Memory dealer?

[Rustybullethole]

On 2/27/2020 at 5:45 PM, keef said:

Here's some photos from there.

 

I did my work experience there when it bae came Lex Rover. Still have the overalls somewhere. 

[Rustybullethole]

Stormont Woolwich. When I was at the poly in 91 my dad picked his H plate seirra lazer lease car from there and stop outside the gates to show it off to me and my mates. Nearly caught me smoking! This pics from 72 only one I could find. It’s now long gone and became a beefeater/prem inn. They pulled my school down too though that still sits a sad and empty site. Was a lovely old building that school. 

 

[warren t claim]

8 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

In the 60s when my dad was able to buy brand-new cars, he always bought Fords, which meant, in Southport, Holland Motors in Virginia Street, on the edge of the town centre.  I remember sitting in the various new Fords in the showroom (at primary-school age).  Across the road was where they sold their commercials: being Ford, that would be 307E Anglia Vans, 400E Thames, and then the hot new ticket, the Transit.  Oh and the Trader and then D-series "big stuff."

The site of the car showroom has been a Lidl for many years, and the commercial section has gone in favour of a petrol station, or at least that's what was there last time I looked.  Bear in mind it's nearly 14 years since we left Southport!

Near where I grew up there was Riddington and Rimmer, which I remember being a Rootes dealership, but it's spent many years now touting Mercedes-Benz, and I'm sure the R&R name vanished years before that.  My mate's girlfriend pumped gas there in about 1986, I used to go in with my Maxi.  Almost opposite was another petrol station with a showroom, which my dad often used for his gas.  "Two gallons please!" wouldn't go that far in the Zephyr...  Years later I would go in with my mum's Mini, or my Anglia, because I sort-of fancied Jan and Toni, the two girls working the pumps.  Never did anything about them though: I was always too shy (and they both seemed ridiculously confident) and very much a deciding factor was that they both smoked.  I can't remember if it was actually a dealership for a particular marque; doesn't matter, houses were built on the site about 20 years ago.

I could probably come up with some more, but to bring them up to date I would need to revisit Southport, and I have no real desire to do that.  Also no real reason.

My much missed  XR3i was originally purchased from Holland Motors of Southport. I even remember the reg but as I use it as a password on some web sites I won't repeat it here. 

[AnnoyingPentium]

Thought of this thread when I was rummaging through my Dad's old computer and found this from May 2007.

[RayMK]

I have not found any photos from the 1990s of the Fiat dealership whose sticker is on my 1994 Tipo, but they've been trading for about 60 years and are still with Fiat in 2022.  

[Austin-Rover]

This photo took some finding! It's one I took of Richard Cort's Rover dealership at Blackford Bridge, Bury two days after MG Rover had gone bust - 10th April 2005. 

The main building still stands, but with quite a few additions and extensions to it. It changed hands a long time ago and now sells Volvo. Volvo moved to this site from half a mile further up the road. The old Volvo site is now the home of Mercedes Benz Whitefield... which is not in Whitefield.  

 

[Stroller133]

Used to pass The Clock Garage, Castle Bromwich on the way to visit relative in the 80/90s one of the first signs of being in Birmingham after leaving the M6. I can only really remember it being a Peugeot dealer, but I think it had previously been talbot/Rootes.  
 

It's been demolished and just a fuel station now. The new clock is a bit weaker as a local landmark!

 

[Stroller133]

In Tamworth there were a few dealers that are no longer around. One of the most prominent was Bolebridge Garage,  was a Rover dealer, but not sure what  BL brands it sold in earlier years. It was demolished in about 2008 and there is a LIdl and Travelodge on the site, with the modern Ford dealer located behind it.  I can't find a picture of it in the 80s/90s I remember, but did find an earlier one showing it in a street scene, where in my living memory it was in a more open, slightly out of town setting, that probably meant then business remained more access in its later years.

I remember going into the parts shop with a mate who was looking for some bits for a Mini, and we'd barely walked in and he told us what we wanted was no longer available before we'd even asked. 

[Niffleman]

I grew up in Twickenham,  South West London, and for many years there was a Volvo dealer called Tamplins in the main street.  Twickenham in the 80s and 90s was a Volvo kind of place.  I wonder if there are any surviving old Volvos with a Tamplins sticker still in the back window.   

[Eyersey1234]

On 16/06/2010 at 23:34, Polystratus said:

Woodleigh's in Chesterfield, they was originally a Reliant dealer, then they took on Fiats and Daewoo, they still have the Fiat/Chev dealership. Think at some time they had a dabble in selling Mircocars.

 

In Nottingham, Bristol Street Motors had a site near Sherwood, also more in the city, there was Andy Bone, dealer for Honda motorcycles. Two big Ford dealers, I remember which sold everything from cars, vans, and LGV's - Blacktons Garage in Sutton in Ashfield, that site got re-developed into a small retail centre, and Evans Halshaw on Chesterfield Road in Mansfield, again now longer there since a Tesco supermarket stands on the site.

 

Going further East, Cowies Ford at Newark, that was on Farndon Road, there's still a Ford dealer in Newark (Sandicliffe) a bit more in the town centre, also use to a Rover-MG dealer too.

Whereabouts in Newark was Sandicliffe Ford?

[wesacosa]

On 23/01/2021 at 11:16, martc said:

Just to finally put the Finkle St/Baynard Ave discussion to bed. I've had a long hard think about it and, certainly when it was a Renault dealer, the service dept was on Finkle St, but the showroom was on Baynard Ave. Looking at Google Maps some of the buildings (the service dept) are still there but used by a cleaning products supply company.

some pictures from Facebook of Cottingham Ford on Baynard avenue in 1995 looks like just after it closed down 

Also similar era pictures of Jordan's Mazda on Northgate 

Not my photos despite seemingly having my name on them!

