Beardalls Motors Ltd. 1945-1972
Steve Coats 2021 (c)
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I stumbled across this image when searching for something else. This odd looking splitscreen pickup with a beetle shell on the back. I had never seen such a pickup so I stopped and took a closer look.
Among the signwriting I noticed that it said Loughborough Road, Nottingham. As a local lad it spiked my interest that such a vw would be in my local area.
After saving the image I spent a while reading more information and saw it had Beardalls motors based at 180 Loughborough Road which is in the West Bridgford suburb of Nottingham City.
My first car was a 1966 beetle which the first owner had purchased and serviced from a VW dealership called Bristol Street which used to occupy the same site.
Details initially were at first a little light. A few snippets here and there as I slowly searched deeper and deeper. The journey took some twists along the way..
The story of Beardalls Motors Ltd
Beardall Motors Ltd was started in 1945 by George Henry Beardall.
George Beardall was born on 4th June, 1916. In Blidworth, Notts. Leaving school he started work as a “Grease Boy” at age 14. At 19 he became the youngest ever manager at Dawsons Cars in Brighton.
In 1939 he volunteered for Army Service and was accepted in R.A.O.C. (later in R.E.M.E.); mentioned in Despatches for service in North Africa.
He was wounded on the 31st March 1943 in the Tunisia Conflict and Finally discharged on 20th April 1944 through multiple wounds with the rank of Staff Sergeant in June, 1944.
Upon leaving the Army he formed Beardall Motors Ltd. Aged 29 and during the period of petrol rationing designed and built the "Merley" and "Decon" diesel engined cars. Beardalls were replacing large V12 petrol engines with diesel engines. He converted Daimlers, Rolls Royce, Mercedes Benz and Wolsely.
Beradalls original workshop for the conversions was based in Woodford Road. Later moved to two locations in Nottingham. Showrooms in Arkwright Street and a workshop in Orange street.
Beardalls once had Hermann Goering's Mercedes Benz displayed in the showroom in Arkwright street, they even had to strengthen the floor to hold its weight.
One of
the original Volkswagen Distributors
Beardalls connection with Volkswagen started during WW2.
George was serving in the REME in Tunisia, North Africa where he drove his
first Volkswagen.
He drove a captured German Volkswagen most likely a Kubelwagen which were used in the deserts of North Africa campaign. This was his first connection to a Volkswagen.
After leaving the forces in 1945 folklore recalls a conversation in a pub in Nottingham.
“Barry Thomas (of B&K Thomas) and George Beardall (of Beardall Motors) and others including my Dad were drinking in the George in late 1945. They had been de-mobbed from the forces. The conversation turned to their future careers. They had all been associated with the motor trade pre-war. Barry said "I think I have got the agency for Mercedes Benz" George said "I'm in with a chance of a dealership in this new Volkswagen setup".
A cry went up from somebody "You both must be bl***y mad - nobody's going to buy German cars"”
In 1954 Beardalls Motors became amongst the first VW distributors in the UK. This was around the time that Volkswagen Motors UK had just started to look for dealers in the UK. No records can be found to confirm how early a dealership but it was mentioned that Beardalls was around the 3rd UK distributor of Volkswagens in the UK.
The risk of a garage selling German Volkswagens only 9 years after the end of the war was an incredible risk. George Beardall must have used his engineering knowledge, experience and that he had driven a captured Volkswagen during the war must have made it a risk worth taking. He must have seen something in the German engineering that made him take the plunge into a little Volkswagen Beetle.
Around 1955 Beradalls created the first of its custom Volkswagen. TUG 779 Nickname “TUG” Originally built as a tow truck and general
shop truck. The truck was a 1953/54 insurance right off and was hand modified
into the tow truck.
“TUG” first appearance was Blue with White signwriting and as the address shows the original location of a showroom at 7-11 Arkwright Street and a Workshop at Orange Street both in the Meadows area of Nottingham.
This photograph was taken at Victoria Embankment on the edge of the river Trent and the Nottingham War Memorial Gardens.
Move to
Loughborough Road Site
Around 1956 Beradalls Motors bought a garage site on 180
Loughborough Road, West Bridgford.
The original site was a petrol station and small workshop at the back.
