Glasgow car dealers in the 60's -70's
Discussion
Plastic chicken said:
S2red said:
I remember that http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1656456.stm
It was true, but much more recent than I remember...thanks for that! rs you're right, Colin & Austin Thomas's place was much further down Gt Western Rd near Clydebank, and it was a Volvo franchise.
StescoG66 said:
Plastic chicken said:
S2red said:
I remember that http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1656456.stm
It was true, but much more recent than I remember...thanks for that! rs you're right, Colin & Austin Thomas's place was much further down Gt Western Rd near Clydebank, and it was a Volvo franchise.
joyless lobotomised parrot said:
Hank and Billy are my uncles, their sister Mary is my gran. Sasco was som place
Hank jnr sold SASCO to Jamie D years ago. Jamie, of course, is now deid. Billy (Hank's bro) is also deid.
Hank jnr sold SASCO to Jamie D years ago. Jamie, of course, is now deid. Billy (Hank's bro) is also deid.
Edited by joyless lobotomised parrot on Wednesday 27th June 19:49
neilkhan666 said:
woodysnr said:
Blane,s was also a ISUZI dealer bought a Citation Trooper from them in the 80,s David Blane also sponsored the Blane stages rally ,think it was his son Tony that was in charge of the showroom and as said where Datsun dealers
Before all that Blanes of Paisley were one of the first VW dealerships in the country and sold the full range including VW camper vans as well as standard road cars. My mother refused delivery of her new Beetle when she saw that the given registration was PNS. Firstly it indicated that the car was not registered, new, in Paisley ( that would have been an XS number sequence) and also she felt that the plate would read penis!!Merrylee said:
Anybody on here work at linn volvo mid/ late 70s
I had a part time job at Linn in Cathcart around 93/94 working in the prep bay. They took a great pride in how they prepared their new and used cars.This was a job between leaving school and heading to university. Pretty sure I kept it on working Saturdays during term.
It was great as I generally kept the showroom cars tidy and it was fun seeing what interesting things were heading to trade. I recall shabby 240 trade ins were hot property to the sales people as they were super cheap and reliable.
This was the era of the 850 and BTCCs. T5’s T5R and R’s were good sellers. Traded in 440’s always seemed to have seized rear brakes. Occasionally a Calibra would be traded in. These seemed to be well used or abused.
I recall a guy trading an XJS and a 2CV for a new 850 T5-R in yellow.
A nice mix of people.
Hi Amy!
Is Pat still alive and kicking?
I'm an ex-pal of his from school 60+ years ago, but remember him well as he will me. If you're in contact with him tell him Roy was asking for him.
ps. I remember your grandpa too tho' he was in the year above (which meant a lot when you were at primary school). Was sad to hear he'd passed.
Is Pat still alive and kicking?
I'm an ex-pal of his from school 60+ years ago, but remember him well as he will me. If you're in contact with him tell him Roy was asking for him.
ps. I remember your grandpa too tho' he was in the year above (which meant a lot when you were at primary school). Was sad to hear he'd passed.
Edited by Groat on Friday 29th January 18:51
Amyprosser said:
Craigie said:
Was that Rover dealer not Macharg Rennie & Lindsay who, wait for it, were swallowed up by Uncle Arnold as well?????
It was actually Prosser and sons and the guy would have been my grandpa Denis This was a big achievement for him as a working man made good in his own business.
The owner (not sure which member of the family) had a Ferrari 512 Berlinetta Boxer sitting outside.
He fired it up for us, the most gorgeous sound I had ever heard in my 8 years on the planet!
Done entirely as sharing enthusiasm, a lovely memory of my Grandpa too.
r.s.logan said:
Sorry to hear of Billys demise , thought it would be Hank Jnr as he had heart surgery and the scar to prove it when young / teenager .
