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ONE of Sydney’s oldest Ford dealerships, Brad Garlick Ford in Ryde, is to be closed and relocated with the long-standing name retired.

The site on Blaxland Road has been selling Ford cars since 1924, first as a car yard and, from 1932, as an official Ford dealership owned by prominent car dealer Jack R. Englert (1899-1981). In 1984 it was taken over by its namesake, automotive businessman Brad Garlick and became part of the Australian Auto Group (AAG) in 2017.

AAG, which is owned by South African industrial company Motus, formerly Imperial Holdings, will from October 1 move the Brad Garlick Ford assets under the City Ford name and locate it next door to Victoria Road.

The Victoria Road site currently has AAG’s Isuzu Ute and Hyundai showroom but GoAutoNews Premium understands the Isuzu showroom will be closed to make way for the Ford franchise.

The Brad Garlick Ford showroom, which was renovated in 2017, is not expected to continue as a car dealership and is expected to be sold. Near-city Ryde has increasingly been sought after by property developers building apartments.

Ford Australia spokesman Matt Moran said there would be “no change to the service facility in Hope Street, Melrose Park, nor the ‘Smartlab’ new vehicle showcase/sales facility at Macquarie Shopping Centre, Ryde.”

AAG, which was created in 2005 when Imperial Holdings bought the assets of the Ford Sydney Retail Joint Venture from Ford Australia, already operates a City Ford complex in O’Riordan Street, Alexandria.

Imperial’s successor, Motus, started in South Africa in 1947 as a car dealership in Johannesburg and now has industrial services and retail groups in four continents covering vehicle distribution and retail, logistics, car rental, tourism, financial services, automotive parts and industrial products distribution.

Images: Google

By Neil Dowling

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