Lamb's of Loughton
Lamb's of Loughton were situated at 161 High Road in Loughton, Essex. The Loughton branch started trading in 1973/74. They were dealers in Jaguar, Rover and Triumph cars and were a relatively small outlet, however they still offered servicing and repairs, breakdown service and petrol sales. The Loughton branch was last Lamb's dealership to close down in 1983. The buildings have been demolished and as I understand it, the site became a car park during the 1980s. In September 2004, the site was sold to Marks and Spencer. Before Lamb's took over the site, it used to be Patmore Bros Limited, itself a Triumph dealer. I have been told that the Loughton branch (and the Woodford Green branch) was owned by Gerald Lamb. Other Lamb's dealerships were owned by another member of the family.
Lamb's of Woodford Green
Lamb's of Woodford Green dates from as early as 1945 and was a quite a large dealership, easily the largest within the Lamb outlets. The Woodford Green branch (not to be confused with the Lamb's Wood Green branch in Finchley) was situated at Standard House, Southend Road in Essex. There were two main buildings as I understand it, and were kinda Art Deco in appearance, on the left, facing the complex was the showroom with a tall tower on the right hand side of the showroom. The tower featured a clock and had the Lamb's name down the sides of the tower. The right hand side building was the servicing, repair and parts and accessories department. The forecourt was large and housed many cars. The Woodford outlet dealt in Morris, MG, Triumph, Rover, Land Rover and Wolesley.
The Woodford branch offered a host of services including an all night breakdown service called their 'night rescue service', an automatic car wash facility, driving tuition with a choice of automatic and manual cars. Other services included a 'self car hire scheme', which was at a special cost for the customer while their car was being serviced or repaired. Bodywork repairs, a huge range of spares and accessories which included Unipart, radio's and hi-fi's, this one was interesting because they featured a radio centre for car or home! They also offered a 24 hour petrol sales service, the only Lamb's branch to do so. However the petrol station was separate to the main complex, being situated across the road.
By the 1960s Lucas Electrical appeared on the scene, a few doors down from the Woodford branch. In between Lucas and Lamb’s was L and G Auto Services, it was this company that carried out the Dinitrol rust treatment (not Lamb’s) when the car was new.
The Woodford Green branch closed down in late 1979. The Lamb’s buildings and those of Lucas and L and G Auto Services have been demolished. I did hear that the site, following closure became a car park. However the Lamb’s site has since became a Tesco’s supermarket. Factories and warehouses now stand where Lucas and L and G Auto Services once were. The petrol station still stands, I believe it is now a shell station.
Somewhere I have a Lamb’s advert with an artists impression of the complex, I'll try and find it and post it later.
Hope this has been of some interest
Steve
Last edited by VYO 372M on Mon Oct 17, 2011 1:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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