Now the Beverly Hills Porsche-Audi dealership, the former Clock Market is a rare example of the drive-up businesses that sprouted along Wilshire Boulevard in the 1920s.

By making shopping in your own neighborhood more convenient than taking the streetcar downtown, drive-in markets played a crucial role in Los Angeles' evolution as a city of the automobile age.

The Clock Market's layout was typical of these stores, with covered grocer stalls arrayed around a parking lot. Yet it did have an unusual feature: a tower with one residential apartment.