Glasgow car dealers in the 60's -70's

[Master Of Puppets]

ChonkyCat said:

I was a well-kent face at the auctions BCA/ADT/BCA, Graham Sq (Alec Beith/Tommy Graham/Intercity/CCA), then there was Central Motor Auctions (London Rd), Scottish Motor Auctions (Giffnock) and Manheim at Blochairn.

CCA are now owned by Arnie Sharks, although I think Jason has stayed on to run the show (I feel old remembering Jason’s first go up on the rostrum and us all giving him a round of applause after his first car).

Clarks effectively pulled the plug on Intercity after one of the traders, who shall remain nameless, was discovered to have been wholeshale robbing the AC cars of spare wheels, stereos etc, in cahoots with one of the staff. The trader was banned and the staff member sacked but it was too little too late, and without Clarks stuff to draw the punters and traders in, it folded. Phil’s boy, John is still in the auction game though, working for Wilsons down in Dalry.

Edited by ChonkyCat on Sunday 19th November 19:32

I knew a few of the traders in the 90s but some just by a nickname, ones I remember were the Greedies, big Darragh, the Shaw brothers, Fairful,
Neil Hogarth. Shotts back then was always good for a decent bargain I thought, some happy Tuesdays up there although I often thought
it must be the coldest wettest place in Scotland.

[47p2]

Does any of you remember Alex Gray who stayed in Humble Road and had a repairs garage in South Annandale Street just off Allison Street. I see A Gray Motors are still in business, Alex will be long gone so no clue who is running it now. AFAIK Alex never had any children

[ChonkyCat]

47p2 said:

Does any of you remember Alex Gray who stayed in Humble Road and had a repairs garage in South Annandale Street just off Allison Street. I see A Gray Motors are still in business, Alex will be long gone so no clue who is running it now. AFAIK Alex never had any children

Alex had two boys, one was the year above me at school, the other the year below, Stuart and Scott, if memory serves

[ChonkyCat]

Master Of Puppets said:

I knew a few of the traders in the 90s but some just by a nickname, ones I remember were the Greedies, big Darragh, the Shaw brothers, Fairful,
Neil Hogarth. Shotts back then was always good for a decent bargain I thought, some happy Tuesdays up there although I often thought
it must be the coldest wettest place in Scotland.

Shotts was a miserable place on on a wet evening - do you remember Newmains? When Ian Irvine sold it to BCA they forgot to include a clause preventing him opening another auction in the same area, so that’s what he did, one of the drivers even went back and snaffled the auction cat!

Last time I looked Shotts was still trading, bought out by`Manheim, with Ian jnr still running the show

[47p2]

ChonkyCat said:

Alex had two boys, one was the year above me at school, the other the year below, Stuart and Scott, if memory serves

I never knew that, must have been after I left the village in 1977. Alex was a great mechanic, he was pals with my dad and they went to school together, dad was his best man.

I remember being in for an MOT at his garage and an old guy with an old Mk1 Cortina came in, he had been to (I think the name was ) Stop and Steer at Eglinton Toll for a "Free pre MOT check" as per their advert and it was going to cost him about £200 to get the car through a test. Alex stuck the car on the ramp and told the old fella it only needed £25 worth of work and that Stop and Steer were a bunch of robbers...

Edited by 47p2 on Monday 20th November 21:22

[47p2]

Wm Arthur, Clyde Street, Glasgow was an upmarket car accessory shop from what I remember. The Eaglesham Bus Stop was outside their window and I used to look at all the shiny chrome parts they had displayed whilst waiting for the bus home. HMS Carrick was berthed in the Clyde across the road.

Found a picture of the HMS Carrick and you can just see Wm Arthur's shop in the background

Edited by 47p2 on Tuesday 21st November 08:10

Edited by 47p2 on Tuesday 21st November 08:11

[ChonkyCat]

Master Of Puppets said:

I knew a few of the traders in the 90s but some just by a nickname, ones I remember were the Greedies, big Darragh, the Shaw brothers, Fairful,
Neil Hogarth. Shotts back then was always good for a decent bargain I thought, some happy Tuesdays up there although I often thought
it must be the coldest wettest place in Scotland.

Just reminded me of being at CMA in London Rd, Jackie Devlin wins a car, “What name do you want on that, Mr Brown?” asks the auctioneer from the rostrum…

“Smith”, replies Jackie 😂

[ChonkyCat]

47p2 said:

I never knew that, must have been after I left the village in 1977. Alex was a great mechanic, he was pals with my dad and they went to school together, dad was his best man.

