Purley Performance Cars
6 posts
• Page 1 of 1
Anyone got any details on or experiences of South London / Surrey Lotus dealer Purley Performance Cars? They were active through the 60s and into the 70s and sold a lot of Elans apparently
Matt
Matt
Matthew Vale - Classic Motoring Author
1968 Plus 2 - Somewhat cosmetically and mechanically modified
1969 Plus 2S - Currently undergoing nut and bolt restoration
Visit me on matthewvale.com
1968 Plus 2 - Somewhat cosmetically and mechanically modified
1969 Plus 2S - Currently undergoing nut and bolt restoration
Visit me on matthewvale.com
-
Matt Elan - Fourth Gear
- Posts: 651
- Joined: 27 Oct 2011
There is more on the Bell & Colvill web site:
"Bell & Colvill opened for business as a Lotus dealer in a 50/50 partnership on the 11th March 1970. Martin Colvill and Bobby Bell had independently sold Lotus cars since 1965. It was not purely franchised stuff - for a while some heavy exotics were on the forecourt, from Lamborghini Miuras to Ferrari Daytonas."
Tim
"Bell & Colvill opened for business as a Lotus dealer in a 50/50 partnership on the 11th March 1970. Martin Colvill and Bobby Bell had independently sold Lotus cars since 1965. It was not purely franchised stuff - for a while some heavy exotics were on the forecourt, from Lamborghini Miuras to Ferrari Daytonas."
Tim
Visit www.lotuselansprint.com
-
trw99 - Coveted Fifth Gear
- Posts: 3268
- Joined: 31 Dec 2003
An interesting car in the photo - looks like a 1970 S4 with Strombergs ( from the throttle cable) and black badge but the larger S3 radiator ?. Maybe even back then the narrow radiator was seen as limiting ? or maybe Lotus ran out of the narrow radiators
cheers
Rohan
cheers
Rohan
-
rgh0 - Coveted Fifth Gear
- Posts: 8829
- Joined: 22 Sep 2003
Hey - that's where I used to take my first Elan, when I lived near Godstone. A long time ago now. This must have been around 70-71. I don't remember there being a Bell and Colville connection, which isn't to say there wasn't one. As can be seen in the photo, the place was just a few sheds, but it was always busy.
It was just a service/repair place and didn't sell cars. Maybe there was another Purley location (on the A23?) where they sold cars?
There was a thread about the place a few years ago: lotus-talk-f50/anybody-remember-company-croydon-from-the-t23076.html
I still wonder what happened to the couple that ran the place. From Rusty&Dusty's post above it looks like the young woman who ran the office was Victoria Page (be still my beating heart!).
Nick
It was just a service/repair place and didn't sell cars. Maybe there was another Purley location (on the A23?) where they sold cars?
There was a thread about the place a few years ago: lotus-talk-f50/anybody-remember-company-croydon-from-the-t23076.html
I still wonder what happened to the couple that ran the place. From Rusty&Dusty's post above it looks like the young woman who ran the office was Victoria Page (be still my beating heart!).
Nick
-
elanner - Fourth Gear
- Posts: 615
- Joined: 14 Sep 2010
6 posts
• Page 1 of 1
Total Online:
Users browsing this forum: rgh0 and 15 guests