Vauxhall/Opel Dealerships

[andy18s]

The last Exclusives had salt water injected into the sills on the production line....Fakt!!!

[Sir Snipes]

Thinking about it, F was probably the last Manta. I thought I had a G Buth both my GTEs were 88/Es.

When did DTV shut up shop? That must have been a bit earlier, possibily when the rally Mantas were retired.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

DTV and DOT became GM sport or something after the Chevette was pensioned off in 83/84, I think.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

[Hendry]

Mantas were uber cool as fuck IMO. shame most are rotten or long since dead now.

 

The last Opel I saw other than Motorpoint imported stuff and some Greenhous DX59 Insignias and some Opel Astra VXR VXR Nurburgrings on a 59, i.e. UK Opels other than Mantas was my nana and papas neighbours who had a W plate white Opel Ascona which was traded in for a brand spanking new G reg white Seat Ibiza in 1990. 

 

I also dont see boy racers obsessions with rebadging their Vauxhalls to Opels, cant see why thats seen as a "cool" modification, especially when they dont do it right, they do the rear tailgate badge, the grille badge and the wheel centre caps, but not the steering wheel airbag badge or the key, Opel keys and airbags are available and easy to get, do it right or not at all IMO. 

[Guest]

I worked at Reekie Motors in Cupar, before it went to Curtis. Reekie were a long standing dealership,who also sold Subaru and Isuzu from Farmec next door. They also sold AMC,and Jeep in the 70's. My brother worked there in the 70's too when they had the US franchise. I do remember sellingBedford Astravans and Brava's but these soon changed to Vauxhall, and we also had a run of Astra Mk3's which were coming in with Opel grille and tailgate badges,but Vauxhall wheeltrims and steering wheels. I don't remeber any Opels and don't recall selling a Manta,although there were brochures in the showroom.

[Hendry]

I worked at Reekie Motors in Cupar, before it went to Curtis. Reekie were a long standing dealership,who also sold Subaru and Isuzu from Farmec next door. They also sold AMC,and Jeep in the 70's. My brother worked there in the 70's too when they had the US franchise. I do remember sellingBedford Astravans and Brava's but these soon changed to Vauxhall, and we also had a run of Astra Mk3's which were coming in with Opel grille and tailgate badges,but Vauxhall wheeltrims and steering wheels. I don't remeber any Opels and don't recall selling a Manta,although there were brochures in the showroom.

 

Did Gordon Curtis take them over as well, I originally always thought Curtis originally always ran Vauxhall in Dunfermline, Cupar, Dalgety Bay and Kirkcaldy because all those branches seemed to be around as far back as I could remember, but then I discovered Reekie were the Cupar Vauxhall franchise, SVL were the Kirkcaldy dealer, and Flear & Thomson the Nissan and Kia dealer used to be Vauxhall, so im not sure when Curtis opened or infact started dealing in Vauxhalls and what they sold before that.

 

I remember Reekie Hyundai Stirling, but Reekie is/was primarily an agricultural equipment company if I remember rightly, and are now merged with Hamilton Bros another agriculture company who used to be a relatively big player in the motor trade, as well as Ross of Lanark agriculture who were until recently also a Vauxhall dealer. 

 

Another dealer I thought of was Pypers Coupar Angus, bit of a weird one because seemingly they stopped the Vauxhall franchise in 1997, but I once saw for sale a 53 plate Mazda 323 with their plates on with Vauxhall logos either side of their logo like they were still a Vauxhall dealer, and round about 2007 they were selling brand new 888 tuned Astra H Sporthatch 1.9 CDTi SRI XP 150bhps. 

 

Then further down there was Allison Motors Port William and Newton Stewart, one was a main dealer, the other Network Q used sales, they recently lost the franchise for sales.

 

Then James Haugh Castle Douglas, 2 sites, one for sales and a petrol forecourt, the other for service and repairs, they were a Vauxhall new car dealer for many years, then they took over Coles of Dumfries, so stopped Vauxhall new cars in Castle Douglas but kept the service, repairs, warranty and parts franchise, for some reason they ran both branches as entirely separate unrelated companies, even had different trading names and web addresses, the Castle Douglas branch/company hit financial issues and closed while the Dumfries one was entirely unaffected. 

[chaseracer]

I dont remember Vauxhall and/or Opel dealers ever selling American GM stuff...

 

The Vauxhall dealer on the Lichfield bypass (Steve Thompson, I think) sold Cadillacs and Corvettes alongside the usual stuff for a while from the late 90s.  I'm guessing it was official as they had the appropriate signage up on the building.

[warren t claim]

Along a similar theme, what about Peugeot and Talbot dealers?

[Sir Snipes]

The Vauxhall dealer on the Lichfield bypass (Steve Thompson, I think) sold Cadillacs and Corvettes alongside the usual stuff for a while from the late 90s.  I'm guessing it was official as they had the appropriate signage up on the building.

