Duff Morgan & Vermont of Norwich - Triumph Car Dealer 40

This article is number 40 in my series about Triumph Car Dealers and features Duff Morgan & Vermont of Norwich.

Some history 

Duff Morgan & Vermont was formed in 1909, by three men: Colonel Granville Duff, John Delmar Morgan and his brother-in-law, Commander Oliver Locker-Lampson. The company is still trading today under the abbreviated name ‘Duff Morgan’ with sites in Norwich and Kings Lynn.

Duff Morgan modern logo

The company had premises in London’s Piccadilly and Norwich. During World War I, Winston Churchill commissioned Duff Morgan to create armoured war vehicles for the Admiralty. These were drafted and manufactured in Piccadilly. At the same time, the company was designing and building cars for the civilian population of Norfolk.

Duff Morgan coach works Norwich

After the end of World War I, Duff Morgan ceased trading in London and focused instead on serving customers purely in Norwich.

Prior to World War 2 Duff Morgan sold many makes of car, including: Adler, Alldays & Onions, De Dion, Ford, Hupmobile, Itala, Opel, Peugeot, Riley, Standard and Swift.

And following the end of World War II, the company was Standard-Triumph’s sole distributor in Norwich and most of the county.

1963

Thanks very much to Chris Barker on flickr for finding these images and allowing me to use them in this blog post.

Duff, Morgan and Vermont Ltd, Norwich 1963 image 01

Duff, Morgan and Vermont Ltd, Norwich 1963 image 02

 More images

Duff Morgan & Vermont (St Giles Gates) Ltd dealer address stamp 1969

Duff Morgan advert from 1975

Show and Service Week promotions

Staff from Standard Triumph HQ visited the business and assisted the firm with week long Show and Service promotions.  These were held by the firm at;: their Victoria Garage, Norwich premises on 13th to 17th April 1959; at St Stephens Street October 31st to November 1st 1960 and on 20th to 24th April 1959, 17th to 21st October 1960, 21st to 25th September 1964, 13th to June 17th1966 and 30th October to 3rd November 1967 at St Giles Gates, 3 Earlham Road, Norwich.

Rear window sticker

Duff Morgan rear window sticker

St Christopher tax disc holder

Duff Morgan St Christopher tax disc holder

Thanks to Graham Andrew who sent me this photo of a Duff Morgan tax disc holder as fitted to his Triumph TR6.

Norfolk Motor Shows

Norwich Triumph distributors, Duff, Morgan & Vermont Ltd, provided an extensive display at the 1967 annual motor show held at RAF Watton. The show attracted large numbers of local visitors, and in addition to the static displays there are test run facilities and vintage and veteran car displays.

The East African Safari rally Triumph 2000 and Leyland Straight 8 formed part of the display at the 1968 "Motor In" held at Coltishall.

Not just Norwich

Over the years the firm have operated from various different premises not all of them in Norwich.
Guildhall Street, Thetford

Duff, Morgan & Vermont Ltd currently have premises in Kings Lynn as well as Norwich.

Triumph car dealers in Norwich

I have several dealer directories of Standard Triumph cars. I have extracted information for Norwich here.

1951:
Mann Egerton & Co Ltd, Prince of Wales Road.
Maudes of Norwich Ltd, 106-119 Prince of Wales Road.
John L Pointer, The Garage, Aylsham Road.
Willmott's Stores, Ltd, 45-51 Prince of Wales Road.

October 1955:
Duff, Morgan & Vermont Ltd, St Stephen's Street and St Stephen's Road
Duff, Morgan & Vermont (St Giles Gates) Ltd, St Giles Gates
John L Pointer, The Garage, Aylsham Road.
Melrose Garage, Melrose Road.

1959:
Duff, Morgan & Vermont Ltd, St Stephen's Street and St Stephen's Road
Duff, Morgan & Vermont (St Giles Gates) Ltd, 3 Earlham Road
Boundary Garage (Norwich) Ltd,  Aylsham Road
Harvey Lane Garage, Harvey Lane
Howes & Sons Ltd, Chapel Field North 
Melrose Garage, Melrose Road.

