Peat Road Motors
Discussion
"Peat Road Motors" RBrown said:
I knew the owners. Drove a Bentley at the time .....not a Lada!
That was Andrew Strang from memory, I believe his father started the company?A very unassuming guy, leaving most of the work to the directors. (And some of them were a choice bunch!) Trying to think of their names, at the moment.
Alf Hennigen (sp?) was one - Ended up owning the old Calex site in Kilmarnock.
750turbo said:
For some strange reason, I find myself searching about them online, I used to work for them a long way back.
Anyway, I found this
Anyone else work for them?
I don't know anyone who worked for them but I remember it when it was a Lada and Vauxhall dealership before PRM went belly up and Arnold Clark's took over and installed a Proton franchise, my dad bought a Chrysler Neon from there in 2000, still have the sales wallet with paperwork and salesman's business card, I much later bought a Corsa there when it had changed to Renault, it really was one of the smallest main dealers ive ever seen, it was tiny, 1 service advisor, tiny service area, tiny parts store, and the tiled part of the showroom with no windows that ran up the side of the main showroom looked in 2011 when I was last in buying a part as if it hadnt changed since it was PRM, sadly the site closed down March 2012 and after lying doing nothing for over 3 years its now been demolished Anyway, I found this
Anyone else work for them?
I remember their other branches too, Giffnock, Wishaw, New Sneddon Street in Paisley (became Williams Rover I think and now also demolished) and West Langlands Street in Kilmarnock (Peugeot I think, became Robert Wypers after PRM went out the game) and finally Whittingehame Drive in Jordanhill which became Clarkston Motor Co Subaru.
You are correct about Alf Henighen after PRM he set up Gael Hyundai and Suzuki in 1992 at Crookedholm, they later opened a Hyundai dealership on Barrhead Road in Crookston not far away from the Peat Road dealership (former Westcars VW/Audi site, now a Londis and possibly Cafe Asia or something now) Gael sold out to Verve in 2005 I think.
I always thought wrongly or rightly that they had a connection to Capital Motors in Edinburgh, the style, logo and font on their number plates were identical. I think they were due to take on a Toyota franchise in Paisley before they hit trouble too, it instead went to Arnold Clark at Linwood.
EDIT: something tells me they also had a presence in Hillingdon as well?
Edited by HendryG on Wednesday 2nd September 21:31
Excellent stuff as ever HendryG!
From memory, the Capital Motors link was some directors setting up a new business, using similar advertising tact.
There was a director (?) that bought Squires Gate Motors, a Citroen Dealer in Blackpool, that used similar advertising - they only lasted a few years before a big group took over though. (I was there as part of my job when they took on Citroen)
The presence in Hillington was their Head Office, and Tradeaways, or Tearaways as we called it, a used (very well used) sales centre.
From memory, the Capital Motors link was some directors setting up a new business, using similar advertising tact.
There was a director (?) that bought Squires Gate Motors, a Citroen Dealer in Blackpool, that used similar advertising - they only lasted a few years before a big group took over though. (I was there as part of my job when they took on Citroen)
The presence in Hillington was their Head Office, and Tradeaways, or Tearaways as we called it, a used (very well used) sales centre.
750turbo said:
Excellent stuff as ever HendryG!
From memory, the Capital Motors link was some directors setting up a new business, using similar advertising tact.
There was a director (?) that bought Squires Gate Motors, a Citroen Dealer in Blackpool, that used similar advertising - they only lasted a few years before a big group took over though. (I was there as part of my job when they took on Citroen)
The presence in Hillington was their Head Office, and Tradeaways, or Tearaways as we called it, a used (very well used) sales centre.
Tradeaways sounds familiar, was it Robert Wypers who later used the same tag for their cheaper used cars? I think Parks later used the same tag until recently as well. From memory, the Capital Motors link was some directors setting up a new business, using similar advertising tact.
There was a director (?) that bought Squires Gate Motors, a Citroen Dealer in Blackpool, that used similar advertising - they only lasted a few years before a big group took over though. (I was there as part of my job when they took on Citroen)
The presence in Hillington was their Head Office, and Tradeaways, or Tearaways as we called it, a used (very well used) sales centre.
Funnily enough the original PRM site at Peat Road in addition to being a Proton main dealership under Arnold Clark was also an "Arnold's Trade And Save Centre" most of the stock was ex contract hire stuff that had been bought and owned by Arnold Clark Finance at St Georges Road In Charing Cross, and leased to various companies, lease ended and they were sent to Peat Road to be sold on, so much so I remember when we were in buying the Chrysler Neon (itself ex contract hire, bought by Arnold Clark from Weir/Murray Chrysler Jeep at North Street, Charing Cross and leased to an employee of a company in Perth, August '96 P reg bought in Feb 2000 and had done 67,000 miles, most other cars were likewise) there were no Protons in the showroom which was very odd, and very few on the forecourt.
Years later in 2007 when I bought a Corsa there it was a Renault dealership but still the "Arnold's Trade Centre" and amongst the new Renault's in the showroom were a W reg Focus, 52 plate Mondeo and a Y reg Passat, I enquired as to how they were getting away with putting other brands in a Renault showroom he couldn't answer but did say she to it not being a prosperous area they had much more success selling 6 year old Ford's and Vauxhalls than they did new Renaults or more expensive cars, suppose that explains how PRM were so successful in flogging Ladas in the area, although I don't know how their sales figures compared to the other big Lada dealer Archers whom all of their dealerships dealt in Lada amongst others (Yugo's and Protons)
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