Just like the sign says, and more

Don’t let the sign, or signs, fool you. Good Used Cars is still a pre-owned car lot, although it’s fair to say for years it has been stretching the definition to encompass descriptors like curiosity, museum or portalthrough-time.

Anyone would be forgiven for thinking, from its appearance, that the 22-year-old business, at the corner of Fisher Road and the Trans-Canada Highway in Cobble Hill, is some kind of antique market or hipster haven.

Vintage gas-station signs compete with the business’s banner sign for attention on the outside, while countless others shilling cigarettes, auto parts and soda pop adorn the inside.

“It’s a nice atmosphere for the customers,” said general sales manager Keith Hamilton, who joined the firm about two years ago after working in new-car dealerships in Victoria. “In fact, in the summer we get a lot of people just coming in. They’re not looking for a car, but they just want to come in and have a look around.

“It’s pretty cool, it’s like a mini museum.”

The collection shows off both authentic old signs and paraphernalia as well as some replica work — most of it autorelated, though not exclusively — and it includes cabinets with vintage toys, die-cast metal cars, bottles, Pez dispensers, Coke machines, gas pumps and all manner of curiosities from decades ago. The collection is always growing, and people often drop off signs to add to it, Hamilton said.

It started with owner Richard Bond, who founded the company in Duncan in 1994. Although he has more or less retired, sons Cameron and Robin still work in the business.

The firm moved to its current Cobble Hill location about 15 years ago, and along with the fleet of used cars, it brought the collection of signs and artifacts.

The 1,000-square-foot main building and showroom are covered in the collectibles, with a secondary building on the site also well decked-out.

“The Bond [family] have collected the signs for more than 20 years, and a lot of people have tried to buy them, but I always say no,” Hamilton said.

The operation of the car lot reflects the decor of the business. Hamilton said there are no salesmen in ties, and the idea is to create a comfortable and no-pressure sales environment.

“And it’s a fun place to come to work every day; we have a good time here,” he said.

Good Used Cars sales manager Keith Hamilton: “In the summer we get a lot of people just coming in. They’re not looking for a car, they just want to come in and have a look around.”

Hamilton says the original owners collected nostalgic signs for more than 20 years, “and a lot of people have tried to buy them, but I always say no.”

Clockwise from above: • Salesman Mike Irving works surrounded by some of the historic memorabilia in the Good Used Cars office at the corner of Fisher Road and the TransCanada Highway in Cobble Hill.

Cabinets with vintage toys, die-cast metal cars, bottles, Pez dispensers, Coke machines, gas pumps and other memorabilia line the walls.

Hamilton with the used cars that give the firm its name: “It’s a fun place to come to work every day; we have a good time here.”