Garage or Motor House?

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The Bullnose Morris has featured in two recent stories on these pages, so why stop now? The picture shows how William Morris was thinking of his customers (and his bank balance) when he offered a motor house for the Cowley(£15/15/0) and Oxford (£17/0/0). The pages of motor magazines carried adverts for a variety of garages for the motor car owner and one 1919 advert made it clear they were all ex-Servicemen and competent carpenters. These ad's were aimed at the DIY motorist who had no money to waste on luxuries, but who gave priority to protecting their cars from weather and thieves.

Go back a few years and we begin to see how 'the other half live' and their motor cars enjoyed accommodation almost as comfortable as their owners. Can you identify the cars? We wish we could see inside the motor house at Windsor Castle where everything must have been spick and span and the cars need no identification since the Royal family mostly drove Daimlers. Thinking of all those garages and motor houses in the early days of motoring gives us a feeling that the owners kept them tidy and clean. How many of us can say the same?

(Text & pictures Robin Batchelor)

Editor: Please take a look at some wonderful pictures John Elema sent us after reading this article.

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