Ford dealers

Trojan · Post by **Trojan** » Mon 17 Mar, 2008 10:23 pm

[quotenick="raveydavey"] zscort wrote: My first car was a 1978 Escort Ghia - rose tinted glasses make me wish I still had it (it would be worth a few quid now), almost forgetting all those times it wouldn't bleeping start if there was the slightest drop of moisture in the air...[ I had a 1973 L reg Cortina Mk III that was like that, the slightest drizzle and it would start misfiring. I was going up the A1M in Durham in it in a rainstorm, with my eight months pregnant wife beside me when it cut out in the outside lane - I thought she would have the baby there and then !

Nick_Stevens · Post by **Nick_Stevens** » Tue 18 Mar, 2008 12:38 am

70's Fords, I've had more than my fair share - early Capri - '69 model 1300GT - one of the original press fleet that, somehow, ended up in Leeds. Paid £30 for it in '79 - it really was that good! That misfired too - more to do with a water leak on to the distributor. Replaced it with a '73 Capri RS3100 "Broadspeed Bullet" bought from an ad in the YEP. £800 fot the car and £2200 to insure for a 17 year old - even back then it was expensive! What has followed has been a steady procession of most models of the Ford UK range - Escort Mk1 and 2 models in abundance including a few well used rally cars and a regualr intake of Capris. Most rusted away with the winters we had.Just remembered that Tate of Leeds ran a certain Graham Hill in a Brabham in 1972 as well as Chris Meek. Ian Appleyard, the son of the Appleyard founder married Pat Lyons, the daughter of Jaguar's founder, which was one of the reasons that Appleyards were the only Jag' dealer locally. I can still remember when Appleyards sold fuel from the roundabout at the bottom of Eastgate (now the memorial fountain!).

Trojan · Post by **Trojan** » Tue 18 Mar, 2008 12:55 am

[Ian Appleyard, the son of the Appleyard founder married Pat Lyons, the daughter of Jaguar's founder, which was one of the reasons that Appleyards were the only Jag' dealer locally. I can still remember when Appleyards sold fuel from the roundabout at the bottom of Eastgate (now the memorial fountain!).I used to work for Levertons the Cat dealer at Gildersome. Their HQ was at Spalding in Lincolnshire. At the HQ they were also Austin, Rover, and Jaguar dealers. In the late sixties when the XJ6 first came out they were as rare as hen's teeth. One of Levertons' customers bought a new Cat machine from them but part of the deal was that he got a new XJ6. He took delivery and immedately sold it for £600 in excess of the book price. A great deal of money in 1968.

peterg · Post by **peterg** » Wed 19 Mar, 2008 7:09 pm

Unless I am mistaken, I don't seem to have seen any mention of The Tate of Leeds premises on New York Road, on the right hand side as you go up from Regent Street. I worked for Cox&Co. (Leeds) Ltd. on Regent Street from end of 1953 to January 1960. We were then Rootes Group Main Dealers (Hillman, Humber, Sunbeam, later Singer; Commer and Karrier commercial vehicles). By the way, what happened to the Commer 3-cylinder, two stroke diesel engine?. During those years the Ford Popular was introduced at 275 pounds (basic price) 415 pounds (with purchase tax).

zscort · Post by **zscort** » Wed 19 Mar, 2008 8:09 pm

My dad used to work at Appleyards in the early 70's as a mechanic, he knew Colin Appleyard, who used to run the show. Has loads of stories about BL build quality!!My dad always had Cortina's as company cars then sadly Cavaliers. I bought a 1600 Ghia MK2 a couple of years ago as a plaything, that was rotten as a pear before it was sorted out. Got a mint Pop Plus MK2 now though with a 2.0in

Broadspeed Bullet??? Phwoaaaar, missus!!!!!!!

zscort · Post by **zscort** » Wed 19 Mar, 2008 8:17 pm

When my dad worked at Appleyards, a really scruffy old fellow walked into the Jag/Rolls section and sat down in a new Roller. When the salesman came over to ask him what he was up to, the guy pulled out a wad of notes and said 'I'll ave it'. He asked them to deliver the car to an address, which turned out to be a ramshackle old farm, a real tip. Turns out that in the barn he had a Roller for everyday of the week!!! He bought this one to replace one he put in a ditch.

wiggy · Post by **wiggy** » Wed 19 Mar, 2008 9:24 pm

go on leodis,and put in adams garage,burmantofts,there are some great old pics of their morris show room...real memory stuff....'arry will definately remember this place.

raveydavey · Post by **raveydavey** » Thu 20 Mar, 2008 8:43 pm

zscort wrote: When my dad worked at Appleyards, a really scruffy old fellow walked into the Jag/Rolls section and sat down in a new Roller. When the salesman came over to ask him what he was up to, the guy pulled out a wad of notes and said 'I'll ave it'. He asked them to deliver the car to an address, which turned out to be a ramshackle old farm, a real tip. Turns out that in the barn he had a Roller for everyday of the week!!! He bought this one to replace one he put in a ditch. When I worked at a well known Ford dealer, it was fairly common practice for "travelling folk" to order a brand new Transit van and leave a sizeable deposit in cash. When the van was ready they would turn up with the remainder of the balance in cash in a carrier bag! That wouldn't be allowed now under the new financial laws but it was a sight to be seen at the time.

Trojan · Post by **Trojan** » Thu 20 Mar, 2008 10:44 pm

There used to be a car dealership underground on the Headrow, was is Bo(u)ltons. And were they Fiat dealers?

ggbix · Post by **ggbix** » Tue 29 Apr, 2008 8:48 pm

Hi,First time I've used this brilliant site, one of the best for Loiners.Regarding the Ford garage 'Hartley Motors' in Cross Gates Road, Leeds 15, the name didn't originate from a 'Mr' Hartley, the gentleman described with the silver hair WAS the owner though.The name came from the first garage he opened which was on 'Hartley Hill' Leeds, next door to what was the old Dispensary. This garage had to close down due to compulsory purchase order to make way for the new 'Inner Ring Road', the garage was only about 6 feet into the plans so it had to come down. In Leodis.net there is an aerial shot of the Dispensary and you can still see where the garage was located, the garage closed in the early 60's but the silver haired gentleman also had the garage at Crossgates at the same time and was also called Hartley Motors. This garage sold new and used cars. They started with Vauxhall then shifted over to Ford in the early 70's (Vauxhall had the bad body reputation at the time).The silver haired gentleman was called Peter Bickerdike and was well known in the motor industry in Leeds.Ok, I have to admit it...Peter Bickerdike was my uncle, my fathers brother, both no longer with us sadly. After they both served for King and Country and survived, Peter took on the garage and my father Edwin was the main mechanic and worked for him until he finally retired in 1993.I do have a photograph of me when I was about 6yrs old with my father stood outside the Hartley Motors in Hartley Hill, this garage only did repairs and sold fuel, happy days.Think I have attached the photo - I hope. If not please let me know how to do it.I hope this little snippet of info is of use to your site.Keep up the good work.Graham Bickerdike