I don't remember a Renault dealership 

 

[Markeh]

On 22/01/2021 at 00:38, Markeh said:

Already seen a few familiar names crop up here from round my neck of the woods (grew up in Mansfield and my dad's worked in the motor trade round here his whole life, including a decent chunk of the garages below), but some updates:

The old Rainworth Skoda site last time I drove past appears to now sell catering equipment - I did some IT work for a previous occupier of the building and may have been offered weed while trying to fix their PC.

The Lucas Subaru/Daihatsu/Proton garage has long been bulldozed and is a car park. Half the time me and my friend parked in there shortly after passing our tests because we could park in the corner and not have to deal with other cars.

The old Neville EMV site, which if I remember rightly became CD Bramall Citroen and Nissan, got bulldozed and is now a housing estate - Citroen and Nissan still exist on Southwell Road East, between our family we've had a C3 Picasso, 2 Jokes and my Qashqai from this site. Nissan is in what I think is the old Fiat building, Citroen moved to the bigger building (I want to say this used to house Honda, before it moved down the road into the old Mercedes garage, opposite Renault), and the old MGRover building is now part of Pendragon's training academy. Whole site is now Evans Halshaw.  I also remember going into GK Ford before it moved from Chesterfield Road (must've been 05/06, I think it moved very soon after) when my folks were looking at a C-Max. 

I think I remember the Renault dealer in Kirkby - did it become Arriva for a bit before closing down? If it's the one I'm thinking of, it became a frozen food place, then an auction house. It's been a while since I've been that way, so don't know if it's still standing. Interesting side note, my Megane arrived with plates from Kirkby Motor Services.

I can't picture the site of Blackton's in Sutton - it wasn't by any chance where Matalan is?

Other ones I know of:

Hooleys Ford on Derby Road in Nottingham - there's a nice micropub basically opposite where it used to be which had this photo on its wall - this must have been shortly before demolition based off the cars in shot. (please forgive slightly blurry photo of slightly blurry photo taken while slightly drunk)

Gordon Lamb on Lortas Road/Nottingham Road in Basford - dad worked here and we got our old Tacuma from here. I think throughout the years this was at various points Daihatsu, MG Rover, Mazda, Daewoo/Chevrolet, then Ford, it's since been flattened and is now an Aldi. Gordon Lamb as a franchise is now under the Vertu/Bristol Street Motors umbrella, think brand might be gone now.

Arriva Renault, somewhere on Ilkeston Road, around the time the Mk2 Laguna came out. Remember very vaguely visiting dad at work here, only know it was on Ilkeston Road from having edited his CV!

Remember various dealers locally under the Co-Op Motor Group, then Sunwin, then back to Co-Op name, then I think Vertu bought them all 2012/13 time. I think the ones in Lincolnshire were outside of this and were still Co-op til a few years ago, these are now Pentagon. Off the top of my head, Renault in Mansfield (now with Dacia and Hyundai), Nissan/Peugeot in Ilkeston (Peugeot is gone, Nissan and the other building still there), Nissan/Renault/Mazda/Volvo in Derby (think they got rid of Mazda and Volvo and added Skoda, amongst others - I may be misremembering this one), think the Renault site on Haydn Road was also one too. That for a time also handled Alfa servicing, I think.

Also lost to Vertu (pretty recently, last few months, I think!) was Sandicliffe Kia in Basford which was also Fiat when it opened. Perhaps more well known for the abandoned office block that was built new and never occupied around the same time and has fallen into disrepair. Recently their Skoda garages went to Marshalls I think - think they're just focusing on Ford/Mazda/Nissan now.

John Fox Audi, also in Basford, now Marshall Volvo.

A recent loss was Chris Variava, also in Basford (garages in Nottingham seem to be either in Basford or down the Lenton Lane area near the old studios) - was Mitsubishi primarily but also dabbled in Suzuki/Chrysler/Jeep for a bit. Now Stoneacre.

Central Garage Ford in Hucknall, had two big buildings on site if I remember rightly, one is now a wedding place, the other I think is a garage.

Vague memories of Draycotts Kia in Alfreton, think a Lidl now sits on the site, still going strong in Sutton.

Completely miles away from all of this, but also remember Horsham Car Centre (basically at the end of my uncle's road) as a Chrysler/Jeep dealer. Think the last time we went down there it was now an MG garage!

Has the Sam Scorer designed petrol station/possibly Ford dealer on Brayford Wharf in Lincoln been mentioned? It is now a Nando's, Prezzo and was a Handmade Burger Co before they went bust.

Let's have some updates, shall we? I'll add pictures too.

The former Rainworth Skoda site on Southwell Road East is now houses. It was knocked down shortly after this post! The new site further up the road is still going strong. Here it is as Spectrum in 2009

The old Lucas site is still a car park. The Gala bingo you see in the background is now a Travelodge!

Here's the old Neville EMV then CD Bramall then Evans Halshaw Citroen/Nissan site on Nottingham Road in 2009. Flattened around 2017.

What I believe was Arriva Renault in Kirkby. It was certainly A Renault dealer of some description for a bit. It's been Rightfit for about 10 years, before that it was briefly an auction house and a discount frozen food store - I believe the frozen food store was the first one to inhabit it after Renault left - I do

The Vertu empire has had a swap round in a few places. In Basford, it's now Hyundai and they're just fitting out the old Citroen as Skoda. This is the site that used to be Stratstone Volvo where Hyundai now sits and Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge in the now Skoda building. Here it is under Stratstone. Citroen has now ended up alongside Vauxhall at Evans Halshaw down in Lenton near the Showcase.