180 Loughborough Road - Beardalls Garage taken in 1956
The Loughborough road site initially had sold other German models. Goggomobil were a series of microcars produced by Hans Glas GmbH in the Bavarian town Dingolfing between 1955 and 1969.
The growth and development of the Loughborough road site continued onwards from 1956. A new showroom and garages were built.
180 Loughborough Road
- 1960/70
The Loughborough Road site continued to be developed. In the 1960s the new showroom had a 2nd floor added to house the offices above the showroom.
A Beetle was placed onto the roof during this time but this had to be removed after the council objected to it being a distraction to passing drivers.
At the rear of the Loughborough road site another workshop was added at the rear to keep up with the growth in sales, servicing and repairs.
Beardalls Showroom
1960-70s
Beardalls Workshop 1960-70s
Beardalls VW Diagnostic bays 1970s
The workforce continued to grow to over 100 employees and
included at least 2 Germans sent over from Volkswagen. Beardalls even employed
their own Decorator, Builder, Signwriter and a carpenter. In the 1970s another
bodyshop was added to the rear.
The Loughborough road site continued to expand. At the peak it was over 3000m2 of building and occupied a total of over 2.3 acres.
Beardalls bought all the available land available around the site and even purchased two of the neighboring houses to hold parts and paperwork.
The whole area around the site developed as the first UK supermarket GEM was built next door in 1964.
Cars of
Loughborough Road
During the time at Loughborough road the tow truck “TUG” was given a facelift.
“TUG” was repainted White and Blue and the signwriting was updated with the new address
TUG was photographed when transporting a new Beetle body shell from London loaded on its back.
The man standing next to “TUG” is it’s creator Harry Lovett who built the truck. Harry was “The Man” and he created it and built it. Harry was with Beardalls right from the start, Harry became the body shop foreman then manager at Beardalls.
Also developed during the time at Loughborough road site
another shop pickup truck was developed. This was another special custom VW.
The front half was a 1960s Beetle and the rear was a 1965 1500 S Variant. Both
cars were accident damaged.
The pickup truck concept was conceived by Kevin Hopcroft who joined Beardalls as an apprentice mechanic aged 16 and returned later to Beardalls as Service advisor. Using the Variants flat engine allowed it to have a practical truck bed and was used as Beardalls shop truck.
Beardalls
Beach Buggy
During the late 1960s and early 1970s Beardalls moved with the times and started early on with the VW based Beach Buggy craze. Beradalls was one of the first and largest distributors of the UK GP Buggy.
“Manufacturer GP Speed Shop was quick to build a network of dealers around the country and develop licensing agreements abroad. Its largest Midlands agent was Beardalls in Nottingham, which marketed the kits under its own name and also produced excellent sales material - such as the Beradall Bulletin - and buggy accessory guides. The latter featured details and pictures of the company’s kits, complete buggies and many excellent accessories. GP and Beradalls were advertising their products heavily in the Early 1970s, but were not alone in wanting a share of the lucrative market”
In the UK, Beradalls of Nottingham was one of the first distributors for the GP buggy. Its brochure showcased details of its buggies, plus the range of in-house designed accessories.
The Buggy production moved into the old bodyshop when a new bodyshop was built
End of the road
The final end of the road for Beardalls Motors was in 1972 when the company, site and VW distributorship was sold to the larger Bristol street Motors. The changing structure of the distributor, dealer, agent within the Volkswagen UK meant that only the larger players with more financial backing could survive.
George Harry Beardall also retired in 1972 aged 56 as part of the sale, moved to Ireland. He was involved in the motor industry for over 40 years and built Beardalls Motors from humble beginnings to over 100 employees on a 3 acre site. He was highly regarded as a firm but fair man and held christmas parties for employees and family as well as open days.
He built up among the first VW dealerships in the UK and embraced the Volkswagen way of doing things right. He ran a highly efficient organization with military precision and he always insisted on cleanliness and doing things the right way.
His legacy has continued on the same site at 180 Loughborough road to the current day where a Vertu Volkswagen dealer now sits today.
14 Early bays in the
Beardall Cardrome
My thanks must go to John Beardall and Kevin Hopcroft for their fantastic help in this article. I have so much additional material, information and stories yet to compile I might set up a website or write a book.
