Harold Radford
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Harold Radford & Co. Limited was a long-established British retailer of Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars. It was located in Melton Court, South Kensington, London SW7, opposite of South Kensington tube station. Under G. H. Radford, the company developed a bespoke coach building business in the late 1940s named Harold Radford (Coachbuilders) Limited. The coach building business began by making bodies for new Bentleys with amendments to suit the rural lifestyle of the landed gentry. In the Swinging Sixties, Radford became best known for luxury versions of the cult-car Mini.
Radford was relaunched in 2021 as a supplier of bespoke global luxury cars [1] by TV presenter and car builder Ant Anstead, former Formula One World Champion Jenson Button, and business adviser and lawyer Roger Behle.
Ownership[edit]
As a member of the H R Owen group (itself since October 1959 a member of the Swain group owned by The Provincial Traction Company Limited), from March 1961, the activities of Harold Radford (Coachbuilders) Limited were rolled in with the servicing and body repair operations of H R Owen and Swain under the Harold Radford (Coachbuilders) Limited name.[2]
In September 1966, Harold Radford (Coachbuilders) Limited was placed in voluntary liquidation for not meeting its liabilities. In October 1967, a new company was formed, named Harold Radford Coachbuilders (1967) Limited, to continue acquiring cars and improve the car conversion business.[3]
Today, Radford is co-owned by Ant Anstead, Jenson Button, and Roger Behle under the company name Finest Coachbuilding Group (FCG), which is a United States Limited Liability Company (LLC). The group also has UK holdings, which FCG entirely owns.[4]
References[edit]
- ^ "Jenson Button and Ant Anstead help revive British coachbuilder Radford with new models". Driving.co.uk from The Sunday Times. 17 March 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
- ^ The Provincial Traction Company Limited. The Times, Monday, 3 Jul 1961; pg. 21; Issue 55123.
- ^ Industrial Models to be acquired. The Times, Tuesday, 10 Oct 1967; pg. 22; Issue 57068
- ^ USPTO. "RADFORD - Finest Coachbuilding Group, LLC Trademark Registration". USPTO.report. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
- The Sydney Morning Herald - 21 Apr 1958 page 5 "British Cars Star At New York Show"
- ']New York Times 6 Apr 1958 "LUXURY MODELS, TOO; German, French, Italian, British Cars Join US"