Allon White Sports Cars has a long history which started in 1919 when Allon White was demobbed after the 1st World War and returned home to Cranfield.
Wondering what to do next, he opened a bicycle shop which evolved into a motor engineering business and then car dealership. At one point the company operated a fleet of recovery vehicles and a British Leyland franchise, before turning to sports cars and becoming a Morgan Dealer in 1966.
Allon White Sports Cars remained in the White family ownership until 2003 when it was put up for sale and acquired by its current owner, John Bellenger.
One of the first things John did was to broaden the business. The Morgan franchise was retained and Allon White Sports Cars also became an independent Lotus specialist and opened a Coach Trimming workshop. An excellent reputation was soon established within the Lotus community and in 2009 Lotus appointed ‘Allon Whites’ as an official Lotus Service Dealer.
The company’s premises in Cranfield are rather ‘Tardis’ like. From the High Street, all you see is a small 3 car showroom. But walk in, and you soon realise there’s plenty more to the dealership! There are another 2 showrooms holding around 20 sports cars, predominantly Lotus and Morgan, and an ‘Aftersales’ building - home to the Workshop and Trimshop - that opened in May.
The Workshop has 4 highly experienced Technicians, looking after all Lotus from the original Elan through to the latest Evora. And the range of work carried out is varied to say the least! MOTs, servicing, upgrade and restoration work, accident repair and suspension set-up, all regularly feature in the weekly routine.
Turning to the Trimshop, 2 Coach Trimmers are currently employed and Allon Whites is looking to recruit more. Elises feature regularly in the Trimshop and retrimmed seats, sill covers and soft top repairs are typical fare. An interesting growth area is Esprit interiors, from small leather repairs to complete retrims.
Week to week, the company is never quite sure which models of Lotus will grace its showrooms. Not unexpectedly Elises are ‘common’ but the numbers of classic Lotus are growing all the time. At the time of writing, there’s a rather splendid Lotus Cortina, a brace of S4 Elans and one very well sorted Elan +2.
It’s interesting times for Lotus as the company changes its business model and moves from a core business manufacturing low numbers of 2-seater sports cars loved by enthusiasts, to concentrating on electric SUVs and growing a global brand.
Allon Whites isn’t joining Lotus on this journey to electrification and SUVs, but instead has reverted to being an independent Lotus Specialist looking after all models of Lotus up to and including the Evora. And therein lies quite an opportunity for Allon Whites. As Lotus moves away from supporting ‘heritage’ models, the expertise for these models within the official Lotus network will fall. A good time to be an enthusiastic and knowledgeable independent specialist who loves looking after the older models!
The aim of Allon White Sports Cars is to be a ‘one stop’ shop catering to owners of heritage models of Lotus. Although the main business is sales and routine servicing, restoration type work utilising the expertise within the Trimshop and Workshop is increasing nicely.
Allon White Sports Cars prides itself on its customer service and providing helpful, friendly advice. They’re happy to advise on all aspects of Lotus ownership, from someone thinking of buying their first Lotus, to servicing and technical advice, to renovating and improving car interiors. And if any Lotus owners are ever passing, they’re always welcome to drop in for a chat and a coffee.
And to round things off, a quick mention of Allon White Sports Cars’ Breakfast Clubs. These will be held on the 1st Saturday of the month starting in November. Everyone’s welcome and there’ll be hot drinks and bacon rolls from 9am and a guest speaker or other ‘theme’. Details available on Allon Whites’ website and social media.