I just love sports cars. It’s a passionate affair that’s never left me. How can you measure anything up against the thrill of a superbly tuned performance motor car? Ok, I suppose the odd ‘typhoon pilot’ might have something to say about that. However, this fervour is a rarity these days and I’m sated beyond belief when I get to visit the Porsche Centre in Swindon. History (if nothing else) teaches us that it can and does repeat itself. No truer situation than the legacy of Dick Lovett at the Porsche Centre Swindon. The Dick Lovett legend is a beautifully crafted combust-ional obsession with performance motor cars that goes back to 1959. It started as a two-man operation called Ross Motors selling motorcycles in Leicester. Dick Lovett, supported by his wife Stella, had a real zeal for sports cars. At that time they lived above the business, on hand to cater for enquiries from all over the UK. In 1966 Dick relocated the business to the South-West and started trading under his own name from the family home near Swindon. This turned out to be a pivotal moment. The business simply grew, got much bigger and now Dick Lovett is the official franchise holders for Ferrari, Maserati, Porsche, Lotus, BMW, MINI and KTM. It’s an automotive empire that stretches the length of the M4 corridor from Hungerford to Cardiff. The Porsche Centre Swindon is a grand structure worthy of an award I shouldn’t wonder. It’s a truly imposing building founded on the exact faith of everything that Porsche and Dick Lovett covet; it’s modern, beautifully designed and totally eye-catching... a most fitting automotive altar to the Porsche brand. This high profile location has very easy access to the M4, London and the A419 to Cheltenham. The current Porsche Centre Swindon has been on this site now for eight years and I’m met by the Dealer Principal, Richard Davies. Now here’s a man that knows and loves cars and the absolute workings of the clock that makes this business tick. Richard Davies has been with the Dick Lovett Group for some twenty years and has been steering the Porsche Centre Swindon for the last ten years. It transpires that Richard has always been in the car trade and says, ‘I moved from the Midlands to join Dick Lovett and have never looked back. This is a true family business and the family values are as strong today as they’ve always been’. To me that evokes commitment to their staff and the customers. A rare commodity these days. Richard goes on to explain, ‘we have 35 staff here and they’re all car nuts. Some of our staff have been with the Dick Lovett Group for thirty years or more’. The Porsche Centre Swindon has only a 3 per cent turnover in staff. This is way below the industry standard of 30 per cent . It’s my view that if you don’t like something or somebody, then give them a swerve. That’s clearly not the case at Dick Lovett. Loyalty has to be earned and it’s crystal clear that the business 152 COTSWOLD STYLE NOVEMBER 2010 motoring a family affair Eric Barton discovers the passion behind the Porsche Centre in Swindon... ‘Dick and Stella Lovett 1967’ 000 Porsche DPS Nov 10:Layout 1 23/10/2010 09:00 Page 152