Not quite as eloborate as some dealerships seen on the forum recently! But here is the New Zealand Ford agent's building in Auckland, New Zealand around 1915
Cheers
Adrian
Close up of cars:
("Benzine" = Gasolene - in the advert on the wall)
And here is the Colonial Motor Company (Ford importer) assembly building in Wellington NZ c1920:
And one from Stratford, New Zealand:
Adrian: Great photos, #'s 2 & 3 very clear /sharp.
Thanks for sharing.
Nice pics, Adrian!
Was the term "Benzine" used for a long time in NZ? Is it "petrol" now, like other commonwealth countries?
(It's "bensin" here in Sweden)
It's "benzine" in Holland, too.
Hi guys, it is now known as petrol in New Zealand, but for many years - into the 60's even early 70's benzine could still be seen on signs and gas pumps here and there. It is not unusual for older folk to still fill up with benzine, although this is fading away,
Cheers
Adrian
Hey!,
Check out the fork mounted electric lights on the 1915 touring.
Mike Snyder
A number of the photos Adrian has been sharing I have purchased for use in the NZ Model T book.
Michael - good observation. If you contact Hap Tucker, he will share with you some of the findings he made from these photos, on that very subject. It is something of a revelation.
The photos at the top of this thread are taken at Souter Brothers in Auckland - it is either the Souters or Hughans in Carterton that were the first Ford dealers in NZ. If my memory is correct (I've not checked my records) the Souter brothers are the two passengers in the Touring car, and the chap behind the steering wheel is a visitor from Ford of Canada.
Southers was based in Cambridge and they had been given the entire northern region, including Auckland, in which to sell Fords. So these photos are of a branch of Souters, rather than the main office in Cambridge!
The horses and cart in the archway was how the cars were delivered from the wharf from Ford of Canada! These cars were doing those horses out of a job!
John Stokes
New Zealand
Michael-
Many of the Canadian, eh? cars had fork mounted electric headlights in 1915. I'd suspect that most of the '15s down under are that way.
-Keith
Hi John, that is ironic - horses to transport cars for assembly to - do the horses out of a job!
Sounds like a Government operation
Cheers
Adrian
There is a picture of the yard at the Highland Park plant in the section of Bruce's CD "Ford and the Ford Shops" showing horses being used to pull trailer loads of Model T bodies around.
Perhaps it was a delivery from one of the body makers like O.J Beaudette (for example) to Ford.