I just love sports cars. It’s a passionateaffair that’s never left me. How can youmeasure anything up against the thrill ofa superbly tuned performance motorcar? Ok, I suppose the odd ‘typhoonpilot’ might have something to say aboutthat. However, this fervour is a raritythese days and I’m sated beyond beliefwhen I get to visit the Porsche Centre inSwindon.History (if nothing else) teaches us

that it can and does repeat itself. Notruer situation than the legacy of DickLovett at the Porsche Centre Swindon.The Dick Lovett legend is a beautifully

crafted combust-ional obsession withperformance motor cars that goes backto 1959. It started as a two-manoperation called Ross Motors sellingmotorcycles in Leicester. Dick Lovett,supported by his wife Stella, had a realzeal for sports cars. At that time theylived above the business, on hand tocater for enquiries from all over the UK.In 1966 Dick relocated the business tothe South-West and started tradingunder his own name from the familyhome near Swindon. This turned out tobe a pivotal moment. The businesssimply grew, got much bigger and nowDick Lovett is the official franchiseholders for Ferrari, Maserati, Porsche,Lotus, BMW, MINI and KTM. It’s anautomotive empire that stretches thelength of the M4 corridor fromHungerford to Cardiff.The Porsche Centre Swindon is a

grand structure worthy of an award Ishouldn’t wonder. It’s a truly imposing

building founded on the exact faith ofeverything that Porsche and Dick Lovettcovet; it’s modern, beautifully designedand totally eye-catching... a most fittingautomotive altar to the Porsche brand.This high profile location has very easyaccess to the M4, London and the A419to Cheltenham. The current PorscheCentre Swindon has been on this sitenow for eight years and I’m met by theDealer Principal, Richard Davies. Nowhere’s a man that knows and loves carsand the absolute workings of the clockthat makes this business tick.Richard Davies has been with the

Dick Lovett Group for some twentyyears and has been steering the PorscheCentre Swindon for the last ten years.It transpires that Richard has always

been in the car trade and says, ‘I movedfrom the Midlands to join Dick Lovettand have never looked back. This is atrue family business and the familyvalues are as strong today as they’vealways been’. To me that evokescommitment to their staff and thecustomers. A rare commodity these days.Richard goes on to explain, ‘we have 35staff here and they’re all car nuts. Someof our staff have been with the DickLovett Group for thirty years or more’.The Porsche Centre Swindon has only a3 per cent turnover in staff. This is waybelow the industry standard of 30 percent . It’s my view that if you don’t likesomething or somebody, then give thema swerve. That’s clearly not the case atDick Lovett. Loyalty has to be earnedand it’s crystal clear that the business

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motoring

a familyaffair

Eric Barton discovers the passion behind thePorsche Centre in Swindon...

‘Dick and Stella Lovett 1967’

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