Another curious bit of the Ralph Ferrie jigsaw landed anonymously by email this week. Supplied as-is (I tweaked the images a bit for clarity), all the accompanying note said was ‘July, 1957. Lichfield Mercury, Ralph Ferrie’s new showroom.’
I thank Anonymous for this very much. I was discussing the material with [Howmuch?] yesterday and we’re unsure where this was – was it on Streets Corner, or was it the one on the site of what is now St. John’s Medical Centre? This certainly gives the impression of a busy operation, going all out for new business. He’s certainly got lots of bases covered – commercials, PSV’s, small cars, spares. Note that there seem to be three branches listed on the sign in the photo – ‘Birmingham?’ ‘Brownhills’ and ‘Midland’ – curious. Quite a find.
Brownhills Motor Sales, Lichfield Road, Walsall Wood. Part of the Ralph Ferrie empire as featured in the Lichfield Mercury in July, 1957.
The picture above came from this advert - clearly pushing a growing, can-do style of business. From what I can tell, Ralph was always up for doing a deal. From the Lichfield Mercury, July 1957.