Three Quarters of a Century of Family History

Between The Wars

The Ryder family operated a very successful milk and ice cream business in the Bootle area of Liverpool in the 1920’s and 30’s.  W.H. Ryder, the proprietor of that business had two sons. One of these two sons, William Allen, it would seem was not very interested in the ice cream business and developed an interest in motor vehicles.  The result was that father Ryder allowed William Allen to use part of the family business premises to set up a motor business, which he did some time during the 30’s, probably about 1930 or 1931.  The business had developed during the second half of the 30’s to take on a Dodge distributorship and the company were engaged in the sale of commercial vehicles and there is evidence on file that they were associated with various bodybuilders, supplying completed trucks, vans etc. to users in the area.  By this time the business had moved to a new location, where they had more substantial premises.  Inevitably the business came to a standstill in 1939 at the outbreak of war although there was some activity for a period of time associated with military vehicles passing through the Bootle docks.

  The War Years

During the period of the wartime bombing of Bootle, the Ryders premises were requisitioned as an ARP (air raid precautions) unit and government requisitioned vehicles associated with this activity were garaged at Ryders premises.  Some time during the war the premises were damaged by bombing and as a result after the war Ryders received reparations which they used to purchase the premises at Knowsley Road, Bootle.

Post War Years

In the period from 1946 onwards the Knowsley Road premises were developed as a Petrol Station and Service Department as dealers for the Austin Motor Company. Picking up on their pre-war commercial vehicle experience, Ryders also sold trucks and vans from Knowsley Road and shortly afterwards a car showroom was established in Waterloo (a suburb of Liverpool).  This was up and running in 1955 when Jim Dixon joined the business and having initially been concerned with the sale of motor cars and trucks, took over a new arm of the company concerned with the marketing of motor scooters and motor cycles throughout Great Britain.  These were manufactured by the Steyr-Daimler-Puch Company of Vienna, Austria for whom we held at that time the British concession.

The Swinging 60’s

The motor scooter prospered, indeed it boomed for quite a number of years and those old enough to do so will well remember that the streets and roads of the UK were literally flooded with Italian, German, Austrian and other motor scooters for a period of about 12-14 years, when the fashion or craze diminished approaching the 70’s, possibly because of the more affluent society which could afford motor cars that were by that time beginning to be more plentiful.  Motor cars during the 50’s and 60’s were, of course, subject to allocation and restriction.

At the time that the motor scooter business was beginning to flag and Ryders were seeking something to take its place, Steyr-Daimler-Puch were building a 4 x 4 vehicle called a Haflinger.  The design and development costs for this had been paid for by the Austrian army who were at that time taking all of the production but after some negotiation an agreement was reached whereby Steyr-Daimler-Puch of Austria were allowed to sell the Haflinger in the UK.  So far as we are aware this is the only country in the world where such a concession was granted outside of Austria.  The Haflinger was a very specialist vehicle, having its 4 cylinder 700 cc air cooled engine at the rear but its off road performance at that time was nothing short of outstanding compared with the opposition although on road it had a maximum speed of about 40 mph.  Many were sold in Wales, Scotland, the Western Isles and other areas were the terrain and going was difficult.  The Swiss Army, Dutch Army and eventually the Indonesian Army were other users of the Haflinger which was the forerunner of the Pinzgauer, the Pinzgauer being a ‘real’ vehicle also made by Steyr-Daimler-Puch which has since been featured in the press when it very nearly captured the British Army Ambulance contract.

The Haflinger business was good until about 1972 when the production run was coming to an end and the Pinzgauer was felt to be much too expensive for the British market.  Ryders were at this time beginning to wind down their business with Steyr-Daimler-Puch, the motor scooter and motor cycle sales having petered out a few years before.

The Dawn Of A New Era - Winching

During the course of marketing the Haflinger a need for a winch was established.  The other four wheel drive vehicles on the road, primarily the Land Rover and the Austin Gypsy both had mechanical drum winches driven off the crank shaft from the front mounted engine.  These winches were unsuitable for the rear engine Haflinger and a search was put in hand for a suitable winch.  This search came to an end one day when Jim Dixon was having lunch with a Haflinger buyer who had come to collect his vehicle to take it to Scotland for shooting on the Glorious Twelfth and the availability of an electric winch sold on the American market came to light.

Short negotiation took place and as a result Ryders became the sole British concessionaires for what was then the American Belleview winch manufactured in Portland, Oregon.  The Warn company who were the major customer of Belleview manufacturing subsequently took over the manufacturing operation and Ryders became the sole British concessionaires for their range of winches and other products from May 1963.

Since 1963 Ryders have established themselves as the leading supplier of all makes and models of winches and have recently undertaken a massive redevelopment of their site in Bootle to show their commitment and determination to maintaining their position in the winch marketplace.

To compliment their winch range Ryders market their all aluminium beavertail platforms for recovery vehicles and have been at the forefront of developing an in-vehicle loading systems to meet the latest Manual Handling Regulations.

The Ryders Group of Companies

Running parallel with all this the development of the motor business was taking place.  Ryders have established themselves as a family run multi-franchise car dealership at their two sites in Crosby and Bootle. Ryders Ford franchise in Crosby is the oldest franchised dealer in Liverpool and are recognised as one the leading Ford retailers in the North West.

Looking to the Future

Apart from the Winch Division at the Bootle premises Ryders hold Mazda, Mitsubishi franchises.

Continuity in premises, buildings and business is one thing but continuity in management is also a pre-requisite of a successful family business.  To this end, of the three sons in the Dixon family only one of them had an interest in the winch and motor  business.  Mike Dixon soon developed the family passion for motor cars and upon Jim Dixon’s retirement became Managing Director.  Before taking over the Directorship of Ryders Mike gained valuable experience at what was then Austin Rover at Cowley and went on to become Production Director at Caterham Cars, manufacturers of small high performance sports cars.

During more than 75 years of trading the Ryder family have managed to maintain their position in the marketplace, offering a more personal one-to-one service, unlike some bigger corporations where customers feel that they are just a number.  This personal attention to customer service has proved very successful with the vast majority of customers returning year after year. 

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