Author Archives: Dan

List of Suzuki Dealers in Great Britain (March 1984)

The following list is from a road test by Motor magazine for the Suzuki SA310.

Avon

Greens (Bristol) Ltd.
33 Clevedon Road
Failand
Bristol
027580 3186

This garage doesn’t appear to be in business anymore. As of 2018 there is still one car lot / garage present on Clevedon Road (Failand Car Sales) who specialise in used vehicles.

Berkshire

Kennet Motor Services
786/794 Oxford Road
Reading
0734 584957

Currently (2018) a Just Tyres fitting centre.

Bedfordshire

Hildark Motor Company
Brickhill Drive
Bedford
0234 213381

As there isn’t a specific address given here it could be assumed that what is currently a Pitstop garage was once the Hildark Motor Company. A search via Companies House shows the business name Hildark Motor Company Limited is now trading as Slip End Properties Limited in Luton, however this business name was only in use between 1989 and 1999.

Buckinghamshire

Pinewood Service Station
Pinewood Road
Iver Heath
0753 653600

There doesn’t appear to be any remnants of a garage or service station at any point along Pinewood Road. There are results for Pinewood Service Station in other areas, but nothing in Iver Heath.

Cambridgeshire

Benstead & Pidcock
659 Lincoln Road
Peterborough
073352141

As of 2018 a garage is still present at this address under the name Motor City. A search brings up various results for this garage and that the company name is currently dissolved, however the company was incorporated on 15th June 1971[?].

R.H. Boot Ltd.
Gog Magog Garage
Babraham Road
Cambridge
0223 247072

There is currently one garage on Babraham Road which is currently an Audi dealership.

Cheshire

Heron Tractors Ltd.
Mount View
Sealand Road
Chester
0244 374440

There are multiple dealerships on Sealand road, however none of them are trading as the above company any longer.

School Grange
47 Buxton Road
Whaley Bridge
Stockport
06633 2296

The garage now appears to be an MOT Centre (Hillcrest Garage).

Cleveland

Dixon & Roy
Billingham Road
Norton
Stockton-on-Tees
0642 55141/2

Cornwall

Playing Place Garage
Playing Place
Truro
0872 862347

Pat Crawfords
Burraton Cross
Saltash
07555 3734

Devon

Goose Green Garage
Hennock Road
Marsh Barton
Exeter
0392 37337

Dorset

Bray & Sear Ltd.
Broadway Garage
235 Castle Lane West
Bournemouth
0202 529070

Essex

Classic Car Centre Ltd.
92 London Road
Benfleet
0374551500

There doesn’t appear to be any trace of any garage at this address anymore, there is however a BP petrol station on the other side of the road at 36.

Wood & Krailing
High Road
Theydon Bois
037 881 3831

Gloucestershire

Baytree Garage
High Street
Prestbury
Cheltenham
0242 44912

Hampshire

Hampshire Car Sales
Dunsbury Way
Leighpark
Portsmouth
0705 473325

Hertfordshire

Masons Garage
Paynes Park
Hitchin
0462 2819

Northchurch Motors
London Road
Nr. Tring
044 282 2415

Humberside

Johnsons Garage (Hendon) Ltd.
2/8 Thorn Road
Hedon
Hull
0482 299181

Kent

John Fowler Motors
Medway Service Station
34 Upper Stone Street
Maidstone
0622 61696

Currently an independent car and van hire centre. The owner of this dealership, John Fowler, appears to be a wealthy man and was involved in a £53m heist [1234].

New Tudor Garage
Hastings Road
Bromley Common
Bromley
01 462 1262

PK Motors
16 London Road
Tunbridge Wells
0892 20026

As of 2018 there are no car dealers, garages or any businesses of similar nature at this address. However the business name PK Motors is still in use in the Tunbridge Wells area as a accident repair centre [1].

