Motor dealer, motorcycle racer and speed skater
Born: July 9, 1932;
Died: May 3, 2017
GLEN Henderson, who has died aged 84, was a former motor dealer, motorcycle racer and speed skater who broke the quarter mile British speed skating record in 1954. He later became one of the largest motorcycle dealers in Scotland.
Engineering was in his blood. Born Frederick Glen Strathern Henderson, he was a grandson of Sir Frederick Henderson of D&W Shipbuilders of the Clyde who built many well-known marine vessels.
He left Ayr Academy at aged 15 and opened a motorcycle repair shop in the town supported by his maternal grandmother Ann Aitken who even pawned her fridge to purchase fuel for her grandson’s racing bike. Glen won the Scottish Motorcycling Championships on the sands at St Andrews aged 16.
He went on to race at Brands Hatch, all the British racing circuits and all over Europe. He sustained a serious crash at Kirkcaldy and stopped racing for good and took to preparing racing bikes.
When one of his Honda motorcycles came second at the Monza circuit Grand Prix there was complete shock and amazement from the Honda Factory Works Team who could not understand how a tiny workshop in Scotland could achieve such a result. When his close friend Bob McIntyre was killed, while racing, Mr Henderson gave up all his racing activities.
At the same time as bike racing Mr Henderson was actively involved with speed skating and in 1954 he broke quarter mile British record. He went on to establish the Scottish Speed Skating Union and this involved developing a training programme for young promising speed skaters. This was so successful that several members set World and European records.
In business he moved from his lock up and became the largest motorcycle dealer in Scotland at that time. Then in 1958 he took on an NSU and Austin dealership, this he relinquished in 1966 when he took the Lancia franchise for Scotland which became so successful he sold over 600 cars in one year and became the largest Lancia dealer outside of Europe.
In 1967 he gained the Volvo and Porsche brands and married Ann his fiancé.
He continued with great success and developed sites across Scotland, adding Mercedes Benz, Ferrari and Saab to his dealerships. In the mid 1980s he sponsored both Tom McKean and Yvonne Murray the great Scottish middle distance runners. In 1990 he proudly received the Dallas award for his outstanding contribution to Scottish Athletics. He was the only non-athlete to receive the award.
In the late 80s he started the CENTRUM project in Prestwick to build a multi-purpose ice stadium which would be able to convert to concert hall and event venue. Unfortunately this was not completed due to a dire economic turn-down.
However, he recovered in true fashion and re-established Mercedes Benz Car and Truck franchises and latterly added Mazda. He continued to run this until retirement in 2011. He is survived by his wife Ann.
DAVID WISEMAN
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