A well deserved media tribute to an old school garage bloke
Discussion
I used to live next door to this garage. It was heaven! I still take my old cars to the Two Johns, if the cars are mobile enough to get there from my rural exile.
Here one of the Johns gets a write up in a local sheet.
http://islingtonfacesblog.com/2015/03/11/john-harv...
If you have an old car and cannot fix it yerself, and are anywhere near London N5, the Two Johns are the dangly bits. Not only do they look after the many eighties to noughties daily drivers of the locals (you should see the number of 190Es, old Volvos, old Golfs and Polos, 205s, Audi 80s etc that are parked in the surrounding streets), but they also have time to stop, chat, drink tea, and act as a sort of benign neighbourhood watch in the street. They take in deliveries for people who are out, look after dropped keys and phones, and all that. The only thing they are rubbish at is sending out bills.
Here one of the Johns gets a write up in a local sheet.
http://islingtonfacesblog.com/2015/03/11/john-harv...
If you have an old car and cannot fix it yerself, and are anywhere near London N5, the Two Johns are the dangly bits. Not only do they look after the many eighties to noughties daily drivers of the locals (you should see the number of 190Es, old Volvos, old Golfs and Polos, 205s, Audi 80s etc that are parked in the surrounding streets), but they also have time to stop, chat, drink tea, and act as a sort of benign neighbourhood watch in the street. They take in deliveries for people who are out, look after dropped keys and phones, and all that. The only thing they are rubbish at is sending out bills.
Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 5th December 19:42
Reminded me of Bill, an old boy I used to take my cars to in the west country. He had a place so similar to BV's bloke, even down to the blue sliding doors. Bill would loan tools out over the weekend and taught car mechanics at the local college a couple of evenings a week when he would invite students (I was one) to take their cars in to work on. My Austin 1300GT was often in, as was an elderly lady's Daimler V250. His was the only Chrysler 180 I ever saw.
TR4man said:
Such places are getting rare now -a real shame.
They are indeed. Two brothers ran a family garage in the next village to us until about 6 or 7 years ago. It was a typical 1930s garage building full of quirky features like a mezzanine store full of wooden racking and accessed via a rickety ladder, and an 'office' which was like a snug with an old black & white TV and tatty leather armchairs. The till was a drawer in an old oak desk. In years gone by they'd run a few coaches for school runs and outings to the coast, and the old coaches were parked up behind the garage in an former overgrown quarry - Bedford Duples with crushed velvet seat covers and orange tinted roof lights etc. Long-abandoned cars were littered round the yard - MGBs, Rileys, Wolseleys, Jags as well as later stuff like Capris, Marinas and some kit cars. I used to love poking around the place. They used to sell petrol and derv from old pumps with analogue numerals on rollers and levers on the side to activate them. No self service either; you had to be served, and if you wanted a receipt it would be hand written on an Esso notelet with the garages's 4 digit phone number. Inside one of the workshops were some of their own cars - an Elan +2, a Cooper S that one of the brothers used to rally, an RME Riley and various old Fiats, all in a state of disrepair except the Riley which was used quite regularly. There was also a huge old Humber Pullman that had been adapted to take a wheelchair and had been gifted to the one of the brothers when the owner's wife had passed away.
They told me one day that on a late Saturday afternoon a few years earlier when they were about to close, a Mk 2 Cortina had come limping on to the forecourt with a broken rear leaf spring. The chap had been on a day out to Scarborough with his wife and kids and the suspension had collapsed on the way home. He asked if he could leave the car with them for repair and he'd come back in a week or two if they could manage to be a spring for it. "Hang on a minute" one of the brothers said, and disappeared up the ladder to the stores, returning with a new Mk 2 Cortina leaf spring wrapped in thick waxed paper. Naturally, the guy was astounded, and they proceeded to fit the spring and get him on his way, no doubt with a hand written receipt on an Esso notelet with a 4-digit phone number
Sadly, the garage is now closed and like so many is to be demolished to make way for housing. I still see the brothers around and we chat on occasion about the old days of proper garages.
A brilliant read about the people and the garages.
There also used to be a similar garage near to me, also ran by two brothers!
The actual owner had three sons who weren't in to cars at all, and when I was 15-16, one of my mates started working there as a YTS trainee.
I also spent a lot of time there, and as we were obsessed with cars, the two brothers let us have the run of the place!
