Staines second-hand car dealer's sad farewell

May 15 2009 By Mark Goode

David Cox outside his old car dealership in Kingston Road.

A Staines car dealer has said goodbye to the business where he was born and worked for 50 years.

David Cox, 68, of Vicarage Road, Staines, visited Staines Motors in Kingston Road on May 13, to witness the destruction of his old second hand dealership and servicing garage.

It is making way for a Catalyst Housing Group £2.2 million scheme of 14 homes which are due for completion in late 2010.

David said: "I am sure I will miss the place. It was a very enjoyable time but a lot of hard work. When you have been somewhere for so long you get used to it, but I was ready to retire, and the building has been up for re-development for some time, so I suppose the time is right."

David was born in the building in 1940 and went to Halliford School in Shepperton followed by Staines Prep before being pulled out by his dad William Cox to work at the garage at the age of 16.

He was able to drive by the age of eight as it was occasionally his job to take the cars around the back of the garage for servicing, and he once got into trouble with his mum for driving around Staines.

He said: "I was 12 and my mother drove to Staines and parked outside Debenhams. I then drove through the town and parked near the police station. There was then a report to the police and eventually I was found sitting in the passengers seat. My mother was pleased she found her little boy but I got a good telling off."

In 1983 David took over the running of the business when his father died. But it was in 2005 when events took a turn for the worst, and the business was lost when a fire raged through the back yard.

David said: "The fire wiped out the workshop and nine cars. It was a total loss. We had a chance to take out planning permission to build another workshop or sell the place for developers. The fire was a minor problem to other incidents that were happening in my life then, so I sold it."