A Drive Through downtown Los Angeles in 1948

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It’s 1948, and a sunny day in old Los Angeles. You’ve got your driving gloves on and are taking the Cadillac for a Sunday drive through Bunker Hill.

Come along for the ride through Bunker Hill and downtown Los Angeles in this high-quality footage from the 1940s of downtown Los Angeles from a moving vehicle.

The ride starts in Bunker Hill, around 569 W 2nd St. The camera is facing SE overlooking the 2nd street tunnel and Hill Street. Down below is the intersection with Olive St. The vehicle pulls off and they go up the hill, west on Second. They soon turn left/South on Grand Avenue.

Old Bunker Hill

Bunker Hill, which has changed so much it would be hardly recognisable today. All the Victorian houses and most of the buildings you see in this video are gone now, replaced with highrise office buildings. The few places you might still recognise are City Hall and the Biltmore.

The Bunker Hill area has gone through a massive transformation, making it virtually unrecognisable today. They replaced the Victorian houses and most structures in this footage with towering office blocks. City Hall and the Biltmore are likely to be the only places that still look familiar.

Bunker Hill was once the residential neighborhood of the wealthy, but by the time of this film, it had become dilapidated. They tore it all down in the years to come and replaced it with mostly high-rise apartments and office blocks.

Stunning Old Cars and a Sign of the Times

In the film, you can catch sight of a few beautiful old cars from the time. We identified a ’47 Mercury in one part. Lovely car. If you spotted any, let us know.

See if you can spot the sign that says “paint any car for $32.50”. That won’t even fill up your tank anymore!