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Old birmingham car dealer, evans and kitchen

R

rich1234

Brummie babby
Hi
im trying to find some info on an old 60s and 70s car dealer from the birmingham area, namley EVANS AND KITCHEN LTD , ive found very little online but wondered if anyone has any old magazines or papers that may have adverts etc for the company , i have a 73 mg midget and it was originaly sold through them


cheers all
 
I think I am correct in saying that the company Started as H J Evans then along came Kitchen and this then became 'Evans Halshaw'. They swallowed up Archers of Solihull many years ago. I am pretty sure there is information on the forum somewhere but not able to pinpoint it as yet.
 
hi bernie , thanks for the reply, i believe it was R.J EVANS AND KITCHEN , ive contacted evans halshaw but as of yet no luck, i have found 2 pics of the company dating to the late 60s but apart from that there is nothing
!07 Horse Fair Looking down towards Bristol Street 1950s.jpgEvansk3.jpg
 
As well as the Horse Fair premises in the photo they also had premises at 89-93 Hurst Street in the 50's.

Phil
 
Later in the 60's they also had premises in Bromsgove Street.

Phil
 

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  • City Bromsgrove St 1958.jpg
    City Bromsgrove St 1958.jpg
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My husband owned a second hand Austin Cambridge once owned by Mrs Kitchen. It had a bench seat which was split. The drivers seat was leather.
 
I used to work as a car valeter for Evans & Kitchen in the 60s. They had a work shop in
Bromsgrove st, where cars were cleaned. That photo brings back memories. Thanks for posting phil.


regards Stars
 
Phil the date may be wrong, there is a mini in the photo i think they wasnt introduced untill 1959. But there again-----.
 
Robert

The actual date of the photo is 1958, at least that is what it is tagged as, I wasn't dating the photo I was just stating that in the 60's they had premises in Bromsgrove Street. In reality I have no idea when they first opened the garage there. If the photo is dated 1958 the garage looks pretty well established they could have been there years previous to that.

Phil
 
brilliant pictures - I always love it when pictures bring back memories for the forum members. I can't believe how steep that ramp is - was it just used to get cars on the roof for advertising or was it there for a different reason? I wouldn't like to drive on it - up or down!
 
evans and kitchen used to have a commercial vehicle garage in oxford street in digbeth then they moved to shefford street aston they had various departments around essex street/ bromsgrove street and i think gooch street as you can see they were mainly centre of brum
phil
 
I worked in the car radio shop of evans and kitchen in the 70s in bromsgrove street.the workshop was in hurst street and the spares department was in inge street.I think the showroom was in bristol street.
 
I knew the Kitchen son when I was a teenager in Sutton. The family did very well out of it, the son had a Morgan kit car still in the crates stolen from the garage and it was months before he noticed. He also had a Lamborghini Miura stolen and when he went to report it at Sutton nick they were uninterested until he told them the price and that there were only 3 in the country. He pointed out that if they saw one chances were it was his! Eventually Daddy got tired of sons wayward ways with cars and son had to buy his own. He bought an E type only to find whilst driving along Lichfield Road in Sutton that it was a cut and shut. He knew this as being able to see more and more of the road between your feet was not a particular feature of the model. Oh happy days!
 
To try to set the record straight, the closest I ever got to a Lamborghini Miura was whilst in the cinema watching The Italian Job! My father would occasionally loan me a recently traded-in car for me to use - and clean - but they would have been 1100s or Minis. Whilst I don't think that qualifies me as having been wayward, I do admit to having bought a series 1 E Type in the 90s, and nearly 20 years after E & K merged with Evans Halshaw. It was, however, original and completely solid and, given the recent rise in values, I wish I still owned it. The only Morgan connection I can think of is that a distant cousin, who had nothing to do with E & K, once drove one. Coincidentally, he had a brother who drove an E type in the 1960s.
 
Thanks for that message to the muddled up history

Do you have any correspondence or anything with the Evans and kitchen logo on , I want to find or get a Evans and kitchen tax disc holder to complete my restoration , car was originally sold by the dealer and trying to bring it back as a show car as new !

Rich
 
24-02-2013 12;22;30.jpg

I don't have an archive, but I do have a tax disc somewhere. When I find it, I will forward a copy on to you. The design is similar to the attached, but in gold lettering with a black background.
 
Don't suppose you'd be interested in selling the key gob and tax disc holder would you ! Would love them for my mg !
 
