E.F. Sweeney British Cars was in San Anselmo, on the hub; they moved to San
Rafael on the road near Bermuda Palms. Both businesses are long gone.
There was Shamrock Motors in Mill Valley that dealt Citroen, Peugeot and
Morgans. I was quite friendly with the Hannon brothers who ran it.
Also in San Rafael was Bud Oden's Marin Motorsports. He was a dealer for
Triumph and English Ford. Frank Henry had a Morgan dealership in Berkeley on
Telegraph. He kept the Mogs on an open lot as he had no showroom.
Bill Breeze sold Lotus 11's from his shop in Sausaleto, near where the
seaplanes are now. Bob Winkelmann had four Winkelmann Formula Ford
dealerships across the country, the home one being in Sausaleto. He imported
@250 of these open wheelers.
Larry Albedi (some may know his voice as he still announces at Sears Point -
it will always be Sears, to me) had various dealerships around the bay area,
notably Vallejo British Cars. Bob Cole was down on the Peninsula with has
dealership and there was also a Morgan dealer there, Frank Crane, who I
raced with. We had quite a Morgan contingent in those days, late 50's early
60's, who got welcome support from dealers. Rusty Hyde sold Triumphs in San
Fran, as I recall. Some of this is a little foggy as you have jolted
memories of quite a long time ago. For that I thank you, Don. By the way, I
bought my MGA from EF Sweeney in 1957 when I was released from active duty
with USMC. I traded it soon therafter and bought my first Plus 4 Moggie from
Frank Henry.
Phil Washburn, as I recall, had a dealership on Santa Rosa Ave. where the
motor home lot is. I remember him racing at Cotati Raceways when it was
open. The power behind Brit Mtrs. in San Fran was Schell Quavale (I know my
spelling is off, but close phonetically!) While I still had my shop in Santa
Rosa he visited. Well in his 80's he still went to work. I believe Carlson
was exclusevely VW Porsche. Your A, Ron may have been a trade in.
On Sat, Mar 21, 2009 at 4:24 PM, Ron Engelhardt <nobbc@sonic.net> wrote:
> Well, no direct memory but my car still has the original license plate
> frame from Carl Carlson in San Francisco. The original owner was the fire
> chief in Sausalito.
>
> Ron
> 58 MGA
>
> don wrote:
>
> Back in the late '50s through early '70s, British car dealerships could be
>> found in most US cities of any size, especially in California. Even before
>> I got my first British car in 1965, I loved visiting the showrooms to admire
>> the MGs, Triumphs and other British cars. Of course, I would always pilfer
>> as many sales brochures as I could hoping to not upset the salespeople too
>> much.
>>
>> I remember the BMC/Jaguar dealer in Napa on Soscol Avenue, which was to
>> become Napa Valley Datsun when they dropped the British car line around
>> 1967. There was a BMC dealer that tried again in Napa shortly after but
>> didn't last long. I remember taking my MGA there for repairs in 1968, but I
>> don't remember the name of the place. I do remember that it was very
>> expensive to pay someone to repair my car, and after that, did most of my
>> repairs myself. The name of it might have been Washborn Imports.
>>
>> In Santa Rosa, there was Ralph Vesper Motors on Santa Rosa Avenue which
>> sold Triumphs and British Fords. I remember that dealership, because, as I
>> bought parts for my old Anglia and Zodiac (c. 1966, '67), I was distracted
>> by the siren's call of the sleek TR4s and Spitfires on display in the
>> showroom. I still have a few pieces of the Triumph literature I took on
>> visits to Vesper. Car dealers usually left their identification by irubber
>> stamping their names and addresses onto the front or back of the sales
>> literature. Vesper's name and address sill adorn my old Triumph brochures.
>>
>> The most interesting dealership to visit was always British Motors on Van
>> Ness Avenue in San Francisco. They had Jaguar, Rolls Royce and the whole
>> BMC line, and the cars they had on display were always of a high calibre.
>> This was such a classy place that I always felt underdressed because I
>> wasn't wearing a suit and tie. As an extreme British car nut, I was
>> thrilled just to purchase parts there. I do have several license plate
>> frames from there, which I think are a cool period accessory.
>>
>> Other dealerships that come to mind are Union Jack (BMC) in Hayward and
>> British Motors in San Jose.
>>
>> Anyone else have any recollections of the British car dealer world in the
>> area?
>>
>> Don Scott
>> Calistoga
>> 1962 MGA Mk II
>> 1991 Miata BRG
>> 1973 MGB GT
>> 1962 TR4 (seeking)
>>
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