British Cars, Burlingame

Hi,

Just curious, my heritage certificate shows the original dealer of my '59 XK150 was “British Cars, Burlingame, California.” Anyone else share the same dealer?

Regards,
Clive.

British Cars of Burlingame, 65 California Drive, Burlingame, (previously S & V Motors, Ltd, same address) became one of the numerous Northern California dealerships established under British Motor Car Distributors, Ltd, 1800 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco. Kjell H. Qvale was the president of the San Francisco based distributorship.

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Thanks Mike,

I see the company still exists - but not selling Jaguars! The Burlingame address is now a Mazda dealership, part of a lager area of dealerships.

Clive.

For many years British Leyland and Jaguar had this retailer on California Drive in Burlingame California, a wealthy suburb on the San Francisco Peninsula. It was owned by Bob Cole who got his start in the 1960s with a store on the El Camino Real in San Carlos, just south of Burlingame. He sold Triumph and Lotus cars and perhaps Jaguars as I recall before expanding to the Burlingame location. Sometime around 1981 he was offered a retailer in Walnut Creek California as Jaguar felt that a store in Burlingame was too close to the Kjell Qvale operation in San Francisco. Mr. Cole operated this Walnut Creek retailer for many years but I understand he has sold it and retired. Bob Cole was a well known car collector and connoisseur in the SF Bay Area.