Bryan Garfield Jones

Another of the true early enthusiasts who began by trading in obsolete diecasts was Bryan Garfield Jones. Bryan has had a long-term interest in both model and classic cars, like many other white metal manufacturers of the 1960s and 1970s.

He had travelled Europe on business, working for IPC Technical Press, and had begun acquiring diecast toys for dealing from home in the late 1960s. With his business role touring Europe, he was able to seek out French dealers with whom he could trade, and thus build a part-time income and regularly replenish his stock.

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Another of the true early enthusiasts who began by trading in obsolete diecasts was Bryan Garfield Jones. Bryan has had a long-term interest in both model and classic cars, like many other white metal manufacturers of the 1960s and 1970s.

He had travelled Europe on business, working for IPC Technical Press, and had begun acquiring diecast toys for dealing from home in the late 1960s. With his business role touring Europe, he was able to seek out French dealers with whom he could trade, and thus build a part-time income and regularly replenish his stock.

He built up a select list of discerning clients, amongst which was Graham Pilgrim, enthusiastic purveyor of classic car sales brochures. Graham recalls receiving a telephone call from Brian after a foray into France, and visiting his home in Horsham to be shown his latest mint/boxed acquisitions. Graham would then select the next model for his growing collection of French Dinky Toys, and, as a favoured client, place the cost “on account”, not paying until his next visit.

It was in this role that Bryan first met Mike & Sue Richardson, Brian and Rachel Harvey, and Mike Stephens. They all shared a common interest, met up socially, and swapped notes with each other over models they wished to see made. By then, Bryan recalls, Bob Wills had bought the 1:24 scale range of cars from Automodels, trading at Finsbury Pavement.

From trading in obsolete diecasts, Bryan began in the white metal world by joining Mike Stephens and Ken Wootton, who were then making spare radiators for Dinky cars and trucks, to form Western Models. Mike provided the technical expertise, Ken the enthusiasm, and Bryan the distribution network in France.

They explored “lost wax” processes with a number of different metals, including mazak, with North London firms of jewellers, including BAC Castings, but found it too expensive. Typically, a caster in one part of Clerkenwell would produce 40 wax “castings” which would form the stock of duplicate “masters”, and these would be transported to another part of Clerkenwell, where one at a time they would be placed in a large mould filled with sand, into which molten metal would be poured. The hot metal melted the wax, which drained through drainage holes, the rough castings were then removed from the sand, and passed to another worker to clean up.

Mike was the engineer, and their first casting machine was home built, using a washing machine motor to drive the centrifugal motion. Both Mike and Bryan carried out casting in Mike’s garage in Epsom, until neighbours “shopped” him to the Local authority – fair cop, so they were given 6 months to re-locate. This they did to Salfords near Redhill, in premises behind a butchers shop. Here they cast, prepared, sprayed and built their models.

The first Western model was the Mercedes 540K, launched at the Montem Leisure Centre in 1972, where German dealers ordered 100 items.

Bryan wanted to explore the kit market, so Mike bought out his share in Western, in May 1974, and Motorkits was born. Mike Stephens moved to Kings Mill in Redhill Aerodrome, where Western did the casting for Bryan, and his master model builders were Brian Lawrence, Ian Pickering, Adrian Swain, and others for less complicated ranges such as Circuit Series. Bryan also used Bewdley Leisure, as did Mikansue and John Day, for casting. Bryan’s aim was always to get a one piece body casting, which was a big step forward.

Bryan had plating done by Redhill Plating, and then the castings and chrome pieces were delivered to his home in Heath Way for boxing up. Gilly and Bryan remember boxing up 100 MGTDs for a German dealer one night.

After that, Bryan obtained rented premises in London Road Horsham, sharing a flat and basement with a rat! Autoroute, their shop, opened in September 1976, and was able to sell both diecast and his Motorkits range there. Keith Williams, of SMTS, produced the shop sign for Bryan. Keith had been building kits, and of each new Motorkit released, Keith would build approximately 15 into handbuilt finished models, for sale to customers who preferred their Motorkits ready built.

The first to be released was the Morris 8, followed by two Austins. Of the Motorkits range, the MG TD was a runaway success, and the Wolseley Wasp was the slowest seller, with only about 100 being made in a single run.

Following the cars, the commercials came along, including the Carter Paterson van, John Barker Ford Model Y, then 3 European racing cars.

The Advertising Manager at Shell/BP approached Bryan for a special model of the Dennis Tanker, and this was announced in April 1979 in Modellers World. Brian Lawrence made the pattern, and travelled down to Beaulieu National Motor Museum where the real vehicle was housed, to take photographs and measurements. With just 100 handbuilts being made, Shell/BP was not happy with the tanker being labelled as part of the kit ranges, and so the Motor Models range was born. MM1 being the tanker, and MM2 being a little Morris Z van in Robertson’s Jam livery. The same van was available in kit form in Royal Mail livery.  Whilst other models, including a Dennis fire engine were considered, Bryan found the handbuilt project difficult to finance, and so there were only two Motor Models in the range, both being built by model maker Keith Williams.

Most of the Circuit Series of racing cars, designed to be of less detail and simple construction, were mastered by RPH models, working in association with Bewdley Castings. Each production run was about 100, using best quality white metal, whilst successes like the MGTD may have sold up to 1000 in total.

Bryan still has a Dennis Tanker, a Ferrari 246 from the Circuit Series, and a prototype of a Ford Model Y made by Keith Williams as a street rod, but the view was that this would not sell in England. The last delivery of castings for Motorkits was made in January 1980, and the last supply was passed to dealers in April 1980.

Subject ID: 82807

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