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The Garage 266 Binder

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PROFILE Autofarm 20<br />

Purely<br />

PORSCHE<br />

at Autofarm<br />

Richard Barnett visits<br />

Oxfordshire-based<br />

Porsche specialists<br />

Autofarm. For Porsche<br />

owners your car couldn’t<br />

be in any safer hands!<br />

THE UK has always<br />

been an important<br />

market for Porsche –<br />

from the mid-1950s<br />

on British enthusiasts<br />

took a shine to the manufacturer’s<br />

sports cars and that<br />

relationship has continued to<br />

this day.<br />

Down the years many independent<br />

Porsche specialists<br />

have sprung up, but there<br />

can’t be another that matches<br />

the history and today enjoys<br />

the same reputation as<br />

Oxfordshire-based Autofarm.<br />

<strong>The</strong> business was founded in<br />

1973 by Josh Sadler and Steve<br />

Barr, who saw an opening for<br />

a Porsche specialist to cater<br />

for that expanding enthusiast<br />

base.<br />

Originally based in Iver,<br />

Buckinghamshire, a year later<br />

Autofarm took on Jack Philips<br />

as a technician and Josh<br />

Sadler’s wife, Sue came on<br />

board in 1975, initially to run<br />

the stores.<br />

In 1977 Autofarm upped<br />

sticks and moved a few miles<br />

to Amersham-on-the Hill where<br />

there was not only a workshop<br />

and offices but a small showroom<br />

as well, and by the mid-<br />

1980s the business was strong<br />

enough to employs 20 people.<br />

Several initiatives were introduced,<br />

including replacement<br />

exhaust systems and glassfibre<br />

body panels.<br />

Business grew thanks to<br />

Josh Sadler and Steve Barr<br />

running Porsches in numerous<br />

club events and they helped<br />

create a production Porsche<br />

race series, and if that wasn’t<br />

enough to keep them occupied<br />

the business moved from<br />

Amersham to Tring where Autofarm<br />

held main dealer franchises<br />

for Suzuki and Saab, a<br />

short-lived move that didn’t<br />

work as planned but prompted<br />

the business to deal solely<br />

20, 21 News Analysis.indd 1 19/10/2017 09:18

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