P W Barker Ltd of Worcester - Triumph Car dealers 26

This is the 26th article in my series about Triumph car dealers and features P W Barker Ltd of Worcester.

P W Barker Ltd enamel plaque

A long established business the earliest reference I have found is in the Institution of Automobile Engineers year book for 1910-1911 which lists Mr P W Barker of Barker's Garage, Lowesmoor Place, Worcester as a member. The business was founded in 1906 and started selling Standard cars before the 1914-18 world war. They were appointed as a distibutor for Standard cars in 1921.

A company called P W Barker Ltd (company number 357729) was incorporated on 17 November 1939 and dissolved 22 October 1996 having ceased trading during 1984.

P.W.Baker Ltd of Worcester advert in Autocar 18 Oct 1957

Holloway Barker Ltd invoice from 1976

The business became known as Holloway Barker Ltd as can be seen in this invoice for a new Triumph Toledo dated 15 March 1976. Holloway Barker Ltd (company number 535678) was incorporated 12 July 1954 and dissolved 22 October 1996.

Holloway Barker Ltd, Worcester December 1978 

 

 

Standard Triumph Review cover with P W Barker dealer address stamp

Show and Service Week promotion

Staff from Standard Triumph HQ visited the business and assisted the firm with a week long Show and Service promotion. This was held by the firm at their 82-84 Lowesmoor premises 16 to 20 November 1964.

A family business

R B Barker

Philip Walter Barker the founder died in April 1959 aged 80.

Robert Blakeley Barker son of P W Barker joined the firm in 1939. He remained a director until the business ceased trading in 1984 and died in 2012 when aged 96.  He had been a long term member of the Worcestershire Motor Club and took part in the 1939 RAC Rally.

Symington Table Creams competition

Symington Table Creams competition winner outside P W Barker of Worcester

It was reported in the Standard Triumph Review dated February 1964 that:
Mrs D Timmis, of Barnt Green, Worcestershire, one of the winners of the country-wide Symington Table Creams competition, is presented with the key to her prize - a new Triumph Herald 12/50 saloon car - by Mr P Dolphin, Symington's regional sales manager, outside the showrooms of P W Barker Ltd, Lowesmore, Worcester. Mr R B Barker, Director, looks on approvingly. Mr. R B Blakeley also of P W Barker is on the right.

Triumph car dealers in Worcester

April 1952:
H A Sanders Ltd, Austin House.
Eric Williams Ltd, Pierpoint Street.

1955:
P W Barker Ltd, 82/84 Lowesmoor.    distributor
H R Broadhurst, Kempsey.
Carmichael & Sons (Worcester) Ltd, The Butts, 24hr service
F Norman & Sons (Worcester) Ltd, St. John's Garage.
F Sanders, Barbourne Motor Garage, 6 Barbourne Road.
Reginald Wall Ltd, 50 Ombersley Road.
Eric Williams Ltd, Pierpoint Street.

1959:
P W Barker Ltd, 82/84 Lowesmoor. distributor
Barneshall Garage Ltd, Bath Road.
Carmichael & Sons (Worcester) Ltd, The Butts
F Norman & Sons (Worcester) Ltd, St. John's Garage
F Sanders, Barbourne Motor Garage, 6 Barbourne Road
Eric Williams Ltd, Pierpoint Street

August 1961
P W Barker Ltd, 82/84 Lowesmoor.        distributor
Barneshall Garage Ltd, Bath Road.        24hr service
Carmichael & Sons (Worcester) Ltd, The Butts    24hr service
F Norman & Sons (Worcester) Ltd, St. John's Garage
F Sanders, Barbourne Motor Garage, 6 Barbourne Road
Eric Williams Ltd, Pierpoint Street

February 1965:
P W Barker Ltd, 82/84 Lowesmoor.        distributor
Bromyard Road Motors (W D Smith & Son), Bromyard Road.
Carmichael & Sons (Worcester) Ltd, The Butts.
F Norman & Sons (Worcester) Ltd, St. John's Garage
Sanders Garage (Barbourne) Ltd, Little London
Eric Williams Ltd, Pierpoint Street

September 1968:
P W Barker Ltd, 82/84 Lowesmoor.        distributor
Carmichael & Sons (Worcester) Ltd, The Butts.
F Norman & Sons (Worcester) Ltd, St. John's Garage
Marshall Motors (Worcester) Ltd, Hallow

March 1970:
P W Barker Ltd, 82/84 Lowesmoor.        distributor
Carmichael & Sons (Worcester) Ltd, The Butts.

