Motor Books, Cecil Court, London

[stewartingram]

I popped into here a short while ago (not a place I frequent, but one of those rare "interesting" London shops. Alas no more it seems - the chap behind the till informs me that most books are 50% off, "closing down sale".

 

Soon be nowhere to go whilst at work.

 

Stewart

[Horsetan]

I popped into here a short while ago (not a place I frequent, but one of those rare "interesting" London shops. Alas no more it seems - the chap behind the till informs me that most books are 50% off, "closing down sale".

 

Soon be nowhere to go whilst at work.

 

....unless you can pop down to Ian Allan at Waterloo. That is the only other shop with a good range of railway books. Then there's Foyles in Charing Cross Road.

 

Motor Books has struggled in the last decade, and West End high rent is only just one factor. They used to have a useful book and model branch at the Headington roundabout in Oxford, but that one went down the tubes a few years ago.

 

The model car shop next door, St. Martin's Models, used to have its own dedicated premises in St. Martin's Lane, but had to retreat into a smaller premises in Cecil Court at roughly the same time that Motor Books also shifted there. I wonder how long they will last now.

Edited September 6, 2013 by Horsetan

[bbishop]

Ivan,

 

I think the model car shop took over one of the Motor Books shops. It also mainly large scale Grand Prix, not much good for someone wanting c.1960 British and German cars in 1:43.5.

 

Bill

[petethemole]

They used to have some good military vehicle books bu I haven't been in there for over 20 years. Sad that they're going under though.

 

Pete

[Horsetan]

Ivan,I think the model car shop took over one of the Motor Books shops. ...

It moved into half of the Motor Books premises in Cecil Court. Motor Books originally moved into a double fronted premises there, which had previously been either an art dealer's or antiquarian bookshop.

[trisonic]

Will they remain as an Internet/Mail Order source? Anyone know?

It seems obvious that they are being priced off the site...

 

Best, Pete.

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Used to pop in there at lunchtime when I worked in central London. Sad to hear of its demise.

[Horsetan]

Will they remain as an Internet/Mail Order source? Anyone know?

It seems obvious that they are being priced off the site....

They rarely sold anything at below cover price unless they were clearing stock. Unfortunately, when you've got Amazon muscling in on every area that you cover, you're generally going to be on a loser.

 

Ian Allan don't seem to be greatly affected as their customer base is fairly loyal, even the ones who use their shops as a library.

[trisonic]

Not from over here in the 'States. MotorBooks was very helpful. I collect car books too.

Ian Allan ought to open a branch at Liverpool Street, catch the City lot who won't go sarf of the river.....

 

Best, Pete.

Edited September 6, 2013 by trisonic

[tetsudofan]

They've been running down their stock for some time now. Always used to pop in everytime I went up to London but recently it's not been worth it. Ports of call are now London Transport Museum and Ian Allan at Waterloo.

 

Keith

[Horsetan]

....Ian Allan ought to open a branch at Liverpool Street, catch the City lot who won't go sarf of the river......

No, that's what their Birmingham shop is for!

[steve1]

If the car models are now in Cecil Court, then that means they have gone back!

 

I frequented the model shop in the early 1970s when I worked in London and they were originally part of Motor Books but in a separate room. Some years later they moved to the big shop actually on the 'main road'. Is the chap running it called Ralph? If so, he's been there for over 40 years. He used to race a white Mustang. There were pics of it in the shop at one time.

 

The chap who/owned ran the book shop was a notoriously miserable b*gg*r and prone to rudeness to his customers. Had some cracking books though, cars and railways.

 

steve

[Jason T]

The shop in Oxford was fantastic, not only a decent selection of books but a real model shop selling stuff to model with (rather than open the box and plonk). It got taken over and striped off it's books (I got a few bargains)' to be replaced with second hand crap that unsurprisingly, didn't sell very well and it closed down not long after.

 

Used to pop in the London shop occasionally, shame to hear that it too is closing.

[Linners]

They've been running down their stock for some time now. Always used to pop in everytime I went up to London but recently it's not been worth it. Ports of call are now London Transport Museum and Ian Allan at Waterloo.

