Selling Commercial Motors and Running Motor Coaches.
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.THE name of Blue Belle Motors, Ltd., is perhaps best known to our readers by reason of the large and growing volume of business which the company undertakes in connection with the sale of new and second-hand commercial vehicles. Transactions in this connection form, of course, the major portion of the company's activities, and they have developed to such an extent that the annual turnover on this businem alone is considerably in excess of £50,000 per year. So far as the secondhand side is concerned, this success has been largely achieved as the direct result of sound buying, but this is not all, for before the vehicle is passed into further service it is soundly vetted and put into good mechanical condition.
Then, again, another factor which has contributed to this progress is the company's well-conceived hire-purchase scheme, under which any reputable make of vehicle can be selected by the purchaser and payments for it made on the basis of as low as one-fifth down and the balance spread over a long period. Although the period of repayment is not fixed, 24 month3 is considered sufficient to enable the hirer to meet his "obligations without undue financial strain, although in the case of seasonal earnings, as with motor coaches a credit up to three years is given. A liberal allowance for an old vehicle, terms at per cent above the bank rate, and the right of the cus tomer to choose -.Lis own insurance company, are other features which also make a strong appeal to the prospective purchaser who is not desirous of committing himself to a big capital outlay.
The company has done much business with unissued Peerless W.D. 4-6-ton machines, equipped with standard lorry, drop-sided, end-tipping, or three-waytipping bodies. Such vehicles are offered at attractive prices, and include in their specification many new components, incorporating Solex carburetter with hot-air muff, detachable link chains, Bosch P114 magneto, fan and radiator, as well as a new set of Henley tyres, 40 ins. by 5 ins, on the front wheels and 36 ins. by 5 ins. (twins) on those at the rear.
So much for this side of the activities of Blue Belle Motors, Ltd., but another channel in which it has launched out of recent years is that concerned with the operation of motor-coach runs. Here, again, progress has been made by keeping a watchful eye on the requirements of the travelling public and by the employment of efficient machines, the bodywork and mechanical condition of which are properly maintained.
The fleet, consisting of A.E.C. opentype coaches (both 28-seaters and 32seaters), Thornycroft type Al 20seaters, and Chevrolet 14-seaters, has been in use in previous seasons, but at least four Leyland Lion 31-seater, allweather coaches will be brought into service during the present season. The A.E.C. coaches have done several years' work and have given every satisfaction. They have high-loading bodies with fullwidth transverse scats, but although, as a type, they belong to a period which Preceded that of the low-loading gangway-type, they give good riling comfort and are quite suitable for the work on which they are used. We might mention that they are equipped with Tylor JB4 engines, which, we are told, have proved very efficient.
The Thornycroft 20-seater has also performed most creditably, and during over two years' use has cost only a few shillings for repairs. At the time of a recent visit to the company's head'quarters at 43-45, Acre Lane, Brixton, London, S.W.2; the engine, gearbox, and back axle of this machine had never been taken down, the only replacements made being those necessitated by ordinary wear and tear, such as tyres and brake facings—and the coach, incidentally, has run close on 40,000 miles.
We recently had an opportunity for -inspecting one of the company's latest purchases—a Leyland Lion 31-seater-and we propose giving a few details of its constructional features. The chassis is of the forward-control pattern and it has a wheelbase of 16 ft. 5 ins., thus enabling a capacious body to be used without much overhang and without constricting the space for each passenger. In the Main portion of the body the distance between seat back and seat back is 2 ft. 5 ins., and at its front roll each seat cushion is 1 ft. G from floor level. The overall width of the coach is 7 ft. 5 ins., and the width of each transverse seat for two people 2 ft. 10 ins., the central gangway separating them being 1 ft. 2 ins. wide. There are two entrances to the body and the seat (for three people) opposite each of them is 4 ft. wide, thus leaving plenty of space to facilitate the movements of passengers. The-seating complement is made up by a full-width seat
• across the rear of the coach, this accommodating five persons.
The body is the product of Thomas Harrington, Ltd., Church Street, Brighton, and is of exceptionally robust build. The framework is of English oak and the risers and pillars are all Bitched with steel plates.
The seats are of the Semi-bucket type with spring-steel backs and have doublesprung cushions of considerable depth-. Hand-buffed hides of a pleasing blue shade are used for upholstery and the seat backs are covered with a pile carpet.
The hood is a new one-man type, which is the design of Thomas Harring The pillars of the all-weather head are fairly narrow and the drop windows are wide, thus giving good vision to the aides; the raising and lowering of the lights are controlled by Rawlings mechanism with garnish-rail fittings. The equipment of the interior includes foot rests, ash. trays and neat electric light fittings in alternate Ride pillars and in the rearmost hoop-stick. Provi sion is made for carrying a considerable quantity of luggage, there being good-size lockers at the sides at the rear, whilst additional space is available for the same purpose below the rear seat.
This type of coach and the others in the fleet are largely used on coastal runs —many of them daily during the season —to Brighton, Worthing, Hastings, Eastbourne, Bognor, Ramsgate, Margate and Bournemouth, the last-named figuring for the first time on the company's coaching programme. A special feature, too, is made of works' outings, whilst race meetings at Kempton, Newmarket, Epsom, Sandown, Windsor, Alexandra Park, Hurst Park and Gatwick provide further work for the vehicles.
Blue Belle Motors, Ltd., has over 100 booking agents in various parts of London, most of them, of course, being on the south side. These agents work on a 10 per cent. booking commission. An interesting point is that intending passengers are picked up at the headquarters of many of the booking agents, for which purpose d. series of four routes has been drawn up, the coaches following a pre-arranged itinerary and bringing passengers to the Blue Belle Promises in Acre Lane, which, in a way, serve as a clearing house. The same arrangement is adopted after the return journey, passengers being taken to the
point at which they were collected. Although this scheme involves certain unremunerative running it is highly appreciated by the company's patrons.
For the present season fares have been stabilized on a basis which should prove satisfactory to those owners who have arrived at a working agreement, these including many of the most prominent coach operators running vehicles from London to popular coastal centres.
As an indication of the headway which Blue Belle Motors, Ltd., is making, we can mention that it has recently completed the erection of a spacious new garage in Acre Lane, within a few yards of its main premises. This has a span of 140 ft., and is built to accommodate 120 commercial vehicles,
We should not neglect to mention that the company is the sole distributor for South-east England for the well-known Spenborough tipping gears and bodies, which have been adopted by many commercial vehicle manufacturers and municipal authorities. Its output in this direction has occasioned further increases of business, and the company has recently erected extensive works at Stockwell to cope with this activity.
Blue Belle Motors, Ltd., is the patentee of three-way hand-operated tipping gears constructed for dealing with loads from 1 ton to 6 tons.