Mercedes Benz dealer Picture, Seattle, 1959

[Pawel66]

From fb, maybe of interest to someone.

[mdsalemi]

This same dealership (though I cannot tell you if it was the same location) once had a famous mural painted on the side of the building...the attached was a photo by former member Bob Goodman of his car in front of the mural at Phil Smart Mercedes. The name of the mural was “Driving into Serenity” I believe, and done by artist Eric Grohe. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/8126524/Amazing-3D-murals-painted-on-drab-city-walls-by-Eric-Grohe.html

[Pawel66]

Fantastic mural! Scary and dangerous too...

[Jack the Knife]

This same dealership (though I cannot tell you if it was the same location) once had a famous mural painted on the side of the building...the attached was a photo by former member Bob Goodman of his car in front of the mural at Phil Smart Mercedes. The name of the mural was done by artist Eric Grohe. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/8126524/Amazing-3D-murals-painted-on-drab-city-walls-by-Eric-Grohe.html

You're certain the artist wasn't Wile E. Coyote? 

There were some interesting Mercedes dealers over the years. We should have a thread of photos of the dealerships. Some years ago, I was looking at purchasing a former Mercedes dealer from the 50s/60s on behalf of my business, which led to a general interest in the earlier dealerships in Florida. Those that were converted from Studebaker/Packard dealers around here were often in some pretty swank buildings, such as what's today the Maus and Hoffmann on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach.

[MikeSimon]

I saw that on FB and was wondering whether the Gullwing visible in the window was a leftover new one or a used car. Somehow I recall someone saying the car remained in the family.

[Richard S]

That beautiful mural on the former Phil Smart dealership was immediately painted over by the new owner.  A blank wall now graces the building.  Why?  No one knows.  What a loss!

[mdsalemi]

That beautiful mural on the former Phil Smart dealership was immediately painted over by the new owner.  A blank wall now graces the building.  Why?  No one knows.  What a loss!

A loss indeed. Thankfully it lives on in many photos taken over the years. Aside from this mural, the artist has many others still in place in a number of locations.

[Pawel66]

Do you think they might have gotten rid of this mural as they were sued by someone who, actually, hit that wall?

[mdsalemi]

Do you think they might have gotten rid of this mural as they were sued by someone who, actually, hit that wall?

https://youtu.be/LRrk5hOte_c?si=kMbhoqd3UH964beC

There’s a contract attached to each of Grohe’s murals around the country, requiring a building’s owner to contact the artist if the painting is changed in any way. Back in the summer of 2013, the artist was told the dealership cut a door into the mural. That was quite a shock to the artist. He tried to figure out what was going on and what their plans were for the mural but couldn't get anyone to respond to calls.

The dealership was sold in 2011. The mural was painted over in 2013. A case of “forget the contract; it’s our building and we’ll do what we want…”

As real as the mural looks when seeing a 2D representation of it--a photograph--it is designed as a "trompe l'oeil," an artistic piece designed to fool the eye. I sincerely doubt (unless one was visually impaired with monocular vision) one would mistake it for a real portal to serenity...up close, in your own stereo 3D vision, it would look like what it was: a mural.