 

Keith

I have to agree, LTM has a very good book shop, and there are "some" bargains/reductions on their books, and they have a good range of railway and transport titles, not just LT ones. I also make for IA in lower Marsh when "in town" but I prefer the Cardiff branch of Ian Allan, especially as they have quite a good range of 00 gauge models. It's a shame to hear about Motorbooks, but the shop space and stock ranges have shrunk considerably since my first visit back in the late 90's.

 

Linners

[stewartingram]

I think you will find that

a) Motor Books have downsized from a double frontage to a single one in recent times

b) The model car shop was round the corner on St.Martin's Lane. This closed down due to rent increase in fairly recent times.

c) The 2nd frontage of Motor Books has been taken over by another car model shop, with limited - and expensive -ranges only. In the few times I've been by, I've yet to see a customer.

 

and finally d) Ian Allan Waterloo - right outside my office! I just pop in there for the abuse from the staff, a read, and sometimes the odd purchase....

 

Stewart

[johnlambert]

Sorry to hear Motor Books is closing, I've picked up a few interesting items there.  The internet is ok if you know what you're looking for but you can't beat bricks and mortar for having a browse and coming across an unexpected gem.

[Horsetan]

..... B) The model car shop was round the corner on St.Martin's Lane. This closed down due to rent increase in fairly recent times.

c) The 2nd frontage of Motor Books has been taken over by another car model shop, with limited - and expensive -ranges only. In the few times I've been by, I've yet to see a customer.

 

Yes, the model car shop is St. Martin's Models. They are the ones that retreated from St. Martin's Lane. The present showroom is usually devoid of customers.

 

They also want to charge £85 to pre-order a forthcoming 1:18 model that I can order from Germany for about £15 less, including the postage!

[Pacific231G]

Shame they're closing. They used to stock some difficult to find French books like the the FACS series (technically a magazine but in those days more like the Oakwood Press books) and most of my collection of these came from Cecil Court. I'd found visits less rewarding recently but used to spend quite a lot of time browsing there. 

[EddieB]

Sorry to hear they're closing, but the news comes as no surprise.   They've come down an awful long way from St Martin's Court days, when they had a basement dedicated to North American railways and railway modelling (leave bags behind the counter), and their stock of railway books has been dwindling since the move.

 

They did perhaps gain a reputation for shop-damaged (should that be customer damaged?) books rarely offered at discount, imported books not always being priced and the shop being rather hot in the summer.  Nevertheless, I usually came away having spent more than planned - until recently when I've tended to come away empty-handed.

 

On a wider perspective, it represents the loss of yet another bookshop from what used to be London's answer to Hay-on-Wye, a village of bookshops along Charing Cross Road.  (Someone could write a book about it...)

[EddieB]

Don't forget that Ian Allan run a loyalty scheme, crediting £5 for every £100 spent (all branches), but which tends to be less well publicised these days (ask at the counter).  (On the other hand, members of the Stephenson Locomotive Society can now purchase Ian Allan and Noodle titles at trade price through the society).

[AndyH]

Oh, a shame that.

Remember it from my youth to buying a couple of LT books signed on purchase by John Scott-Morgan very recently.

Next time I am up will have to call in.

Andy

[Oldddudders]

Motor Books had been in St Martin's Court in my recollection. A double-frontage, with a large downstairs section dealing in US railroads among other worldwide categories. If I used Leicester Square tube then it was en-route to/from Charing Cross mainline station. Yes, the proprietor was as happy as a dead bird.

[The Bigbee Line]

Another of the old school bites the dust.  Motor Books was a handy walk from Charing Cross, also Hamblings was another blast from the past.  With Victors in Islington, my favourite trio to visit when in the vicinity.

[Oldddudders]

Another of the old school bites the dust.  Motor Books was a handy walk from Charing Cross, also Hamblings was another blast from the past.  With Victors in Islington, my favourite trio to visit when in the vicinity.

The Hamblings bloke was another Cheerful Charlie! I guess West End rents would break anyone's spirit.

[Horsetan]

..... Yes, the proprietor was as happy as a dead bird.

I've seen dead birds that had more party atmosphere.