March 1972:
P W Barker Ltd, 82/84 Lowesmoor.        distributor
Foley Caravans (Motorised) Ltd, Hallow Road - same phone number as Marshall Motors (Worcester) Ltd

March 1974:
P W Barker Ltd, 82/84 Lowesmoor.        distributor
Preston's Garage, Fernhill Heath, nr Worcester

March 1988:
Mann Egerton & Co Ltd, Austin House, Castle Street, WR1 3 AW    distributor

May 1991:
Startins of Worcester, 391 Ombersley Road, WR3 7DG    Main dealer

Plea for more information

If you have any more information or recollections about P W Barker Ltd of Worcester, photos of window stickers, dealer badges or sill plates etc please let me know. I can be contacted via the comments to this post or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/stephen.weblin

Further information and sources

Link to the other articles in this series.

Link to a blog post Carmichael & Sons (Worcester) Ltd

Link to a post about F. Norman & Sons Ltd of Worcester

Link to facebook page: Triumph Car Dealers.

Link to my Triumph Car Dealers Flickr group which includes many photos of Standard Triumph garages etc from my collection and many other contributors .

I have a collection of Standard Triumph car dealer directories: http://vitessesteve.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/triumph-car-dealer-directories.html

Picture credits: Symington Table Creams competition winner photo from Standard Triumph Review February 1964; Holloway Barker Ltd invoice from 1976 photo from Rob Marshall; other images from Jez Phillips; Standard Triumph Review cover with P W Barker dealer address stamp image from Michel Grimaldier.

Standard Vanguard Phase III Motor Trader service data

Standard Vanguard Phase III

I have recently scanned some more of my collection of Motor Trader articles. The Standard Vanguard Phase III Motor Trader service data is number 359 and dated 26 September 1956.

I have Motor Trader service data for several other Standard cars and have been gradually adding them to my website:  http://vitessesteve.co.uk/MotorTrader_StandardCars.htm

Merry Christmas 2016

1963 Triumph Herald Christmas advert

Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all my readers and contributors.

Thank you very much for your contributions to my project to write about Standard Triumph dealers.  I have now published over 25 articles and much material for many more. http://vitessesteve.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/TriumphCarDealers

I have scanned a whole library of big saloon articles and brochures started to share it. Initially material has been shared on facebook. 

As ever my website http://vitessesteve.co.uk/ has been slowly evolving with new content added periodically. Most recently I have added a page with Motor Trader articles about Standard cars. 

Many of the photos used in my blog posts can also be found on flickr  Triumph Car Dealers Flickr gallery of images I have found on Flickr. or my Triumph car dealer group.  

Leyland cars North America Dealer directory for 1974

The British Leyland North America Dealer directory for 1974 which covers the Austn, MG, Jaguar, Triumph and  Land Rover brands.  You can preview and download a copy from:   https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_CE2l4Osa3SemMyLUp0OVJTWlU/view?usp=sharing

I found this on Bobs TR6 site which has a lot useful stuff on it.

Central Garage of Brixham - Triumph car dealer 25

The owner and Ashley family members outside the original showroom

This is the 25th article in my series about Triumph car dealers and features Central Garage of Brixham.

A new showroom in 1965

Central Garage advert which featured in the Herald Express in the 1960's

Central Garage of Brixham a short history

In 1954 Norman Ashley, his wife, Christine, and their three sons Michael, Peter and John, left 'Yat Garage', in Ross On Wye, and headed down to sunny Torbay to open a new garage.  Central Garage in Milton Street, Brixham, was born and consisted of a small workshop and 2 pairs of petrol pumps.