 

Yes they sold C5 Corvettes and Gen 4 Camaros in Vauxhall dealerships as offical imports with warranties. They were a fair wack more expensive than private imports and still LHD so sold very poorly.

[simmo]

Along a similar theme, what about Peugeot and Talbot dealers?

 

There was a chap on here a while back compiling a list of Peugeot (defunct?) dealers, sorry I am far too lazy to look for it.

I worked at a Peugeot dealers at the time that they teamed up with Talbot.  That was a sad thing to happen.

[Lacquer Peel]

The Chevy Blazer did well*.

[Timewaster]

Still thinking about the dealerships we had in our town.

 

1.Vauxhall. Set up in the seventies, taken over in the eighties, bust in the nineties and now back in the hands of the original owner as a van sales pitch.

2. Fiat, Datsun, closed down. Peugeot, Closed down, Vauxhall, closed down, now a convenience store.

3. Austin Morris and all BL incarnations, Fiat and Old Rover specialist, now a Christian Lighthouse centre.

4. BL, Citroen -very briefly, VW, closed down, VW, Now a car park.

5. Ford. Been around for years, moved to new premises, went bust. About 5 different owners, now Kia

6. Nissan. Ran for about 10 years. Now an MOT centre.

7. Skoda. Little village garage. Tin shed "showroom". Major facelift in the VW era. Just gone to Suzuki.

 

Small town dealers seem to be almost extinct. Most are now on retail parks in bigger cities. Shame.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

There were a couple of Blazers around Luton with 2.2 Dti engines in them, presumably for evaluation. One seemed to end up as a security site vehicle and I remember at least one turning up on Autotrader a few years ago.

Presumably they were too gutless, the Blazer is a hefty old lump, they were almost as popular as Montereys.

[Guest]

Did Gordon Curtis take them over as well, I originally always thought Curtis originally always ran Vauxhall in Dunfermline, Cupar, Dalgety Bay and Kirkcaldy because all those branches seemed to be around as far back as I could remember, but then I discovered Reekie were the Cupar Vauxhall franchise, SVL were the Kirkcaldy dealer, and Flear & Thomson the Nissan and Kia dealer used to be Vauxhall, so im not sure when Curtis opened or infact started dealing in Vauxhalls and what they sold before that.

 

 

 

Curtis didn't take them over ,Reekie basically refused to build a big new glass showroom,which Curtis then did on the outskirts of Cupar, which didn't last too long. Now a Ford dealer.. Reekies was flattened and is now Tesco. I worked for Flear and Thomson (Vauxhall) in Leslie also for a while, but they had lost the franchise at that time,but still had an approved workshop. Now a car wash and closed hardware store. SVL Kirkcaldy were previously SMT Vauxhall- building is being demolished now for flats.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

I remember the Row of trees garage in Row of trees, Cheshire (now described as part of Alderley edge by estate agents as it sounds more aspirational). It is houses now. It is too far back for me to remember it as an Opel garage, but I remember it as Vauxhall-Opel. I have one of their keyrings somewhere, it is blue.

[warren t claim]

 

The Opel dealer is now a builders yard but the Vauxhall dealer is still there.

[mercrocker]

Many of these small town and village dealers were not actually tied to a particular brand.    In the village where I worked at the Opel showroom there had previously been an offshoot of the Rootes dealer from across the river.    Although they were ostensibly Hillman agents they would get you anything.   Similarly, I remember my Grandfather buying his first P6 Rover from a VW dealer where I live now.    That was in 1967 and its still a VW dealer although it used to handle Messerschmitts as well.

 

Dealers were not so tied as they are now and people who bought new cars mostly just paid list price and did not dream of obtaining any discount.   It was therefore possible for dealers to profit from a one-off sale, particularly if they got some service work out of it or even just a regular call for 4 star ( or in Grandad's case 5 star!)

[Hendry]

Curtis didn't take them over ,Reekie basically refused to build a big new glass showroom,which Curtis then did on the outskirts of Cupar, which didn't last too long. Now a Ford dealer.. Reekies was flattened and is now Tesco. I worked for Flear and Thomson (Vauxhall) in Leslie also for a while, but they had lost the franchise at that time,but still had an approved workshop. Now a car wash and closed hardware store. SVL Kirkcaldy were previously SMT Vauxhall- building is being demolished now for flats.

 

Ah! Yeah I knew Curtis of Cupar had moved to Perth selling cars by appointment and Curtis Dalgety Bay Chevrolet was took over by Peter Vardy who put it back to Vauxhall.

