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54 Gertie
16 years ago

Will. According to the 1961 VW Dealership list Abridge Engineering Co Ltd was a VW dealership at Market Square, Abridge, Essex.Tel Theydon Bois 2077.
So looks like they were the supplying garage.
Rob.

RoRoVw wrote:



Is there any way of telling exactly where the car was bought from? Its registration is SDV 551.

I know Chris has SDV 90, maybe from the same dealership?:?:

Cheers!:d
William
Rich Oakley
16 years ago

Will. According to the 1961 VW Dealership list Abridge Engineering Co Ltd was a VW dealership at Market Square, Abridge, Essex.Tel Theydon Bois 2077.
So looks like they were the supplying garage.
Rob.

RoRoVw wrote:



Abridge Engineering didn't get the VW franchise until 1958/59. The area was served by Webbs Garage in Romford in 1955.
47 Beetle, 56 UK Karmann Cabriolet, 56 UK Beetle, 57 UK Type 2, 59 UK Beetle, 66 UK Fastback.
RoRoVw
16 years ago
The history unfolds before your very eyes.
Fantastic.
Rich Oakley
16 years ago



Is there any way of telling exactly where the car was bought from? Its registration is SDV 551.

I know Chris has SDV 90, maybe from the same dealership?:?:

Cheers!:d

54 Gertie wrote:



SDV is for a car registered in Devon. There are no surviving archive records for *DV numbers.
47 Beetle, 56 UK Karmann Cabriolet, 56 UK Beetle, 57 UK Type 2, 59 UK Beetle, 66 UK Fastback.
54 Gertie
16 years ago



SDV is for a car registered in Devon. There are no surviving archive records for *DV numbers.

Rich Oakley wrote:



Does that mean that the car had to have been registered in Devon, it just seems unlikely as from a few weeks after she was built she was being serviced at Abridge in Essex and im sure that that is the cars original reg no as that appears on the 55 invoice!
William
Rich Oakley
16 years ago



Does that mean that the car had to have been registered in Devon, it just seems unlikely as from a few weeks after she was built she was being serviced at Abridge in Essex and im sure that that is the cars original reg no as that appears on the 55 invoice!

54 Gertie wrote:



It seems odd, but the DV letters were definitely issued in Devon in the 1950s.
47 Beetle, 56 UK Karmann Cabriolet, 56 UK Beetle, 57 UK Type 2, 59 UK Beetle, 66 UK Fastback.
rickycox
16 years ago
Rich... did you say you have had info from National Archives ?

I went today and they told me they had no vehicle reg stuff at all but to go to London metropolitan archives....so i've mailed them...
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Batton
16 years ago
I lived in Abridge for 7 years and know Abridge Engineering very well. I moved away 11 years ago but as far as I know the dealership is still trading but relocated a few years ago to Loughton, about 4 miles away.

In the 1970s my father bought our first VW, a Bay window Camper, from Abridge and to this day he still uses them (now a Golf owner). At that time we lived in Chingford and I remember many a happy family outing up to Abridge Engineering. In particular I remember clearly a beautiful new Beetle Cabriolet in the showroom. As a spotty teenager I was completely bowled over by it and I promised myself then that some day I would own one - I'm currently on Beetle number 4 but still haven't reached that cabriolet goal - one day!!
54 Gertie
16 years ago

I lived in Abridge for 7 years and know Abridge Engineering very well. I moved away 11 years ago but as far as I know the dealership is still trading but relocated a few years ago to Loughton, about 4 miles away.

In the 1970s my father bought our first VW, a Bay window Camper, from Abridge and to this day he still uses them (now a Golf owner). At that time we lived in Chingford and I remember many a happy family outing up to Abridge Engineering. In particular I remember clearly a beautiful new Beetle Cabriolet in the showroom. As a spotty teenager I was completely bowled over by it and I promised myself then that some day I would own one - I'm currently on Beetle number 4 but still haven't reached that cabriolet goal - one day!!

Batton wrote:



Small world! Our 55 would have still been going there a few times a year in 1970!
William
Rich Oakley
16 years ago
It is possible that the '55 could have been supplied by Abridge Engineering.

