Airfields used to store motor vehicles

First response to question asked by MSgtWilliamsUSAFRet ~ Member ~ Bruntingthorpe Thread.

" Thanks for asking the question I have often asked myself but never put it into words. How many autos are parked on former RAF bases and what is their status? Are they new, awaiting customers, or used with no place else to park them? Just why are so many being hidden away on former bases? And what about weathering? "

The only airfield that I have seen storing new motor vehicles had been at RAF Oakley during the 1960's used for models produced at the Morris Cowley factory.

All of the other airfield storage sites that I've witnessed were storing ' pre-enjoyed ' or used vehicles from motor vehicle lease companies.

I heard that the BMC vehicles stored at RAF Oakley suffered both from theft, weathering & vermin infestation.

The last figure for the total number of motor ( automobiles ) in the UK had been in the order of 32 million.

My understanding had been that the end of lease vehicles could be offered through employee sales before being sold at auction.

My recollection had been that RAF Oakley could hold between 2000 to 5000 vehicles.

Dave.

Both Upper Heyford and Thurleigh have been used in the past.

I ordered a Rover 827 through a main dealer in 1990. It was ex Rover management fleet, and had been stored at Oakley. It was not delivered as mice had made a home in the car and eaten a lot of the upholstery. The good news was they gave me different car which was a better spec, at no additional cost.

New Fiat's were stored at Burtonwood in the early 1970'S, they were delivered by rail and unloaded at Warrington Central station and taken by car transporter to Burtonwood.
Jim

Thanks All, that had been my general concept of the situation. It still begs the question, is there NO demand for the vehicles stored? Or perhaps the large auto manufacturers are behind the practice to keep from flooding the market with "Used cars" and consequently reducing "New car" sales.

Maybe Bruntingthorpe could also be used to recycle autos.

I believe that there is a element of truth in your reasoning as how the whole disposal process of lease vehicles is managed is to ensure the lease company retains a high residual value in their stock holdings.

A number of lease hire companies took a shower during the 1995 to 2005 time period when their stock values took a dive.

During my time employees of Morris, BMC, BL & AR could purchase their new personal vehicles with a 30% discount and could not resell them for a specified time period.

A colleague of mine who had a son working for a significant Renault franchise operation told me that his son could purchase up to a maximum of three new vehicles per year for family use.

Fleet hire and Fleet lease companies could obtain significant reductions if they contractually agreed to accept a minimum number of vehicles at specified times.

The UK government operated a scrap auto vehicle scheme a few years back that reduced the number the total number of vehicles on the UK roads by an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 to simulate the new car registrations during the depression and used various green concepts to promote their revenue generation program.

During my time as a fleet administration clerk we received vehicles back that were only three or four years old with less than a 100,000 on the clock that were only fit for scrap.

Looking at the SMMT numbers they listed a year to date total for 2014 of 2.476 million units.

I don't believe that they would get planning permission to operate a motor vehicle recycling plant on an airfield in these days of environmental awareness.

I have to rely on recycled parts to keep my 20 year on clunkers on the road as a significant number of new parts are no longer available.

During my time in Japan they were scrapping their vehicles around five years old due the high cost of keeping them running on the road and therefore a significant number of imported vehicles were re exported to their original country of manufacture as a good value pre enjoyed vehicle.

Dave.

Swinderby was used in 94 for storing Peugeots. Only one problem, no planning permission!

looking at some of the 1946 RAF photos on here www.americanairmuseum.com/media?search=English+Heritage , it would seem that vehicle storage is not a recent concept. RAF Spanhoe springs to mind

kebecker;155767 wrote:

looking at some of the 1946 RAF photos on here www.americanairmuseum.com/media?search=English+Heritage , it would seem that vehicle storage is not a recent concept. RAF Spanhoe springs to mind

Could these be WW2 surplus vehicles as I believe that Arthur East purchased a number of crawlers for his wood yard business in Berkhamstead to replace his steam driven vehicles used during the conflict ?

Harboda77;155764 wrote:

I believe that there is a element of truth in your reasoning as how the whole disposal process of lease vehicles is managed is to ensure the lease company retains a high residual value in their stock holdings.

A number of lease hire companies took a shower during the 1995 to 2005 time period when their stock values took a dive.

During my time employees of Morris, BMC, BL & AR could purchase their new personal vehicles with a 30% discount and could not resell them for a specified time period.

A colleague of mine who had a son working for a significant Renault franchise operation told me that his son could purchase up to a maximum of three new vehicles per year for family use.

Fleet hire and Fleet lease companies could obtain significant reductions if they contractually agreed to accept a minimum number of vehicles at specified times.

The UK government operated a scrap auto vehicle scheme a few years back that reduced the number the total number of vehicles on the UK roads by an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 to simulate the new car registrations during the depression and used various green concepts to promote their revenue generation program.

During my time as a fleet administration clerk we received vehicles back that were only three or four years old with less than a 100,000 on the clock that were only fit for scrap.

Looking at the SMMT numbers they listed a year to date total for 2014 of 2.476 million units.

I don't believe that they would get planning permission to operate a motor vehicle recycling plant on an airfield in these days of environmental awareness.

I have to rely on recycled parts to keep my 20 year on clunkers on the road as a significant number of new parts are no longer available.

During my time in Japan they were scrapping their vehicles around five years old due the high cost of keeping them running on the road and therefore a significant number of imported vehicles were re exported to their original country of manufacture as a good value pre enjoyed vehicle.

Dave.

Dave, perhaps instead of relying on recycled parts, you could purchase a 3D Printer and make your own. The 3D Printer seems to be the wave of the future.