The Haydn Road site had a more interesting past. The Renault building used to also house Nissan. That then went, to be replaced by Honda bikes, and I believe that half of the site is now being used to store vans and also by Nottingham College if a sign I saw the other day is to be believed. There's also a housing complex next door - that used to be Bristol Street Citroen, but they must have moved up to the Nuthall Road site seen above once Vertu acquired Sunwin/Co-op. 

Across the road from that, you see a more interesting site. Currently t.i.m Subaru and Isuzu, it did used to run Fiat. Before that, though..

The old Variava site appears to have now sacked off any Mitsubishi commitments, as well as at least new Suzukis. It's now taken over Nissan from Sandicliffe (who I'm sure took MG from them!) and is running that alongside Fiat. And if you want an Alfa or a Jeep, sod off to Derby. I imagine someone will take over Suzuki locally - I wonder if Ron Brooks will expand out this way.

The old John Fox Audi/Marshall Volvo building in Basford is now Marshall Omoda and Jaecoo.

And a pic of the old Lortas Road Gordon Lamb/Sandicliffe site which is now an Aldi. The Daewoo/Daihatsu stuff used to be that showroom on the side, I think the front was always Mazda? Can't quite remember where MG Rover was, could very well have been along the front. I was only a kid when my dad worked here.

2 hours ago, Eyersey1234 said:

Whereabouts in Newark was Sandicliffe Ford?

This is the only Ford garage I knew of in Newark, in 2009 - building's still there now but Ford had gone by the next time the cameras came around in 2014. John Harrison are probably more known for their Peugeot showroom in Lowdham - which they lost the franchise for in 2020 (the new car showroom now being a Spar for the attached petrol station)  and if the latest street view pics are to be believed, may now have shut up shop.

Another Peugeot name lost is the old Campions in Lincoln - rebranded to Robins and Day, then Abacus, closed around 2018, houses exist on half the site now.

[Eyersey1234]

2 hours ago, Markeh said:

Let's have some updates, shall we? I'll add pictures too.

The former Rainworth Skoda site on Southwell Road East is now houses. It was knocked down shortly after this post! The new site further up the road is still going strong. Here it is as Spectrum in 2009

The old Lucas site is still a car park. The Gala bingo you see in the background is now a Travelodge!

Here's the old Neville EMV then CD Bramall then Evans Halshaw Citroen/Nissan site on Nottingham Road in 2009. Flattened around 2017.

What I believe was Arriva Renault in Kirkby. It was certainly A Renault dealer of some description for a bit. It's been Rightfit for about 10 years, before that it was briefly an auction house and a discount frozen food store - I believe the frozen food store was the first one to inhabit it after Renault left - I do

The Vertu empire has had a swap round in a few places. In Basford, it's now Hyundai and they're just fitting out the old Citroen as Skoda. This is the site that used to be Stratstone Volvo where Hyundai now sits and Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge in the now Skoda building. Here it is under Stratstone. Citroen has now ended up alongside Vauxhall at Evans Halshaw down in Lenton near the Showcase.

The Haydn Road site had a more interesting past. The Renault building used to also house Nissan. That then went, to be replaced by Honda bikes, and I believe that half of the site is now being used to store vans and also by Nottingham College if a sign I saw the other day is to be believed. There's also a housing complex next door - that used to be Bristol Street Citroen, but they must have moved up to the Nuthall Road site seen above once Vertu acquired Sunwin/Co-op. 

Across the road from that, you see a more interesting site. Currently t.i.m Subaru and Isuzu, it did used to run Fiat. Before that, though..

The old Variava site appears to have now sacked off any Mitsubishi commitments, as well as at least new Suzukis. It's now taken over Nissan from Sandicliffe (who I'm sure took MG from them!) and is running that alongside Fiat. And if you want an Alfa or a Jeep, sod off to Derby. I imagine someone will take over Suzuki locally - I wonder if Ron Brooks will expand out this way.

The old John Fox Audi/Marshall Volvo building in Basford is now Marshall Omoda and Jaecoo.

And a pic of the old Lortas Road Gordon Lamb/Sandicliffe site which is now an Aldi. The Daewoo/Daihatsu stuff used to be that showroom on the side, I think the front was always Mazda? Can't quite remember where MG Rover was, could very well have been along the front. I was only a kid when my dad worked here.

This is the only Ford garage I knew of in Newark, in 2009 - building's still there now but Ford had gone by the next time the cameras came around in 2014. John Harrison are probably more known for their Peugeot showroom in Lowdham - which they lost the franchise for in 2020 (the new car showroom now being a Spar for the attached petrol station)  and if the latest street view pics are to be believed, may now have shut up shop.

Another Peugeot name lost is the old Campions in Lincoln - rebranded to Robins and Day, then Abacus, closed around 2018, houses exist on half the site now.

Thanks, I had wondered if that was the Ford dealer

[martc]

5 hours ago, wesacosa said:

some pictures from Facebook of Cottingham Ford on Baynard avenue in 1995 looks like just after it closed down 

Also similar era pictures of Jordan's Mazda on Northgate 

Not my photos despite seemingly having my name on them!

I don't remember a Renault dealership 

 

Thanks, the Ford dealership was definitely a Renault one originally, when operating on Finkle street, they had a one car showroom, usually with a 5 or 18 in it. Later they extended through to Baynard Ave where they built the showroom in the photo. You can see Finkle St's terraced houses through the gates. The Ford showroom is now demolished and covered in cheap bungalows. However the out buildings at the back, the original Renault showroom on Finkle street, are still there used by a cleaning products supply company.