August 1961:
Duff, Morgan & Vermont Ltd, St Stephen's Street and St Stephen's Road
Duff, Morgan & Vermont (St Giles Gates) Ltd, 3 Earlham Road
Boundary Garage (Norwich) Ltd,  Aylsham Road
Constitution Motors Ltd,  Constitution Hill
Harvey Lane Garage, Harvey Lane
Melrose Garage, Melrose Road.

February 1965:
Duff, Morgan & Vermont Ltd, St Giles Gates, NOR 01G.
Allenbrooks Service Station, 92-96 Coleman Road,  NOR 62F
Boundary Garage (Norwich) Ltd,  Aylsham Road, NOR 14M
Constitution Motors Ltd,  Constitution Hill, NOR42Q

September 1968:
Duff, Morgan & Vermont, 3 Earlham Road, NOR 01G
Constitution Motors Ltd,  124 Constitution Hill, NOR42Q
W R Ford & Son Ltd, Salhouse
Keyway Service Station Ltd, 420 Dereham Road.

March 1972:
Duff, Morgan & Vermont, Triumph House, Earlham Road, NOR 01G
Harry R Fisk Limited, Norwich Road Garage, Stoke Holy Cross, NOR 56W

March 1974:
Duff, Morgan & Vermont, Triumph House, Earlham Road, NOR 01G
Harry R Fisk Limited, Norwich Road Garage, Stoke Holy Cross, NOR 56W
Mann Egerton & Co Ltd, 31 King Street

May 1975:
Duff, Morgan & Vermont, Triumph House, Earlham Road, NOR 01G
Mann Egerton & Co Ltd, 31 King Street, NOR 01B

April 1979:
Duff, Morgan & Vermont, Triumph House, 3 Earlham Road, NR2 3RB
Kennings Ltd, 106-110 Prince of Wales Road, NR1 1NU + Parts at Recorder Road NR1 1NR
Mann Egerton & Co Ltd, 37 Surrey Street, NR1 3PE

March 1988:
Kenning Norwich, 88 Mile Cross Lane, NB6 6SH
Kenning Parts Centre, Vulcan Road South, NR6 6AE
Kenning Norwich, 162 Cromer Road, NR6 6XA
Mann Egerton & Co Ltd, 5 Prince of Wales Road, NR1 1BB
Mann Egerton & Co Ltd, Cromer Road, NR6 6NA

Plea for information

If you have any more information or recollections about Duff Morgan & Vermont, 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

You can read more about  Harry R Fisk Limited, Norwich Road Garage, Stoke Holy Cross in my earlier article.

Link to the other articles in this series.

Link to face book page: Triumph Car Dealers.

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: Duff Morgan coach works Norwich image from; Duff Morgan rear window sticker image from Spottedlaurel on flickr; Norfolk motor images from Standard Triumph Review; Duff Morgan St Christopher tax disc holder photo by Graham Andrews; Duff, Morgan and Vermont Ltd, Norwich 1963 images 01 and 02 from the Chris Barker Collection on fleckr.

Prouts (Liverpool) Ltd -Triumph Car Dealers 30B

Prouts (Liverpool) Ltd are the subject of this article another in my series about Triumph car dealers in the Liverpool area.

Prouts garage on Breck Road, Liverpool

Prouts (Liverpool) Ltd, 202/206 Breck Road, Liverpool 5 are listed as a Standard Triumph in October 1955.  The company is listed as being dissolved. I have seen reference to Prouts (Liverpool) Ltd being a Morris car dealer in 1935.  At he time of the photo the garage was dealing in Morris, Wolseley and Austin cars.

Advert from 1961

This 1961 advert is scanned from a pantomime program.

Prouts car hire advert from 1937

 Prouts car hire advert from 1937.

Prouts breakdown truck

Prouts garage Liverpool breakkdown lorry

Bob Daniels shown driving was foreman mechanic at Prouts. He worked there all his working life starting out as an apprentice.  Thanks to his daughter for the photo.

Plea for information

If you have any more information or recollections about Prouts (Liverpool) 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 an article about C A Britten Ltd the Liverpool Triumph car distributor. 

Link to post about J B Hepburn Ltd another Triumph car dealer in Liverpool.

Link to the other articles in this series.

Link to face book page: Triumph Car Dealers.

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: 1961 advert from Bradford Timeline on flickr; Prouts car hire advert from 1937 from After The Break website; Prouts garage Liverpool breakkdown lorry photo from daughter of Bob Daniels.

