14. Preston Motors Melbourne:The American Years
PRESTON MOTORS
with Australian media personality Tony Featherstone
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Bruce
First up Tony.... thanks for making yourself available to have a chat about Preston Motors
Tony
Hi Bruce....More than happy to do so
Bruce
You've been based in Sydney for many years but where did life begin for Tony Featherstone ?
Tony
I grew up in the bayside area of Melbourne...in Brighton to be specific.... and I attended Xavier College..... first at their junior school in Brighton and then the senior school in Kew.
Bruce
Xavier has produced quite a few prominent media personalities over the years such as Mike Walsh, Phillip Brady and Mike McColl Jones....were you at school with any of those luminaries ?
Tony
No, they were all a fair bit older than me and they'd left the senior school before I got there. However, I did get to know them later on because I ended up working in the media myself
Bruce
Interests and hobbies as a youngster?
Tony
Always cars and car spotting. Dragging my father along to the Motor Show. School holidays were spent riding my bike endlessly all over Melbourne. Living in Brighton, summers were spent mainly on the beaches, of course, including the lovely old Brighton Beach Baths...... since demolished.
Bruce
When and how did you come to join the staff at Preston Motors ?
Tony
Well, actually it was the first place I worked at after I left Xavier.
I really wanted to get into radio, but you were usually told to go to an announcing school after hours while you supported yourself with a day job. Anyway, I applied to a couple of banks which accepted me, but I found that prospect a bit too dull and uninteresting. So, then , in February of 1965, I just happened to wander into the Preston Motors showroom at 104 Russell Street in the city and was dazzled by a new Chevy......... spent some time chatting to a couple of salesmen about their work, and thought I'd go upstairs to the personnel office and see if there was anything going. And, much to my surprise, they engaged me as a sales cadet on the spot. It was all quite spontaneous.
Bruce
And exactly what did your job involve?
Tony
As a trainee salesman, I used to move cars around to various locations, learn stock control and registration, change tyres and batteries when necessary. I often had to deliver new cars to their buyers and I would also do showroom duty on Saturdays.
Bruce
As I recall it was a pretty big operation. Any idea how many people would have been on the staff when you were there ?
Tony
I'm not sure. They had branches in Coburg, St Kilda, Footscray, Essendon and South Melbourne as well as the city. Probably hundreds of people
Bruce
Who was the Sales Manager in at the city when you were there ?
Tony
From memory, the general sales manager was David Chapman. Under him... each branch had its own sales manager. And above all was the G.M., Bob Jacka.
Bruce
And they were primarily a Holden dealership ?
Tony
Yes. In fact, they were Victoria's leading Holden new car dealership but they also sold Chevrolets and Buicks
Preston Motors Holden (1950s?) (Preston Motors company photo)
Bruce
Did they sell used cars..... that is... did they take trade - ins ?
Tony
Yes they did. They had their own used car yards, usually attached to the new car showrooms. They took trade - ins, retailing the best and wholesaling the remainder to smaller used car dealers.
- Location Unknown (left) and the company's Malvern used car outlet (right)
(Preston Motor company photos)
Bruce
OK......Let's turn our attention now to those big luxury American cars that they were selling in your day...
But just before we do that.... to put things in perspective in regard to the general Melbourne car scene of that time.......
There were three major GM or GMH dealerships in Melbourne back in the 1960s and ' 70s.......namely...Preston Motors, Rhodes Motors and Southern Motors... is that correct ?
Tony
Correct.
Bruce
Were all of them factory dealerships ?
Tony
Well...when you say factory dealerships...the factory never owned dealerships. They were all private companies or publicly listed companies which were simply granted franchises by GMH to sell their products. Each business could change hands, but GMH would have to agree to continue any existing agreements with the new owners.
Bruce
Understood. But all three of those companies were primarily Holden dealerships ?
Tony
Yes they were. There were lots of other dealerships around the city and the state that only sold Holden. For example, my father bought his '57 Holden from Brighton Beach Motors.
