How we started - Beach Bike Rental (circa 1976) in Galveston, Texas operated more than 200 Surreys

The history of two (2) person, four (4) person and six (6) person Surrey bikes in America is the history of the INTERNATIONAL SURREY COMPANY LTD., THE Surrey Company.  Our rich and proud heritage is unmatched in the United States.  We did not invent the Surrey bike, but we did invent the Surrey rental business - debate over.

In 1970, Cliff Marshall Imports in Dennisport, Massachusetts introduced for sale the Selene Surrey bike, an Italian-made Surrey bike produced by Mecart.  Later that same year, The Surrey Company was founded.  The Surrey Company opened as Beach Bike Rental and operated rental locations in Kissimmee, Florida and Galveston, Texas with great success, renting cycles of all types, including the Selene, the Rosalie (the Gitane Rosalie, a uni-frame four-wheel cycle manufactured in France) and the PPV (People Powered Vehicle similar to our new Impello™).

The two current principal owners of The Surrey Company in the Summer of 1978 in Galveston, Texas, then ages 6 and 2 (pictured on the right with their father who introduced Surreys to the Southern and Western United States in late 1969).

The Surrey Company has rented Surrey bikes and other cycles for almost 40 years.  Our rental experience is absolutely unparalleled in the United States.  As a rental operator, The Surrey Company gained first-hand knowledge of the abusive nature of the rental industry and the shortened useful life of Surrey bikes due to such abuse. Almost 40 years ago, The Surrey Company began to evaluate the weaknesses of the Italian made product and worked with the importer to communicate these weaknesses to the manufacturer. The Surrey Company eventually found it necessary to set up a facility to remake certain components of the Surrey bike, including frame and awning parts.  After setting up to repair the Italian made Surrey bike, The Surrey Company was only one step removed from becoming a manufacturer itself.

One of the current owners of The Surrey Company (at the age of 3) with his father at Beach Bike Rental in Galveston, Texas (circa 1975) pictured next to one of the orignal Mecart Surreys.

No longer constrained by foreign designers, The Surrey Company offers a Surrey bike fully informed by nearly four decades of rental experience earning us the reputation as the leader in the Surrey industry.  Whether purchasing one Surrey bike for your home or several for your business, our dedication to innovation informed by our experience ensures that your Surrey bike is the finest Surrey bike in the world.  The Surrey Company uses our extensive knowledge and experience to constantly innovate and improve our products by merging yesterday’s lessons with tomorrow’s bicycle technology. From battery powered LED headlamps, aluminum alloy rims and stainless steel spokes to our Easy 7 Speed Shimano Gearing Package, The Surrey Company innovates while the others imitate.

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