'Back in the Day' VW/Audi Dealership footage

[dan95x]

Unfortunately, back in April of last year, my Granddad, the man who got me (and my brother Rich) into cars, and engines, and building, and welding, and all the other stuff that causes me so much trouble, passed away at the age of 84 (fairly ripe old age, given some of the stuff he got up to  😂

Over the years, he has been involved in all sorts of stuff that people on here might be interested in, not least of which is that from about the early/mid 60s, through to 1984, he, along with my Nan owned and ran a VW/Audi dealership, in Walsall in the West Midlands called 'Jem of Walsall'

Nan passed away about 6 years ago, so now me and Rich have the interesting, hilarious, surprising, heartbreaking, confusing, annoying and all the other emotions you can think of task of clearing his house, garages and yard of a lifetime of car/boat/general tomfoolery.

I am likely to have loads of stuff to post up here over the next few months as I uncover it (and actually find time to do so), and as long as people are finding it interesting, and want me to carry on, I will do so, as it doesnt seem right for none of this stuff to ever see the light of day again other than just within our family.

Granddad took a load of cine film, so I will start with a few of those, as I think they might be of interest:

First up is a general view around the garage, in 1969, in the snow:

Next up, also in 1969, a little trip around one of the workshops, and the parts department:

 

 

And lastly for this first instalment, slightly earlier I think, probably 66 or so, him tying some souvenirs bought on a cruise onto the roof of his Dads Rover, and then another shot of the front of the garage

Makes me laugh, as his Dad checks the tying on in the exact same way as he has always checked any tying on we have done - I know where he got it from now  😁

 

Assuming anyone is interested at all, I will try and update this reasonably regularly (there are bloody loads of just cine films alone, let alone pictures, stuff we are finding in with his things etc etc) but obviously we are pretty busy actually sorting all this lot at the minute, as well as normal family life etc.

Let me know what you think, whether people want me to keep posting things, and shout if any questions - I could chat about him till the cows come home - he was my hero, and I don't half miss him....

Jem Molyneux  May 1937- April 2022

[timolloyd]

I would definitely be interested in reading more. Thanks for sharing.

[coachie]

Came for footage of old VWs, didn't disappoint! Got me thinking that my Beetle came from somewhere in the midlands, but the number plates have Karman of Barnet written on them.

 

So I went to check the handbook. Christ, it's a small world. 

[chodweaver]

What fantastic historical documents these films are.

Moar of this please!

[HMC]

More please! Interesting window to pre Peich modestly competent, low key VAG

[MiniMinorMk3]

Thanks for posting.

[dan95x]

10 hours ago, coachie said:

So I went to check the handbook. Christ, it's a small world. 

Small world indeed (Even smaller considering, if your location under your pic is right, I live in the Midlands, but my business is in Cardiff 😂 )

As per your 'handover' note in your service pack - Bob Edwards the salesman who sold your Beetle was the Sales Manager there for quite a while (He is probably in some of the footage, although I never met him, so dont know what he looks/ed like - My Dad might be able to help me out with that - I will ask him).  Service manager is (I think) Gary Stokes, although I can probably tell you more accurately at some point, as at Granddads is a massive pile of the training certificates that used to hang in the workshop, showroom etc.

If you let me know your reg number (PM me if you dont want it public), I will keep an eye out when I am sorting through all the paperwork for any reference to it.  There is a fair bit of the sales records, some VW order slips etc  etc (although I think mainly a bit earlier than your beetle was registered from the look of it).'

'78 is reasonably late on Beetle-wise for what he has said to me over the years about their sales - Is it a saloon or a cabrio?

Dan 

[dan95x]

Next up is the launch of the VW K70 - 1969:

Well not THE launch, obviously, but the launch as far as the garage was concerned  😁 The big blue '30s Humber at the start was Granddads that he rebuilt with his Dad (and that we still have) - More to come on that in later posts I suspect.