Lancashire

Langs Motors
Kent Street
Blackburn
0254 59669

Leicestershire

Lee Byron Ltd
Lee Circle
Leicester
0533 25285

London

Eurocars (London) Ltd.
105 Westbourne Grove
London W2
01 229 0085

Highfield Garage Ltd.
700 Green Lanes
Winchmore Hill
London N21
01 360 9267

Manchester

Ashton Quality Cars
Stamford Street
Ashton-Under-Lyne
061 330 5148

Galassi & Sons
34 Chorley Road
Swinton
061 964 6457

Merseyside

Chapman Mawdsley & Sons Ltd.
88/94 Church Road
Formby
Liverpool
07048 70777

Norfolk

Norfolk Motor Co.
242/245 Sprowston Road
Norwich
0603 407766

Northamptonshire

Campbell Motors
Clark Road
Northampton
0604 31611

Northumberland

Abbey Cars (Hexham) Ltd.
County Buildings
Hexham
0434 603615

Nottinghamshire

Halfway Garage (Nottm) Ltd.
Loughborough Road
Bunny
0602 844555

Doncaster Motors Ltd.
Nottingham Road
Mansfield
0623 25272

Oxfordshire

Hostons of Hanborough
14/25 Witney Road Garages
Long Hanborough
Oxon
0993 882217

Bicester Motor Co.
Banbury Road
Bicester
0869 242369

Salop

Charles Clark (Shewsbury) Ltd.
Column Garage
London Road
Shrewsbury
0743 57231

Somerset

Blagdon Hill Garage
Blagdon Hill
Taunton
0823 42606

Staffordshire

Jacksons Motors
22/23 Borough Road
Burton-on-Trent
0283 31565

Tim & Zoe Randles
Campbell Road Filling Station
Campbell Road
Stoke-on-Trent
0782 48361

Suffolk

Golf Garage
713 Foxhall Road
Ipswich
0473 78377

Surrey

Barry Collins Motors
268 London Road
Wallington
01 647 5527

Town and Country Cars
High Street
Ripley
0483 224000

East Sussex

Oakley Motor Units
Oakley House
Edward Street
Brighton
0273 603322

West Sussex

Cuckfield Motor Works
Whitemans Green
Cuckfield
0444 452623

S & G Motor Centre
Arundel Road
Fontwell
024365 564

Tyne & Wear

Sports Car Consultants
County Garage
Great North Road
Wideopen
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
0632 367552

Warwickshire

Percy Tait Cars
Priory Garage
Priory Road
Alcester
0789 764000

West Midlands

Bushbury Motor Co (Wolverhampton) Ltd.
Bridge Works
80 Stafford Road
Wolverhampton
0902 28998

Percy Tait Cars
Windmill Service Station
Dunchurch Highway
Allesley
0203 404641

California Auto Centre Ltd.
Barnes Hill
Weoley Castle
Birmingham
021427 5231

Wiltshire

Craze Brothers Ltd.
Southampton Road
Salisbury
072233 5268

Gorse Hill Motors
Chapel Street
Swindon
0793 20385

West Yorkshire

Colin Appleyard Ltd.
Cornmill Garage
Halifax Road
Keighley
0535 606321

Reg Gill Ltd.
Gelderd Road
Gildersome
Leeds
0532 534311

South Yorkshire

Machon Bank Motor Co. Ltd.
9 Machon Bank Road
Sheffield
0742 524888

North Yorkshire

Woodhead & Bray
Station Road
Thirsk
0845 22370

Zygmunt Curry & Sons Ltd.
Glen Garage
12-14 Hawthorn Grove
Heworth
York
0904 425800

Scotland

Borders

Brown Brothers
George Street
Peebles
0721 20545

Grampian

Tower Garage (Aberdeen) Ltd.
122 Broomhill Road
Aberdeen
0224 21252/3

Lothian

Midas Motor Co.
187 Dundee Street
Edingburgh
031 229 9632

Tayside

Angus Motor Company
135 Marketgait
Dundee
0382 22575

Gordon Motors
34 Comrie Street
Crieff
0764 4331

Strathclyde

Duncan Mackenzie Ltd
7 Minerva Way
Finnieston
Glasgow
041 226 4781

J.M. Broadfoot & Sons
Glendoune Garage
79/85 Glendoune Street
Girvan
0465 2357

Wales

Gwent

F.W.T. Motors
Wonastow Road
Monmouth
0600 3731

Gwynedd

Heron Tractors Ltd.
Glanhwfa Road
Llangefni
Anglesey
North Wales
0248 7222112

West Glamorgan

Siloh Motors (Swansea) Ltd.
Cwm Level Road
Landore
Swansea
0792 467307

Channel Islands

C.I. Suzuki Centre LTd.
Ted Harris Motors
Claredon Garage
Claredon Road
St. Helier
0534 77663

Roadkill @ EBC Brakes – 19th November 2017

November isn’t normally the season for a car show – the days are short, cold and often raining. However David Freiburger from the show RoadKill was making a UK visit and would be stopping off at EBC Brakes. EBC Brakes took this opportunity for a meet and greet, and a small static meet. No entry price, just turn up and enjoy – which is exactly what we did. A small meet in the grand scheme of things, but enjoyable enough. I didn’t meet David, I get a bit nervous about that sort of thing; but he seemed to enjoy what the UK can provide.

