American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 180 July 2014 | Page 13

90 years of looking
to the future
2014 sees Warr’s Harley-Davidson celebrate its 90th anniversary.
The company, which is Europe’s oldest Harley dealership, is already
looking forward to its centenary as it announced ambitious plans to
completely redevelop its central London premises in order to meet
the growing demand for its services

Artist impression of the new store's exterior

ARR’S Harley-Davidson first opened its doors on
London’s famous Kings Road in 1924, and today
the business is still family owned and continues
to operate from the same address as the day it
first opened.
The Warr’s story began with a cycle shop at 661 Kings Road when Captain
Frederick Warr started working for himself in 1924 after having seen active service
in World War I and then returning to employment in the army after the war due to
the lack of work elsewhere. Within a year of opening the shop he had expanded his
operation to include motorcycles. During that time the Motor Company had its
European operation based in an office on Newman Street in London, and so
Frederick, having seen how reliable the early Harley-Davidsons were during his time
in the Royal Artillery, visited the Company’s agent and became an authorized dealer.
When asked why his grandfather chose to work with Harley-Davidson when there
were so many other brands available at that time, John Warr, the current Managing
Director of Warr’s, said: “He was already a motorcyclist at that time, and being in the
Royal Artillery he witnessed the move from horses to automotive power, and that
included motorcycles, and there were a lot of Americans involved in that process, so
he was exposed to Harley-Davidson motorcycles. While there were lots of options
for American bikes at that time, he chose to go with Harley-Davidson simply because
he liked them, and because of his exposure to them during his army service.”
When World War II started Frederick went back into service putting the family
business on hold until his return from the war effort, by which time he was joined
by his son Fred Jnr, who had also seen active service, in his case with the Royal Air
Force. It was Fred Jnr’s exposure to WL45 bikes during his time in the RAF that led
him to join his father in the family business. However, it was a difficult time for them
as the war effort had forced the British government to introduce rationing, a
restriction on what goods people could buy that stayed in place until 1954.
he rationing had a very deep impact on the Warr’s family business as imports
of new motorcycles from the US were not allowed during the time of rationing.
However, the war effort did mean that there was a ready supply of army surplus
motorcycles available, and buying, selling and servicing them kept the Warr’s shop
running in the years after the war had ended. Once the supply of ex-army machinery

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A glimpse of what the interior of the new store will look like

began to dry up, Fred Jnr decided he would travel to the States to source Harleys
direct from the factory. Travelling by sea on the Queen Mary, Fred Jnr landed in New
York and then traveled by train to Milwaukee where he met with William H. Davidsons
on the banks of Lake Michigan. As a result of that meeting Fred was able to secure
the first new Harleys to be imported into Britain since 1939 and the outbreak of war.
His first shipment of motorcycles from the US were 1957 model Sportsters in late
1956.
The tradition of working in the family business is continued today by John Warr,
who joined the company in 1981 just as the Kings Road site was redeveloped,
causing the showroom to be relocated to the nearby Waterford Road. His joining
the business also coincided with the management of H-D buying the company back
from AMF and the introduction of the Evo motor. These two changes led to a
resurgence in people’s interest in Harley-Davidsons at a time when Fred Jnr was
looking to retire, making John’s timing perfect to take Warr’s Harley-Davidson on to
the next stage of its history.
Today Warr’s Harley-Davidson is well known for its custom builds based around

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