Motor Showroom, Severn St. Birmingham
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John Bright Street, Birmingham, B1 1BN
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Visit websiteThe earliest surviving motor showroom in Birmingham seems to be Rosebery Buildings on the corner of John Bright Street and Severn Street, designed by Marcus O. Type and built in 1902-3. It links factories to showrooms, as cars were made here, as well as sold, by the Heron Motor Company.
This is a typical piece of Type's quirky and unexpected work, a slightly sinister Gothic block with a corner turret like a small octagonal belfry. Heron, and its successor Mobile Motor and Engineering, were out of business by 1907.
In 1913 Percy James Evans was selling his own motor cycles there. By the twenties he was specialising in second hand cars, particularly Morrises, and when P.J. Evans Ltd. moved to Bristol Street in the sixties it was one of the biggest car sales firms in the city. It is now the main Jaguar agent in the city.
By Road: On the corner of Severn Street and John Bright Street in the city centre.
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