Norman Ashley died age 56 in 1958 leaving Christine and their three sons to continue his legacy.  A year later, in 1959, after five successful years of trading, it was time to expand. Some adjacent land, including another house for the growing family to live in, was purchased and a new car lot was built. This expansion of the company continued in 1961 with the addition of a brand new purpose built workshop featuring a 'state of the art' hydraulic lift.

In 1965, Michael, Peter and John purchased an adjoining property and decided to convert it into a new car showroom, really lifting the profile of Central Garage and showing off the 'Standard Triumph' range of cars that were available at the time. In 1967, a large workshop was erected behind the showroom, this workshop is still Central Garages' main Brixham workshop.

As Central Garages' customer base grew, new demands had to be met. One of these was Body Repairs. So, in 1973, a new Body and Paint division was built. In 1975 when Peter and John lost their eldest brother Michael, aged only 40, and, in 1977, their mother Christine sadly passed away, too.

Peter's eldest son, joining the family business in the late 1980s.Central Garage now had the Rover franchise and was selling hundreds of new Rovers every year. When John's eldest son, Scott, and Peter's youngest son, David, joined the company in the early 1990s, the Brixham base was at full capacity and had expanded as much as it could.

Then, in 1995, the Ashley family purchased the old Travis Perkins site on Newton Road, in Torquay. It had the space inside for plenty of offices and a large showroom, including a seven-bay workshop, and ample space outside for a large selection of used cars.  Construction got under way and on fireworks night in 1995,
Central Garage in Torquay opened its doors for the first time.

Peter and Simon looked after the Brixham branch whilst John, Scott and David moved to the Torquay branch. Ten years later, disaster struck. MG Rover went into administration. The business then chose Mazda.  In 2014, however, Mazda took the decision to only have large dealer groups selling new Mazdas. At this point, Central Garage was the second placed dealer in the UK for customer satisfaction!

Building work

Over the years the buildings have been extended and added to.

Central Garages Torbay switched from Mazda to MG in 2014

Central Garage of Brixham switch from Mazda to MG

Since MG Rover's demise, in 2005, the company that bought them had been developing the MG brand and planned to bring the marque back to the UK Shanghai Automotive Industries (SAIC) have been spending millions on the old Longbridge site and were looking for dealers to sell the All New range of MGs.  Central Garage was approached by MG and, after visiting Longbridge and testing the cars, agreed to return to selling MG cars again.

Rear Screen sticker

Central Garage Torquay Rear Screen Sticker

 Thanks to Sottedlaurel on flickr for the above photo.

Polling Station

A polling station has been set up in one Central Garage Brixham showrooms on at least three occasions.

Triumph dealers in Brixham

From the various Triumph car dealer directories I have I can see that:
1951 no dealer
1955 The Torbay Garage Ltd, New Road
1959 no dealer
1965, 1968, 1972, 1974, 1979 Central Garage (Brixham) Ltd, Milton Street, TQ6 0BY
Austin Rover dealer in March 1988 and Rover dealer May 1991.

Plea for more information

If you have any more information or recollections about Central Garage of Brixham, photos of window stickers, dealer badges or sill plates etc please let me know. I can be contacted via the comments to this post or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/stephen.weblin

Further information and sources

Link to the other articles in this series.

Link to facebook page: Triumph Car Dealers.

Link to my Triumph Car Dealers Flickr group .

I have a collection of Standard Triumph car dealer directories: http://vitessesteve.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/triumph-car-dealer-directories.html

Picture credits: Herald Express Brixham local paper; rear window sticker photo by Spottedlaurel on flickr..

Rothwell & Milbourne of Malvern - Triumph car dealer 24

Rothwell & Milbourne of Malvern compliments slip

This is the 24th article in my series about Triumph car dealers and features Rothwell & Milbourne Ltd of Malvern.

Rothwell & Milbourne Ltd advert in the Malvern Official Guide 1960

Rothwell & Milbourne Ltd of Malvern - Standard car dealer and Jaguar distributors for South Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Radnorshire.  Started as a partnership and then incorporated as a limited company (number 520804) on 19/09/1953 and was dissolved on 06/06/1990.