Billy was my old man he’s sadly missed every day . Hank Jnr passed away a few years ago As a teenager I worked in the yard loved it
As a kid 13 year old rallying round the yard
In anything that was still running 🤣
jith said:
Does anyone have memories of Paisley's motor trade?
Let's start with David Blane and sons. Old David started the business before the war selling American cars; Hudsons and Pontiacs. Ended up with the Jaguar dealership and VW agency. I did some warranty work on Jags then. They lost the agency in the Leyland years and went to Datsun. They had a beautiful showroom with an apartment above. It's now a piece of waste ground!
Then there was Gillespies in Love Street and Glasgow Road who were Wolseley, Austin/Morris, MG and in the early days Jowett. They are gone.
Also Pottie's for Vauxhall and Bedford light commercial across from the Sheriff Court. They had the slowest, most incompetent parts department in the whole country. You took your flask and sleeping bag when you went to buy parts! They are gone.
Low's Garage supplied Opel cars including the underrated Manta. They too have disappeared.
Then Goudie's Garage were the main dealers for the Rootes group, which of course were manufactured just down the road in Linwood. No longer there, nor is the factory!
Then McFadyen's Garage in Shuttle Street. Main dealers for Rover and Triumph, ran by my old and great friend David Millar, sadly long departed way before his time. The nicest, most honest man I have ever dealt with in the motor trade.
Also gone and another victim of the Leyland years.
Then Young's Ford depot, who became Clanford, the employer of the most ignorant counter staff encountered in the trade. I think they were on bonuses to see how many customers they could offend in a week!!
The showroom is still there but is an independent.
All of these companies employing hundreds of people and, with one exception, selling British made cars, all gone. Doesn't it make you sick?
J
I’m ex-Paisley trade, remember Blanes well, they ended up as a Hyundai dealer, they used to store their cars over in the car park of Charlie Palmer’s motor factors. I remember one day looking out the window and watching one of their drivers collecting a new Stellar, which they did a roaring trade selling to the taxi boys.Let's start with David Blane and sons. Old David started the business before the war selling American cars; Hudsons and Pontiacs. Ended up with the Jaguar dealership and VW agency. I did some warranty work on Jags then. They lost the agency in the Leyland years and went to Datsun. They had a beautiful showroom with an apartment above. It's now a piece of waste ground!
Then there was Gillespies in Love Street and Glasgow Road who were Wolseley, Austin/Morris, MG and in the early days Jowett. They are gone.
Also Pottie's for Vauxhall and Bedford light commercial across from the Sheriff Court. They had the slowest, most incompetent parts department in the whole country. You took your flask and sleeping bag when you went to buy parts! They are gone.
Low's Garage supplied Opel cars including the underrated Manta. They too have disappeared.
Then Goudie's Garage were the main dealers for the Rootes group, which of course were manufactured just down the road in Linwood. No longer there, nor is the factory!
Then McFadyen's Garage in Shuttle Street. Main dealers for Rover and Triumph, ran by my old and great friend David Millar, sadly long departed way before his time. The nicest, most honest man I have ever dealt with in the motor trade.
Also gone and another victim of the Leyland years.
Then Young's Ford depot, who became Clanford, the employer of the most ignorant counter staff encountered in the trade. I think they were on bonuses to see how many customers they could offend in a week!!
The showroom is still there but is an independent.
All of these companies employing hundreds of people and, with one exception, selling British made cars, all gone. Doesn't it make you sick?
J
The guy got about 20ft onto the ringroad...
and all four wheels, complete with baldy tyres fell off - the taxi boys were using the unsecured yard as a free part store 😂
Funnily enough I bumped into Blane’s son Tony, now in his 80s, a while back and had a great wee natter about the place.