Bruce
And , again..... as I remember...... each of them.. that is..... Preston, Rhodes and Southern also sold at least one or more makes of GM's American cars as well.. as part of their range......
Tony
That's right. Preston sold Chevrolet and Buick..... Southern sold Pontiac... and Rhodes sold Cadillac and Oldsmobile....
Why was it that all three of the dealerships didn't offer all of GM's American cars... that is why did each dealer only offer one or two ?
Tony
I think there might have been historical reasons why each dealer had specific American cars... but, also, it was probably just the fact that no dealership could handle Holden plus all the American makes as well so they simply decided to allocate them randomly.
Bruce
Fair enough ....... let's go back to Preston Motors...
In the '60s.... your range from the bottom to the top in terms of price and prestige would have run ....... Holden..... Chevrolet Bel Air.... Chevrolet Impala... then Buick Electras.. Correct ?
Tony
Yes, also Riveras and , perhaps, a few Wildcats . The Wildcats were actually part of the Invicta range but they had more in common with the Electras from both an appearance and equipment viewpoint
Bruce
Right, yes....I'd forgotten about the Rivieras and Wildcats. How about Invictas and Le Sabres ?
Tony
No, I don't think so... only top of the line cars
Bruce
Now, those cars like the Impalas and the Buicks ... . I assume they would have been fully imported from either the US or Canada and arrived in Australia left hand drive... so ...... did Preston Motors do the steering conversions....... or were some of them actually built right hand drive in North America ?
Tony
The early Impala hardtops...that is the 1960 to ' 64 cars which had just about run their course before I joined the company were built right hand drive in the US. After that, I'm fairly sure that the '65 model Impalas came in from Canada either as fully built right hand drive exports or, possibly, as CKD or SKD units - to be assembled and painted at the GMH plant in Dandenong...although my memory is a bit sketchy on that one. And, of course, they were already assembling Pontiac Laurentains and Chevrolet Bel Airs at Dandenong as well.
1962 Chevrolet Impala Sport Sedan. Built right hand drive for export
at the General Motors factory in Tarrytown ('Sleepy Hollow", New York. Sold
new by Preston Motors of Melbourne, Australia.
Owner Carl Kelsen (Photos Carl Kelsen)
(Right) General Motor's former Tarrytown plant
(since demolished) on the Hudson river where the right hand drive export
Impalas were built. The 50 millionth Chevrolet rolls off the production line
at Tarrytown (left) (GM Archives)
I'm familiar with the term CKD... that is, Completely Knocked Down, but not SKD.... what does that mean ?
Tony
SKD stands for Semi Knocked Down. Sometimes it's hard to quantify the extent to which a car is knocked down because each case is different. But a SKD car usually looks like a car, maybe missing interior, bonnets and boot panels or, perhaps, even glass has to be installed. CKD doesn't look a car. It's just a box of bits to be made into a car.
Bruce
I'm with you...
Tony
But the whole business of right hand drive versus left hand drive imports had quite a history which needs a bit more explanation....... if you've got time...
Bruce
Absolutely....... go right ahead
Tony
OK.....
Well. ... to begin with ....I seem to recall reading that all through the 1930s, Chevs, Buicks and, possibly, Oldsmobiles arrived in Australia as chassis, engines and front body clips, to be fitted with local bodies that were supplied by the Holden Body Company. All those cars were built right hand drive in this country.
For '49, I think I'm right in saying that the Chevs came in with Canadian bodies.. SKD.
Buick was almost unavailable from about '49 onwards but any that entered the country as private imports would have been converted to right hand drive...somehow.... when they arrived . Think I've got the story straight with all that.
Anyway, in 1962 Preston Motors began importing left hand drive Buicks, as mentioned before, mainly upmarket top of the line models and converting them at the company's South Melbourne facility.
 |
The '64 Electra (Flickr) |
So, how did you get hold of those cars... did you order them via GM's Australian head office ?