Opposite the Renault dealer on Finkle street was a second hand car dealer, they had a glass showroom at the back which had 4 or 5 immaculate, black 30's or 40's cars that never ever seemed to move. As far as I know there was no connection to the Renault/Ford dealer. Next to this dealer was an abattoir, further down Finkle street was a chip shop, cop shop, Derby and Joan, the massive Cottingham Memorial Club and a post office. Now this may make Finkle St seem to be a major road, it isn't, it's just a typical Victorian terraced street, no idea why it had so much going on down it.

The Rix garage is still there, although the Mazda showroom is now a small on-site supermarket.

[martc]

On 12/09/2022 at 13:41, Eyersey1234 said:

 I'm told the garage at Flamborough used to be a Skoda agents too. 

Monument Garage, definitely a Skoda dealer, I got a red post VAG take over, Favorit from there. I px'd a beige Favorit I got from the other East Yorks Skoda dealer, Maudsons.

Both Monument and Maudsons lost the franchise following the VAG re-organisation which ditched all the old Skoda dealers.

Monument Garage carries on as a general repair type place, but the showroom is now a burger/pizza/kebab hell hole. I recently went past it and it looks like they may have put the shutters down.

Post Skoda, pre hell hole.

Hell hole.

 

[wesacosa]

5 minutes ago, martc said:

Thanks, the Ford dealership was definitely a Renault one originally, when operating on Finkle street, they had a one car showroom, usually with a 5 or 18 in it. Later they extended through to Baynard Ave where they built the showroom in the photo. You can see Finkle St's terraced houses through the gates. The Ford showroom is now demolished and covered in cheap bungalows. However the out buildings at the back, the original Renault showroom on Finkle street, are still there used by a cleaning products supply company.

Opposite the Renault dealer on Finkle street was a second hand car dealer, they had a glass showroom at the back which had 4 or 5 immaculate, black 30's or 40's cars that never ever seemed to move. As far as I know there was no connection to the Renault/Ford dealer. Next to this dealer was an abattoir, further down Finkle street was a chip shop, cop shop, Derby and Joan, the massive Cottingham Memorial Club and a post office. Now this may make Finkle St seem to be a major road, it isn't, it's just a typical Victorian terraced street, no idea why it had so much going on down it.

The Rix garage is still there, although the Mazda showroom is now a small on-site supermarket.

thanks, I don't remember the Renault dealership at all, it was always Ford from the memories I have although I didn't live in Cottingham, but went to school there 

It also got me thinking about some other second hand dealerships , I think you mentioned Gordon Fussey in an earlier post.  Our scout troop used to use an ex St Johns mk1 , and later mk2 Transit ambulance as a minibus and it was kept and looked after by Gordon Fussey I later found out

Also if you lived in Hull or Cottingham in the mid to late 90s and listened to the local radio you would surely have heard about 500 ads a day for Big John at Karelia Cars

I also remember Dixon's too, and his big house. He wasn't too popular with Hull City fans at the time as the club was struggling in the bottom division and he sponsored Grimsby town instead despite living in Hull and having at least the majority of his dealerships there

We only ever bought 2 cars from any kind of dealership when I was a kid.  We bought a k10 Micra from AFG , Mount Pleasant and a K11 Micra from JCT600 which I can't remember exactly where was but was that end of Hull somewhere 

[martc]

3 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

thanks, I don't remember the Renault dealership at all, it was always Ford from the memories I have although I didn't live in Cottingham, but went to school there 

It also got me thinking about some other second hand dealerships , I think you mentioned Gordon Fussey in an earlier post.  Our scout troop used to use an ex St Johns mk1 , and later mk2 Transit ambulance as a minibus and it was kept and looked after by Gordon Fussey I later found out

Also if you lived in Hull or Cottingham in the mid to late 90s and listened to the local radio you would surely have heard about 500 ads a day for Big John at Karelia Cars

I also remember Dixon's too, and his big house. He wasn't too popular with Hull City fans at the time as the club was struggling in the bottom division and he sponsored Grimsby town instead despite living in Hull and having at least the majority of his dealerships there

We only ever bought 2 cars from any kind of dealership when I was a kid.  We bought a k10 Micra from AFG , Mount Pleasant and a K11 Micra from JCT600 which I can't remember exactly where was but was that end of Hull somewhere 

Gordon Fussey was a BL dealer, they had a showroom on Beck Bank, always worth a look in, 5 or 6 '70's colours aglow in there.  I think they went all the way back, behind Thwaite street petrol station, which I'm sure must have had some connection with them. Only the Railway Pub got in the way of them dominating the corner of Beck Bank/Thwaite street. They lost the franchise but carried on with 'quality' second hand cars. Fusseys, the pub a and the petrol station are all gone, replaced by an awful bland block of awful bland flats.

There was a very small second hand dealer in Cottingham but their exact location beats me. I can remember us all going, mum, dad, me, my brother and sister to look at an orange  Honda N600 to see if we would fit in it. It was closed so we three siblings crouched side by side along the back of it to judge the width. We wouldn't fit, obvs. The place had a gravel display area and was at the back of two houses, accessed by a ten foot. It may have been at the far end of Hallgate (near West Green) or on the ubiquitous Finkle street.

There was a petrol station on the King Street/South Street Junction which had pumps which stretched over the footpath, you stopped on the road, near the busy junction, to fill up. They flogged a few second hand cars. There was also a garage on Crescent St, off George street, which went through to Hallgate. I'll see if I can remember any more.

[Lord Sterling]

Lancaster Jaguar in Abingdon Square, Northampton. It was a Guy Salmon site for a while after before closing and becoming a gym 🙁

When it was Lancaster, it was featured in the Keeping Up Appearances episode "The New Car" when. Hyacinth tricked Richard into taking a Rolls Royce from the dealership out for a test drive.