I knew a David Millar, who I think was your David’s son, as I remember his dad being highly respected in the trade locally, and he died quite young.
duckwhistle said:
'The Lotus Scam'. An earlier poster asked about this. Not exactly a scam as it was perfectly legal in theory. This is the gist. Basically if you bought parts and built a car there was no purchase tax (pre vat times) Kit cars were popular,built mostly from recovered parts and the most awful glassfibre bodies imaginable. Lotus cars being in this market supplied a kit to build an Elan, The kit consisted of a built wired and trimmed body, An engine & gearbox, a set of suspension parts and wheels. Thus a new Elan could be supplied as separate 'parts' for tax purposes ie tax free. However this came with some important legal tax conditions, The 'parts' could not be supplied by one firm. You could not engage ANY professional help to construct the car even collecting the parts had to be done without pro help of any kind. You had to build the car yourself away from any pro premisis. This was supervised & strictly enforced by Customs & Excise who can be tricky about infringement of rules. The only pro input allowed was a free saftey check by the lotus agent after construction
How it worked- (allegedly) George Steel of Blythswood Motors supplied the Elan body which was collected from his store an ex tram depot on Kelvinhaugh St. A huge place(full of interesting yanks)and taken to a secret location. Engine etc. was bought from Steelsport, on Govan Rd. Separate companies so legal. Apparently a clandestine group of specially recruited mechanics collected the parts in plain vans and delivered them to obscure lockups conveniently rented by the self build owner. The cars were assembled at night, & weekends,allegedly by said mechs .Only a few hours work ,with the owner in attendance 'helping' so he could at least make a decent stab at explaining how he done the job if asked by C&E. And they did often.
How it went pear shaped- A very well known lady entertainer of the 1960's came to Glasgow and decided to treat herself to a nice new Elan. Now Elans were in short supply, but one was duly found pronto for the lady, Pics in the local paper of her collecting her new car duly appeared with the smiling sales bod handing over the keys. Meanwhile back at C&e a hawk eyed officer of the revenue noticed the said car appeared to be a tax free kit & wondered to himself how this young lady managed to build a kit all by herself as required by the regs and decided to investigate further. Then as they say the efluent hit the cooling module interface.
Now you may ask, how does old duckie know all these things,well I'm buggered if I can remember now, however I do recall towing old George on his water skis all over Loch Lomond while a big hairy dug slept in the back of his black Corvette. Funny what sticks in the mind all these years on.
That’s really interesting; when I was young my dad used to tell me about the owner of a large ranch style house in the next road (avenue, to be pedantic) and how he ended up (iirc) either in jail or losing the house over exactly that “scam”, I assume there can’t have been too many Glasgow motor dealers specifically doing it with Lotus, I wonder if it was he…How it worked- (allegedly) George Steel of Blythswood Motors supplied the Elan body which was collected from his store an ex tram depot on Kelvinhaugh St. A huge place(full of interesting yanks)and taken to a secret location. Engine etc. was bought from Steelsport, on Govan Rd. Separate companies so legal. Apparently a clandestine group of specially recruited mechanics collected the parts in plain vans and delivered them to obscure lockups conveniently rented by the self build owner. The cars were assembled at night, & weekends,allegedly by said mechs .Only a few hours work ,with the owner in attendance 'helping' so he could at least make a decent stab at explaining how he done the job if asked by C&E. And they did often.
How it went pear shaped- A very well known lady entertainer of the 1960's came to Glasgow and decided to treat herself to a nice new Elan. Now Elans were in short supply, but one was duly found pronto for the lady, Pics in the local paper of her collecting her new car duly appeared with the smiling sales bod handing over the keys. Meanwhile back at C&e a hawk eyed officer of the revenue noticed the said car appeared to be a tax free kit & wondered to himself how this young lady managed to build a kit all by herself as required by the regs and decided to investigate further. Then as they say the efluent hit the cooling module interface.
Now you may ask, how does old duckie know all these things,well I'm buggered if I can remember now, however I do recall towing old George on his water skis all over Loch Lomond while a big hairy dug slept in the back of his black Corvette. Funny what sticks in the mind all these years on.
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