I remember being in for an MOT at his garage and an old guy with an old Mk1 Cortina came in, he had been to (I think the name was ) Stop and Steer at Eglinton Toll for a "Free pre MOT check" as per their advert and it was going to cost him about £200 to get the car through a test. Alex stuck the car on the ramp and told the old fella it only needed £25 worth of work and that Stop and Steer were a bunch of robbers...

Edited by 47p2 on Monday 20th November 21:22

His boys would have been 9 and 7 at that point

[ChonkyCat]

47p2 said:

Wm Arthur, Clyde Street, Glasgow was an upmarket car accessory shop from what I remember. The Eaglesham Bus Stop was outside their window and I used to look at all the shiny chrome parts they had displayed whilst waiting for the bus home.

Don’t remember the shop, can remember getting the bus from their though. Speaking of car accessory shops, can you remember the name of Eddie Hill’s place in Clarkston?

[47p2]

I have no recollection of Alex having any kids, I wonder if they are running the garage now. Wm Arthur's would have closed around 1970-72 I think. Don't remember Eddie Hill's shop. Used to buy spares from Brown Brothers who were somewhere around Scotland Street I think and George Street car accessories in George Street, Paisley. I was 16 when I bought my Moto-Lita steering wheel from there, cost me £15 and it was on all my cars up to around 1996, hangs up on my garage wall now



EDIT...

Another picture of the Carrick which is the oldest surviving clipper pre-dating the Cutty Sark. Built in Sunderland in 1864, she was initially named the City of Adelaide and sailed the route between the UK and South Australia.

Looks like the Eaglesham bus is at the stop...

Edited by 47p2 on Monday 20th November 23:45

EDIT again...

Search hard enough and there it is...

Edited by 47p2 on Tuesday 21st November 00:02

Edited by 47p2 on Tuesday 21st November 08:11

[Jader1973]

47p2 said:

Another picture of the Carrick which is the oldest surviving steam ship pre-dating the Cutty Sark. Built in Sunderland in 1864, she was initially named the City of Adelaide and sailed the route between the UK and South Australia.

She’s the oldest surviving clipper, not a steam ship.

I remember being taken to see her after she sank.

She is now in Adelaide - I popped down to see her one day when I was there for work. Slightly surreal seeing a ship you remember sitting in the middle of Glasgow as a child on a wharf in Australia!

[47p2]

Thanks Jader, yes I meant clipper but had a bit of a senior moment. My grandfather worked on her when she was being refurbished for RNVR just after the war

[Jader1973]

47p2 said:

Thanks Jader, yes I meant clipper but had a bit of a senior moment. My grandfather worked on her when she was being refurbished for RNVR just after the war

I had one myself I thought it was only a few years ago...turns out it was 6 and a half!

This is her in Feb 2017 in Adelaide


I think they've moved her since then, but I've no idea if they've made any progress in preserving her. I haven't been to Adelaide since late 2017.

[matchmaker]

47p2 said:

Wm Arthur, Clyde Street, Glasgow was an upmarket car accessory shop from what I remember. The Eaglesham Bus Stop was outside their window and I used to look at all the shiny chrome parts they had displayed whilst waiting for the bus home. HMS Carrick was berthed in the Clyde across the road.

Found a picture of the HMS Carrick and you can just see Wm Arthur's shop in the background

Edited by 47p2 on Tuesday 21st November 08:10

Edited by 47p2 on Tuesday 21st November 08:11

It was a very good shop. Near to it was another great shop for the technical geek - RME Surplus Supplies, which sold all manner of Radio, Mechanical and Electrical bits and pieces.

[ChonkyCat]

Jader1973 said:

I had one myself I thought it was only a few years ago...turns out it was 6 and a half!


I think they've moved her since then, but I've no idea if they've made any progress in preserving her. I haven't been to Adelaide since late 2017.

I had s “discussion” with someone over her whereabouts, he was adamant he’d visited her at Irvine 2 years ago, I pointed out she’d been in Australia since 2013. He produced a newspaper article saying she went to Irvine in 2007. The same article stated the ship then went to Australia in 2013, however he maintained that was a misprint, otherwise how could he have seen it there 8 years later.

So I showed him the City of Adelaide website.

He said that was wrong because…etc, etc

Then I showed him a Daily Record article with the people of Irvine waving her goodbye.

Apparently *that* didn’t happen, as he had seen it, etc…

Mind you, he also claims to be a regular visitor to Paddy’s Market, despite having been a GC councillor when the council closed it down in 2009 😂

[r.s.logan]

ChonkyCat said:

Andersons went into voluntary liquidation in 1980, they never traded at any premises outwith what is now East Renfrewshire, having the main place in NM, a smaller one in Giffnock, although don’t personally remember that, and originally a coal yard in Thornliebank.

