1938 Brent Cross Car Sales Ad | Vintage London Motoring Ephemera NW4

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Item ID: 297241781794
eBay Seller ID: britishfareasttraders
eBay Store Link: View this item
Category: Collectables:Paper & Ephemera:Ephemera:1901-1950
Condition: In decent condition. Please check our images.

1938 Brent Cross Car Sales Ad | Vintage London Motoring Ephemera NW4

A rare 1938 motoring advertisement from wartime London–a remarkable survivor from the era of civilian car hire and home-leave travel in Britain.

Measurements: approx. 4 1/2 x 3 3/8 inches
Dates: n/a
Condition: In decent condition, please see images. 
Internal notes: QC passed

Picture London in 1938, on the brink of global change. The streets of Hendon Way are lined with polished motors, their chrome glinting under the grey skies, as soldiers and civilians on leave look for a set of wheels to savour their days of freedom. From the pages of the Overseas Daily Mail comes this evocative advertisement for Brent Cross Service Co., offering â€œ50–100 new and dependable used cars” for hire or sale–with a repurchase guarantee, no less. There’s a gentle urgency in the copy: Home on Leave? Leave it to Us. The war drums were faint but stirring–and this advert captures the tail end of peaceful enterprise before conscription and rations would change daily life forever.

This original vintage car dealership advertisement, measuring approximately 4 1/2 x 3 3/8 inches, presents a compelling piece of pre-WWII motoring history. It features bold, stylised typography and an illustrated motorcar graphic–a wonderful detail for automobile historians or ephemera collectors. Brent Cross Service Co. operated in London’s NW4 district, with the ad proudly stating â€œOpen Day and Night”, reflecting both wartime readiness and a growing consumer culture. Printed in 1938 in the Overseas Daily Mail, this ad speaks to an era of post-Depression confidence and the everyday luxuries just before they disappeared.

Preserving items like this is not simply an act of collection, but one of remembrance. These advertisements tell a story of a nation’s resilience, resourcefulness, and aspiration, even on the eve of immense upheaval. Whether you are curating a wartime motoring archive, exploring British transport history, or simply drawn to the aesthetic of pre-war print design, this piece holds deep historical and emotional resonance.