[Markeh]

Holy thread resurrection!

My discovery of Google Earth in the browser has revealed some garages I remember that predated Street View in those areas!

So if we go back to 1999, this is an overhead shot of Hooleys Ford in Nottingham prior to demolition. I'm reliably informed that one of the buildings that was retained was the old paint shop due to being a listed building, this may or may not have been haunted.

Mansfield, 2004. I believe the bottom right building is where GK Ford was, possibly including the forecourt above it. The large building at the top and resultant car park is the former Mansfield Leisure Centre. All of this is now the Tesco Extra on Chesterfield Road. You should just be able to see the faint lines over the Ford showroom where the road now enters the site.

Mansfield, 2007 - the old Lucas showroom. I've shared pictures of it boarded up in this thread before, here it is operating. North showroom would have been Proton, south showroom was branded up as Daihatsu/Subaru at the end. Only the unrelated warehouse bottom right still exists, the rest (including the abandoned snooker club above that warehouse) is now a car park.

 

About 300 yards down the road, was also this (Street view from April 2009 - October 2009 has the site being bulldozed, now a car park)

Prior to demolition, in the same 2007 footage, here is what I believe was originally Claytons Volvo, potentially later Speeds, and then became Claytons again as a service centre elsewhere in town until about 10 months ago?

Nottingham, 2004 - What is now an over 55s apartment complex is Lookers (potentially Chatsworth before that) Honda in Mapperley.

Have a bonus one I re-remembered while looking these up - the old Farmer and Carlisle Toyota in West Bridgford. Seen here as Inchcape in 2010, now a builders merchants. Inchcape also had a showroom up on Derby Road (more on that later...) and now seems to have settled at the former Sandicliffe Kia/Fiat site in Basford.

I took a bit of information from this thread and this referenced 1991 Rover dealer's directory that's still on Google Drive: 

So in no particular order... West Bridgford, 1999 - this isthe site of what I believed to be W.A. Hatfield. Gone by 2004, now houses.

Sutton-in-Ashfield, 2001 - this would have been Hammonds. Presumably it followed the same path as the Mansfield one, which became Priory, which I believe got merged into the Pendragon beast at some point and rebranded Evans Halshaw - not sure whether that happened before or after MGR collapsed. By 2004 this Sutton branch became a small retail park, now consisting of a large Toolstation and a Domino's.

Mann Egerton of Derby Road - this is the aforementioned Toyota site from earlier. Here in the late 00s as HA Fox Jaguar as well as Lexus Nottingham. The building on the right is now flats, the old Jaguar showroom is now a combined Lexus/Toyota. Jaguar stayed put until they moved into a combined JLR showroom. 2004 screenshot from above shows the giant size of the site previously.

Hammonds of Daybrook - this later became Nottingham Volkswagen and is now Vertu Kia. Nothing remarkable to see:

Jack E. Hopewell of Melton Road, Tollerton - I can't really pin down this site - I am assuming it is something to do with this petrol station as there's nowhere else it could fit - here it is in 2008, it's now a Shell.

Beacon Motor Company of Hucknall - Now the address given is a small site that was seemingly opposite a much larger site. The larger site in 2008 was Sandicliffe Ford and Suzuki, later Ford, later a self storage place. This smaller site is now part of a local chain of tyre fitters. Unsure if the Ford site opposite was always that (I thought the old Central Garage in Hucknall was on a different site!). Here it is in 2008 being used as overflow used car storage for the garage over the road.

I nearly didn't look this oine up, I thought it was something else - Wrights of Newark. From above in 2000, now just a petrol station - the surrounding factories were bulldozed and turned into retail parks.

Hammonds of Mansfield aren't quite where I expected them in this list... it has them as potentially on the Lucas or Volvo sites previously mentioned on Nottingham Road.

Knowles of Epperstone - Pretty sure it has to be this site based off the location!
  

Stephen Palmer of Long Eaton - This seems to have since become NK Motors original Kia site in Long Eaton, then a used car site with the group, then a previously-opposite Triumph bike dealer that I believe went bust recently, and seems to have gone back to used sales with NK.

Very little trace of Ilkeston Co-op at the addresses in the Rover guide - Original sites knocked down to build a road through the town centre (some might argue knocking down the entirety of Ilkeston would have been a better use of the funds) - after that, I have to assume they operated out of what is now Vertu Nissan (formerly also Peugeot and FATHER_Markeh's place of employment, now the garage I take my Nissans to for servicing) on Derby Road based off the photos I can find - or perhaps further down where Ron Brooks Toyota is. I'd believe the former because that site did operate as Ilkeston Co-op in the early 2000s before becoming Sunwin, The Co-Operative Motor Group, and absorbed into Bristol Street around 2012 time.

Walkers Garage of Carlton still seemingly going strong as Carlton Car Centre, petrol station and Morrisons Daily 

Willoughby Garages of Beeston - became Peugeot eventually, moved to Sherwood, became Robins and Day and now absorbed into the whole Stellantis and You thing. This site's now a Lidl. Subaru and Isuzu were gone by 2012 and that building is now a vets.

A random to finish - New Crown Sharpes Vauxhall in Bulwell. Abandoned some time in the early 2000s, replaced with a Lidl in 2017ish. Seen from above in 2001 and on Street View in 2012.

 

For christ's sake, no-one find me any more dealer directories until I've finished this year's tax return! This took about an hour and a half which was arguably better spent in Excel.

 

[Andrew353w]

EPIC researching! Brilliant! Let's have some more-but AFTER you've dealt with H.M.R.C.!

[Cavcraft]

On 22/10/2022 at 23:00, RayMK said:

I have not found any photos from the 1990s of the Fiat dealership whose sticker is on my 1994 Tipo, but they've been trading for about 60 years and are still with Fiat in 2022.  

