The Humer Unbeam Interesting Filling Stations Thread
Discussion
I saw a really good one the other day. When i saw it...it reminded me that i'd seen it loads of times before (and i dont think i've seen it on this thread yet)
Trouble is...i've forgotten where i saw it and didn't get a photo at the time as was driving
Mannn!!!!!
On a seperate note....sad in a way to see this frontage at Stanhope has now been changed into a normal looking (albeit nice) normal house front including wall.
Trouble is...i've forgotten where i saw it and didn't get a photo at the time as was driving
Mannn!!!!!
On a seperate note....sad in a way to see this frontage at Stanhope has now been changed into a normal looking (albeit nice) normal house front including wall.
Skibhoul Stores on Unst, Britain's northern most inhabited island. Irritatingly, there is another petrol station round the corner which is a bit further north, making this Britain's second most northerly filling station. Uxorial patience was exhausted when I discovered the more northerly one. Amazingly cheap given the location. £1.25 a litre.
Stumbled across this on a recent visit to Petworth, W. Sussex, on the one way section near to the big house. Closed but the tell tale forecourt layout and garage repair/servicing business still exists behind the old forecourt buildings.
Must have been a tight fit with any larger vehicle or during busy periods;
When is the PH Humer Unbeam coffee table book coming out?
Must have been a tight fit with any larger vehicle or during busy periods;
When is the PH Humer Unbeam coffee table book coming out?
M1C said:
I saw a really good one the other day. When i saw it...it reminded me that i'd seen it loads of times before (and i dont think i've seen it on this thread yet)
Trouble is...i've forgotten where i saw it and didn't get a photo at the time as was driving
Mannn!!!!!
On a seperate note....sad in a way to see this frontage at Stanhope has now been changed into a normal looking (albeit nice) normal house front including wall.
My Nana (technically a very elderly friend of the family...) used to live just behind that petrol station and my father used to buy National Benzole from there when we visited her in the 1950s. Trouble is...i've forgotten where i saw it and didn't get a photo at the time as was driving
Mannn!!!!!
On a seperate note....sad in a way to see this frontage at Stanhope has now been changed into a normal looking (albeit nice) normal house front including wall.
It's an ill turn that does the Humer Unbeam thread no good.
The M42 southbound was closed so I stayed on the M6 intending to join the M1 near Rugby. The signs read "M1 - A14" and sure enough before I knew it I'd missed the M1 and was heading east on the A14. My satnav coped well and guided me off the A14 along tracks no wider than the car to emerge eventually on to the A5 near Watford. Not that Watford, the other one, the one with the gap. In fact I saw Watford Gap Services in the distance at one point. Then, driving south along the A5, which I haven't done for a long while, and just as the satnav was preparing me to turn right on to the Towcester Bypass, I saw John's Motors.
That would be John's Motors, The Old Forge, 6 Watling Street, Foster's Booth - Established 1963. Marvellous. It could well be that John's Motors has featured here before but, you know me, I wasn't going to just stop and take a picture, I was going to ask. As I drove round to the back of the garage for find somewhere to park I saw another even older pump.
This is my kind of place, I thought. A mechanic was working on a car on a hoist and I asked if I could take some pictures of his interesting garage to post on the internet. "You'll have to speak to the owner. He'll be down in a minute." "Is he upstairs?" "No, he's in the car on the hoist. He'll be down in a minute." And so it was that I met John Milicivic the founder of the garage. He very kindly agreed to me taking photos and as I set off I met John's son, Jon, who said if I was interested in the garage, perhaps I'd be interested to see what was, "Over here." And I was.
Jon is successful with Caterhams and in Historic Formula 3 and races at Goodwood and elsewhere.
This delightful vehicle is an LDS, a South African copy of a Cooper. Jon told me there were only 9 made and I forgot to clarify if he meant 9 LDS Cooper copies or 9 LDS altogether. Either way, there is only one of this particular car. Then we have:
a 1966 Brabham BT21 - Chassis No.1 - with what might once have been an Anglia engine. The car featured in the film Rush. When I remarked on the laurels on the walls
Jon said, "Would you like to see the Trophy Room?"
We'd only just met and he knew me so well.
Just outside the Trophy Room is an Isle of Man TT winning Norton Dominator. It was raced in standard form, I believe Jon said, by Norton dealer Harold Daniell.
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/HaiUSjFt.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/HaiUSjFt" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/HaiUSjFt.jpg)
There is also a picture of Jon's son, John, with the greatest racing driver never to be World Champion. At the time of the photo Sir Stirling was still suffering the effects of the accident at his home.
