DAGENHAM
London, England
Dagenham Motors was not a separate automobile manufacturer in the usual sense. It was a major London Ford distributor, dealership organization and promoter of specially bodied Ford cars.
Its roots were in the Car Mart group, founded by Major R. S. Grigg. Car Mart began with a hire-car operation, later became an important London motor dealer, and established the Car Mart Garage in Balderton Street near Oxford Street. That garage developed into Dagenham Motors Ltd. around 1932.
During the 1930s, Dagenham Motors attempted to move Ford slightly upmarket by offering limited-production bodies on ordinary Ford chassis. It also commissioned commercial bodies, including van and pickup designs on Ford Model C and CX chassis. The firm was therefore functioning partly like a traditional coachwork agent: selecting or commissioning distinctive bodies and marketing the completed cars through its Ford distributorship.
Among its best-known offerings were the Ford V8 “D.M. Specials.” In October 1935, a bare Ford V8 chassis suitable for special bodywork cost £190. Dagenham Motors offered a completed D.M. Sports Saloon for £425 and a D.M. Foursome Drophead Coupé for £415—nearly twice the price of a standard-bodied Ford.
The Vogue Coupé has several details that distinguish it from the regular Ford body, including a very low, close-coupled two-door roofline, a long, uninterrupted side window opening, a more rounded and formal rear roof treatment, small luggage compartment, flowing rear fenders and a standard Ford V8 chassis, bonnet, running gear with much of the front sheet metal beneath the custom body.
The Foursome Drophead Coupé was the open version, with a folding roof that could be used fully closed, partly open or completely lowered. Surviving references indicate that these were handmade or extremely limited-production automobiles; very few examples are known today.
The coachbuilt cars were only a small and glamorous part of the business. Dagenham Motors’ main activity remained selling, servicing and distributing ordinary Ford cars and commercial vehicles.
By 1958, it was described as one of Britain’s largest Ford distributors, employing approximately 500 people.
Later advertising abandoned the elegant triangular DM emblem. By the 1980s, the identity normally combined the familiar Ford oval with a bold italic Dagenham Motors wordmark.
Dagenham Motors eventually became part of the larger Polar Ford/Ford Retail dealership organization. Ford Motor Company took full ownership of Polar Ford in 2004. In 2014, the various regional trading names—including Dagenham Motors, Polar Ford, Brunel Ford and others—were unified under the TrustFord name.
(sources: Unique Cars and Parts, Commercial Motor)