The Definitive Guide to the History of
Pubs and Beerhouses in Coventry

Drinking in an Old English Town

Motor Hotel, 35 Dorset Road

Alternative Addresses:	2 Somerset Road
This name came from the fact that the pub is close to the mill where the first license-built Daimler car was manufactured in the late nineteenth century. The pub was built in 1904 despite the opposition of nearby Cash's as they were Quakers and staunchly anti-alcohol. It is a solid red brick building used by Daimler motor company to accomodate chauffeurs whilst they were trained on the mechanics of the internal combustion engine. Tragedy struck in the blitz of World War Two when eleven women, ushered down the cellar for safety, became the victims of a freak circumstance when a bomb penetrated straight through the drop used to deliver beer. In 2012 it was an Indian restaurant cum bar.
LICENSEES: 1905 - 1909 Edward F. Winby 1911 - 1912 E. Freeman 1919 Edward F. Winby 1921 - 1938 T. Clews 1939 - 1940 T. Pointon 1949 - 1971 Ernest R. Wright 1971 onwards Phillip Wright (son of Ernest). Thanks to Lesley Laing (Phillip's Sister) for additional information.