Triumph TR6 - Triumph Repair Times Schedule

Triumph produced a document called the Triumph Repair Times Schedule.  I have several I you can see scans on my website at: http://vitessesteve.co.uk/RepairOperationTimes

Now thanks to David Rumens I have a scanned copy of a later edition which includes schedules for the Spitfire, TR5 and TR6.

Here are a couple of pages from the TR6 section.

You can get the full TR6 section here.

Aylwin Blundell & Co Ltd of Bognor Regis - Triumph Car Dealer 39

Aylwin Blundell & Co Ltd, Central Garage, Felpham Road, Bognor Regis are the feature business in this short article.

This dealer plaque is to found on the near side door of a 1963 Triumph Herald 12/50 owned by Richard Rose who shared this image with me.

The company Aylwin Blundell & Company Ltd was to be wound up 3 months after 8 September 1983 according to a listing in the London Gazette.

Is the business Milestones Garage Ltd, of Central Garage, 96-98 Felpham Road, Felpham, Bognor  Regis, PO22 7PG operating from the same site?

The company known as Central Garage (Felphan) Ltd was founded 26 February 1965 and has been dissolved.

Triumph Car dealers in Bognor Regis

I have extracted this address information from the various dealer directories I have in my collection.

October 1955:
Wilmotts Garage Ltd, Aldwick Road are listed an an area dealer

February 1965:
Aylwin Blundell & Company Ltd, Central Garage, Felpham Road

Wilmotts Garage Ltd, Aldwick Road

September 1968:
Central Garage (Felphan) Ltd, Felpham Road
Wilmotts Garage Ltd, Aldwick Road

March 1972:
Central Garage (Felphan) Ltd, Felpham Road
Wilmotts Garage Ltd, Aldwick Road

March 1974, May 1975 and March 1988:
Wilmotts Garage Ltd, 65 Aldwick Road, PO21 2NN

Plea for information

If you have any more information or recollections about Aylwin Blundell & Company 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 face book page: Triumph Car Dealers.

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: Dealer plaque image from Richard Rose

Standard and Triumph Spare Parts List 1946 1947

I only have the plates from this Standard and Triumph Spare Parts List 1946-47.  It includes the Triumph Roadster.  Do you have the rest of the document?

Here are 2 sample pages.  You can download a pdf copy of the whole document from my website: http://vitessesteve.co.uk/PartsManuals

Plate A

Plate L

Botwoods of Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich and Wisbech - Triumph Car Dealer 38

This the 38th article I have written is about Botwoods Ltd a Triumph car dealer based in the east of England.

Botwoods was a part of the Mann Egerton group.

The Wisbech branch sold many brands of cars over the years including Austin, Austin Healey, Diamler, Jaguar, Standard Triumph and Rover.

Botwoods at Major's Corner, Ipswich were selling Jensen cars in 1965.

Week long Show and Service Week promotions were held by the firm at their Princes Street, Ipswich premises assisted by staff from Standard Triumph HQ were held 6th to 10th April 1959, 26th to 30th April 1965, 7th to 11th February 1966, 13th to 17th November 1967.

Show and Service Week promotion at Wisbech Motors Ltd, Norwich Road 11th to 15th July 1966

Origins

From this site: ipswich-lettering.org/egertons.html

"To find the source of the Egertons company name, we need to start with William Botwood's carriage making works in Woodbridge Road (between Kirby Street and Milton Street) established in 1870. In 1882 showrooms were opened in St Matthews Street. Botwood died in 1896 and the business was caried on by two sons, Samuel Ernest and William Thomas, who a few years later were joined by a pioneering motorist, Reginald Egerton. Until 1910 the motor car manufacturers Botwood & Egerton ran alongside the carriage-making firm until Egerton left to set up his own business in Northgate (Street) next to the Great White Horse Hotel. The Botwood company became Botwoods Ltd and in the 1920s the Botwood shares were acquired by Mann, Egerton & Co of Norwich who had by then expanded to the town end of Woodbridge Road/Majors Corner."

Police 2000

In December 1968 it was reported that Botwoods of Wisbech supplied 7 Triumph 2000 to Norfolk Joint Police Force for use in the country areas.  The police completed about 1000 miles a week. n the picture Mr J W Boardman of Botwoods branch manager is seen handing over the first 2000 to the police.