The flimsy evidence I have for this sort of thing is only anecdotal, but I owned a really nice RHD Aug '57 (58 model) Beetle years ago. It was one of the earliest, if not THE earliest big-window RHD car around. It had a fully documented history including the original bill of sale. The car was supplied new by an Alvis dealership in North London! The garage never had a VW franchise, but the car was definitely sold by them new! Maybe Abridge Engineering had ways of acquiring and selling new VWs before they were official dealers? And maybe these cars somehow got registered with the *DV plate in Devon, before making their way to Essex. Just a theory!
47 Beetle, 56 UK Karmann Cabriolet, 56 UK Beetle, 57 UK Type 2, 59 UK Beetle, 66 UK Fastback.
54 Gertie
16 years ago

It is possible that the '55 could have been supplied by Abridge Engineering.

The flimsy evidence I have for this sort of thing is only anecdotal, but I owned a really nice RHD Aug '57 (58 model) Beetle years ago. It was one of the earliest, if not THE earliest big-window RHD car around. It had a fully documented history including the original bill of sale. The car was supplied new by an Alvis dealership in North London! The garage never had a VW franchise, but the car was definitely sold by them new! Maybe Abridge Engineering had ways of acquiring and selling new VWs before they were official dealers? And maybe these cars somehow got registered with the *DV plate in Devon, before making their way to Essex. Just a theory!

Rich Oakley wrote:



I suppose areas like Devon would have sold less cars than say London or Essex and they may have just been trying to even out the regs marks as it is before the age prefixes in 63 and im sure they would have been running short in some areas!

As far as if it was sold there I suppose it will always be a mystery but if you dont ask you dont get! However seeing as it is possible that she could have been bought new from Abridge I would guess that that is where she is from because as I said she was always serviced there by the first owner (and even the second and third) and he was very local to them.

Thanks for all your help everyone!:beer:
William
Chris
16 years ago



I know Chris has SDV 90, maybe from the same dealership?:?:

54 Gertie wrote:



I've checked my car's birth certificate and it states:-
Country of Destination : VW Motors, London

So nothing new from me I'm affraid. Can only think that they sent them all to VW Motors in London, who then sent them to the regions they were to be sold in.

I did have a Saint Christopher plaque on the dash from Southampton. I've got a picture somewhere but have recently swapped computers so saved everything to disc. I'll go and look for it later.

Chris

A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day.
tman
  • tman
  • pre67vw Junkie
16 years ago

As far as if it was sold there I suppose it will always be a mystery but if you dont ask you dont get! However seeing as it is possible that she could have been bought new from Abridge I would guess that that is where she is from because as I said she was always serviced there by the first owner (and even the second and third) and he was very local to them.

54 Gertie wrote:



Abridge are owned by Jardine Motors...

https://www.abridgevolkswagen.co.uk/about_us.htm 

Email: [email protected]

Why don't you dig out the first owner's details and email that to Abridge to see what they come back with? :d
Andrew
195x Deluxe oval Beetle
Binz Doublecab
rickycox
16 years ago
Latest news on finding info on my car is as follows:

Birth certificate back from VW museum and all looks good, built September 10, 1959 with M020 ( MPH speedo, M094 ( Lockable rear flap handle ), M108 ( Custom model ), M008,042,134,600 ( Can not be identified )

Colour L440 which is still is now so thats good... shipped to Ramsgate etc

Also info back from DVLA and shows one owner from new to 2002, I've traced all the ( 3 ) owners from 2002, but the lady who owned it from new has sadly passed away. As I mentioned earlier in this thread she worked for Baron Russell of Liverpool as his PA and as a stenographer at the Nuremburg war trials. Also I discovered ( on a slight tangent ) that he had to resign as his book was published. "The scourge of the swastika: a short history of Nazi war crimes ". The Daily Express published extracts under the heading "the book they tried to ban" in 1954 and the book became a bestseller..... she was given a first edition signed copy and used to receive a Christmas card every year from him !

So at the moment the story runs a little cold, I still need to discover why she bought the car in South London yet supposedly spent all her life in Warrington ( apart form when she served Baron Russell in Germany ).

Also and hear is where someone on hear might help...I have a couple of old service invoices from a garage in Warrington named H.A. Dean. Now i've searched that company name and found nothing..... anyone in the Warrington area who might remember it ? I guess the garage was trading in the 60's onwards at least.
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