There was many a time they would move their paying customers cars off the ramps, so I could re weld my old big bore exhaust or some other stupid mod.
I feel I served a small apprenticeship there, as they would always help on our own cars, even when we were doing engine conversions.
I also used to love their stories from when they were younger, and some of the crazy vehicles they had.
One was an old Bedford van, with a mid mounted Jag straight six engine!
Again, the garage is no longer there, and despite being close to retirement age, one is a manager at an Aston specialist and the other still runs another garage.
There also used to be a similar garage near to me, also ran by two brothers!
The actual owner had three sons who weren't in to cars at all, and when I was 15-16, one of my mates started working there as a YTS trainee.
I also spent a lot of time there, and as we were obsessed with cars, the two brothers let us have the run of the place!
There was many a time they would move their paying customers cars off the ramps, so I could re weld my old big bore exhaust or some other stupid mod.
I feel I served a small apprenticeship there, as they would always help on our own cars, even when we were doing engine conversions.
I also used to love their stories from when they were younger, and some of the crazy vehicles they had.
One was an old Bedford van, with a mid mounted Jag straight six engine!
Again, the garage is no longer there, and despite being close to retirement age, one is a manager at an Aston specialist and the other still runs another garage.
When (inevitably) the engine went on my Stag, the recommendation from fellow owners was a one man garage near Warrington. It took me ages to get hold of the guy as he didn't use email (didn't even have a computer) and even though he had a mobile phone it was the size of a brick and more often than not it wasn't answered because the battery was always flat.
He came round to my house to look at the Stag in a beat up old Mk1 two door Range Rover but despite my inner reservations, it was clear that what this man didn't know about the Triumph V8 wasn't worth knowing.
I arranged with him to bring my car to his garage. It was on some run down industrial estate near the old USAF base at Burtonwood. It was like an Alladin's Cave with parts of Stags everywhere. I was offered a cuppa in a mug that looked as though it had never been washed in its life (my wife graciously declined). It was the sort of place that I would have loved to have spent time just rummaging about, but my wife was passing me hints that she wanted to go.
When I collected my car a couple of weeks later, I was presented with a very detailed, four page summary and invoice of all the work completed. Hand written in the most beautiful handwriting I've seen in years.
That was four years ago and since then the engine has run as sweet as a nut. We've since driven the Stag to Spa, Nurburgring, Luxemburg, toured the WW1 battlefields in Flanders and holidayed around Jersey without the slightest problem.
I love the fact that this country appears to have more than its fair share of eccentrics but I fear that we are becoming less tolerant of anything that isn't conventional and "normal" and the establishments mentioned in these posts will all too soon be part of our history.
Edited by TR4man on Sunday 6th December 11:39
It's as true today as it always was in the past .
Find a good local independent garage via recommendations, stick with them and don't mess them about .
They are getting rare these days and must be cherished.
My local place is now run by a couple of guys that used to work for the previous owner,they bought it when he retired .
The place was built with timbers salvaged from a ship that sunk locally in the early 1800's.
It also helps that I am distantly related to one of the partners and get Trade rate MOT's .
Find a good local independent garage via recommendations, stick with them and don't mess them about .
They are getting rare these days and must be cherished.
My local place is now run by a couple of guys that used to work for the previous owner,they bought it when he retired .
The place was built with timbers salvaged from a ship that sunk locally in the early 1800's.
It also helps that I am distantly related to one of the partners and get Trade rate MOT's .
From talking to the old school mechs that I know, there is a real problem in finding young blokes who want to serve apprenticeships in trad mechanic skills. Many of the guys who train in the main dealer networks no longer acquire the skills needed to deal with a car that is not governed by software, where repair requires more than just, in effect, swapping out modules. Old cars are, as we old car loons know, often hard work, and can require detective skills to find out what is wrong with them, with no computer to tell you what the problem is.
Meanwhile, the indy garage owners who deal with modern cars want high volume and lots of easy MoTs and routine servicing, so many do not encourage their staff to get involved with old cars. I have a garage in my village, and the guys there are fine, but it seems that the boss is not that keen on them getting tied up fiddling with my old heaps when they could be doing a much higher throughput on modern cars. I don't blame him - he has a business model that works for him; but I have to scratch around in my area if my mobile guy is too busy, or unwell, and the problem with the car precludes taking it to see the Johns in London.