The Red Beetle was the accessories display car in the showroom - I didn't realise bonnet bras had been a thing for such a long time!

He wasn't the biggest fan of the watercooled FWD stuff as it started to come in, but did come round (to some degree) over time.  I do sometimes wonder if it was his dogged 'loyalty' to the aircooled stuff that perhaps hindered the growth of the garage and led to them shutting up shop in the end.

Jumping around a bit in terms of time 'Knocking down old workshops' must be around '78 as the Silver Beetle Cabriolet in the footage is my Mums (which we still have) and was a 78 model:

I am slightly dubious of the way they appear to have knocked the old workshops down while they were actually full of vehicles  🤣

The end shot of the row of campers shows that they were Esso for the Petrol at this point too.  Over time they were Regent, Esso and Texaco (I think in that order)

Not all the garage related footage is actually in-situ Brands Hatch Caravan show (Possibly 1980):

He reckoned the massive awning thing that you can see was a VW/Audi UK thing that you could ask them to bring along to trade shows etc if you were putting on a certain size display.  Shame that wasn't his, because if that was in his yard somewhere, it would be just the job to have on the drive to work on the car under away from the weather  😄

Lastly for the minute, a bit of assorted retro car eye candy away from the garage for either pleasure, or possibly (Audi-wise) business for him - Lombard Rally, Trentham Gardens, Nov 81:

Thats it for the minute - will be back soon!...........

[coachie]

Love that silver cab (is it the one on the FFF plate?) and I'm also feeling a bit concerned about the close proximity of that building work to the cars.  Still, nothing a nice bucket of soapy water, a big yellow sponge and a bottle of Mer couldn't solve back then.

My car is a green cab, and was supposed to be the penultimate to come into the country.  The last (a silver one I think) was nabbed by a VAG exec.  All according to the original owner who I managed to contact about 20 years ago when I bought it.  It was registered in March 1979, but built around August 78.  As the inspection service was done in November 78, I am guessing it was hanging around the showroom for a while?

Love the rally clip, that little Honda!

[dan95x]

The silver cab is indeed the one on the FFF plate (How did you know that, by the way? 😂 ) - It was my Mums 21st birthday present off My Nan and Granddad.  We still have it, although it is currently in pieces in the garage for long and personal reasons to do with my pain in the arse mother.

The story you have been told is pretty true to what I know (long and boring anecdote to follow)............

As I said above, he was an aircooled man at heart really - Later on he did come round to the watercooled stuff, and actually loved his mk1 golf etc, but at the time, (and partly as he was always a heart over commercial success/common sense type person) he was genuienly quite 'upset' that the aircooled stuff was being canned and replaced .  As he knew that the cabriolets, and therefore any German Beetles were coming to and end, he put an order in for 6 cabs:

- Silver with Black roof and interior (Mums)

- Bronze with oatmeal roof and interior

- Green with White/oatmeal(?) roof and interior (yours)

- Red with black roof and interior

- Black with White (or cream) roof/interior 

- Blue (I think) with black roof/interior

The story goes that they didnt turn up, and he kept chasing VW for them, they kept saying they couldnt get them into the country and this went on for a while.  One of the wagon drivers who used to deliver for him who he was friendly with told him that actually there were a few of them in at the docks, he ended up having a massive barney with the VW rep, and he ended up actually getting 3 of them in the end.  Mums, yours and the bronze one.

You will be right about it being in the showroom for a bit.  I guarantee he will have instructed the sales team to not drop a penny off the price, and I think he was happy to have them in the showroom as a 'centre piece'  to what he saw as a dying breed of 'proper' VWs.  The bronze one stayed for even longer than yours, in fact it stayed forever, till the garage shut.  In actual fact, we still have it, as Granddad kept it 😂 

I cant quite believe that we have just turned up the third one of the three that I have known/heard of since I was a kid.  Its genuinely made me a bit upset, as he would have been well chuffed to know that through total fluke, we had ended up finding the third one after all this time, just a few months too late for him to know about it 😢

I wont bore everyone else with all the details, but happy to catch up with you seperately about it all!  Still cant believe I am having the conversation, to be honest - And you thought it was a small world in your first reply!

