomplete-looking W108 Mercedes.
It’s unclear who these cars belonged to, or if they’re changing hands now that the garage they were kept in is being demolished. But it’s neat to catch a glimpse of the automotive treasures that live among us, tucked away just out of sight. The new residents of 827 Sterling will have no idea what oil-burning dinosaurs slept there before, but we will.
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