
A History of Specialist Cars
A History of Specialist Cars
History
of Specialist Cars
Specialist Cars
Limited began in the early 1970's as a subsidiary of the Stevenage VW Audi
dealership with franchises for BMW, Honda and Alfa Romeo based on the Hertford
Road in Stevenage. In 1980 BMW (AG) created a wholly owned subsidiary, BMW UK
Ltd and insisted on solus franchises; thus Specialist Cars chose to drop the
other franchises in favour of BMW only.
In 1990, David Fawcitt, then Dealer Principal, effected a management buyout
from the parent company and in 1994 relocated to London Road, Stevenage. The
company grew to become the largest single BMW site in Britain at that time -
measured by new car registrations.
In 1999 a further management buyout saw Specialist Cars Limited transferred to
the current owners, Clive Fletcher and Michael Donovan.
The new century from 2000 witnessed continued growth, starting with the
acquisition of Ivor Holmes Limited, the BMW dealership in Luton. This quickly
resulted in a relocation to Leagrave Road in Luton during 2003; one site for
BMW and a separate site for MINI - which was one of the first standalone MINI
operations in the Country.
Meanwhile the business has maintained ever increasing investments in Stevenage.
In July 2001 the business developed a joint Used BMW and MINI showroom
development at the London Road site and then five years later, in 2006,
Specialist Cars Stevenage was relocated into a new site on Gunnels Wood Road of
over 5 acres. This made it once again the largest independent BMW dealership in
the Country, with split level showroom, multi-storey car park including storage
facility and a state-of-the-art fitted workshop; the new dealership really was
a ground-breaking development.
In 2008, Specialist Cars Limited purchased the former Stratstone BMW dealership
in Cow Roast near Tring, Hertfordshire. Some 7 years later the Group maintained
its record of sound investment and in April 2015 launched a wholly refurbished
site with separate showrooms and for BMW and MINI, whilst introducing some of
the very latest technological and customer friendly initiatives to the
Industry.
The Specialist Cars family now operate across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and
the surrounding counties and continue to invest in the area which is
highlighted further with the opening on a brand new site on Dunstable Road in
Luton in 2015.