 

[High Jetter]

Wow, what brilliant social and family history! I bet you had some great times with him. How many times have you all been asked if the stadium is named after your family? 🤣

(I suspect there actually could be a distant connection)

[dan95x]

14 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Wow, what brilliant social and family history! I bet you had some great times with him. How many times have you all been asked if the stadium is named after your family? 🤣

(I suspect there actually could be a distant connection)

Its nice to be able to share it with people who will appreciate some old vehicle/building porn to be fair - Its a bit niche for general consumption in some ways (although I will admit I dont propose to upload the full 5 minute reel of heating pipes that he took prior to a floor going down - Literally no-one wants to see that.  Wish he would have taken the same of the bedroom in our house that he plumbed and still stuck a  circular saw through the radiator pipe when we took some floor boards up 😂 )

He was my hero in a lot of ways - He also nearly killed or badly maimed me a number of times - Health and Safety wasnt necessarily his strength, but he taught me a huge amount about cars and building 'stuff'

I think he got the Molyneux thing a lot - Probably why none of us live Wolverhampton way!  Having said that, its my Mums side of the family, so I have a different surname and therefore escape it!  

[dan95x]

I will probably struggle to put any up for a few days, so wanted to drop some on here now while I have a chance:

Construction 1980:

Pretty sure this was a spray booth and extension to the workshops. Granddad being the man he was, we still have a small pile of those white bricks at the top of our garden 43 years later - There was no way any would be going to waste once the builders were done  😁

Not that it probably means much to anyone other than us, but you get a glimpse of him through the window towards the end, waving the RSJ down into position in a terrible suit.  I can guarantee even without sound, that when it was in place, he will have shouted 'woah' to confirm.

Feb 78 - Concrete pouring, removing Kiosk and new Canopy:

Bit of a mix of building stuff here.  Your man 'Bill' laying the concrete in his slacks and cardigan with a pipe in his mouth turns up in a few of these whenever concrete is being poured  😂

The white bay window pickup being used to take the old petrol kiosk away (and being MASSIVELY overloaded from the look of it  😂) was a part exchange that came in, got sprayed Dove Blue shortly after this and became the garage pool pick-up.  Granddad fell in love with it, kept it as his own, and again (surprise surprise) we still have it.

The Esso tanker, according to the notes written on the cine was the first Esso delivery that they had.

You start to see the forecourt looking a lot less like an old fashioned garage here and looking more like a modern dealership/petrol station I guess too.

Dropping ten years back in time, I think this '1968 Forecourt Trimming' is probably the earliest footage of the forecourt etc I think.

Its terrible quality at the start, but its worth it for some nice close ups when the quality clears up a bit

When we were watching all these in his last few weeks, he reckoned it was some promotion by Regent that they were setting up for at the start, hence the cardboard cut-out Regent woman that pops up all over the place  😄

The little MG sportscar parked on the end of the forecourt was a petrol and service regular apparently - A little old lady who used to bomb round in her sporty little two seater well into what Granddad reckoned was her 80s

As I might not be about for a few days, there is a bit of a longer one below (20 mins or so) 'Silverstone 1980'

They were both on the same cine reel, and only marked up as Racing at Silverstone 1980, but I am guessing from the change of weather, its 2 different race meets - Historic racing in the pouring rain, and some saloon etc racing, with a guest appearance by Thrust 2, I assume doing a PR tour.

There is some pretty tasty stuff in the car parks etc too

 

As I say, I might struggle to update much for a little while, but there is definitely more coming!

[MiniMinorMk3]

The touring car footage is of the 44th RAC Tourist Trophy, sponsored by Halford's. It was a round of the 1980 European Touring Car Championship.

