Ships Passed in the Night

The last Ships coffee shop shut down in 1995, but the chain -- once a vibrant example of mid-century Googie architecture -- lived on in spirit at the corner of La Cienega and Olympic.

Until recently.

Even though a Union 76 gas station sits where Ships once lived, the coffeeshop's signs remained:



When a truck rental company moved in next door, it even decided to take advantage of one of the two pre-existing signs, and renamed itself Ships Truck Rental (adding the words "Truck Rental" to where it once said, "Always Open"):



The truck rental shop is gone now, and new construction has gone up. The gas station is still there, but I was disappointed to see recently that the Ships signs are gone. I'm hoping the Museum of Neon Art found a way to preserve them, but does anyone know the fate of the Ships signs?

Update: Oops! Kevin notes that the Ships on La Cienega was actually next to the 76 station. My bad!