MACVITIE, Arthur Linnell, Born 20 December 1895 educated at Bishop Veseys Grammar School, Sutton Coldfield. bought the business in May, 1926.

In 1953 listed as car and light commercial vehicle stockists. Central Garage, Worcester Road, Malvern, Worcs.  Also at St. James Garage, W. Malvern; and Cowleigh Garage, Cowleigh Road, N. Malvern

On 23 November 1960 Mr A L MacVitie the then proprietor handed over the keys of a new E type Jaguar to its new owner the racing driver Innes Ireland.  In the mid 1970's the business was owned by Mr John and Mrs Judy MacVitie.

Rothwell and Milbourne Ltd dashboard plaque

A dashboard plaque for Rothwell and Milbourne Ltd as attached to a Triumph Spitfire.

Bond cars based on Triumph components were sold by the firm as evidenced by this advert for the Bond Equipe GT4S.

Rothwell & Milbourne of Malvern advert from Motor 14 November 1964

New Service Department at Malvern

The opening of Rothwell & Milbourne's new Service Department by Councillor G. T. Baldwin, Chairman of Malvern Urban District Council was reported in the Standard Triumph Review September 1959. On the extreme left is Mr A. L. MacVitie, Managing Director, Mr. John MacVitie and Mr J Bulman, Clerk to Malvern V.D.C.

Forecourt at Rothwell & Milbourne, Malvern September 1959

Triumph 1300 launch event

Triumph 1300 launch at Rothwell & Milbourne

It was reported in the Standard Triumph Review February 1966 that over 600 invitations were sent out by Rothwell & Milbourne Ltd, Standard-Triumph Area Dealers, of Malvern, when they held a Sherry Party at their Central Garage to introduce the new Triumph 1300. Many invitations were taken up and discerning motorists were joined by several local notabilities at what proved to be a most impressive debut for the new car. Discussing the car are Mr. A. L. McVitie (Chairman of Rothwell & Milbourne) in the centre with the Chairman of Malvern Urban District Council on his left and the Principal of Malvern College of Electronics on his right.

Triumph dealers in Malvern

From the various directoris I have I can see that Rothwell & Milbourne Ltd are listed as a dealer in 1951, 1955, 1959, 1965, 1968, 1972 and 1974:
Rothwell & Milbourne Ltd, Central Garage, Worcester Road, Malvern WR14 4AE.

Some other firms also sold new Standard Triumph cars in the Malvern area.
1955:
B S Ranford Ltd, Barnard's Green.
Richmond Garages (Malvern) Ltd, 245 Worcester Road.

1959:
Richmond Garages (Malvern) Ltd., 245 Worcester Road.

1965:
A D Daniels, Wells Road.
B S Ranford Ltd, 86 Barnards Green,
Richmond Garages (Malvern) Ltd, Barbourne Road,
J.W. South, Four Ways Garage, Rye Cross, Berrow.

1988:
no Austin Rover dealer

1991:
RoverGroup cars
W Westover Motors, 10 Moorlands Road, WR14 2JB

B S Ranford Ltd, Barnard's Green

This photo of B S Ranford Ltd, Barnard's Green was posted to facebook by Matt Egone Nfc Vester. I wonder when it was taken?

Plea for more information

If you have any more information or recollections about Rothwell & Milbourne Ltd, photos of window stickers, dealer badges or sill plates etc please let me know. I can be contacted via the comments to this post or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/stephen.weblin

Further information and sources

Link to the other articles in this series.

Link to my Triumph Car Dealers Flickr gallery of images I have found on Flickr.

I have a collection of Standard Triumph car dealer directories: http://vitessesteve.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/triumph-car-dealer-directories.html

Picture credits: compliments slip from Jez Phillips; Service Department and 1300 launch from Standard Triumph Review; Rothwell and Milbourne Ltd dashboard plaque from Andrew Newman. 