Some adverts

Mann Egerton + Botwoods Rover advert from 1964

Mann Egerton + Botwoods Austin advert from 1967

Botwoods, Norwich AstonMartin advert from May 1968

 

Dealer address info

1955:
Mann Egerton & Co Ltd, Fornham Road, Bury St Edmunds area dealer for Standard Triumph
Botwoods Ltd, 37 Princes Street, Ipswich distributor for Standard Triumph open 24 hours
W H Johnson & Sons Ltd, Church Terrace, Wisbech

August 1961:
Botwoods Ltd, 76 Risebygate Street, Bury St Edmunds distributor for Standard Triumph
Botwoods Ltd, 37 Princes Street, Ipswich distributor for Standard Triumph open 24 hours
Wisbech Motors Ltd, Norwich Road distributor for Standard Triumph

February 1965:
Botwoods Ltd, 76 Risebygate Street, Bury St Edmunds distributor for Standard Triumph
Botwoods Ltd, 37 Princes Street, Ipswich distributor for Standard Triumph
Wisbech Motors Ltd, Norwich Road

September 1968:
Botwoods Ltd, 76 Risebygate Street, Bury St Edmunds distributor for Standard Triumph
Botwoods Ltd, Greyfriars House, Princes Street, Ipswich distributor for Standard Triumph
Botwoods Wisbech, Church Terrace, Wisbech distributor for Standard Triumph
Wisbech Motors Ltd, Norwich Road, Wisbech

Mann Egerton of Bury StEdmunds rear window sticker

March 1972, March 1974 and May 1975:
Mann Egerton & Co Ltd, 76 Risebygate Street, Bury St Edmunds IP33 3AL distributor
Mann Egerton & Co Ltd, Greyfriars House, Princes Street, Ipswich IP1 1RX distributor
Mann Egerton & Co Ltd, Harecroft Road, Wisbech PE13 1RN

March 1988
Cowies, 76 Risebygate Street, Bury St Edmunds IP33 3AQ distributor
Henlys (East) Ltd, 255-257 Felixstowe Road, Ipswich, IP3 9BP
Marshall of Wisbech Ltd, 46 Norwich Road, Wisbech, PE13 2AR

Plea for information

If you have any more information or recollections about this garage, 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 face book page: Triumph Car Dealers.

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: Mann Egerton + Botwoods Austin advert from 1967 and Mann Egerton + Botwoods Rover advert from 1964 from Spottedlaurel on flickr; Mann Egerton of Bury StEdmunds rear window sticker and Botwoods, Norwich AstonMartin advert from May 1968 - Nivek.Old.Gold on flickr.

Triumph TR5 PI - Triumph Repair Times Schedule

I have been hosting scanned copies of on my website of various Triumph Repair Times Schedule at: http://vitessesteve.co.uk/RepairOperationTimes

One of the documents I have already made available is a combined edition that covers GT6, TR4A, Herald 1200/1250, 1300, 2000 and Vitesse 1600/2000.  I now pleased to say that David Rumens has provided me a scanned copy of a later edition which includes schedules for the Spitfire, TR5 and TR6.

Here is page 2 and 3 from the TR5 section.

You can get the full TR5 section.

Byatts of Fenton - Triumph Car Dealers 37

Byatts of Fenton are the feature business in my 37th article about Triumph car dealers.

Byatts of Fenton advert from Motor 30 May 1962

Long established business was selling Vauxhall cars in the 1920's. A Prince Henry restored by the firm was presented to the Vauxhall works collection in 1955 by Tom Byatt Ltd.  Originally sold in April 1923 to Norman Edwards, the pottery manufacturer, of Stoke-on-Trent the car was used until 1955.

Week long Show and Service Week promotions were held by the firm at their Victoria Street, Fenton premises assisted by staff from Standard Triumph HQ were held 1st to 5th June 1959, 24th to 28th June 1963, 27th to 31st January 1964 and 3rd to 7th January 1966.

Byatts of Fenton Ltd Autocar 4 February 1966 Triumph 1300 advert

Byatts closed down in the 1980s and Evans Halshaw took on the premises and business. The company Byatts of Fenton Limited was dissolved 14 August 1990.

