My Story
The Story So Far….
The Malton Motor Company
was founded by Matthew Betts in 2017.
Matthew is a life long enthusiast of
motor vehicle engineering & motor cars.
The story however started along time before 2017
and below is a condensed account of his journey.
The story begins
1977
I was born in 1977, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.
According to my mother the first word
I would learn to say was ‘Car-Car’
…….and so I suppose the stage was set!
Early 1980’s
Around the age of 5 I was bought a brand new
Raleigh ride on Police car.
By all accounts within the first day I had stripped the
car of all its equipment and there it sat with
only it’s bare essentials.
The writing was definitely on the wall!
From Matchbox Cars To Go-Karts
I was bought a new matchbox car nearly weekly,
I ended up with a massive collection &
would take a selection everywhere I travelled.
From trips in the family car to a peddle go-kart of my own, to trikes & bikes, to Knight Rider on the TV, to playing in a old broken down abandoned car on waste land I was in my element & the wait to be able to learn to drive a real car was all still to far away.
From The 1980’s To The 1990’s
The Jaguar Journey….
The love for Jaguar cars started in around 1989
when my father bought a 1987 Grenadier red
Jaguar XJS 5.3 V12 coupe.
He bought the car from
Philip Welch specialist cars near York.
We used to pass this showroom most days and
there was always a large selection
of Jaguar cars in stock.
My father would often stop and view until he
eventually found the Jaguar he would
purchase and absolutely love.
This whole experience was a dream to me
and then I had the privilege of being driven to
school in the car each day.
1993 - 1996
In 1993 I started a GNVQ in motor vehicle engineering at York technical college, this included a day release to the main Jaguar dealer in York - Armstrong Massey.
I enjoyed my time there and in 1996 moved up to the new Jaguar dealer in York - Minster Jaguar.
From The 1990’s To The 2000’s
My First Garage 2002
In 2001 I bought my first Jaguar to call my own,
a 1991 Jaguar XJ40 3.2. In 2002 I decided to
go it alone with a premises of my own.
I started to specialise in Jaguar and Daimler Sales,
service, repairs and breaking Jaguar cars for parts.
This experience helped me very much become
confident with my work and enabled me to learn
many otherimportant and useful skills I still
turn my hand to today.
The Journey Goes On….
After running, buying, selling and working on so many Jaguar and Daimler‘s up to this point I was given a opportunity to move to a garage premises near York where I worked alongside a great friend I’d known since I was 17 years old. Unfortunately and very sadly he has now passed away, RIP Mark.
Whilst working along side Mark I continued to buy and sell many Jaguar cars of my own and prepare them but I also sold many other makes and models for my friend as that was part of the arrangement. I obtained a lot of valuable experience
from this chapter of my life and still look back
very fondly at my years down there.
For most of this period I ran a 1989 Signal Red
Jaguar XJS 5.3 V12.
Since 2017
Since 2017 I’ve been very happily located in Malton. I work at my business premises carrying out all buying, selling, marketing, workshop jobs, sales car preparation entirely on my own.
I use a local business for tyres, tracking and MOT work and another business for wheel refurbishments
but other than that it’s all down to me including building & maintaining this website!
After all these years I still love the job, the brand and
the thill of transforming a car into my vision of perfection!
My Jaguar tastes have still not changed
in over 30 years.
In fair weather I still run an XJS, 1996 4.0 Celebration coupe In Flamenco red. It’s all a bit like day Deja-Vu.
Summer 2025
History Repeats
From where it all started…. As previously highlighted, my father bought his first Jaguar from Philip Welch. I’ve known Philip since I was 11 years old and we still keep in regular contact even now.
He makes regular trips over to Malton to see me which I enjoy and we see each other annually at various Jaguar events. We are both members of the same private drivers club and we often go for lunch and catch up.
Philip‘s sales cars were prepared to a very high standard and at the time of him trading I saw them as the bench mark.
Philip has now retired but is still a massive Jaguar enthusiast like myself and owns a beautiful E-Type and a fabulous XKR Dynamic.
About The Malton Motor Company
We Are Proud British Company
At The Malton Motor Company, our main focus is to provide 5 star customer care & satisfaction, outstanding workshop services
& show quality car sales.
Your custom & loyalty are highly appreciated, not taken for granted & greatly valued by us.
When you entrust us with your Jaguar or Daimler you can rest easy in the knowledge it will be treated with
the upmost respect & care.