Autosparks History

Origins

The origins of Autosparks date back to around the 1920's when it’s founder, Mr Henry Colomb, formed an electrical business in Beverley Road, Hull.

It is unclear when the progression from electrical to auto-electrical took place although we do have a certificate from the Trade Mark authorities dated July 1954 registering the original company logo as seen below.

1970's and onwards

Under the ownership of Henry and the management of Mr Cliff Dalton, Autosparks Ltd flourished and by the 1980’s was a well established and well respected company. With Mr Colomb, then retired, living in Malta, and Mr Dalton reaching retirement age, the running of the company was left to a younger family member and with growing competition, the company finally collapsed in August 1991.

Company Reestablishment

Meanwhile I began my business, R D Components, in November 1977, initially manufacturing and selling spares for the legendary BSA Gold Star motorcycle. Within 12 months I was doing full restorations and one of the items I had to make myself was the Wiring Harness. From there I built virtually a full range of Harnesses for all Post-war British Motorcycles, even supplying the reborn Triumph Motorcycles at Meriden. By 1983 I had began producing harnesses for classic cars, as well as manufacturing original equipment harnesses for the prestigious Aston Martin Lagonda marque which continued until the models at the time, the V8 and Lagonda saloons, were phased out in 1990. The rate at which R D Components grew and the quality of its products soon undermined the strength of, and the then complacent attitude of Autosparks. In 1991 we bought and moved Autosparks down to our base in Sandiacre, Nottingham.

Over half of the 30 plus workforce that are with me today were around at the time of the takeover offering an unrivalled wealth of knowledge and expertise to ensure that the quality of everything we produce remains very high.

Today Autosparks produces a range of Harnesses for classic Motorcycles, Cars, Tractors and Commercial Vehicles as well as supplying original equipment Harnesses to smaller volume manufacturers including such diverse applications as some of the top British Sportscars, European Road Sweepers and a range of Emergency Vehicles.

Thank you for taking an interest in our history, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Roger Davis
H Columb Shop FrontAutosparks 1954 Trademark