The eventual winners were car no.2, the BMW 635.

Race results are on the following link. The entry read like a who's who of 1970s and 1980s touring car racing.

1980 ETCC - round 8 (touringcarracing.net)

 

[dan95x]

See, now that is good knowledge!  Yeah, some half-decent drivers in there 😄 

I am guessing it was actually technically work he was there for with the Audi 80s and the Mk1 Sciroccos and that VAG had a number of dealers there (although the historic racing will have been out of choice). 

I see the Sciroccos both retired - They must have been built the same day as mine, as that DNF'd the M4 once, and the M5 for that matter 

[dan95x]

June 1981 - Danbury Disabled Conversion:

This is a bit of filming of ITV filming a conversion of a Danbury camper at the garage, converted for disabled owners.  I don't know if he was interviewed etc, or if they just used the garage to supply/film it, as I've never seen the ITV end of it!  Its crazy to think that something that I guess is pretty (relatively) easy to get hold of now (i.e an adapted camper/vehicle) was newsworthy not all that long ago.

 

 

Footings for Parts Dept:

Will be 70s at some point.  Its not the most exciting cine film ever, to be honest, but Bill makes a return in his trademark PPE cardi, and its interesting to see that a main dealer would use their own staff in quiet times to be laying the foundations in their overalls  😂 I cant imagine that happening now in the days of the big dealer groups!  I guess you would never get such major work going on nowadays while the garage is still open to customers either.

West Park Classic Car Show Late 70s:

Anyone in the West Mids will definitely know West Park as a venue for classic car shows - Good to see they have been going on for a while!

After the parade which takes up most of the film, is more footage of Granddads Humber that featured in an earlier film in the garage.  He bought as his own car early on in his driving career and rebuilt it with his Dad.  He took it round various shows for a fair few years in the 60s, 70s and 80s, it served as my Mum & Dads wedding car, and then has been parked up since the early 80s (always under cover) but still!  

Its not in the worst shape, but its not in the best either, unfortunately.  Currently under a car port, and covered in/surrounded by all sorts, it will be a little while until we can pull it out, but having cleared stuff from round it the other day and had a peer inside, it still smells exactly the same as it did when I used to play in it as a kid.

My Dad, as his son-in-law was obviously trusted enough to transport it for him, as its him driving it off on the back of the garage liveried LT recovery truck at the end.  He had the LT built specifically by a local coachbuilders from an LT Chassis/cab, and reckoned VW told him it was the first flatbed LT recovery wagon of that type, but I don't know how confirmed that actually is!

Joe and Empty Houses Pleck Road:

I have no idea who Joe is, but I am guessing its the guy walking down the road at the start of the film!

The garage site actually started as Granddads Dads builders yard, which previously was a small manor house and grounds/outbuildings.  Initially they got a few petrol pumps for the builders wagons, and I believe whoever supplied the petrol at the time said that they had to supply the public too, which is where the garage started from and grew from.

This shows quite well how over time they expanded to the surrounding houses, which ended up getting consumed by the garage too, creating  a pretty big 'empire'.  You will be unsurprised, if you are building a picture of the man, to find out that we only actually got rid of the last of these houses (even though all the rest of the site was sold in 1984) to the current owner of the site about 4 years back, as even though it was derelict and being used for people to fly tip in, he just couldnt get rid of the last bit of it he still had hold of!  I

[dan95x]

Assuming anyone is still interested, here are a couple more:

Firstly a bit of a mixed bag of his Humber and his dads Rover at an unnamed car show in '68, with accompanying autocross, then some more footage of the garage:

This would have been not that long after he and his Dad restored the Humber I think - few interesting bits and pieces around it too, like the in period RAC display at the show too.  The autocross looks pretty good fun - I don't know if he/anyone he knew was actually competing in one of the beetles, as he died before we found this particular reel.  I think he did have a go at a bit of motorsport, but just wasnt especially good, so it could be him, and I guess Beetles were almost disposable for him at the time!  There are a few interesting bits competing in it from a look.

