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Yep, it was Blackton's before it was re-named as EH, I can just remember Nevilles though, the Citroen dealer that was there has now gone on Southwell Road, I think they took over the showroom that was the Rover MG one up there, further down is Rainworth Skoda, they use to be in a small garage in Rainworth, but like all Skoda dealers in the past few years they have moved into a VW corporate type glass house.

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Yeah the old Rainworth Skoda dealer (in Rainworth, scarily enough) is now Spectrum used car and car rental, I was down there today in fact.

 

Southwell Road has become the only place where dealers exist now, all in crappy generic glass boxes. There's Citroen in the old MGRover place, Mercedes Benz, Sunwin Renault, Peugeot behind them, and then GK Ford's new place with the GK Mazda afterthought further down.

 

Back towards Mansfield, and the Subaru/Daihatsu/Proton dealer next to Watermeadows looks like this

 

Posted Image

 

There was a bit of the boarding missing, and a peek inside showed a load of Daihatsu promo posters.... but I'd need to break off more boarding to gain access and it was broad daylight. Plus the "feral child" possibility was strong in there.....

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I'm trying to remember where Shrewsbury Motors was (as in picture it in my head), can only recall the Audi dealers (parts of EMH I think) at Featherbed lane. This is where most of the dealers are, Audi on the corner along with Mazda and somebody else and was formerly Wadham Kennings?

 

IIrc Remember Charles Clarke were sort of the other side of the railway bridge from the Post Office depot and the prison, think it was a Nissan garage once?

 

Town Walls Fitting Centre had gone last time I was anywhere near the place, and Greenhous had moved to their fancy new gaff at Old Potts Way. I seem to remember the old Greenhous place was across the bridge from the old Gay Meadow on the opposite side down a small side road almost opposite the multi story carpark.

 

Are Furrows where Carnelian Rover once were do you know, and is Perkins Engines still going? I loved going in the latter, in there at least once a week and usually for most of the day. Met some cracking people in there (bosses included) and always had a laugh with the lads.

You're right about Charles Clarke (although that's gone now too), I was thinking of Charles Lewis on Abbey Foregate. The ex-Rover/Audi/'Kennings Motor Village' - they had Mazda, Fiat and Alfa as well for a while - is now a huge B & Q.

 

I'd forgotten about Greenhous, but the Shrewsbury Motors site was very close to them, on the left as soon as you got over the bridge from the Gay Meadow, before the turning for Greenhous. I seem to remember that Shrewsbury Motors had a workshop or new car storage beneath the showroom, which must have been GR2 when the Severn burst its banks.

 

I think that the old Carnelian Rover showroom is now Audi, and Furrows are about halfway between there and the old Audi/Kennings site, along Harlescott Lane.

 

I'm not sure if Perkins is still going, I only get the chance to see Shrewsbury when visiting the Liberator elders who live near there.

Thanks, nice to keep informed about what's happening round there as spent about eight years working in the area.

The boss's son from Charles Clarke was an absolute diamond of a bloke. I know they moved on the Welshpool road just outside of Shrewsbury but have now closed for good.

 

Harlescott Lane used to hold Greenous LDV centre iIrc, as well as an engine repair place, Burnt Tree rentals and some sort of GSF type place.

 

Bloody typical that Furrows moved, I suppose a dealers in prime territory like that was always going to be a target for poncey housebuilders.

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  • 8 months later...

I worked at J Davy (Speke) from 1976 until in 1983. The garage was a main Ford Dealership (dealer code 62350) It was located on Woodend Ave, Speke, Liverpool 24, The same side as the chemical plant, next to the railway line and near to Standard Triumphs No 1 plant. The garage opened in 1967 after the original site on Dovedale Road, Liverpool 18 closed in that same year.

 

I worked in the paint shop with Kevin Howes, Tommy Leach, Ciff Myres and Tommy Mooney. The foreman was a Mr Frank Taylor

 

After it closed (1983/4) most of the staff were taken on by a new Ford dealershiop that opened in 1983/4, again in Speke called 'Skyway Ford' (now Peoples)

 

Regarding the 'Burglary' It never happened. The garage closed as a result of a large scale fraud involving several sales staff members. At least one and possibly two salesmaen involved went to prison for a few years.

 

Regards

 

The painter

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  • 8 years later...

Another thread I'd never seen before.. This is one hell of a long shot, but does anyone recall  Howells garage, Wharf Street, Cardiff? When I bought my A99 I rang the last but one owner out of curiosity to ask how long he'd had it. He was surprisingly receptive to a total stranger calling him out of the blue and amongst other things told me he'd part exed an A55 for the Westminster there in July 1961.