 

Ford dealer is Cupar Ford Centre isnt it? used to be based elsewhere in Cupar? Im fairly sure that as well as Dalkeith Ford Centre were Laidlaw, then Bramall Laidlaw branches before they were took over by Evans Halshaw, and closed down around 2007 when Evans Halshaw rationalised their dealer network after the Vardy takeover and closed a lot of smaller branches. Then someone approached Ford to regain the franchise and re-opened the sites. 

 

I didnt realise Flear & Thomson operated in Leslie, I had assumed their Vauxhall franchise had ran from the Pittencrieff Street premises which were/are now Nissan and Kia franchises. 

 

Yeah I remember SMT well, if i remember rightly they were a really really big group, as in massive in the 80s, much bigger than Arnold Clark, and at some point changed to Lex Service and sold a lot of their dealerships off in the early 90s, and then eventually the rest in the late 90s and most ended up in Arnolds mitts anyway, places like Ritchies Fiat, Ferrari and Lancia in Glasgow, Croall & Croall Fiat Edinburgh, Merrylee Motors VW Glasgow x2, Dundee and Falkirk, and various SMT branded places like SMT Rover, Land Rover & Jaguar Greenock, SMT Vauxhall Stirling (later Ian Grieve and now Arnies) SMT Vauxhall New City Road Cowcaddens Glasgow, SMT Vauxhall Finnieston Street Glasgow, to name a few. 

[Hendry]

Any Glasgow shiters recognise this place and whereabouts it was, i am to young to recognise where in Glasgow this is except its an SMT branch.

 

[richbraith]

Last Opel sold in this country was the Manta in 1988.  After 1981, the only Opels you could buy through the Vauxhall dealer network were Mantas, Monzas and Senators.  Senator was rebadged as a Vauxhall for the UK market in 1984, Opel kept the 'sporty' image going.  The Asconas and Kadetts sold here in the 70s were the same car under the skin as the Cavalier and Chevette but had a Firenza inspired 'droop snoot' designed by Wayne Cherry.  From the mk1 Astra/Kadett D onwards though the cars were all identical with different badging.

 

CF was sold in mainland Europe as the Bedford Blitz.

[warren t claim]

Last Opel sold in this country was the Manta in 1988.  After 1981, the only Opels you could buy through the Vauxhall dealer network were Mantas, Monzas and Senators.  Senator was rebadged as a Vauxhall for the UK market in 1984, Opel kept the 'sporty' image going.  The Asconas and Kadetts sold here in the 70s were the same car under the skin as the Cavalier and Chevette but had a Firenza inspired 'droop snoot' designed by Wayne Cherry.  From the mk1 Astra/Kadett D onwards though the cars were all identical with different badging.

 

CF was sold in mainland Europe as the Bedford Blitz.

I think Bedford Blitz by The Sweet was the first single I ever bought.

[warren t claim]

Woolard! Mastermind! A guy called Des Savage!

 

 

[Felly Magic]

Bloody hell he even Wollards that engine, he was the guv'nor

[Grundig]

There used to be a Vauxhall GM dealer/ garage in Farnworth - I think is was just called Farnworth Garage but not sure ( Bren will probably know) 

 

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[privatewire]

Any Glasgow shiters recognise this place and whereabouts it was, i am to young to recognise where in Glasgow this is except its an SMT branch.

 

I think that might be at the bottom of Finnieston St ( just over the squinty bridge) looking up towards where Skypark is now?.

[Hendry]

I think that might be at the bottom of Finnieston St ( just over the squinty bridge) looking up towards where Skypark is now?.

 

Thats possible i suppose, but from what I can gather it later became Lex Vauxhall Glasgow and then "Clyde Vauxhall" owned by Pendragon (who own Evans Halshaw) and was there in some shape or form until around the early 2000s, hadnt that whole area changed before that? I remember my dad doing security in Skypark back in around 2004 briefly. 

[privatewire]

Thats possible i suppose, but from what I can gather it later became Lex Vauxhall Glasgow and then "Clyde Vauxhall" owned by Pendragon (who own Evans Halshaw) and was there in some shape or form until around the early 2000s, hadnt that whole area changed before that? I remember my dad doing security in Skypark back in around 2004 briefly.

 

Mmm, possibly, Although that photo looks from around the time of the Glasgow Garden Festival, when the gentrification if you like started. I worked briefly in the BT site at Elliot St in the late 80s, and I do remember a dealership of sorts on Finnieston St, I think it was the late 90s before things changed dramatically round that neck of the woods.

[warren t claim]

Apparently the SNP manifesto stated that an independent Scotland would rebrand every Vauxhall dealer into Opel within 12 months.

[Bianconeri]

I think that might be at the bottom of Finnieston St ( just over the squinty bridge) looking up towards where Skypark is now?.

Wasn't that the RAC office / service centre back in the 1980s? I developed and installed their first back office (oh er missus) IT systems back then and the street looks familiar. If memory serves it was once a brewery?