There is a quick bit of him trimming the lawn at the garage with (I think) an ATCO mower (that we still have!) then some nice 60s footage of his service yard with all the expected Type 2 vans etc liveried up, but also a brief glimpse of his liveried Land Rover, and a very brief look at the back end of the ex MOD recovery Chevy truck (behind the red Austin and Grey Type 3 - Blink and you'll miss it). 

It goes out the front again, with some nice footage of the forecourt when it was Regent, and the very small showroom window display at the time!

Secondly, I took a guess that anyone on here might have a vague interest in some footage of Powerboats on Chasewater in 1978

I don't actually know much about the meet other than it was in '78 and at Chasewater!  Some tasty boats though, to my interested, but uninformed eyes.

Lastly, a very brief, and not that interesting other than a bit of Leyland Concrete Mixer Porn footage of some of the construction of the low bake ovens in 1981:

Thats it again for now !

[dan95x]

Few more, all actually away from the garage itself, as it happens, but some nice bits of film:

Like most old school VW fans, Granddad had a bit of a thing for Porsches.  The Martini 935s blew his mind in a way he was still going on about 40 odd years later, so I think he would go and try and see them 'live' whenever he could.  Both of these meets are at Silverstone, one in '77 and one in '78:

Silverstone August 1977 Martini Porsches:

 

Silverstone 1978 - Moby Dick:

I don't actually know whether he was 'on duty' at these and went as part of the VAG family, or whether he just went because he fancied it.

What definitely was a work trip was the following one - Trip to Wolfsburg 1979:

 

Pretty much smack at the back end of the real push from aircooled to watercooled, there is some interesting stuff floating round the streets near the factory.  No footage from inside, unfortunately, I assume that was 'verboten' but some good stuff spottable in the car parks etc.

Lastly, completely unrelated to the garage, and involving more of the other side of my family alongside them, but I thought it was a nicely typical period bit of road trip footage - A group of them all off on a holiday to Plymouth in a German/British/Japanese rainbow of vehicles  😁 Features the silver FFF Beetle convertible of my Mums that me and Coachie were talking about further up the thread

Plymouth Late 70s:  

I have to say this is one of my favourites of all of them in some ways - Although it was before I was around, it reminds me so much of family road trip holidays when I was a kid (in some of these cars too) and all the people in it (unfortunately now mostly not with us, and mainly in the last few years), its also just a really nice atmospheric piece of film imho

 

Will do some more when I get a minute.......

[dan95x]

Few more while I have a bit of time.....

Brands Hatch Caravan Show 1982 & his 911:

Short but sweet - a nice bit of period footage from another trade show at Brands Hatch in '82 and a very brief look at one of his Porsche 911s on the drive.  He had 3 911s at various times (one of which we still have, but it has most definitely seen better days, and it isn't this one).  This one in the footage I think was a 3.0 SC  I think (although a Porsche beard may be able to tell me differently) but I know it definitely was the one that he went out and bought brand new, using a house deposit, without telling my Nan  😂 If you'd met my Nan, you would be even more surprised that he made it to 84 before kicking the bucket after that.

 

 

MOT Bay:

Not very long, and not especially interesting either  😄  Bill is back with his armoured Cardi laying some compo, and there is a couple of glimpses of some retro beetle and concrete mixer, but that's about it.  Its only 40 seconds though, and it 'completes the set' in terms of what I have transferred, so might be of interest to someone and I didn't want to leave it out as a result!

