Wendell - we must have crossed paths at some point. You probably remember
Mauricio Gamboa who had a shop in the Canal area of San Rafael. I attended
his funeral yesterday in Olema along with Bob Winkelmann and and Eddie
Marshal, representing the old racer contingent. He was an Italian car
specialist, but also ran race cars with Eddie Marshall driving. First they
ran a Super Seven, BMC Fr Jr, and then an Alexis that Mauricio updated to
Formula B. Eddie won more consecutive races in that car (13) than any other
Alexis driver wordwide, including a Gran Prix in Mexico. I only beat Eddie
in my Lotus 22 (former Nate Borgeault Nick Reynolds car) when "Fast Eddie"
made a mistake. One time he tried to pass me on the outside going into turn
1 at Cotati and went airborn over the escape road haybales! Back to
Mauricio, I had him working at my shop in Santa Rosa for about a year. He
commuted from his home in Inverness where he lived in nature with racoons
and skunks as house guests. A kind, loving man, he contributed greatly to
North Bay sports car interests.
On Sun, Mar 22, 2009 at 10:31 AM, wendell bain <wbain@sonic.net> wrote:
> My first Morgan (57 +4) came from Bob Cole Imports. I think they sold
> everything
> that came from England, and some other countries. My current Morgan
> left the factory in November 58 and went to Worldwide Imports on Sepulveda
> in LA. Long gone, although I still have some period magazine ads of theirs.
> I worked for Brown Motors in San Rafael in the late 70's when they sold
> Fiat,
> Lancia, Alfa's. Prior to that they were a BMC dealer and I managed to
> acquire
> quite a few Brit parts that were just collecting dust but NOS along with
> two
> signs proclaiming "Triumph Service" with the Triumph shield.
> Shamrock Motors was still functional in the 70's when I lived in Mill
> Valley.
> As you say, this is stirring up old memories.
>
> Wendell Bain
> 59 Morgan Plus 4
> 47 HRG 1100
> 74 Fiat 124 Spider
>
>
> On Mar 21, 2009, at 5:10 PM, Robin Jackson wrote:
>
> 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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