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Howell's built  a big showroom in the late 50s on Newport Rd. on the east side of Cardiff.They were the biggest BL dealers in Cardiff during the 70s and had other branches but later closed down.I don't actually know where Wharf St is,but I presume it must have been near the docks,not the safest place for a main dealer.howells-newport-rd-19591.jpg.7959cbc8336afc6578450c1f0968159f.jpg

That's the head office when newly built.There's a carpet and furniture warehouse on the site now.

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2 hours ago, keef said:

Who remembers Cogger & Hawkins In Aylesbury?

 

One of my Maxis was supplied by them in 1974.

 

I lived in RAF Halton in 1964 and in Aylesbury 1971-74 but have no recollection of Cogger & Hawkins. Aylesbury had changed so much between 1966 and 1971 (we were in Germany for three years in the gap) that it seemed like a completely different town when we returned. The changes possibly improved traffic flow but the character of the place was very different - generally worse.  I bought a Viva HC from Shaw & Kilburn, Aylesbury in 1978 approx. , trading in my  2CV6 which I had bought brand new from Camden Motors, Leighton Buzzard in August 1975.   

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24 minutes ago, RayMK said:

I lived in RAF Halton in 1964 and in Aylesbury 1971-74 but have no recollection of Cogger & Hawkins. Aylesbury had changed so much between 1966 and 1971 (we were in Germany for three years in the gap) that it seemed like a completely different town when we returned. The changes possibly improved traffic flow but the character of the place was very different - generally worse.  I bought a Viva HC from Shaw & Kilburn, Aylesbury in 1978 approx. , trading in my  2CV6 which I had bought brand new from Camden Motors, Leighton Buzzard in August 1975.   

KRW794's first owner was a Flight Lientenant in the RAF; perhaps you knew him?

Codger & Hawkins were taken over by Dutton Forshaw in 1972.

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The three main ones I remember as a kid were Benfield Vauxhall in Newcastle, where my mum bought her first and only brand new car - a 1995 'M' Vauxhall Corsa and then the old Mill Volvo garage in Kingston Park, where we almost traded the Corsa for a 440, but my parents decided to get a divorce instead.

Then Pilgrims of March, once I'd moved down south. A Ford dealer, but my stepdad bought 2 Rovers from them a '95 218 SLDT and a '99 420 GSDI - if anyone has pictures of that old site, before they moved to the new one (longshot) it'd be great to see em!

 

This is a top thread and I'm glad it's resurfaced to the front page again

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On 2/25/2020 at 9:49 AM, artdjones said:

Howell's built  a big showroom in the late 50s on Newport Rd. on the east side of Cardiff.They were the biggest BL dealers in Cardiff during the 70s and had other branches but later closed down.I don't actually know where Wharf St is,but I presume it must have been near the docks,not the safest place for a main dealer.howells-newport-rd-19591.jpg.7959cbc8336afc6578450c1f0968159f.jpg

That's the head office when newly built.There's a carpet and furniture warehouse on the site now.

Brillant picture.  Howells started out as a department store.  I am not sure when or if the car business was split out before House of Fraser took over the shop.  This one of many dealers that I am collecting stuff about for my Triumph Car Project.  I regularly post to facebook and my blog on the subject.

HowellsTaxDiscs.jpg

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On 2/25/2020 at 4:53 AM, RayMK said:

I lived in RAF Halton in 1964 and in Aylesbury 1971-74 but have no recollection of Cogger & Hawkins. Aylesbury had changed so much between 1966 and 1971 (we were in Germany for three years in the gap) that it seemed like a completely different town when we returned. The changes possibly improved traffic flow but the character of the place was very different - generally worse.  I bought a Viva HC from Shaw & Kilburn, Aylesbury in 1978 approx. , trading in my  2CV6 which I had bought brand new from Camden Motors, Leighton Buzzard in August 1975.   

My old man was in the 101 at Halton, though I'm sure he never bought a car in/around Aylesbury.

 

--Phil

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  • 3 weeks later...

A few from near me, 

Bond Ford of Pocklington, Longs BMC/BL etc of Howden who I believe lost the franchise in the 1980s, Brian Leighton Nissan of Howden, Armstrong Massey Land Rover in Market Weighton, Driffield Car Centre Renault, originally at Garton on the Wolds later moving to Driffield for a while before closing, George Williamson Fiat of Driffield, Driffield Land Rover of Middleton on the Wolds and Maudsons Skoda of North Ferriby 

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  • 10 months later...

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)

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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.

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On 3/17/2020 at 1:40 PM, Eyersey1234 said:

A few from near me, 

Driffield Car Centre Renault, originally at Garton on the Wolds later moving to Driffield for a while before closing, George Williamson Fiat of Driffield, Driffield Land Rover of Middleton on the Wolds and Maudsons Skoda of North Ferriby 

Driffield Car Centre Renault, originally at Garton on the Wolds - weren't they involved in some sort of scandal about fiddling their sales figures? The site at Garton is now owned by Agriweld who make agricultural equipment.