Tony
No, we imported our own cars directly from GM in the US, independently of GMH Australia.
Bruce
Numbers....How many cars are we talking about each year ?
Tony
Probably about twenty Electras and perhaps twenty Rivieras. Some had been ordered in advance by customers. Most had not.
Bruce
When they arrived in Melbourne what happened to them ?
Tony
They were stored on the upper level at Russell Street and from there they went down to South Melbourne to be converted.
Tell me a bit more about the place where the conversions were done.....exactly where was it and did you ever drop in to have a look at the cars being done ?
Tony
Yes, I did have a look around once or twice. It was a huge facility on the corner of Ferrars and Lorimer Streets... .it covered many acres. But the Buick conversion activities were just one part of the operation. Holden stock was kept in enormous open yards down there. Also it contained the pre-delivery section, where new cars were cleaned up, detailed and, in fact, registered by visiting officers from the MRB. In addition to all that, there were various admin offices as well as a car servicing department for the public and even a panel beating facility. The whole site was sold to Mazda in the '80s or thereabouts
Bruce
How long did it take to do the conversions ?
Tony
It took weeks to do each car.....anything up to a couple of months in some cases. They could only do two or so at a time. I can remember certain cars being in bits, covered in dust and lying around for ages. They might have got a wriggle on if a car had already been sold and had a buyer waiting for it. When they were finished, they came back to the city to await a buyer.
Bruce
Was it a complicated and costly procedure ?
Tony
Yes to both of those questions. Conversions were very complicated and time consuming and obviously that cost was reflected in the retail price.
Bruce
When the cars arrived in the showroom... did potential buyers know, understand or even care that the cars had been modified to such a great degree and had undergone so much surgery ?
Tony
Well, actually, some customers were shown the left hand drive cars upstairs at Russell Street, agreeing to buy one after conversion and then they'd come back in a month or so to get it.
1967 (?) Buick Riviera (note car is still left hand drive)
1967 Buick Riviera 430 Wildcat V8 360 HP - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8RYD2FPc_4
Bruce
Did you ever have much in the way of after sale problems with those cars due to the conversions ?
Tony
No. The conversions were superb jobs and never caused problems. The work was supervised by an automotive engineer .It wasn't just done by mechanics. Obviously, when you're making major changes to such vital areas as brakes and steering everything has to be 100 % correct.
Bruce
Just harking back to costs and retail prices .....and to put the kind of expense that was involved in buying one of those converted luxury cars into perspective...can you recall..... approximately... how much the public had to pay for each car..... let's say starting at the bottom with Holden... then going up to the Buicks.....
Tony
Gee, it's long ago now and I was there around the time that the currency was changing over from pounds, shillings and pence to dollars and cents. Can't really remember exact prices but, from memory, I think they ranged from about $2200 for the cheapest Holden up to , maybe, $9,000 for the Buicks. As I recall, the Electras were around 4,500 pounds before the change of currency. They were very expensive by standards of the day
Bruce
Did those more expensive cars sell in reasonable numbers ?
Tony
We sold very few Buicks.... perhaps a dozen or so each year. The early hardtop Impalas ... also fairly small numbers... a few dozen maybe. Bel Airs did the best from a sales viewpoint, especially as government agencies, both federal and state, bought those
Bruce
Were there many walk - in buyers for those Electras and Rivieras or did you have people who were always on the books... ready, willing and able to buy those cars as soon as they came in
Tony
Buyers were found in different ways. Some would walk in. Some were repeat customers. But they usually had a few cars left at the end of the year to be carried over and perhaps discounted a little. There are only so many rich people around.
Bruce
Would luxury and semi luxury cars like Buicks and Impalas have also gone to suburban dealerships or even major country dealerships ?
Tony
Any country Holden dealer could have ordered one for a client, but I doubt they would have bought one on spec and hoped it might sell. Farmers liked the Bel Airs, but they mostly came to a Preston Motors branch in Melbourne to buy them.