IIRC, they were the first FIAT dealer in Britain.

[Markeh]

Now that I'm pretty sure I've finished my tax return, I can get back to nerding out for a bit.

Back to some of the other localish to me dealers on that 1991 list.

Chesterfield is no dice - the bit of Sheffield Road that Kenning existed on doesn't exist any more according to maps I've got. If I was to hazard a guess, maybe it was on the old Autoworld site now occupied by Stoneacre and a number of franchises.

Service Motors of Leabrooks - I am pretty sure it resided where this Co-op now lives:

Possibly this was it in the year 2000. The postcodes don't really match up with the road names any more but this strikes me as about the right location for a garage in a small village like this.

Renown Motor Company, Somercotes. Now this one was a surprise - I took one look at the road name and location and called it as the soon-to-be-vacated old Perrys Ford (formerly GK) site. But that's further up the road on a different postcode... I reckon it was this, but I could very well be wrong.

Have a bonus just up the road - circa 2001 this is possibly the original Draycotts site in Alfreton before they focused on just the Sutton-in-Ashfield site.  I presume this was Kia (they claim to be the longest serving UK Kia dealer - never known them have any other franchises until they recently picked up GWM). This one's been a Lidl since about 2009.

Kenning of Matlock in 2009. It's now a McDonalds as of 2016ish. I wouldn't even say the 2001 satellite imagery shows it in much use so christ knows what happened.

Raymond Mays of Melton Mowbray. Didn't have to look this one up, the address was very familiar - it's been Browning since 2004 and another former employer of Father_Markeh. Suzuki, it was also Great Wall when they launched the Steed but this disappeared long before the Ora came into being. I suspect they may have been a victim of Suzuki's culling of franchises, and gained KGM. Photo from 2023. They had a small showroom opposite for Great Wall for a little bit. 

You'll see they also do Renault service. Funny story on this - I met my dad just after his interview for here, and as I was waiting by my Megane II and they came out of the venue, he pointed me out to the interviewer. I believe the words used were "Why the hell did you let him buy one of those?" 

[Markeh]

I've been having some attempts at getting some lists of dealers from some more unorthodox locations, albeit with limited success - namely, the Wayback Machine to try manufacturer websites from the late 90s/early 00s.

Because of how the searches work, limitations with browsers, etc (the Daewoo website in particular insisted I try using a nice modern browser like IE6) it's been difficult to get full lists, however I've had a couple of bits from some manufacturers.

I've passed this particular site on many an occasion when visiting Falmouth - currently a Majestic as it has been for several years, but did spend a few years here as Livery Dole Mitsubishi and Subaru:

What I didn't know before today was that this site used to be Riders Saab.

Another ex-Saab site here (I believe):

Now in Maidstone. In 2008 here we see Drake and Fletcher Mazda and Honda. In the present day, that's now Invicta Mazda and MG (and Wilmoths Citroen appears to have just been next door chilling out throughout this) - back in 2000, this was apparently Sutton Park Saab. Bonus points for the sheer brilliance of the general manager's personal email address being listed on the Saab UK website.

I stumbled across this, a list of VW dealers in 1997 in the Antrim area.

J Neil, Ballymena - still there, under the Edwin May name now seemingly... but if you look on the road behind on 2009 street view, there's a second hand garage under the name J Neill Cars literally next door to the back half of this garage...

Isaac Agnew still going strong in Belfast and Mallusk on the same sites too - not pictured because it's just... not that interesting! The Mallusk site could well have originally been here as the road number matches, but it looks to have been up the road since the early-mid 00s (picture seen 2008 - this became Donnelly Mitsubishi for a bit and is now a massive Spar)

Stock Brothers in Sandown is now just a VW specialists and has been for a number of years.

Phillips in Lisburn now a butchers as of 2021 (photo dated 2016)

Fiat has definitely come up trumps as there's actual lists that have been saved from about 1999 which contain what appears to be the entire UK list. For my own sanity I'll cover just the Nottinghamshire ones and a couple of others this time.

DC Cook at Derby. And we've hit another "Father_Markeh used to work here" site, as this is the large now Vertu site on Sir Frank Whittle Road. So this followed much the same story arc as the Ilkeston Co-Op garages, becoming Sunwin, then Co-Op Motor Group, then Bristol Street and finally Vertu. Here's the Fiat showroom in 2008. At the time dad worked there, it was Nissan, Renault, Hyundai and Mazda as well as Fiat. Hyundai went elsewhere, Fiat and Nissan swapped showrooms until 2017 when Fiat went elsewhere, Volvo took over Mazda, and has since been replaced with Peugeot (pinched off Robins and Day from down the road - their old showroom on Pentagon island is now Ron Brooks flogging Suzukis, Jaecoos and Omodas having pinched the former franchise off of Beechwood as far as I can tell - Beechwood claimed Mazda, though), Nissan still exist in the pictured showroom and the old Nissan/Fiat one is now Skoda. Renault somehow stayed put but naturally gained Dacia. Vertu now have a full empire up this road - if you go further to the left down this road you'll see formerly Bristol Street now Vertu Citroen/DS, if you pan the camera round to see the roundabout you'll see formerly Lookers now Vertu Honda.

Father_Markeh may still have a decent waterproof jacket with the 2000s Sunwin logo on it in the back of the wardrobe. When he left not long after receiving it, a Fiat iron-on patch was acquired to cover over said logo to save him buying a new jacket!

