MAJOR NEW ‘ONE-STOP SHOP’ FOR CLASSIC CARS LAUNCHED
North west site aims to bring meets, auctions and more under one roof
Amajor new facility for classic owners – offering everything from auctions and car storage to shows and club meets – is opening in the north west of England later this week.
Runcorn-based Manor Park Classics is opening a 30,000sq ft site that will be used initially to provide classic car storage, but will be expanded over the next few months to offer a site for car club meets and classic car auctions, all of which will incorporate social distancing and health measures while the region is dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak. It will also provide brokerage for sales, and advise on specialists.
It is the brainchild of Cheshire businessman and classic car enthusiast Stephen Ashworth, Chairman and CEO of Manchester-based Hurstwood Holdings, who has realised his long held ambition and said that he is delighted to announce the opening of Manor Park Classics, based in Runcorn, Cheshire. Headed up by managing director Roger Nowell, the team also includes sales director Sam Grange-Bailey, operations manager Nik Askins, who has 20 years experience in the industry and BAFTA award-winning photographer, George Turner.
The team said that they were all ‘enthusiasts through and through’ who all have spent years working with classics, and wanted to create a site which brought all the aspects of buying, selling and owning classics under one roof.
Sam Grange-Bailey told CCW:
‘ We don’t think there’s anywhere else in the north west that offers this sort of facility for car storage, and we don’t think there’s anywhere else nationally that will bring so many services for classic owners under one roof.
‘ We want to make everything about buying, and also owning, a classic car as pleasant and as fun as possible – and we’re just as interested in a Morris Minor that costs £1000 as we are in an Aston Martin that costs £1m.’
The facility will be split into two halls – one for auctions and the other for classic car storage, with room for up to 120 cars; storage starts at £25 per week, plus VAT, for smaller classics such as Minis, Fiat 500s and MG Midgets.
It also plans to allow cars being sold in its classic auctions to be viewed on inspection ramps ahead of the sales, to help give potential bidders more information ahead of the sales themselves.
The outdoor parts of the site will also be available for classic clubs to use as a venue for meetings, or for other interested parties to host coffee meets with classics, although Manor Park Classics is currently working on making sure that these can be hosted safely during the COVID-19 pandemic, with much of the north west currently subjected to local lockdown restrictions.
❚ manorparkclassics.com