Exhibition: A Century of Motoring

The Tale of Two Irishmen - 'A Company and a Car'.

Official Opening On Thursday 20th March At 7.45 p.m. 

This exhibition tells the tale of two Irishmen ‘A Company and a Car’ 

At the end of the 19th and early 20th Centuries two Irishmen from County Kildare, W.A. Maxwell from Castle Keeley, Naas and W.R. McCullock from Sawyerswood, Athy emigrated to Scotland. 

W.A. Maxwell established a company which came under the heading of a new commercial enterprise of the time known as the Motor trade, this company was Westfield Autocar Co. It 

was an outstanding and in some ways unique example in its chosen line of business. The exhibition comprises the remaining know relics of that company. 

It displays:- the people involved with the company and their families. The early workshops, and the people who worked there. 

It shows photographs of early motoring as a relaxing week-end occupation. 

While W.A. Maxwell was the far sighted business man with the resource: W.R. McCullock was the engineer. The exhibition shows the ‘car’ a 1902 Arrol Johnson (The Arrol part of the syndicate was Sir William Arrol who built the Forth Bridge) in its first rally pre-war and the jubilee of the Motor trade rally in 1946. 

The firm were the first Morris Distributors in Scotland and Photographs commemorating the first agreement with WRM Motors for 1912 Morris Oxford. 

Westford was famous for its dinner and dances and its Golden Jubilee, these show many of the same people as adults who appeared as children in the earlier pictures. Both the Irishmen died in the 1950s and the company did not survive then for very long, being taken over by arrangement with A.D. Fraser of Glasgow who were taken over by Appleyard of Leeds, who were taken over by Rover who were overtaken by financial uncertainty and had to jettison their outlying distributorships. 

Only the car remains. It took part in the 1970 to 74 Brighton Runs. 

There is a display of the International Gordon Bennett Circuits 1901-1904 

‘What you sow you reap’ - thus because of their origins the achievements of these two men returns to Athy to become part of Kildare’s Heritage. Above all this exhibition is designed to display the value of continuity and a sound foundation. 

Also view: 1903 Gordon Bennett Motor Race Exhibition 

Using audiovisual displays, audio guides , photographs, graphic panels and historical artefacts one can enjoy the thrills and spills of the 1903 Gordon Bennett Motor Race, which took place on a circuit centered on Athy. As racing was forbidden in England, the organisers looked to Ireland for a suitable racecourse and legislation was passed to allow the race to take place in this country.The course chosen for the 1903 Gordon Bennett motor race was centred on Athy. It consisted of an Eastern circuit of 40 miles which the competitors tackled first, followed by a Western circuit of 51 7/8 miles. The road from Athy to Ballyshannon where the start and finishing lines were located was common to both circuits. Each circuit was lapped three times with an extra lap of the Western circuit so that the racing cars passed through Athy seven times. 

Contact Us : 

Athy Heritage Centre-Museum 
Emily Square , Athy Co. Kildare 

059 8633075 

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