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Flying Circus English Cars Ltd.
Helping our customers enjoy owning & driving their English Cars.
OUR HISTORY
We really love what we do
We turned a hobby of restoring English cars into a growing business. If you have an English car or are considering buying one, we can help you enjoy owning and driving it. Situated in Durham, North Carolina, we are easy to reach from any direction.
Our shop is always full of a wonderful collection of customer cars like MG's, Jaguars, Triumphs, Austin-Healeys and Land Rovers.
How it all began
Flying Circus grew out of Toby's longtime interest in restoring English cars. After years of the family driveway being filled with various English cars, the fledgling company moved into its first premises on Brewer Lane in Carrboro, NC - a 4 car lockup industrial building that they rented from their good friend Max Scroggs of A Better Wrench. They had few tools, few manuals, no lift, but a wealth of knowledge and passion for English cars
The rapid and tremendous growth of the company over the next few years required more staff and sister Sarah joined to keep up with the needs of Flying Circus's growing base of customers. In September 1994, Flying Circus English Cars moved to its present location on East Pettigrew Street in Durham.
It's in Our Blood
Siblings Toby and Sarah Briggs own and operate Flying Circus. Their involvement with English cars continues a long family tradition. As a young man, father Alan Briggs was apprenticed as a draughtsman to Morris Motors Engines Branch in Coventry. The Engines Branch made engines and transmissions for Morris cars and trucks back when Coventry was the English equivalent of Detroit. Alan moved up to production efficiency management at the Engines Branch and later consulted for TRW and Jaguar.
Mother Patricia Briggs grew up near Coventry, daughter of a Rover car dealer. Great Grandfather John Hill and his brother built horse-drawn carriages and, later, did custom coachwork at their Hill Brothers Coach Builders in Warwick from the early 1900s to just after World War II.
Grandfather Alan Huckvale operated H and H Transport (later H and H Motors) selling and servicing Rovers and other English cars in Kenilworth from the 1930s to the 60s. And Uncle Gerald Huckvale retired from his own garage in Bredon, Gloucestershire.