P.J. EVANS my Dad did a lot of business with them in the 1950s. John Crump OldBrit SNOWY Parker, Colorado USA
 
specialk said:
To try to set the record straight, the closest I ever got to a Lamborghini Miura was whilst in the cinema watching The Italian Job! My father would occasionally loan me a recently traded-in car for me to use - and clean - but they would have been 1100s or Minis. Whilst I don't think that qualifies me as having been wayward, I do admit to having bought a series 1 E Type in the 90s, and nearly 20 years after E & K merged with Evans Halshaw. It was, however, original and completely solid and, given the recent rise in values, I wish I still owned it. The only Morgan connection I can think of is that a distant cousin, who had nothing to do with E & K, once drove one. Coincidentally, he had a brother who drove an E type in the 1960s.
Click to expand...
The son of one of my bosses at Ryland garage back in the early sixties had one of the early E types (little Bill Whale) I eventually followed his example when I also bought one of the early E types but that was in 1968 :) wish I'd still got it.
 
hi old brit ;
the cressman, brothers gave them alot of stif competition in those days around in the early days around he corner from there litte shop
on bristol rd as it w3as then; before they became involved with fords
they had a little show room around the corner from them and all there cars fromfords came down to smethick storage depot
where they would inspect them and valet them from fords there used be a sticky sustance cover the bumpers and labels in and out of the windows when they came down to smethwick before being tken to bristl street by one or the other brothers and fred walklin was there depot manager whom used to bee a speedway racing driver in those days along with two other brothers and mysel worked for them ; fred used to live on dudley rd in those little shops by the colledge pub and he gave me a 3d in old money pay rise when i went into asked for the pay rise in those years gone bye they all laghted at me
and said ypou will not get it and they was whatching from the shop floor at fred office windows ; but i came out smiling because i got it
they was all gob smacked ;best wishes astonian
 
The ramp was to demonstrate the climbing ability of the Austin Gipsy, which can be seen at the top. The Gipsy was announced in Feb 1958, so the picture was probably taken as soon as they had a demonstration model.

Have just found the same picture on the Austin history sight and it say 1960
 
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I remember your Father Stanley well. I worked in the Parts department under Parts Manager Adrian Body from 1969 until I left under Evans Halshaw 1997. Your Dad had the same plate all the time I knew him. I was based in Inge Street up until 1995 then controlling the System mainframe above the workshops in the accounts department. Happy days
 
My Grandad used get his cars from Evans and Kitchen because we lived above the showroom (2nd windows from the left) My grandad used to drink at the White Lion on the corner of Thorpe Street and Horsefair. I was born there in 1956 and my Nan lived there until she died in 1978. Brought me to tears seeing those pictures. Great days.
 
rich1234 said:
Hi
im trying to find some info on an old 60s and 70s car dealer from the birmingham area, namley EVANS AND KITCHEN LTD , ive found very little online but wondered if anyone has any old magazines or papers that may have adverts etc for the company , i have a 73 mg midget and it was originaly sold through them


cheers all
Click to expand...
I worked there Hurst Street for short period 1962. Recall ramp on right side of garage and mechanic draining oil into large retractable sump. I worked with him and let the ramp down onto it breaking it in two parts, oh dear did i get some stick. Lots of minis worked on bad oil leaks also 1100s. The picture shows ramp outside to show off the Aust Gipsy capabilities. H&K Advertised at the cinema showing the mechanic i worked alongside of and that oil sump, i used to cringe on seeing it , but had left long ago.
 
Tom47 said:
I worked there Hurst Street for short period 1962. Recall ramp on right side of garage and mechanic draining oil into large retractable sump. I worked with him and let the ramp down onto it breaking it in two parts, oh dear did i get some stick. Lots of minis worked on bad oil leaks also 1100s. The picture shows ramp outside to show off the Aust Gipsy capabilities. H&K Advertised at the cinema showing the mechanic i worked alongside of and that oil sump, i used to cringe on seeing it , but had left long ago.
Click to expand...
When I worked at Ryland Garage in the early sixties we had a new Austin 1100 in with the sump leaking, turned out to be a major job as the casting was porous.
 
nickcc101 said:
When I worked at Ryland Garage in the early sixties we had a new Austin 1100 in with the sump leaking, turned out to be a major job as the casting was porous.
Click to expand...
nickcc, I had one of those in the US. Was a really big deal as we did not have many people to work on them. The dealers here were sub dealers, Austin was a secondary brand, had it fixed and got rid of it!
 
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