Gavin Fairfax Ltd of Virginia Water -Triumph Car dealers 43

Gavin Fairfax Ltd of Station Parade, Virginia Water. Surrey are the feature business in this short article.

Gavin Fairfax Ltd traded for many years from premises adjacent to the railway station in Virginia Water, Surrey, UK.

They sold and serviced serveral brands from the BMC, British Leyland group. The tax disc above is from the era when the garage was a Rover area dealer and also held franchise for Austin, Morris and Triumph motor cars.

They held the Rover franchise over a long period as this rear window sticker show. As the car shown is a early Rover P6 the sticker must date from before 1970 and could be as early as 1963.

The business was bought by the Stratstone Group.  Gavin Fairfax Limited company number 831261 was established 15 December 1964 and changed its name to Statstone (Virginia Water) Limited on 1 January 1977.

A liquidator was appointed to a company called Gavin Fairfax (Laleham) Limited on 6th March 1972.

There was an earlier business with the same name as evidenced by the earlier window sticker illustrated above.  Unfortunately, as of yet, I have been unable to find any details other than its name.  I have read that they sold Jaguar cars at some point in their history.

I have Gavin Fairfax Ltd listed as Rover and Land Rover dealers in 1961 and as selling the Bond Equipe GT.  Stratstone were trading from Station Parade as a Jaguar dealer in 1978.

Some old adverts 

Gavin Fairfax advert from eBay

Gavin Fairfax Ltd advert Motor 16October 1963

t

Stratstone advert from Autocar 20 October 1978

Gavin Fairfax Garage - a Memory of Virginia Water

I found this on the Francis Frith website:

Does anyone have any memories or photos of the garage at station parade, I lived there from 1957 to 1960 at flat Number 3, the building was typical of the 1930s with white rendered walls and castle style crenelations at the top. I recall the neon signs at the front elevation of the building (glowing in red and green) at night it was a BP branded petroleum sales site with Standard Rover and Jaguar marques. a showroom and a cafe at the end of the building near the station.
A memory shared by Keith Norris on Dec 9th, 2007.

Triumph dealers in Virginia Water

October 1955
Gavin Fairfax Ltd, Wentworth Garage, Virginia Water. phone Wentworth 3154

1959, 1964, 1965, 1968
Gavin Fairfax Ltd, Wentworth Service Garage, Virginia Water. phone Wentworth 3154

1972
Gavin Fairfax Ltd, Wentworth Service Garage, Virginia Water. phone 09904 2871

1974
Gavin Fairfax Ltd, Wentworth Service Garage,Station Parade phone 09904 2871 sales, service, parts phone 09904 2928

In Rover Triumph dealer directory from May 1975 they are listed as Gavin Fairfax Ltd, Wentworth Service Garage,Station Parade, GU25 4AZ.  phone 09904 2871 sales, service, parts phone 09904 2928 - and are dealers for Rover Triumph and Land Rover product.

Plea for information

If you have any more information or recollections about Gavin Fairfax Ltd of Virginia Water Station Parade Surrey, 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 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:Supplied by Wentworth Service Garage photo from I Say Ding Dong website; Tax disc holder from facebook; old Rover window sticker from a post on the Classis Rover forum.

Broadfields Garage, Cockfosters - Triumph Car Dealers 42

Broadfields Garage & Engineering Co Ltd, Standard House, Cockfosters in North London feature in this article.

Various Triumph cars at the end of Club Triumph 48hr run at Broadfields Garage, Cockfosters, London as originally featured in the Standard Triumph Review December 1966.

The garage was the venue for the start of the Club Triumph Round Britain Reliability Run (RBRR) for many years. Broadfields used to enter new Triumph cars in the RBRR.  In 2017 Club Triumph had a Broadfields themed stand at the NEC Classic Car Show.

Accessory manufacture and supplier

Perfit Loose Seat Covers 1951 Motor Show advert

Imperial Car Polish 1953

Broadfields Imperial Accessories advert for the 1956 Motor Show

Imperial Radiator Blind from 1960

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 Standard House on 28th September to 2nd October 1959.

Some press adverts for Broadfields

Broadfields advert from Autocar 30 October 1959

 

Broadfields Garage and Engineering Co Ltd advert  Motor8January1964

Broadfields advert from Autocar 18 October 1980

Broadfields advert from Autocar 24 October 1981

Triumph Garages in Cockfosters

In 1955, 1959, 1961, 1965 and 1968 Broadfields Garage & Engineering Co Ltd, Standard House, are listed as a Main Stanpart Stockist (London Metrolitian Area) and as a Area Dealer. In 1972 and 1974 listed as a distributor.  In 1975 I have a listing showing as being a distributor for Rover, Land Rover and Triumph vehicles.  Broadfields were dealing with Land Rover products as can be seen from this advert scanned from my magazine collection.

Broadfields advert from Car magazine May1990

Plea for information

If you have any more information or recollections about Broadfields 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: Broadfields Imperial Accessories advert for the 1956 Motor Show from graces guide; Imperial Car Polish 1953 from graces guide; Imperial Radiator Blind from 1960 from Standard Triumph Review December 1960; Broadfields advert from Car magazine May1990 scanned from my collection of Car magazines.

More Triumph delivery photos - Triumph Car Dealers 31B

This is the 3rd part of my article about Triumph delivery lorries.

Spitfire delivery - TruckNet image

Triumph Spitfire delivery in bulk - a whole squadron.  All on board a Canley Car deliveries truck.  You can read more about Canley Car deliveries here. 

