jxnichols wrote:
>All questions and answers are from Thoroughbred & Classic Cars, Feb. 1983
>Interview with Ian Garrad.
>
>
>..................................
>What business did Ian Garrad go into after leaving Rootes/Chrysler?
>After accepting a buyout from Chrysler in 1968, he became president of
>Space-O-Matic. The company sold a two-tier storage system for car parking.
>
I know this very well as I used to manage Studio City Motors (we sold
Volvos and Saabs), in Studio City (Los Angeles area), California, which
used to be Haste & Hirsty Studio City Rootes Group Motors. Bill Hirsty,
the owner and my boss at the time, had started out as a Rootes dealer in
the late 50's, then took on MG and Triumph through the years, and
finally Volvo and Saab. He had known Ian Garrad as his Rootes regional
manager (laison between the factory and the dealers), and when Rootes
went under, Ian went to work at Space O Matic. I'm not sure if he was
actually the president of that company, but he in fact sold the systems
to Studio City Motors, and many other garages and dealerships.
I used those systems at the dealership many times, although I was always
a bit nervous doing so. The systems looked very similar to those car
carrier trucks you see on the highways all the time, except they were
anchored to the ground. They had ramps and hydraulic lifts by which a
ramp would tilt down and you'd drive the car onto it and then up you
went to the top level, about 12 feet up. When you loaded two cars on
top, you hit the button and the ramp would go up, making way for two
more cars you could park below. This was very handy at our dealership as
space was at a premium. You always got the sensation, though, driving
cars onto those narrow rails, that you and the car might fall off, which
would not have been pretty. That never happened as far as I know, and
the hydraulics worked, without fail, from 1968 or so when they were
purchased, to about 1996 when they were sold to a local body shop.
In fact, it's an interesting story how my ex-boss acquired his Rootes
dealership, but I'll save that for another time.
Steve Sage
|