Fasten your seatbelts and make sure you are sitting comfortably.
Another batch of garages and car showrooms in Dundee is the focus of this week’s pictorial passage into the past.
The DC Thomson archives team has dug out a varied selection of photographs from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s and they are sure to spark a motoring memory or two.
Grab yourself a cuppa and enjoy having another browse back in time courtesy of The Dundonian, which appears in the Evening Telegraph every Wednesday.
Some of these photographs have been unseen for years.
How many of these places do you remember?
1979
Taybridge Garage in Roseangle steadily expanded into what became Barnetts Motor Group with 11 dealerships representing a variety of brands including Volkswagen.
Our photograph from September 1979 shows the interior of the company’s showroom in Riverside Drive, which featured several cars and a speedboat for sale!
1982
Richard Lawson Motors new showroom at Marketgait is pictured in November 1982.
Richard Lawson was brought up in Kirriemuir and attended Dundee High School and the firm was described as Tayside’s premier Saab dealership in the early 1980s.
1986
Karen Mitchell and Margaret Stewart at Nissan Marketgait in June 1986.
There is a sign on the wall behind them which reads Kid Park, which was apparently a soft play area children could use while their parents bought a new car.
1986
Staff at Martin Motors in Trades Lane are pictured in November 1986 admiring the first British-built Nissan Bluebird to be available in Dundee.
The new Bluebird range comprised 15 models of front wheel drive mid-size saloons and hatchbacks, which were priced between £6,500 and £9,680.
1988
Two staff members are standing outside Practical Used Car Rental in July 1988.
The Logie Street firm was offering car rental from £5.95 per day and 5p per mile.
1988
A staff member working on a car engine at Tayford Garage in August 1988.
Tayford’s workshop was famously the setting in 1986 for the Ford Celebrity Sports Show, which featured DJ David Hamilton and Record Breakers host Roy Castle.
1988
Several cars are parked outside Fairfield Garage Services in January 1988.
The premises on Fairfield Street provided vehicle testing and repairs and also sold used cars which were always fully serviced and would come with a full year’s MOT.
1988
Do you remember Merrylee Motors in Douglas Street?
Among the cars being sold here in 1988 was the Audi 200 Quattro for £13,500 and the Audi Coupe 1.8 in flamingo with 14,000 miles on the clock for £10,995.
1989
Donald Heggie Garage was situated at the Gourdie Industrial Estate.
“We keep them the way they were built” was its tagline and the firm had other accident repair centres in 1989 in Cupar, Dunfermline, Edinburgh and Kirkcaldy.
1989
Arbroath man Norman Fairweather, who was long experienced in the motor trade, began selling Yugo cars at Clepington Street in 1988.
Even then he felt the premises were too small and they eventually moved to Kingsway East where they also started selling Lada and Proton cars.
1989
The Taybridge Motors forecourt on Riverside Drive.
TBM under the Barnetts Motor Group was a long-established Renault trader with “extra special offers” in February 1989 including a 11GTL for £8,260 on the road.
1990
Sales director Morris Parr alongside two cars at Wellington Garage in June 1990.
The business, in Rosebank, was situated between Hilltown and Constitution Street and was advertised as having the best deals in Dundee for the Hyundai range in 1989.
