I think there was two in the Maitland area. R h Taylor???


ps this may of been done bfore

I think RH Taylor's main showroom was King st Newcastle I thought their Maitland place only sold trucks like their yard at Islington but I could easy be wrong I brought my CB off them in sept 68 at King st This is an interesting thread . I went to one at West Wyalong in 1970 but they wouldnt have been able to fix a pedal car. Hope I can say that in here.

In the early '60s I worked for two VW dealers, as a panelbeater. Firstly John Owen Motors at Kirrawee & Cronulla, then Swantons at Hurstville.

Bought my first new Beetle, (January, 1960), from Motoways at Rockdale.

They no longer exist. Hope it wasn't down to me!

Cheers, Greg

regents in freo WA became skippers (john hughes) i think.

Provincial Motors, Liverpool

Muller & Muller, Lakemba. Still there, but only service VW's

Ian

yeah Phil has got an extensive listing on this heaps of dealerships closed

Hunter city auto group ( previously crossroads delforce) at glendale had the newcastle vw dealer ship for a few years between 2000 till they closed a few years back. Now klosters have it.

Here's the link for the post Dave was talking about.

http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=70689&page=2#pid684515 

Hi Ian, yes I have been trying to keep a spreadsheet of every Volkswagen Dealer to have ever existed in Australia, since 1954, and when they opened and closed. I still have a few holes (early '80s mostly) but I have the general picture.

Since 1954, each state has had the following number of different, individual official VW dealers:

NSW 391 (130 in Sydney); VIC 269 (Melbourne 109); QLD 160 (Brisbane 42); SA 117 (Adelaide 41); WA 111 (Perth 33); Tasmania 32 (Hobart 10); NT 15 and ACT 7. TOTAL = 1,102 different Volkswagen dealerships over the years! Not surprisingly, almost all of them have since closed - the most recent listing I have seen (Feb '10) lists 75 current dealers, less than 7% of the total that has existed. In fact the average 'life' for all VW dealerships works out at just under 8 years. Not long, and no wonder they are a hassle to keep track of.

Ian you asked specifically about Maitland. Your town has had SIX different VW dealers. Firstly, Henderson's Garage on New England Hwy West Maitland (1957-59). Then Rutherford Motors, same address (1959-61). Then R.H. Taylor and Co at 503 High St (1961-69). Then R.H Taylor and Co at 555-557 High St (1969-78). Then George White Motors at 317-323 High St (1979-93), then finally Hunter Volkswagen at 174 High St (2008-today). And yes, R.H. Taylor had two other addresses in Newcastle (474 and 484 King St, the last closed around 1988), and one other short-lived branch in Stroud (Cowper St) in the early 1960s. The West Wyalong VW dealer was E.G. Meredith, 69 Main St, 1960-75. Lee - the Scone and Muswellbrook VW dealers traded as 'The Hunter Valley Machinery Co', on New England Hwy until 1968, and then on the corner of Muffett and Sherwood Sts until they shut for good in 1977.

Greg I bought my first VW from Swantons at Hurstville. They were on Forest Rd by then though - I don't remember their earlier premises on Hudson St. I also remember the ad for Swantons on the back of the old local black and white buses. The Forest Rd premises are still there (a muffler shop now) but the Hudson St site is now a block of units.

John Owen Motors Cronulla became Motorways Cronulla in 1965 and closed in 1967. John Owen Kirrawee also became Motorways, and closed, the same years as Cronulla (1965 and 1967). Motorways Rockdale closed in 1968, leaving only Motorways St Peters which survived until 1977. Kirawee and Cronulla have been extensively built over, but the Rockdale and St Peters sites are still there.

This is a Sydney VW Dealer listing from 1968:

House of David actually took up most of what is now the business park that stretches right up to the service station on the corner of Waterloo Rd. Up until the mid 1990s, you could still see the painted 'House of David' sign painted on the brick retaining wall beside and below the service station. Now, sadly, it's been painted over in dark grey and it has trees growing in front of it.

You can see that House of David was said to be at 'Eden Park', which was the large block of land it took up. Today there is an Eden Park Drive that runs off Waterloo Rd, and ends in a cul-de-sac about where the dealership workshops once were. It also runs right through where the 1970s VW Australia headquarters once were, on Waterloo Rd. And across the road from where the Skyline Drive-in used to be!

I can't comment on VWs but Cardiff Motors were at Cardiff and Mayfield at the same time, saw my 404 Peugeot at Mayfield in March '69 and picked it up from Cardiff on 3/3 '69

Andrew Dodd did his Apprenticeship at House of David I think!

Jim Craig RIP of Volkbahn fame used to own Manly Repair Centre in Mona Vale and he had an apprentice Bob Whymms now of Porfect imports a Porsche Specialist!

Gotta Love History!

Cheers,

David