We’re staring at the fire escape of a Mexican restaurant, wondering how the bulging hips of a 930-generation Porsche 911 Turbo could squeeze through it.
It’s May 2022 and we’re on George Street, central Edinburgh’s smartest strip, but our minds are 40 years behind, when this site was the Glen Henderson Porsche showroom.
Before being uprooted miles out of town, prestige car dealers like Glen Henderson were dotted all around the heart of the city, peacocking on grand streets and tucked away in hidden mews. Perhaps excepting London, this is a story repeated across the UK.
But thanks to David Whitton (right), an amateur photographer from West Lothian, we needn’t only imagine those lost treasures. As a teenager in the 1980s, inspired by car magazine snappers of the day, Whitton and his 35mm Canon AE1 went on “lurking safaris” about town, inveigling their way into showrooms and service centres to capture the kind of automotive exotica that has since become legend.
With his scrapbook for a wormhole, Whitton is here with me and Autocar staff photographer Max Edleston to retrace his steps.
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Even if you dont know historical BMW models, surely you can read? That is not a M635CSI - its a much earlier 633 CSI....nothing 'M' about it.
The 'gold one' is a 944.
Ah the delights of car dealers with premises located in central city & town locations, bought my first new car a 2CV at Ormsby Cars located just off the Oxford Rd in Reading,parts and service were in at George Street a back street about half a mile away. Never been too keen on these multi franchises in these so called "autoplazas" with their flashy premises and sharp suited sales people. Bought my last five motors a Ford B-Max.two Subaru's (XV & BRZ) and Suzuki's (Swift Sport & Ignis) from independent franchised dealers over the last tenyears, but only the Suzuki dealer has still got it's franchise