MEET THE SPECIALIST RUNNYMEDE MOTOR COMPANY
MEET THE EXPERTS We visit Runnymede Motor Company, in Berkshire. WORDS: Sam Skelton PHOTOGRAPHY: Peter Seabrook
H
aving trained as a chartered surveyor, Martin Brewer fell into car sales by accident. He bought a Mini Cooper from a friend who was emigrating in 1968, and having made three weeks’ wages from that single sale he realised that there was the potential to make money from his passion for cars. Having only traded in premium cars, Martin soon gravitated toward his dream – Aston Martins – with his fourth purchase in 1969; a DB MkIII purchase for £395. “I sold it for £550, spent £600 on a used DB4 and put a hole in the side of the piston,” laughs Martin. Subsequently repaired and sold, that DB4 set the tone for a number of premium car sales over the next decade, both to the public and direct into the motor trade. Martin formed the Runnymede Motor Company in 1978, having purchased premises in Staines. When it came to naming his new company, he felt that the historic attraction of the Runnymede Fields might lend some
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Aston Martin Driver | Issue one
gravitas to what was rapidly becoming a Aston-Martin centred business. “The Magna Carta was signed at the Runnymede Fields, and the Kennedy memorial is sited there. We thought that the Runnymede Motor Company sounded better than the Staines Motor Company, and having earned a solid reputation for delivering quality cars we took the name with us when we moved from Staines to Woking in 1984.” Runnymede Motor Company is now based in Burnham Beeches, Berkshire, just south of junction 2 on the M40 and in the centre of a 600 acre Site of Special Scientific Interest. It moved from Woking to Cookham Dene in Berkshire in 1989, and from there to its current location in 1992. Martin will typically have approximately 30 cars in stock, ranging from (at the time of our visit) a 1999 Daimler V8 to a DB2 racer. Customers are guaranteed a warm welcome, not only by Martin but by Enzo the dog. Martin works with a dedicated team, including salesman Malcolm Gammack. Malcolm joined Runnymede in 1982 from Henlys, where his day to day trade had been in Jaguars. His passion not only for Aston Martin but for the Runnymede Motor Company has seen him move three times alongside the business, and he remains a key part of the company to this day. There are always a couple of historic racers for sale at Runnymede, giving away one of Martin’s other passions. He competes in historic motorsport, usually in a recreation of Aston Martin DP214, a