I recall a car showroom on the corner of Bain St and Gallowgate, opp. where Morrisons is now, which at one point traded as Andersons, however it wasn’t related to the Newton Mearns firm.

I went to Andersons of Newton Mearns on the Gallowgate ( up from where Morrisons are , at the traffic lights at Barrack St . ) many times for Rootes parts in the late 60s early 70 s and subsequently when they later moved to their premises at the corner of Woodend Dr / Mount Vernon Ave . That is if we couldn't get the parts more local from Melvin Motors in Lauderdale Gardens or Minerva St / Finnieston St with us being based in Jordanhill .

Edited by r.s.logan on Tuesday 21st November 18:15

[ChonkyCat]

r.s.logan said:

I went to Andersons of Newton Mearns on the Gallowgate ( up from where Morrisons are , at the traffic lights at Barrack St . ) many times for Rootes parts in the late 60s early 70 s and subsequently when they later moved to their premises at the corner of Woodend Dr / Mount Vernon Ave . That is if we couldn't get the parts more local from Melvin Motors in Lauderdale Gardens or Minerva St / Finnieston St with us being based in Jordanhill .

Edited by r.s.logan on Tuesday 21st November 18:15

I can’t link to the page due to the age of this account, however, there is no mention of a Gallowgate, or Mount Vernon, site in any of the company records

“ William Anderson established the firm of William Anderson , coal merchant and contractors, in 1832 at premises at Thornliebank, East Renfrewshire, Scotland. The firm remained in the hands of the family after the death of William Anderson. In 1895 , new premises were acquired at Speirsbridge, near Thornliebank. Robert Anderson (d1937) ran the company from the 1840s. As keen cyclist, he moved into selling and repairing bicycles and in 1904 the company sold its first motorcar, a 10/20 Coventry Humber for £358. In 1902 , he acquired further premises at Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire, which he operated as Robert Anderson , bicycle repairers and garage. The William Anderson coal company was retained as a separate concern and operated under its original name until 1930.

The Newton Mearns site became the firm's main garage premises, although a second garage was acquired at Giffnock, East Renfrewshire, in 1915 . In 1930 the business was incorporated as a limited liability company, Andersons (Newton Mearns) Ltd . Robert Anderson's son, James, was responsible for building the "Anderson's Specials" of the 1920s. There were 4 car models available with a variety of chassis, suspensions and power units, the most famous being the 'Bug'. The first Anderson Special was built in 1922 and was torpedo shaped with a space frame built up from light mild steel angle to carry units and panels. The power units for the 'Bug' varied but it finished up with 2 Austin 7 engines side by side.

In 1947 the company ceased its operations as coal merchants and contractors. The company was a dealer for Rootes (later Chrysler) Cars and operated a machine tool shop between 1947 and 1960 . In Andersons (Newton Mearns) Ltd 1980 went into voluntary liquidation.

Source: David Arthur,'Mearns History Group: Anderson's of Newton Mearns Ltd' ,The Mearns Press(November 2001)

[47p2]

Dad had several Humber Hawks and Super Snipes and we were forever in at Andersons. I remember in the showroom in the 60s with dad, the salesmen were standing watching a mechanic who was lying in the floor with an aerosol can of paint spraying the front valance of a brand new yellow Commer caravanette that the paint had fallen off. I remember thinking that the new owner was not going to be pleased a few months down the line...

[r.s.logan]

47p2 said:

Wm Arthur, Clyde Street, Glasgow was an upmarket car accessory shop from what I remember. The Eaglesham Bus Stop was outside their window and I used to look at all the shiny chrome parts they had displayed whilst waiting for the bus home. HMS Carrick was berthed in the Clyde across the road.

Found a picture of the HMS Carrick and you can just see Wm Arthur's shop in the background

Edited by 47p2 on Tuesday 21st November 08:10

Edited by 47p2 on Tuesday 21st November 08:11

I remember it well . windows were full of chrome car mirrors , fog / spot lights and many fancy car bonnet mascots of all shapes and sizes

[woodysnr]

Remember the shop well bought loads of stuff in the 60s when a teenager ..Chrome Tape ..vents for your window wipers etc .I was like a sweety shop for motorist's .Also my bus to a from work was the 181 to E-K parked up in Clyde St next to the Clipper ,went for a night out on the Carrick mid 60's also remember if down at Irvine up on blocks .
Great wee thread I remember most of the garages mentioned from back then .