P J Evans of Birmingham - Triumph car dealers 23

This is the 23rd article in my series about Triumph car dealers and features Birmingham dealer P J Evans Ltd.

The early years of P J Evans

1913 advert

An advert from a November 1913 copy of "The Light Car and Cyclecar" shows P J Evans branding themselves as "the Birmingham house for small car". This is the earliest mention of them selling Standard cars that I have found.  P J Evans held the Standard franchise from 1912. Like many other car dealers P J Evans started out selling and servicing motorcycles as well as cars.

P J Evans - John Bright Street Birmingham in 1913

Advert for P J Evans - 1916

In 1927 when Bill Lyons, founder of Swallow Sidecar was looking for a Birmingham based dealer to sell his version of the Austin Seven. P J Evans was already an established and prospering dealership in the Midlands and was the perfect partner for Lyons. Together with Lyons’ prestige cars and Evans’ expertise they we able to offer a personalised and tailored service to their customers.

Mr Evans was died in a airplane crash not long into that partnership was set up. He had been flying back from the French Touring Car Grand Prix and as his children were too young to take over the business, P J Evans was sold to rivals Steeley and Rodway.

Throughout the 1930s, the business continued to flourish and grew to be one of the largest dealers in the Midlands. Selling the leading brands of the day including Austin, Bean, Daimler, Fiat, Morris, Rover Standard and Sunbeam.

The firm survived the second world war by concentrating on serving and selling used cars.

1954 advert for Swallow Doretti

P J Evans Ltd advert from Autocar 18 Oct 1957

Death of Mr Stanley Rodway

The death of Mr Stanley Rodway, Managing Director, was reported in the Standard Triumph Review February 1959. The report noted that Mr Norman Steeley had died some 18 months earlier. Standard Triumph were represented by Michael Whitfield, General Sales Director; Mr F E Higham, Home Sales Director and Mr J B L Savery. Mr SK Ridley and Mr J B Parker were appointed Joint Managing Directors of P J Evans Ltd.

P J Evans grows to be Evans Halshaw

 

Archers Specialist Cars advert March 1980

As the business grew it acquired Rolls Royce and Bentley dealerships. This allowed the company to list its shares on the Birmingham Stock Exchange. P J Evans expanded rapidly with a number of smaller acquisitions. During this growth, would-be-buyers took an interest and eventually LCP: a small West Midlands Conglomerate whose main business was coal distribution, property and car seat manufacturing backed the prospering dealership.

P J Evans Birmingham 1984 advert

With this financial backing PJ Evans were able to acquire its first Ford Dealership in 1977, with four more joining the group over the following two years.

1978 saw P J Evans make it’s most lucrative purchase of the Halshaw Group: a private company that owned the Halifax Motor Company and Bradshaws Motor House. This promoted the change in name to Evans Halshaw, and the beginning of their rapid growth.

1990s – Largest Automotive Retailer in the UK

Evans Halshaw continued to add to their portfolio of businesses throughout the 1990's. In 1999, Pendragon PLC acquired the Evans Halshaw group for £83.7 million, creating the largest automotive retailer in the UK. Evans Halshaw continued to grow, benefiting from Pendragon's long term relationships with its manufactures.

Today 2016, Evans Halshaw is said to be the largest volume selling car retailer in the UK with over 120 dealerships nationwide.

Sill plates and glove box plate

P J Evans glove box plate

1960 Sill plate

The glove box plate appears to be the same as the sill plate.

Rear window sticker

This reproduction rear window sticker is currently available from the I Say Ding Dong website.

1959 P J Evans Sales Invoice

Here is a copy of a sales invoice dated 7 September for the Triumph Herald saloon currently owned by Rich Philpot. £720.00 for the car including tax and delivery, the sort of money you can spend on a big service on a modern car.

In the Bull Ring Birmingham

P J Evans sale exhibit in the Bull Ring Birmingham 1966

P J Evans had a display in the Centre Court of the Bull Ring shopping centre in Birmingham. It ran for 10 days from 9th May 1966. According to the sales manager Charles Watson several cars were sold.    