John Junior has also raced at Goodwood.
From there we went to the showroom
The blue Mini is a very early example which John Senior took as a trade in and has kept
Honestly, they could charge admission. Thanks very much to everyone there for making me so welcome especially John and Jon Milicivic.
The M42 southbound was closed so I stayed on the M6 intending to join the M1 near Rugby. The signs read "M1 - A14" and sure enough before I knew it I'd missed the M1 and was heading east on the A14. My satnav coped well and guided me off the A14 along tracks no wider than the car to emerge eventually on to the A5 near Watford. Not that Watford, the other one, the one with the gap. In fact I saw Watford Gap Services in the distance at one point. Then, driving south along the A5, which I haven't done for a long while, and just as the satnav was preparing me to turn right on to the Towcester Bypass, I saw John's Motors.
That would be John's Motors, The Old Forge, 6 Watling Street, Foster's Booth - Established 1963. Marvellous. It could well be that John's Motors has featured here before but, you know me, I wasn't going to just stop and take a picture, I was going to ask. As I drove round to the back of the garage for find somewhere to park I saw another even older pump.
This is my kind of place, I thought. A mechanic was working on a car on a hoist and I asked if I could take some pictures of his interesting garage to post on the internet. "You'll have to speak to the owner. He'll be down in a minute." "Is he upstairs?" "No, he's in the car on the hoist. He'll be down in a minute." And so it was that I met John Milicivic the founder of the garage. He very kindly agreed to me taking photos and as I set off I met John's son, Jon, who said if I was interested in the garage, perhaps I'd be interested to see what was, "Over here." And I was.
Jon is successful with Caterhams and in Historic Formula 3 and races at Goodwood and elsewhere.
This delightful vehicle is an LDS, a South African copy of a Cooper. Jon told me there were only 9 made and I forgot to clarify if he meant 9 LDS Cooper copies or 9 LDS altogether. Either way, there is only one of this particular car. Then we have:
a 1966 Brabham BT21 - Chassis No.1 - with what might once have been an Anglia engine. The car featured in the film Rush. When I remarked on the laurels on the walls
Jon said, "Would you like to see the Trophy Room?"
We'd only just met and he knew me so well.
Just outside the Trophy Room is an Isle of Man TT winning Norton Dominator. It was raced in standard form, I believe Jon said, by Norton dealer Harold Daniell.
There is also a picture of Jon's son, John, with the greatest racing driver never to be World Champion. At the time of the photo Sir Stirling was still suffering the effects of the accident at his home.
John Junior has also raced at Goodwood.
From there we went to the showroom
The blue Mini is a very early example which John Senior took as a trade in and has kept
Honestly, they could charge admission. Thanks very much to everyone there for making me so welcome especially John and Jon Milicivic.
P5BNij said:
Wonderful find Dicky, many thanks for sharing those... I've driven past the place hundreds of times but never stopped for a shuftie, I think I will next time I'm passing. I notice there are no screen prices on the showroom cars, those Minis look interesting...
Thanks, P5. I wonder if 'Private Collection' might be a more accurate description.This thread is heartwarming. It's so nice to know that there are so many treasures from this country's rich and varied motoring history tucked away and in some instances still working.
The little garage on the A36 at Wellow, for instance, which was the subject of a recent post - I posted some photos of it a while back. The owner is one Jim Hatch, who's family have lived in the village for generations, and have run the garage as long as anybody can remember. It still dispenses petrol, coal and logs, as it has done for decades. Long may it continue to do so.
Many, of course, have been "re-purposed" due to changing buying habits and commercial competition, mostly from supermarkets. Finding an old petrol pump these days is exciting, a trip down memory lane, a flashback to simpler times.
These really are national treasures. Let's keep hunting them out, and posting them. Thanks for starting the thread, Dicky!
The little garage on the A36 at Wellow, for instance, which was the subject of a recent post - I posted some photos of it a while back. The owner is one Jim Hatch, who's family have lived in the village for generations, and have run the garage as long as anybody can remember. It still dispenses petrol, coal and logs, as it has done for decades. Long may it continue to do so.
Many, of course, have been "re-purposed" due to changing buying habits and commercial competition, mostly from supermarkets. Finding an old petrol pump these days is exciting, a trip down memory lane, a flashback to simpler times.
These really are national treasures. Let's keep hunting them out, and posting them. Thanks for starting the thread, Dicky!
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