Speeds of Nottingham - this indicates they were on a site I've discussed quite a bit in previous posts, the currently Vertu Hyundai/Skoda site on Nuthall Road. At a guess, they may have been where Hyundai are now and where Stratstone Volvo used to be on the smaller of the 2 showrooms, but maybe they shared the larger of the two (which did house Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep, which seems to track better - that was Citroen for ages and recently reopened as Skoda). No pictures as I've already shared this one previously. EDIT: come to think of it I bet Fiat were in the Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep side - I wouldn't be surprised if Stratstone took over Speeds on the Volvo front and I remembered that mum's (55 plate) PT Cruiser had its original Speeds plate on the back and a Nottingham reg.

Speeds of Beeston has to be this now row of shops on Queens Road - Street View and Google Earth seems to indicate it stopped being a garage some time before 2004.

Another two for the no photos list here, Autoworld of Chesterfield and Priory of Mansfield. Autoworld is still there under the Stoneacre brand, and Priory was on the same site on Southwell Road West as MG Rover and I believe Honda at the time - this later became Evans Halshaw, Honda moved out, MG Rover went under, Citroen and Nissan moved in from the Nottingham Road site, Citroen eventually took over the Honda showroom, the old MGR/Citroen one is now a training academy, Nissan lost the franchise (Nissan were in the old Fiat showroom - sidenote, this is where Mother_Markeh briefly worked and where I bought both Qashqais from as well as my folks 2 Jukes, my gran's last Note, and on the Citroen side, mum's C3 Picasso), and now funnily enough that showroom is going back to Fiat and strangely Peugeot have moved up there too? I think the whole site is eventually just going to be a Stellantis megasite with used sales taking the old Peugeot site down the road (another Father_Markeh former employer!) becoming BYD and maybe the used operation.

Reg Vardy of Leicester, in 1999:

A Speedy Hire a few years after that, then a DIY place and now seemingly to let/likely about to go up in flames and be redeveloped.

There is definitely more digging to be done this way for some other manufacturers, but if someone is willing to spend the time there are a significant number of Daihatsu dealers that can be found, it just involves clicking into a load of links. There's also a lot of Saab dealers where the full info isn't visible but the dealer name is, which can often give a few hints.

EDIT: Last minute find of an intact Subaru list from 2000 via the Wayback Machine too!

[Markeh]

On 30/12/2025 at 18:32, Markeh said:

Jack E. Hopewell of Melton Road, Tollerton - I can't really pin down this site - I am assuming it is something to do with this petrol station as there's nowhere else it could fit - here it is in 2008, it's now a Shell.

Found a bit more out on this one - this was the supplying dealer for the Rover SD1 Barn Find off of the Late Brake Show. A close up of the sticker gave me a new name to Google, and that led me to this: https://tollertonvillagehistory.co.uk/2023/10/26/transport-and-travel/

And this photo, circa 1985. It also states that in the 90s they moved to Plumtree. I would reckon this site here on Station Road (1999 screenshot).

Gonna delve into some of the Wayback Machine dealer lists I found tonight I think.

[Markeh]

Right, a list from Subaru from approximately 2002, maybe a little earlier. Starting with the South West:

Roseland Motors, Truro (well. Tresillian if Subaru are to be believed, Probus if the postcode is to be believed). I had a false start with this one of the Truro Audi (now Yeomans) site in Tesillian, but I believe it off the postcode to be the current Mercedes Truro (and now BYD I believe too) retail site here. Below is the screenshot from 2001 - at a guess the left hand showroom was probably Subaru, now bulldozed.

Ashburton Motor Works, near Newton Abbot is still going strong!

No real trace of Parks Exeter in Marsh Barton - potentially it shared a site with Tracks of Exeter at a guess, only other building that sort of fits on Maps/Earth.

GC Stanbury in Dulverton, Somerset - still there albeit just service now. Here it is in 2024:

Limited luck again tracking down Vale Motors of Yeovil. At a guess their site was likely taken over by Seat (Carshop, later Snows) and now seemingly Vertu Volvo - but they could have been across the road at what is now Howards Peugeot and Hyundai but used to be Astley Kia and Saab (pictured in 2008 here) - I love that they still have the octagonal showroom as of at least 2024

Strangely, Chapelgate in Ferndown, Bournemouth appears to have taken on a more exotic life. Street View and satellite imagery shows it as a Porsche centre from about 2005 before becoming a Tesla centre in about 2022-23! Screenshot prior to expansion, taken 2002. If you compare the satellite imagery to the current view, most of the building is as is apart from a showroom expansion on the front.

Tiley of Bristol still holding strong as a used car dealer/Hertz rental place. Looks like the Subaru signs finally disappeared some time around 2023.

Simpsons of Swindon at the given address disappeared early-mid 2010s, flattened and replaced with a Budgens for the petrol station. Seen here 2011

But on the other side of the pumps they also had Daihatsu! That's now parking. This is from 2008.

Pleased to report however that they're still going strong from their service site down the road:

Sparshatts of Botley, Southampton. Looks to be an interesting history here. Screenshot below is 2008 where they're billed as "Nissan Specialists" on that right hand building alongside Subaru and Isuzu, and strangely Ford service (maybe ex-Ford - certainly a fair few on the pitch if I pan the camera!). 2011 sees Skoda in the right hand building. 2012 and the left hand becomes solely Nissan who seem to bugger off some time between 2018 and 2019. A rebrand to Richmond in 2020, they gain Suzuki in 2021 but lose it in the summer of 2023 and now it's MG!

Mill Lane Engineering of Basingstoke seems to have taken on the form of many used dealers over the years. Here's a recent picture. The distinct look of something that was formerly a petrol station and they've just put glass up round the sides to make a showroom!

Lancaster Pangbourne. Bloody hell this one's gone a bit posh. Unclear which showroom they occupied here but it's currently either Aston Martin or Lamborghini! Based off this 2003 Satellite image and the sorts of motors you see here (and the distinct amount of blue ones!) I wager they were in what is now Lamborghini - and Subaru were out of there by 2004, likely.