P J Evans sale exhibit in the Bull Ring Birmingham 1966 image 2

P J Evans sale exhibit in the Bull Ring Birmingham 1964

Sales Service Week

Between 10th and 14th March 1969 the Granville Street branch of P J Evans staged a Sales and Service Week promotion assisted by staff from Standard Triumph HQ.

P J Evans branches

The firm had garages in many West Midlands towns including Halesowen, Redditch, Sutton Coldfield, West Bromwich and Dudley.

P J Evans West Bromwich advert May 1977

P J Evans Dudley advert 1982

P J Evans in Sutton Coldfield

P J Evans (Sutton Coldfield) Ltd in 1967

P J Evans of Sutton Coldfield on Birmingham Road c1965

On the right is the showroom of P.J.Evans (Triumph dealer) hence Triumphs everywhere. The building had been a wedding dress shop called Red Rose, a Blockbuster video shop and most recently a Morrison's Express but is currently vacant.

Site of the P J Evans Sutton Coldfield showroom

Site of the P J Evans Sutton Coldfield showroom standing empty in 2018 with the Triumph Vitesse belonging to Ray Prichard in the foreground.

P J Evans (Sutton Coldfield) Ltd Advert

Triumph dealers in Birmingham

Birmingham being a large city has had many Standard Triumph dealers for example in 1955:
P J Evans Ltd, 81-91 John Bright Street, B1.
Service Depot: Granville Street, 15.
Archers (Shirley) Ltd., Stratford Road, Shirley, 28.
Arnold Genders & Co. Ltd., 38 Alcester Road South King's Heath, 14.
Cranmore Bros Ltd, 4 Anderson Road, Edgbaston. 17.
Service Department: Cranmore Bros. Ltd., 467 Hagley Road.
Crowder & Brown Ltd, South Road Garage. Handsworth. 19.
Frank Grounds Ltd, 186 Lichfield Road, Aston, 6.
Geo Taylor, Small Heath Garage, 442/444 Coventry Road, Small Heath, 10.
Harold Goodwin (1944) Ltd., Wolverhampton Road, Quinton, 32.
Greyhound Service (Kings Heath) Ltd, 283 Alcester Road South, 14.
Hamstead Garage, Old Walsall Road, Hamstead, 22.
Hunts (Birmingham) Ltd, Sales: 49 Broad Street. - Service: 199 Hagley Road, Edgbaston, 16.
Hydes (B'ham.) Ltd, Bath Row.
Leslie Matthews Ltd., 91/97 Bristol Street, 5.
Patrick Motors Ltd, 479 Bristol Road, Bournebrook, 29.
Robin Hood Garage (B'ham.) Ltd, Stratford Road, Hall Green, 28.
Salford Bridge Garage Ltd, Tyburn Road, Erdington, 24.
Swan Motors, Coventry Road, Yardley, 26.
Winchurch Bros. Ltd, Edgbaston Garage, Sandon Road, 17.

Plea for more information

If you have any more information or recollections about P J Evans, photos of window stickers, dealer badges or sill plates etc please let me know. I can be contacted via the comments to this post or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/stephen.weblin

Further information and sources

Link to a post about All Electric Garage .

Link to post about Cramore Bros Ltd

Link to the other articles in this series.

Link to my Triumph Car Dealers Flickr group .

You can download a copy of the Triumph Sales and Service Directory 1968-69 which started me off on the search for info about Triumph car dealers.

I have a collection of Standard Triumph car dealer directories: http://vitessesteve.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/triumph-car-dealer-directories.html

Picture credits: Early adverts from Graces Guide; P J Evans glove box plate John Kelly; 1960Sill Plate Bof Herald; P J Evans of Sutton Coldfield on Birmingham Road c1965, P J Evans Birmingham 1984 advert posted to flickr by Miles McClagan; P J Evans sale exhibit in the Bull Ring Birmingham 1964 + Site of the P J Evans Sutton Coldfield showroom  images from Ray Prichard; P J Evans (Sutton Coldfield) Ltd Advert from Jonathan Barton on facebook.