 

 

Garage 'R' Beams:

Thats what it said on the cinefilm anyway?  I am guessing it refers to the preformed concrete beam floor that is being laid in the footage.  Of more interest personally is the Foden that is delivering them, and some of the motors littered around in the background.  This is mainly down the side of the garage where the service and parts departments were (St Johns Road in Walsall for anyone local - Its still pretty recognisable as what is in the footage)

 

 

Turning the Yard into the Garage:

While not recognisably the garage, this is actually the earliest footage of it I think.  As I said earlier, the garage was built off the back of his Dads builders firm and yard (you can see some of his dads signage in this footage - J Molyneux Building Contractors, and the brown/cream Bedford wagon was one of the firms).  The yard was an old local manor house and its outbuildings, but when his dad wanted to have petrol pumps for his trucks, he was told he had to sell to the public too, so they did.  

They then also started doing car repairs and servicing etc alongside it, and eventually decided to dump the building trade (his Dads health was failing a bit, and while he was a decent builder in his own right, Granddads heart was in cars) and open a dealership.  They looked at Lada, Datsun, Toyota and VW, plumped for VW in the end, and that was that.

This footage seems to be the turning of a load of the old outbuildings into workshops etc.  I am guessing from the fact that his dads firm was still going, but they werent yet a fully fledged VW dealership, it will be very early 60s.  There is an early beetle in one of the outbuildings, and the start of the parts department as well.  I don't know whether that means they were open by this point, or it was just before and unfortunately this was one of the few bits I didnt manage to get done before he died, so cant ask him anymore  😢

 

Thats it for now again 🙂
 

[RoverFolkUs]

Really interesting stuff, thanks for sharing, I add to the consensus of keep it coming

[dan95x]

I have a bit of time to add a few more again.....

Demolition of 496 Pleck Road:

It got to the point where I think the old houses on the edge of the plot, and using the old manor house as the main part of the garage started to limit what they could do, and I suspect was rapidly becoming not in keeping with what was needed by both VW, but also the petrol company (Regent at the time) in terms of 'corporate look' so the house next door had to come down......

 

Away from the garage again and there is some Saloon car racing from Silverstone, Late 70s:

I am guessing it was a 'work thing' as Mk1 Golf and Scirocco, plus Audi 80 Sports feature pretty heavily as the main racing, with a a nice smattering of BMW, ford etc as well - A pretty varied field actually.  Tiny bit of historic racing at the end too:

Ingolstadt New Audi 100 Launch Oct 82 and VW Action Sep 82:

The titles are both fairly explanatory!  Launch of the 'cigar tube' Audi 100 over at the factory, and some good footage of around the factory etc.  That is followed by their stand at VW action in '82.  Unsurprisingly to me, while uploading the footage, I spotted a boxed 'Paloma Water Heater'  that I assume was for sale at the show, that I have just in the clearup of his stuff, moved from under his stairs, 40 years later, still boxed  😂

 

If you are still here, the next one is quite long (half an hour) and at times a bit 'dry' (think footage of underground petrol tanks being installed) but there are some bits of gold in there too (plus if anyone, anywhere on the internet is going to appreciate 50 year old footage of petrol tanks being installed, I guess it will be here!)

Forecourt development Sep 77 to May 78: 

 

Shows the petrol canopy being installed, including period 'climbing RSJs in my flares and eating my lunch up there with no harness or helmet' working practices.  It looks like this was part of Texaco taking over from Regent, as there is Texaco branding appearing in the background, and the Regent pumps are coming out.

There is a brief shot of a beetle in the showroom with the number plate 'last 1' which I am assuming was one of the final edition saloons, which I think were the last German built hardtops before they stopped producing them in Germany itself, with the only Beetles he had after that being Cabrios (as discussed further back up the thread)

There is also some footage of someone having a terrible attempt at getting a derby up onto a car transporter - I am not entirely sure what is going on there  😂

The following 20 minutes are mainly literally the underground tanks being installed, tested and concreted in (with some interesting stuff in the background sometimes, to be fair) - If you are interested in that sort of industrial history, you will find it fascinating.  If not, then it wont be the most exciting 20 minutes of your life overall if you do decide to watch the whole thing, so dont blame me 😄

Thats it again for now - There is probably only enough for about one or two more instalments I think after this, and I am probably out of footage then, unless we find more. 