Bruce
You must have had a bit of maturity and presence about you as a nineteen year old to be given the job of selling Buicks to fairly well to do buyers
Tony
Ah well, no I must clarify this ....as mentioned before... I was just a trainee salesman and general assistant. I didn't sell those very expensive cars to wealthy clients.
Bruce
Right. But you did say that you often used to deliver new cars to their buyers. Any famous customers ?
Tony
I suppose Henry Bolte was our best known customer. Bolte had a standing order for a new black Buick Electra each year. They always carried the rego number 108. But I do remember that there was an argument in '65 when the order was mucked up and the car came over without power windows. Bolte refused to accept it and kept his '64 for an extra year while they imported and converted a '66 model. It took many months to import and convert them. When his new car was ready I was given the job of handing it over. His chauffer brought in the '64 and we put the 108 plate on the ' 66. The chauffer asked if I could help him transfer the contents of the boot to the new car. Well... I could not believe my eyes! The Premier's car.....immaculate on the outside....the boot contained muddy gumboots, shotguns and cartridges, empty beer cans...just a total mess. Seems Bolte took the car home to the property at Meredith on weekends and went shooting in it. But most of the other buyers were fairly understated and anonymous types, although obviously well heeled
his 1962 Electra (left) and walking back to his' 69 model (Bolte
second from the left) after the official opening of a new hospital (right)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDZpQagUzo4
It is believed that this '62 Electra sedan was
originally a Victorian government car (later owned by yours truly).
Bruce
Now just moving up.. probably to a time after you were out of the business...
Why did Preston finally quit the whole process of importing and converting Buicks..... was it simply due to the fact that locally built cars started to become much better equipped and luxurious..... things like the Holden Statesman and later the Caprice...which had factory air, power windows.. etc
Tony
There were a number of changes starting to happen simultaneously in the local American car market. For example, GM Detroit couldn't see the numbers for Chev and Pontiac working in this country any more and they decided, like Ford, that they could simply build more upmarket versions of their run of the mill Australian cars much more easily and cheaply and they decided to make do with that. At about the same time, Preston Motors abandoned their Buick program, mainly because Torana, Monaro and Statesman had come onto the market and they needed the space on their showroom floors to display all of them....and those cars were selling in large numbers.
(Left to right) Holden's Monaro, Statesman and Torana (Google)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ313lTj7Qs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-7RQ7YFyEk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZQkVPKTHW0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QpRD0NKW1k
in 1968 when driver Bruce McPhee won the race at the
wheel of the above car with an average speed of 128mph
Bruce
Do you know if any Preston Motors company records survive from that period... such as sales books etc ?
Tony
Not sure. The company still exists, of course, at least in name, and it still sells Holden here and there. But apart from Essendon, all their branches have gone now, replaced by others selling different makes in new locations. Perhaps someone in a dungeon somewhere is keeper of the secrets.
Bruce
Where did your life take you after you left Preston Motors ?
Tony
At the end of '66 I passed an announcing audition at ABC Radio in Melbourne. After eight years of being on air, I moved behind the scenes and became a program producer for 3LO. Did that for a couple of years.... worked with some interesting people in that role, including Graham Kennedy. I produced Graham's drive time program for about six months. In 1977 I moved, permanently, up to Sydney where I've remained to this day. I initially returned to on air work at 2CH, a commercial station up here for ten years. Then, in the late ' 80s, I rejoined the ABC...but ABC Television...also in Sydney where I spent twenty - five years as a voice over and general announcer. Finally retired two years ago.
Bruce
Well.... it sounds like you had a very interesting career......and it all started way back there in February of 1965 when you just happened to walk through the big glass doors at Preston Motors - 104 Russell Street in Melbourne.... hopefully after you had opened them first !
Tony
Indeed.
Bruce
Tony Featherstone.. thanks for your time today...
Tony
Thanks Bruce
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