Bob Peck Chevrolet
The dealership featured a transparent circular showroom made of glass with a butterfly roofline of the diamond-shaped, blue panels spelling “Chevrolet.”
If you've driven down Glebe Road in Ballston over the past few years, you might have noticed the diamond-shaped design on the facade of a new office building at 800 N. Glebe Rd.
The diamond shape was chosen to commemorate Bob Peck Chevrolet, which stood at the same location from 1964 until 2006. In 1939, Bob Peck and his business partner Lawrence Kenyon opened the Kenyon-Peck Chevrolet in Clarendon. But in 1942, with the onset of World War II, the federal government ordered automobile manufacturers to cease production and instead turn their attention to making military vehicles and other essential military items. Peck and Kenyon survived the declining new car business by selling used cars and servicing vehicles.
Peck and Kenyon ran the business together until the early 1950s, when Kenyon left the business, and Peck changed the name to Peck Chevrolet.
In 1964, Bob Peck opened a showroom in Ballston at the corner of North Glebe Road and Wilson Boulevard.
This location—designed by local architect Anthony Musolino—instantly became an iconic Arlington landmark. The dealership featured a transparent circular showroom made of glass with a butterfly roofline of diamond-shaped, blue panels spelling “Chevrolet.”
The car dealership flourished there and stayed in business until 2006. Bob Peck was one of the first car dealers to appear in his commercials and some remember him juggling in these commercials.
Although Peck Chevrolet was demolished in 2006, a replica of the distinctive blue and diamond roofline, along with a Bob Peck historical marker, now welcomes visitors to the office building that took its place.
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