[vonmon]

Wow! Wow, wow wow!
My mom and her family were all from the Pleck. My mom and dad married in the church in the first video the spring prior to the video. It’s blown me away to see it, we lost mom at 50 in ‘98, and dad is currently struggling with prostate cancer. Thank you, and that’s before I start talking about those  other beautiful videos. My uncle Paul bought a beetle from your folks’ garage, early 70s, by the way. 

[Eyersey1234]

Interesting thread, my condolences on your loss and thank you for sharing. When did the garage close?

[dan95x]

10 hours ago, vonmon said:

Wow! Wow, wow wow!
My mom and her family were all from the Pleck. My mom and dad married in the church in the first video the spring prior to the video. It’s blown me away to see it, we lost mom at 50 in ‘98, and dad is currently struggling with prostate cancer. Thank you, and that’s before I start talking about those  other beautiful videos. My uncle Paul bought a beetle from your folks’ garage, early 70s, by the way. 

I am pretty happy with the way this thread is dragging up some coincidences to be honest!  Glad its been nice for you to see - Sorry about your Mom, and best of luck to your Dad with it  - It was Lung Cancer that got Granddad in the end, unfortunately.  He was probably pretty lucky to get to 84 before it manifested to be honest - A lifetime of asbestos, paint fumes, exhaust fumes, wood dust, concrete dust and general crap being breathed in (and he was never big on PPE either frankly) plus smoking for a few years and I think he was fairly 'happy' to have gotten away with it for such a long time.

There may be more footage of the church in some of the more general 'family' cinefilm that I havent been posting due to a lack of garage/old vehicle content, as they did live over the garage in a flat for a while when they were getting it up and running - I will take a look and let you know if I find any.  Do you want me to stick that first one on a DVD/USB stick for your Dad?  Drop me a PM with your address if you do and ill fire it over when I get a sec.

In a similar note, if you let me know your Uncle Pauls surname and/or the Beetle reg no if you know it, its entirely possible we still have some of the paperwork - I have mounds of it to wade through, happy to keep an eye out for it and send it you if you wanted!

[dan95x]

20 hours ago, Eyersey1234 said:

Interesting thread, my condolences on your loss and thank you for sharing. When did the garage close?

Not ignoring your question mate - I was going round his old place to do some more sorting (indeed I am there now) so thought I could give a more accurate answer if I could put my hand on the paperwork, but I dont know where I have 'filed' it at the minute - It was 1984 or 1985.

It was always a bit 'sore' - They didnt go bust, but they were about to and effectively voluntarily wound it up, paid off any suppliers etc that they owed and that was that.  It broke both of their hearts to be honest - Granddad literally locked up the last bit of the overall property that they didnt have to sell (as it wasnt in the garage name) which was a small bit of garden and the last remaining house from the row of terraces that you see in some of the cine footage and didnt go back there for years, even just to check on it.  Fairly obviously the Land Rover and Recovery truck that he locked in the garden had been stolen by then, and the house which had been full of NOS parts, advertising etc from the garage had been broken into, emptied, all the innards stripped  and filled with rubbish instead.

I suspect he knew that was going to happen, but just couldnt face going back there for such a long time.  We only actually sold the last bit (completely derelict) about 5 years ago as the guy who owns the rest of the site had been chasing after him for ages to sell it to him.

It was a few different dealerships afterwards, was definitely Subaru for a while, but now is all split up into different businesses - Have copied in the Google earth pics of 'now (was last year, but same difference) - If you can be arsed you can match it up with the cine footage 😂 - A lot of the buildings, especially at the side and back are exactly as they were, but I think it just upset him seeing it all split up and run down

Front View:

Side view that was Service and Parts reception:

Rear 3/4 View - Parts and Service reception to left of the old house and rear of compound to the right heading away from the camera 

From/the back itself into what was the service compound

[bigstraight6]

Thanks for taking the time to post up all this superb old footage dan.