SGT of Taplow, I can't properly track down, they seem to still have some form of service premises but the postcode for their premises no longer exists in Google Maps. This would be my best guess, now gone. They still exist and service Morgans amongst many things.

Bell and Colvill of West Horsley near Leatherhead are still there and also sell Lotuses, but also had history selling Morgans and Saabs from a beautiful but now demolished showroom next door to their still-existing site.

Concours Motor Co in Haslemere - nice example of a town centre dealership. was Proven Subaru/Isuzu/Daihatsu in 2009, was Subaru and Kia in 2010, by 2014 it was shops, now a TGJones and a presumably closing down Original Factory Shop!

Cheam Motors in Ewell in 2009. A Sainsburys Local with flats by 2012.

Spring Park Motors of Shirley, Croydon. Another weird history. By 2008 it was Masters of Shirley advertising Renault servicing. Great Wall by 2012. Mitsubishi come 2014. Gained MG in 2021 and the site was empty by 2022, is now a Toolstation. I would wager they gave up after Mitsubishi exited the UK market. MG now seems to be being served in Croydon by Invicta after a seemingly recent takeover of the old Dees of Croydon Ford site on the A23 netted them MG and Mazda too. Pictured in 2018 as Mitsubishi.

Gatwick, in Crawley, near, erm, Gatwick. Still going strong from the same site as Gatwick Kia, was still doing Subaru servicing in 2009, has also served both Mitsubishi until they pulled out, and Hyundai too. Picture from 2008 when it didn't look like a big red/black slab.

Culverwell of Robertsbridge still going too:

Barretts of Canterbury. It was probably round the back where Citroen was but have a picture of the old Jaguar frontage that's been bulldozed anyway!

Walldonway of Maidstone. Two options for this one...if you go by the number and road name, it points to what was Hidsons Seat between 2009-2010 and is now a Co-Op. Or if you go by the postcode... it could be a Kwik Fit down the road that used to be Chambers Honda motorbikes. I feel like either are as likely.

Surprise surprise, Lancaster of Sevenoaks - now Ferrari, has been Bentley/Lamborghini. Have an aerial view from 1990!

Ace of Kensington, in Radley Mews. Sales location has been turned into private housing but did house a classic dealer til COVID.

Their service location in Acton has flats on it since 2008 in Street View, but if we go to satellite, here it is in 2003. It's flats by 2006.

Lavender Hill Garage, Enfield. Still there. Appears to have been an MGR service centre at some point. Second hand garage now. Delightful signage!

Marlborough of Isleworth. Tesco Express and a bookies now. Looks to have been a dealer until 2006. Aerial from 2003.

Days of Chelmsford became Chelmsford Hyundai and is now a housing estate as of 2019.

Wilsons of Chadwell Heath - In 2008 it was Mitsubishi, but next door was the Chadwell Arms pub - other side of that was their other Mitsubishi and Alfa showroom. Come 2012 both sites are Romford Kia (the pub, incidentally was the Rendezvous bar and grill!), by 2017 the pub was flattened and replaced with a block of flats weirdly on top of a Screwfix! Come 2020, Kia becomes Glyn Hopkin and moves away from both sites. One half is a cash and carry, the other is a prestige second hand garage.

Osborne Garages of Colchester. No luck on this one on Street View. I will go with my stab in the dark as this site in 2000, now a Majestic wine shop.

Quenby Bros of Baldock are still going as a used car dealer and have been since 1919 apparently. Here's a cute little screenshot from the 2000s of them as a Daihatsu frontage, they seem to still specialise somewhat in Subaru.

Adams of Aylesbury is still going from the same site, pictured here in 2008 - half that left showroom appears to now be a Sainsburys Local, but the other half is still going.

Anthony Betts of Milton Keynes. This is gone by 2021 and a housing estate, Street Views being a tit so the best I can do is show it you from afar in 2012 looking abandoned - satellite screenshots from the year 2000 seem to indicate the showroom here had been bulldozed by this screenshot here.

Through what I will describe as complete bloody guesswork due to a completely wrong postcode on the site, I managed to find what was Cross Country Vehicles in Hailey near Witney. Became Simpsons, now a different second hand garage with a camper conversion place behind it.

That's the south east and south west out of the way (bar a Jersey and Guernsey garage that due to poor imagery I gave up locating). 

Locally to me, not much luck, but I'll quickly cover off Nottinghamshire - we've already mentioned Lucas of Mansfield a few times. Beechdale Nottingham suggests there was one on Lenton Lane - problem being there's rather a lot of garages that exist on Lenton Lane. My guess is potentially in the site that Lookers Honda (now Vertu) moved into after they vacated Mapperley), and it also can't have been there for long as I've also seen it advertised as being under the Speeds name at a site on Alfreton Road now housing a Tesco Express (and also formerly housing a branch of Yes Car Credit if anyone remembers them!), here it is in 2000:

[Andrew353w]

WOW!!! A Subarufest for those of us who love them (and for those who don't, as well!) The first few are of particular interest to me, as I test drove an Outback way back (ahem!) in 2015, from the Ashburton Motor Works, near Newton Abbot. I was so impressed, I later bought a Forester (although from Adams Brothers, in Aylesbury) While on holiday in Devon many years later I needed some parts & ordered them from G.C. Stanbury in Dulverton, picking them up the next day!

All the Subaru dealers I've used have been proper "old school" garages, where people talk to you, not just as customer, but because they're genuinely interested in helpng you. I think I read somewhere that Subaru's ethos is to have family based businesses, as opposed to large chains selling their vehicles.