Does anyone who if this sign was actually used at BMC or Leyland?

[trmorrisminor]

Hi all, have seen this sign on ebay which I was wondering - is this a genuine sign used by BMC or British Leyland / showrooms / parts suppliers or is it a fictitious sign, one sold on ebay the other day, it was identical but not in such good condition. They are aluminium.The one that sold the other day had Franco stamped on it.
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

[philipkearney]

Having seen lots of replica cast signs, I'm always very cautious of these sort of signs. If they were stamped Franco, I'd be more confident. Franco made most of the period signage for Morris and BMC. The one in your photo looks aged so could be genuine but I'd don't see the manufacturer on them. Not sure if they were ever used in car dealerships though, they strike me more as a Morris commercial sort of sign. Could be completely wrong in that though.

[ManyMinors]

It looks very poorly made with very poor definition around the letters. I would be very surprised if it was genuine. I never saw one like that when I worked for a Morris dealership.

[trmorrisminor]

Many thanks for both your comments, I certainly had never seen this sign before hence the post, having never seen one before and then seeing one sold then another appeared in ebay, a bit like busses!
This is the Franco markings on the one that sold.

[ManyMinors]

The Franco one is a very different casting isn't it. Much better definition.
There is lots of this aftermarket stuff flying around pretending to be "period". Very little original pieces about and they fetch high prices, hence the demand for reproductions

[trmorrisminor]

Hi ManyMinors, yes agree, the first one which is on ebay currently - the RR’s in Morris don't look particularly professional, where as the RR’s in the bottom picture of the one that sold look far more correctly done. Still would like to know more where this sign would have been used? I agree about the demand for repo stuff, I guess with the originals fetching obscene prices most people can afford £100/£1000’s of pounds for originals. I did google it and noticed Franco have done several morris signs so can only assume the one that sold on ebay is original given its Franco stamping and the one currently on ebay is a repo given the lack of ‘crispness’ with the letters in the moulding?

[ManyMinors]

I wouldn't say that just because that sign has "Frenco" stamped on it, it must be "original".

[trmorrisminor]

No I guess your right, copies can be made to look very realsitic.

[philipkearney]

There seems to be a thriving market for replicas. At the major shows, like the NEC, there are usually at least 2 or 3 stands selling replica signs. There are usually lots of these cast signs, mainly for oil companies e.g Castrol. They are very good quality and cheap enough - as long as you know you are buying a replica.