EPW045608 ENGLAND (1934). The Fiat Motor Works and Cussons Soap and Perfumery Works, Wembley, 1934

The first Fiat cars were imported from Italy in 1903, and by the time that its English subsidiary opened its repair shops in Lancelot Road, Wembley, at the beginning of 1908, there were over 700 Fiats on Britain's roads. The works in Wembley were a major investment, and were claimed to be the most extensive yet built by the agents of a foreign car manufacturer. The original 1.75 acre buildings (on a 5 acre site) included covered storage for up to eighty cars, a machine shop, bodywork and painting departments and a spare parts department with over £10,000 worth of stock. There was a staff of fully trained mechanics, so not only could any repair be carried out without the delay of waiting for a "spare", but an entire vehicle could be reconstructed from spare parts if necessary. This information, and the attached photograph(s) are taken from a publicity document compiled by Fiat Motors Ltd in 1908, from press notices in the daily papers and motoring journals following a press tour of the new premises in February 1908. A copy of this document is held in the Wembley History Society Collection at Brent Archives.