This Spitfire delivery photo has prompted much discussion when posted elsewhere. Quoting comments made Andrew S Mace: regarding the large whitewall tyres - "Only the earliest cars in the US would've had these. By the latter part of 1963, the typical optional Dunlop whitewall width had "shrunk" to a bit less than 1"!";
and later - "In a closer look at this photo, the anorak in me notices not only the "blanking" pieces in the headlamp assemblies. That was typical of many British and other European cars destined for the United States, where American-sourced sealed beam headlamp bulbs would've have been fitted. On the other hand, I also see amber front flasher lenses, where North American-spec. cars would have had white flasher lenses. So perhaps this batch of cars was destined for some other market where locally sourced headlamps were fitted, or a few cars destined for the US market did accidentally get the amber lenses. Most puzzling (well, at least to me)!"

A similar truck but this time with a mixed load.  A part of the Progressive Transporter group fleet.

Triumph racing cars on the way to LeMans on board a Carrimore Si-Wheelers Ltd delivery lorry.

Plea for information

If you have any more information or recollections about Standard or Triumph deliveries, 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 post about Triumph car delivery in New Zealand 

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: Spitfire delivery and Six-Wheeler from TruckNetUk forum; 

Triumph Car Dealers abroad: Athens

Hellenic Motor History: Triumph 2000 TC, 40 χρόνια μετά.

A Triumph 2000 TC advert from Greece in 1976.

The car still exists and was photographed on the street in Athens in October 2016.

This content comes from a Greek language blog:

Hellenic Motor History: Triumph 2000 TC, 40 χρόνια μετά.: To 1976, η "ΗΝΙΟΧΟΣ Α.Ε" δημοσιεύει διαφημιστική καταχώρηση του Triumph  2000 TC. Σε αυτή εικονίζεται το εν λόγω μοντέλο, με ελλ...

Sellers Service Station of Grantham - Triumph car dealer 41

This short article is about Sellars Service Station a one time Triumph car dealer in Grantham Lincolnshire.

Sellers Service Station

Sited on Barrowby High Road, the A52, at the edge of the built up area of Grantham.  The business for many  years was a BP petrol service station. By the mid-1980's it was a Datsun and then a Nissan agent.  The business ceased and the site was sold for housing around 2005 leaving no trace.

It was reported in the April 1967 edition of Standard Triumph Review that:

Increasingly evident among StandardTriumph dealers in the rural areas is the trend towards providing improved facilities and accommodation. The small, go-ahead dealer who takes the initiative. in building premises which reflect the quality of the product he sells, is no longer the exception. Among these forward-looking dealerships is that of Sellers Service Station, Barrowby High Road, Grantham, where there is double reason for the proverbial 'pat-on-theback'.

Their new garage and showroom, opened a few months ago, mirrors not only their progressive outlook but also a determination worthy of commendation. Apart from some technical help by a local builder, the improvements were carried out solely by Mr. J. Sellers, the proprietor, and his staff, and the change is apparent from the 'before' and 'after' pictures on this page.

Management and sales representatives from Standard-Triumph attended the opening ceremony at the new buildings.

Sellers Service Station after modernisation

Sellers Service Station in New Zealand

Sellers Service Station - Wellsford, New Zealand 1978

Sellers Service Station - Wellsford, New Zealand 1978 also selling BP petrol. No connection, as far as I know, other than the name.

21 September 2020 I was contacted by a person in New Zealand who told me

my grandfather, then father owned it. (I'm a Sellars) slight difference in spelling but apparently still from the same line of ancestors. I love these old pics, I've got one of the service station framed in my place. Such cool times.

Triumph Garages in Grantham

October 1955, 1959 and August 1961
Empire Garage (Grantham) Ltd, Brook Street

February 1965, September 1968
North Road Garages (Grantham) Ltd, 56 London Road
Sellers Service Station, Barrowby High Road

March 1972, March 1974
North Road Garages (Grantham) Ltd, 56 London Road,NG31 6EW are listed as a distributor for Triumph cars

May 1975:
North Road Garages (Grantham) Ltd, 56 London Road,NG31 6EW are listed as a distributor for Land Rover, Rover and Triumph cars.

April 1979:
North Road Garages (Grantham) Ltd, 56 London Road,NG31 6EW are listed as a distributor for Land Rover, Rover and Triumph cars + AustinMorris main dealer.
R M Right (Grantham) Ltd, 12-13 North Street, NG31 6NY are listed as main dealer for Rover and Triumph + AustinMorris distributor

R M Right (Grantham) Ltd 1981 advert

This R M Right (Grantham) Ltd advert from 1981 is from an era for which I have no dealer listing.

January 1987, March 1988.
Victor Wood of Grantham, Spittlegate Level NG31 7UH are listed as Austin Rover distributor
Caythorpe Motors Ltd, 7 Old Lincoln Road, Caythorpe NG32 3DF are listed as a dealer for Austin Rover

Victor Wood of Grantham window sticker

Plea for information

If you have any more information or recollections about Sellers Service Station, 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

I wrote about North Road Garage in a previous blog post in March 2016: https://vitessesteve.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/triumph-car-dealers-7-flying-heralds.html.

Read about Empire Garage of Brook Street

Link to the other articles in this series.

Link to my 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:Sellers Service Station - Standard Triumph Review; Empire Garage truck outside its premises on Brook Street in 1956. From Sam Ballaam on the http://www.granthammatters.co.uk website; R M Right (Grantham) Ltd 1981 advert posted by John on flickr.