New Paint Spray System

A Triumph Herald immediately after emerging from the spray booth after being resprayed by the Paint-a-Car system at Byatts of Fenton. In the rear (left) is another car masked in preparation for a re-spray.

Byatts of Fenton, Stoke-an-Trent, added the new Paint-a-Car system to their facilities for car owners in 1964. The Stirling Moss Paint-a-Car system, offered a complete re-spray for only 19 guineas, irrespective of the size of the vehicle.

The Paint-a-Car system, was introduced into Britain from the United States, was brought over by Stirling Moss and Canadian businessman David Kaplan.

Quick, drying acrylic paints used enable one coat to be sprayed over another immediately, and this drastically cuts down the time factor. Three to four coats of high-gloss acrylic paints were used, and the finish was guaranteed for three years against fading, peeling, blistering and hazing.

A choice of 101 colours, and the high-gloss finish needed no polishing, the special rapid-drying paints weredeveloped in the U.S. and Canada during the previous seven years. The system introduced specialisation and through expert planning and direction was said to result in a reduction of operational costs. It represents a breakthrough in reducing the high cost of body work repairs, particularly those involving slight accident damage.

Some adverts

1976 advert

Autosport October 1968

Not just Triumphs

As can be seen from the advert above Byatts of Fenton sold other brands of car. Of particular interest they held the franchise for the Swallow Doretti sports car.

Truck bodies etc

Tom Byatt (Engineers) Ltd lorry body

Bakelite truck bed flooring by

Inexpensive and durable jointless floor covering for commercial vehicles, based on Bakelite polyester resin, was produced by Tom Byatt (Engineers) Ltd, of Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent. The flooring was designed to protect the original floor against injury and, in addition to being waterproof, offered a high degree of resistance to abrasive loads. The vehicle shown carried flint and felspar for over ten months. Such loads would have worn out a normal 18 s.g. metal floor in about three months. With no loose edges to impede free passage of contents, the Byatt flooring proved particularly effective on all types of tipping vehicles and was approved by the Board of Trade for use in calibrated bodies. This
paragrapg is based on material from the MoDiP BXL collection.

Triumph car dealers in the Stoke-on-Trent area

I have several dealer directories of Standard Triumph cars. For the Stoke area consisting of the 5 towns of Hanley, Burslem, Tunstall, Longton and Fenton I have extracted some information here.

1951:
Tom Byatt Ltd, Victoria Street, Fenton
John Pepper (Hanley) Ltd, 63 Piccadilly, Hanley
J C Sherwin & Sond Ltd, Market Square, Hanley
Newcastle (Staffs) Motor Company Ltd, Brunswick Street, Newcastle
Peppers Garages Ltd, Grosvenor Garage, London Road, Newcastle

1955:
Distributor
Tom Byatt Ltd, Victoria Road, Fenton.
.
Dealers
J Alcock, Walley Street Garage, Biddulph. 'Phone: Biddulph 3174.
Ashlands Garage Ltd., Hartshill Road, Hartshill. 'Phone 4884.
Bedingfield & Gater Ltd., Waterloo Road, Cobridge.
'Phone 2210.
Hanford Garage Ltd., Stone Road, Hanford. 'Phone 49037.
Maiden & Ellis, High Street, Wolstanton. 'Phone 84684.
Norman & Birch, 25/27 Marsh Street, Hanley. 'Phone 29460.
North Stafford Motors Ltd, Furlong Road, Tunstall.
'Phone: 87765, 84172/3; Night, 87366.
T Shenton, Ash Green Garage, Trentham. 'Phone 49028.
F Spicer & Sons, Florence Garage, Stone Road, Longton.
'Phone 33642.
Station Road Garage (Stoke.on.Trent) Ltd, Station Road.
'Phone 4711.
Super Motor Services Ltd., Anchor Road, Longton.
'Phone: Day, 3302; Night, 39365.
J Swift, Belgrave Garage, Lightwood Road, Longton.
'Phone: 39114

Plea for information

If you have any more information or recollections about this garage, 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 face book page: Triumph Car Dealers.

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: 1976 advert Kevin Lane on flickr; Tom Byatt (Englnd) Ltd lorry body image by Mick Walsh on facebook; Byatts of Fenton Ltd Autocar 4 February 1966 Triumph 1300 advert image from my collection.