Hot Rod and Custom Drive-In Day Beaulieu – 18th June 2017

This was a great day out down south. I visited this show with a friend and his heavily pregnant wife. The day was absolutely beautiful (although rather hot) with glorious sunshine. This meant that I could get some great natural shots with my basic setup. I really enjoyed the selection of cars that were available at this show; and it has further expanded my knowledge of American cars.

Players 10 @ North Weald – 18th September 2016

This was the first ever static show that I drove myself to.

It was a pretty decent day and started my enjoyment for taking pictures of cars at shows – more as a hobby of cataloguing what is out there.

Please forgive some of these pictures, some are slightly out of focus, or the white balance is horrendously off. This was my first time trying and things only really improved from here on. Also being mid-September I had to deal with horrendous overcast.

Event Website:

https://www.players-show.com/

Gallery

 

Edits

7″ Record Company Sleeves

In the past few years I have pretty much told myself that I would no longer be buying any more 7″ singles as I simply don’t listen to them and they take up unnecessary space. However I always enjoyed the company sleeves that 7″ records come in, and have always wanted to share some of the best examples.


A&M Records

Casablanca

Casablanca Record and Filmworks

CBS

Epic

Motown

Phonogram

The Rocket Record Company

The Silver Spotlight Series (United Artists)

PolyGram Video Barney Video Catalogue 1996

I found this promotion in Barney’s Talent Show (Polygram Video, 6392583).

The inlay advertises the following items:

Videos

  • Rock with Barney
  • Barney’s 1-2-3-4 Seasons
  • Barney Live!
  • Barney’s Musical Adventure
  • Barney’s Favourites
  • Barney’s Fun & Games
  • Barney’s Talent Show
  • Barney Songs
  • Barney Goes to School
  • Barney’s Imagination Land
  • Barney In Concert
  • Barney’s Just Imagine

Gallery

Video Title Corruptions Gallery (Part I)

This is something I have always wanted to try out. Using a small CRT TV, darkened room and a reasonably cheap VCR – play some video tapes to the title screen and then hit pause/still. Due to the medium of VHS tapes and how the technology works, combined with a cheap device will cause all sorts of unusual corruptions in the picture.

To keep these posts from crashing everyone’s computers, including mine – I will keep it to just 5 clips per post.

Goodfellas
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (1990s)
Fox Video (1990s)
Goosebumps
Desperately Seeking Susan

Old Book Gallery

I try and make sure I keep reading, I sometimes feel it is hard in this modern life to do so – what with all the films and TV programmes to watch, the music to listen to and video games to play; along with everything else in life. But I think that books play a strong part in keeping the mind healthy and strong in regards to creativity and inspiration.

I am a bit of a fusspot with books, and sometimes go against the grain with my choices. I like science fiction and classic books, but then will delve into crime, mystery, thrillers, romance and comedies. I pretty much will buy a book purely based on either the author, if is part of a series or if I think the cover looks cool.

With that last point is where the idea for this post came from, to celebrate and share a selection of my favourite book covers. Most of these are old books that I find in charity shops, book sales or car boots. I will link to their Bookogs listing so if you desire you too could buy them.

Terrible 90s Web Graphics (Art Explosion!)

While sorting through a cupboard of old unused software at work we came across a nearly complete collection of clip-art, fonts, photos and graphics simply titled Art Explosion.

The discs contain your normal fare of odd clip-art (which appear to mostly be scans of drawings from 1900-1950), low-resolution amateur photographs of various subjects (a post on these to come), fonts that I don’t think anyone would ever consider using and a small amount of totally radical gnarly web graphics – just what you need to make your GeoCities website really POP. Anyway, enough rambling…

Warning!
This page probably will make whatever browser you are using run slow – to the point it might even stop responding.

Animations

Let’s not mess around here – the best items on these CD-ROM’s are the animated GIF’s.

Buttons

Yeah these aren’t that interesting. There are hundreds of variants on the CD-ROM, so I will only share my er… favourites.

Offset Oval on White

Oval Chrome Red Dark Background

Oval Gel Blue Light Background

Paint Splat Bubble Gum Light Background

Panic Button Bubbled Purple

Santa Fe Plaque Green

Scribble Lava Light Background

Home Video Cassette Gallery

As part of archiving video I come into contact with hundreds of different types of home video cassettes from all manufacturers, TDK, Sony, JVC, Toshiba and more.

This post is a celebration of the box artwork, some of which is quintessentially 80s or 90s design work.

This post will be updated regularly so be sure to check back often!