I mainly use a mobile guy who comes to me. He is a brilliant mechanic, very knowledgeable and skilled, but he may retire soon. The Two Johns are still keen and able, but there will come a time when John who owns the garage (the other John is in effect the junior partner and does not have a share in the building, AIUI) will cash in the property goldmine that he is sitting on (big plot close to Highbury Corner) and retire.
Meanwhile, the indy garage owners who deal with modern cars want high volume and lots of easy MoTs and routine servicing, so many do not encourage their staff to get involved with old cars. I have a garage in my village, and the guys there are fine, but it seems that the boss is not that keen on them getting tied up fiddling with my old heaps when they could be doing a much higher throughput on modern cars. I don't blame him - he has a business model that works for him; but I have to scratch around in my area if my mobile guy is too busy, or unwell, and the problem with the car precludes taking it to see the Johns in London.
I mainly use a mobile guy who comes to me. He is a brilliant mechanic, very knowledgeable and skilled, but he may retire soon. The Two Johns are still keen and able, but there will come a time when John who owns the garage (the other John is in effect the junior partner and does not have a share in the building, AIUI) will cash in the property goldmine that he is sitting on (big plot close to Highbury Corner) and retire.
TR4man said:
When (inevitably) the engine went on my Stag, the recommendation from fellow owners was a one man garage near Warrington. It took me ages to get hold of the guy as he didn't use email (didn't even have a computer) and even though he had a mobile phone it was the size of a brick and more often than not it wasn't answered because the battery was always flat.
He came round to my house to look at the Stag in a beat up old Mk1 two door Range Rover but despite my inner reservations, it was clear that what this man didn't know about the Triumph V8 wasn't worth knowing.
I arranged with him to bring my car to his garage. It was on some run down industrial estate near the old USAF base at Burtonwood. It was like an Alladin's Cave with parts of Stags everywhere. I was offered a cuppa in a mug that looked as though it had never been washed in its life (my wife graciously declined). It was the sort of place that I would have loved to have spent time just rummaging about, but my wife was passing me hints that she wanted to go.
When I collected my car a couple of weeks later, I was presented with a very detailed, four page summary and invoice of all the work completed. Hand written in the most beautiful handwriting I've seen in years.
That was four years ago and since then the engine has run as sweet as a nut. We've since driven the Stag to Spa, Nurburgring, Luxemburg, toured the WW1 battlefields in Flanders and holidayed around Jersey without the slightest problem.
I love the fact that this country appears to have more than its fair share of eccentrics but I fear that we are becoming less tolerant of anything that isn't conventional and "normal" and the establishments mentioned in these posts will all too soon be part of our history.
Edited by TR4man on Sunday 6th December 11:39
Cheers
Nick
Yes, this seems like exactly the kind of place to go.
If the idea is alien to you (i.e. if you are addicted to big flashy dealerships) then the key is to build up a relationship slowly. Start with some cheap and easy jobs. See how it goes. Then take things upwards from there if you're happy.
If the idea is alien to you (i.e. if you are addicted to big flashy dealerships) then the key is to build up a relationship slowly. Start with some cheap and easy jobs. See how it goes. Then take things upwards from there if you're happy.
Great stories but need to add a sense or realism. Many of these people were, unknowingly, running unprofitable businesses but to our gain. I have benefited from such places myself thinking that they are not the type to rip you off and thoroughly decent people. I went through a spell of regularly patronising a small local body shop when my kids were in the first few years of driving. The repair cost were always reasonable, priced on the back of a fag packet. Then suddenly there was a hike in prices. I asked the owner why and he explained that he had started using a job costing software package which ensured he charged the right amount, recovering overheads etc. I couldn't argue.
appletonn said:
TR4man said:
When (inevitably) the engine went on my Stag, the recommendation from fellow owners was a one man garage near Warrington. It took me ages to get hold of the guy as he didn't use email (didn't even have a computer) and even though he had a mobile phone it was the size of a brick and more often than not it wasn't answered because the battery was always flat.
He came round to my house to look at the Stag in a beat up old Mk1 two door Range Rover but despite my inner reservations, it was clear that what this man didn't know about the Triumph V8 wasn't worth knowing.
I arranged with him to bring my car to his garage. It was on some run down industrial estate near the old USAF base at Burtonwood. It was like an Alladin's Cave with parts of Stags everywhere. I was offered a cuppa in a mug that looked as though it had never been washed in its life (my wife graciously declined). It was the sort of place that I would have loved to have spent time just rummaging about, but my wife was passing me hints that she wanted to go.
