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Henry Oliver, Northampton - 1960s car dealer?


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#1 a1topdog

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Posted 17 June 2011 - 12:35

A bit off topic for this forum , but hopefully OK with the Mods :up:

I'm tracing the history on my 1964 Lotus Cortina and it seems that it was originally suppied new to Henry Oliver , Northampton in late 1964. I assume Henry Oliver was a car dealership. Can any forum member confirm if this is correct , and maybe shed a bit of light on this company.

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#2 Vitesse2

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Posted 17 June 2011 - 15:27

Yes, Henry Oliver Ltd was a Ford dealership in Northampton, bought by Alexanders Holdings of Edinburgh in June 1966 (source: The Times 13/6/66). Alexanders eventually morphed into Quays Group plc, which is now in liquidation:

http://oldestscottis...Quays Group PLC

#3 a1topdog

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Posted 17 June 2011 - 15:53

Thanks very much for that info.

What I would like to do is recreate a car rear window dealer sticker for Henry Oliver from this period. I'm wondering does anyone have an old magazine, sales invoice or something like that showing the Henry Oliver company logo that I could use to recreate the sticker. From what I have seen Ford franchise car dealers at the time may have used the standard Ford font , but all they all seemed to have their own twist on their logo's and advertising.



#4 cooper997

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Posted 18 June 2011 - 00:02

Thanks very much for that info.

What I would like to do is recreate a car rear window dealer sticker for Henry Oliver from this period. I'm wondering does anyone have an old magazine, sales invoice or something like that showing the Henry Oliver company logo that I could use to recreate the sticker. From what I have seen Ford franchise car dealers at the time may have used the standard Ford font , but all they all seemed to have their own twist on their logo's and advertising.


Best source for the logo might be a Northhampton based newspaper where Henry Oliver would have likely advertised. A TNF google expert might be able to expand on this. Another possibility is UK weekies such as Autocar or Motor if they advertised in them.

You could also check out www.lotuscortinainfo.com - Mark might know something or someone.

Stephen

#5 a1topdog

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Posted 18 June 2011 - 07:26

Thanks Stephen , good idea. I know Mark , so I'll drop him a line.
A contact did find them listed in an old ford dealer directory and their address was 73-83 Bridge Street , Northampton.
Having a look on google maps it looks like that Bridge Street has guite a lot of new development on in , so that garage building is probably long gone.

#6 Vitesse2

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Posted 18 June 2011 - 08:28

Yes, I was going to suggest the newspaper route. The main local paper is the Northampton Chronicle & Echo, but research would probably involve a personal visit to Northampton Central Library unless you can get them to research it for you (unlikely these days!): they have the originals and microfilm copies.

http://www.northampt...es/Centlib.aspx

#7 a1topdog

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Posted 20 June 2011 - 13:47

Thank you for your help. That gives me the leads I think I need. :up: