LONDON'S MORRIS SERVICE DEPOT.
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The Huge New Premises of Stewart and Ardent, Ltd,, Nearing Completion,
AA S a result of the huge increase in number of Morris vehicles on the road, amongst these an increasingly high percentage of commercial types, it has become imperative to provide better-equipped and vastly enlarged premises in which efficient servicing can be carried out and where nee'? Morris e ehieles can be stored before delivery.
Such premises have new almost been completed for Stewart and Arderri, Ltd, the sole London distributors for Morris vehicles, whose head office is at Morrie House, 103, New Bond Street, W.1..
The new premises occupy a corner on the left side of the main Uxbridge road, immediately opposite the Acton building of the Ministry of Pensions. They consist of three main buildings, in one of which will be embodied one of the most remarkable showrooms for motor vehicles which has ever been cola structed. This showroom will face upon the Uxbridge Road.
Separating the various portions of ads wonderful depot are two roads, one of which will be known as Cowley Road and the other as Oxford Road. These, provide the means for a one-way traffic scheme. The total floor area amounts to sonic 300,000 sq. ft. Two thousand tons of steel and 2,000,004iehricks have been employed .in the constructional work. The showremm itself has an area of 9,000 sq. ft. without the interposition of a single pillar, the great span of the roof being obtained by employing seven 80-ft. girders, each weighing 23 tons.
In this showroom will be exhibited an example of every Morris model, private and commercial, and it is interesting to note that there are 68 of these.
Bronze frames will support the huge windows. The floor is of oak parquet, and the walls are faced in artificial stone. The administration offices lie at the back of the showroom, and behind these, again, are the reception bays for new vehicles.
Alongside this building, but at the other side of the toad, is what may be termed the service depot, in which major and minor repairs will he carried out, whilst at the end of the block is accommodetion for storing 550 vehicles, of which it is expected that at least onefifth will be commercial models. Inddentally, for the reception bays some of the sliding, doors are of such a height that the lareest-sized Morris commer• eial vehicle will be able to enter with plenty of headroom.
In the servicing depot the work will be arranged on the progressive system. Vehicles for repair will drive in from the Uxbridge Road and will turn into a bay flanked by desks where the tools, etc, will be handed over nicler signature for storage, and where the driver will release she vehicle, a portcullis preventing unauthorized persons from entering. Having entered the main repair shop, if the repairs be light the vehicle will remain on the ground floor, and, when finished, will Make its exit 'at the farther end, where is situated the accountancy department and where the receiver of the vehicle will pay for the repairs.
Above this shop, and reached by means of a powerful lift, is another shop, where heavy repairs and insurance jobs will be undertaken.
Arrangements provide for the repair of 1,000 cars per week, and it is estimated that there will he on the premises at any particular time some 2,000 vehicles.
Stores are provided for an ample supply of spares for private and commercial vehicles, and there is a suitably arranged selling department for these.
The equipment includes 40 in-coming telephone lines apart from interior communication.
With the opening of the new premises a very interesting free-service scheme will come into force, and every purchaser from Stewart and Ardern, Ltd., of a new Morris vehicle will be asked to bring it to the depot after it has run 500 miles. It will then have the speed-limiting washer removed from the inlet pipe, the crankcase oil exchanged for new oil and adjustments made wherever necessary.
Situated close to the repair-shop exit is a large and well-arranged wash through which every vehicle will pass, and so he handed over clean.
At this point it would be as well to mention that at 371, Euston Road the company have one of the biggest commercial vehicle showrooms in London, this covering some 14,000 sq. ft., and those interested particularly in commercial models should certainly pay a visit to these premises.
One of the most interesting branches of the many Stewart and Ardern activities lies in the tuition of purchasers, this being entirely free. To assist in this there is at the Bond Street showrooms a chassis in which the working Parts are open for inspection, thus providing a valuable guide to those who operate vehicles of this mal4e. During a recant visit which we paid to Bond Street we found some 75 persons were being given tuition in one morning.