Young's Garage, Lincoln

Photographs of, or connected with, my maternal grandfather's garage business, started after World War I at 2 High Street, Lincoln, moved in 1926 to 69 High Street (according to his obituary in the Lincolnshire Echo), and then moved again in 1939 to purpose-built premises at 53-55 St. Catherine's.

By this time, the garage was selling Citroën and Austin cars; Citroëns had probably been sold from at least c.1930. The Citroën agency ended in 1962 (according to research carried out by Stephen Dodsworth in the Lincolnshire Echo and published in the Lincolnshire Vintage Vehicle Society's Conrod magazine, Winter 2015); however, the Singer agency had been added in early 1947, according to adverts in the local
paper. This was before Singer became part of the Rootes Group and Young's continued to handle Singers into the 1960s, but not other Rootes Group marques. The garage was the main dealer for Singer in mid- and north-Lincolnshire, so there was more profit in selling these cars than in selling Austins, which came from a main dealer elsewhere in Lincoln rather than straight from the factory. 1960s photos still show the Austin name on the garage fascia, but no new Austins in the showroom or on the forecourt, although the Austin agency inevitably returned to prominence with the disappearance of the Singer marque in 1970, as Stephen Dodsworth's work on advertisements in the local press shows.

The business had been formed into a limited company in 1954 and, following my grandfather's death in 1965, family members continued to hold shares and to serve as directors, although there was no family involvement in the day-to-day management. However, in early 1978 the garage business (but not the site or buildings) was sold to Stephen Spouge; the garage continued to trade as Young's and held a Subaru agency. This appears not to have been a great success - a valuation of October 1980 refers to "the present difficult state of the car trade" - and in 1981 agreement was reached to sell the site to Stephen Spouge so that it could be redeveloped for self-service petrol sales. At some point this operation ceased and the vacant site was offered for sale for redevelopment; it was still vacant at the end of 2011.

Photographs of, or connected with, my maternal grandfather's garage business, started after World War I at 2 High Street, Lincoln, moved in 1926 to 69 High Street (according to his obituary in the Lincolnshire Echo), and then moved again in 1939 to purpose-built premises at 53-55 St. Catherine's.

By this time, the garage was selling Citroën and Austin cars; Citroëns had probably been sold from …  (read more)

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