When I collected my car a couple of weeks later, I was presented with a very detailed, four page summary and invoice of all the work completed. Hand written in the most beautiful handwriting I've seen in years.
That was four years ago and since then the engine has run as sweet as a nut. We've since driven the Stag to Spa, Nurburgring, Luxemburg, toured the WW1 battlefields in Flanders and holidayed around Jersey without the slightest problem.
I love the fact that this country appears to have more than its fair share of eccentrics but I fear that we are becoming less tolerant of anything that isn't conventional and "normal" and the establishments mentioned in these posts will all too soon be part of our history.
Edited by TR4man on Sunday 6th December 11:39
Cheers
Nick
It was based in one of the old hangers.
First car I drove was one of the lads MK1 Escort 1300E.
Nothing to hit there so ideal for learning.
I've used this guy too and he is very knowledgeable and thorough. My Stag also runs sweet since visiting him.
When (inevitably) the engine went on my Stag, the recommendation from fellow owners was a one man garage near Warrington. It took me ages to get hold of the guy as he didn't use email (didn't even have a computer) and even though he had a mobile phone it was the size of a brick and more often than not it wasn't answered because the battery was always flat.
He came round to my house to look at the Stag in a beat up old Mk1 two door Range Rover but despite my inner reservations, it was clear that what this man didn't know about the Triumph V8 wasn't worth knowing.
I arranged with him to bring my car to his garage. It was on some run down industrial estate near the old USAF base at Burtonwood. It was like an Alladin's Cave with parts of Stags everywhere. I was offered a cuppa in a mug that looked as though it had never been washed in its life (my wife graciously declined). It was the sort of place that I would have loved to have spent time just rummaging about, but my wife was passing me hints that she wanted to go.
When I collected my car a couple of weeks later, I was presented with a very detailed, four page summary and invoice of all the work completed. Hand written in the most beautiful handwriting I've seen in years.
That was four years ago and since then the engine has run as sweet as a nut. We've since driven the Stag to Spa, Nurburgring, Luxemburg, toured the WW1 battlefields in Flanders and holidayed around Jersey without the slightest problem.
I love the fact that this country appears to have more than its fair share of eccentrics but I fear that we are becoming less tolerant of anything that isn't conventional and "normal" and the establishments mentioned in these posts will all too soon be part of our history.
TR4man said:
When (inevitably) the engine went on my Stag, the recommendation from fellow owners was a one man garage near Warrington. It took me ages to get hold of the guy as he didn't use email (didn't even have a computer) and even though he had a mobile phone it was the size of a brick and more often than not it wasn't answered because the battery was always flat.
He came round to my house to look at the Stag in a beat up old Mk1 two door Range Rover but despite my inner reservations, it was clear that what this man didn't know about the Triumph V8 wasn't worth knowing.
I arranged with him to bring my car to his garage. It was on some run down industrial estate near the old USAF base at Burtonwood. It was like an Alladin's Cave with parts of Stags everywhere. I was offered a cuppa in a mug that looked as though it had never been washed in its life (my wife graciously declined). It was the sort of place that I would have loved to have spent time just rummaging about, but my wife was passing me hints that she wanted to go.
When I collected my car a couple of weeks later, I was presented with a very detailed, four page summary and invoice of all the work completed. Hand written in the most beautiful handwriting I've seen in years.
That was four years ago and since then the engine has run as sweet as a nut. We've since driven the Stag to Spa, Nurburgring, Luxemburg, toured the WW1 battlefields in Flanders and holidayed around Jersey without the slightest problem.
I love the fact that this country appears to have more than its fair share of eccentrics but I fear that we are becoming less tolerant of anything that isn't conventional and "normal" and the establishments mentioned in these posts will all too soon be part of our history.
Edited by TR4man on Sunday 6th December 11:39
Reminds me of an old bike shop/shed I used to use as a kid. I called in asking how much it would cost to fix the bearing in my bottom bracket. They told me that as a lad I ought to be able to fix this stuff myself, lent me the tools and told me how to fix what turned out to be lack of grease and some foreign objects. On asking how much I owed them I was told "nowt" as I'd fixed it myself. Shame the place is no longer there last time I passed.
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