[vonmon]

On 2/9/2023 at 9:50 AM, dan95x said:

I am pretty happy with the way this thread is dragging up some coincidences to be honest!  Glad its been nice for you to see - Sorry about your Mom, and best of luck to your Dad with it  - It was Lung Cancer that got Granddad in the end, unfortunately.  He was probably pretty lucky to get to 84 before it manifested to be honest - A lifetime of asbestos, paint fumes, exhaust fumes, wood dust, concrete dust and general crap being breathed in (and he was never big on PPE either frankly) plus smoking for a few years and I think he was fairly 'happy' to have gotten away with it for such a long time.

There may be more footage of the church in some of the more general 'family' cinefilm that I havent been posting due to a lack of garage/old vehicle content, as they did live over the garage in a flat for a while when they were getting it up and running - I will take a look and let you know if I find any.  Do you want me to stick that first one on a DVD/USB stick for your Dad?  Drop me a PM with your address if you do and ill fire it over when I get a sec.

In a similar note, if you let me know your Uncle Pauls surname and/or the Beetle reg no if you know it, its entirely possible we still have some of the paperwork - I have mounds of it to wade through, happy to keep an eye out for it and send it you if you wanted!

Dan it’s a beautiful thread. Thanks ever so much for sharing it, and for that about my Mom - she was awesome but I am biased! Your Granddad would’ve known quite a few on Mom’s side. If there’s anything relating to a ‘Degville’ this’ll be Uncle Paul. 
That’s really kind of you to offer but YouTube is perfectly fine for Dad mate.

[dan95x]

I have sort of disappeared into being a bit busy with a few other things the last couple of weeks (not lightly including trying to get a bit more of his gaff sorted) but have uploaded a few more - Up until now, these had all already been on a couple of other forums as well, but I am working through the last of the 'fresh' footage now.

1981 - Snow at Bungalow, Lesley at Garage on Bike, Heating pipes  - Bit of a mix, but fairly Ronseal as a description.  Not at the garage, but at their house in winter 81 - Nan and Granddad clearing some snow and a Beetle and Mk1 Golf that must have been from the garage, as they werent his, plus my Mum and Dad turning up in a Mk1 Scirocco (I think the one I came home from the hospital in a couple of years later).  Lesley worked for them at the garage for quite a few years, but its a very brief bit of her riding off on a bike, then frankly the most boring 30odd seconds of your life with some footage of heating pipes again...

 

Chasewater Power Boats Late 70s - Anyone from the midlands (or into any sort of watersports) will know Chasewater as a lot of stuff has gone on there over the years (plus a lot of car shows etc).  Granddad really got into boats at one point, including building his own speedboat from plans he bought mail order to build one from Plywood.  I dont really know why he got so much into it - He couldnt swim and didnt particularly like water  😂  After getting thrown off the Severn for breaking a speed limit he claims he didnt know about, then hitting a buoy on Chasewater and sticking a hole in the boat, he packed it in.  Much like anything else he then ever touched, it went into his yard and is still there on the back of the trailer 😂

 

Parts Department - I dont know when this falls years-wise, but the white Bay window Pickup from the earlier footage in '78 is now painted blue, and was probably Granddads own van at that point, so very late 70s or early 80s  I would have thought.  It was yet more construction - I dont know how they actually ever got any cars sold or serviced given how often they seem to have been ripping the place apart! some interesting vehicles in the background again, but sorry for the minute at the start again of waste pipes - The man was obsessed 😄

Thats it again for now - Probably 1 more lot left from the garage I think 

 

[vonmon]

I ran round Chasewater last Wednesday!

[dan95x]

22 hours ago, vonmon said:

I ran round Chasewater last Wednesday!

You are a better person than me - Thats a big lake 😂