George Williamson Fiat of Driffield are now in Kellythorpe repairing cars rather than selling them. Their showroom/petrol station in Driffield was ace, now demolished and with a Wilco replacement.

Maudsons - I bought an autoshite beige ('stone') Favorit from them.

21 hours ago, Eyersey1234 said:

There was also a Ford garage in Cottingham which I think closed in the early 90s and one at Filey whose name I have forgotten, as well as a Citroën dealer in Elloughton next to the EYMS bus garage 

Cottingham - that Ford garage (if it's where I think it was) was a Mazda dealer at one time (part of the petrol station on Northgate). There was also a two car Renault dealer on Finkle Street (but not at the second hand dealer next to the abattoir, it was on the other side towards West Green) and Gordon Fussy BMC later BL dealer on Beck Bank.

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53 minutes ago, Eyersey1234 said:

I'm unaware of Driffield Car Centre having fiddled their sales figures but it's possible they were. I believe the Cottingham Ford dealer was on Baynard Avenue, though I don't remember it.  I didn't know there were that many franchised garages in Cottingham at one time

 

You know, I think that may have been the Renault dealer. I vaguely remember them extending backwards from Finkle St towards Baynard Ave.

The Mazda dealer on Northgate must have always been Mazda then. I lived in Cottingham for 25ish years and never knew anyone who bought a Mazda from  there. I moved to Driffield and our next door but one neighbour had a Cottingham Mazda, 'cause it was closer than Hull.

Can't find any details on the scandal at Garton, but it was in the local papers and everything.

Did you know G Boyes at Kilham used to be a Kia dealer? And sold Hyosung motorbikes?

Fussey Bus BusinessTurns out Fusseys at Cottingham started out as a taxi company, then into buses. This cottage is still there. The showroom was to the right I think but the whole lot ran round the back of the petrol station that used to be on Thwaite Street.

Remember Dixons of Hull? The boss lived in a big house on Hull Road, near the Thwaite St roundabout - his back garden often contained the over spill from his showrooms - either second hand or new.

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1 hour ago, martc said:

You know, I think that may have been the Renault dealer. I vaguely remember them extending backwards from Finkle St towards Baynard Ave.

The Mazda dealer on Northgate must have always been Mazda then. I lived in Cottingham for 25ish years and never knew anyone who bought a Mazda from  there. I moved to Driffield and our next door but one neighbour had a Cottingham Mazda, 'cause it was closer than Hull.

Can't find any details on the scandal at Garton, but it was in the local papers and everything.

Did you know G Boyes at Kilham used to be a Kia dealer? And sold Hyosung motorbikes?

Fussey Bus BusinessTurns out Fusseys at Cottingham started out as a taxi company, then into buses. This cottage is still there. The showroom was to the right I think but the whole lot ran round the back of the petrol station that used to be on Thwaite Street.

Remember Dixons of Hull? The boss lived in a big house on Hull Road, near the Thwaite St roundabout - his back garden often contained the over spill from his showrooms - either second hand or new.

Yes I remember Dixons they were a big multi franchise concern at one time, after they went bust a lot of the garages though not all were taken over by Evans Halshaw, the least said about EH the better. 

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I'm loving this thread and wish I could add some pictures, but, as like many other garages, most of my memories have vanished under swathes of flats, supermarkets and other "more profitable" buildings. 

The garage where I trained, Bideford Motors on Torridge Hill, Bideford is long gone and probably suffered a drastic decline in petrol sales when the "Atlantic Highway" (A.K.A. the A39!) opened in the late 1980s from Barnstaple to north Cornwall, diverting 90% of the traffic from passing through the town. I remember opening the forecourt at 7am on a Saturday morning during the summer months and there already being a queue of customers, some sleeping in their cars, waiting for petrol. It was here that I filled my first Wartburg, and marvelled at the owner putting oil in the petrol!

My Daf 33 still has the original dealer sticker in the rear window: Two Strokes, of Stanmore. They were Reliant, Daf and Wartburg dealers-what a superb collection of cars to have on display in the showroom! The site's now a Tesco Metro..... 

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15 hours ago, Eyersey1234 said:

I'm unaware of Driffield Car Centre having fiddled their sales figures but it's possible they were. I believe the Cottingham Ford dealer was on Baynard Avenue, though I don't remember it.  I didn't know there were that many franchised garages in Cottingham at one time

 

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.

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  • 1 year later...

4 more i have remembered about. There was a Citroën dealer next to Elloughton bus garage as well though I am unsure what it was called, the site was turned into housing years ago. I'm told the garage at Flamborough used to be a Skoda agents too. Finally a couple of Ford garages, Nicholson at Hedon and one at Winestead on the main road to Withernsea from Hull.

 

Does anyone know if Hornsea or Withernsea ever had a main dealer?

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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.

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