CARS AT CUT PRICES

Hawera Star, Volume LII, 25 January 1933, Page 9

CARS AT CUT PRICES

“OLD CROCKS” THAT FUNCTION. SOLD FOR. £2 TO £4. Wolverhampton, England, has the cheapest motor mart in the country. It is'run by a motor mechanic, who sells cars at the tempting prices of £2, £3 and £4. The service has been specially introduced to suit the pockets of the working-class, and to give them the benefit of the present glut in old, second-hand cars. Under the scheme, miners, factory workers and labourers are able to run their own cars at a cost of about 2s 6d a week. The man behind the idea, Mr George Betts, is an unemployed motor mechanic. How he came to launch the scheme is told in his own words. “1 thought of it months - ago,” he said to an interviewer, “but it was not until I found myself without a job that 1 tried it out. A man offered me a 1925 model car for £2. I snapped it up. It was old, but the engine was good, and, after touching it up, I sold it two days later at a good profit. “Ihat decided me. I rented a patch of waste land, spent a week building shelter on it, and started to buy asj many ol(l cars as my capital would allow. I overhauled them, and sold them later at slight profit, not to individuals but to a group of individuals. I advertised the fact that if three or four working men put down a. pound each they could buy one of my cars and run it at practically no cost. The idea. has caught on. “For instance, four minors came to me yesterday and bought a car for £3. That is, it costs them 15s each. The licence and insurance come to ;t2O per year—which means that to keep the car running it cost each of these miners only 2s (id a week. Actually, it costs them nothing at all, because they travel to work in it every morning’ and save 4s a week in fares. They Stake turns each week at driving their (families out into the country. “My clients are not particular about the car’s appearance, age, or make, as long as the engine can be made to •function. And, believe me, some of these old engines are every bit as reliable as your Rolls-Royce ones! Mr. Betts garages most of the cars himself, at a cheap rate, and it always at hand to help and advise with repairs. So far the scheme has been well supported, and has operated successfully.