Buoyed by successful sales, Continental Motors Ltd. is planning to set up a second base of operations, the Peugeot car dealer's managing director said yesterday.

Jeff Stirling, son of Continental Motors owner Herbert Stirling, said the company's Curving Avenue plan was recently given Development Applications Board approval.

"We're looking at a new service department and showroom in 3,200 square feet of space,'' he said.

The company's operations on North Shore Road, Pembroke, across from the old Richardson's Restaurant, will continue, he said.

The Curving Avenue site, currently an empty lot, was chosen for economic reasons, he said.

The proposed building, to be owned by the company, will allow Continental Motors to move their service operations from Hermitage Road.

The company anticipates breaking ground along Curving Avenue in the next couple of months.

Continental Motors could add about five more staff with the completion of the new service/sales building. The business now employs nine people including management.

Continental Motors was set up by Mr. Herbert Stirling who imported automobiles for his and two of his brothers' taxi businesses, his son said.

"My father started to import automobiles around 1972,'' Mr. Stirling said.

In the early years, Continental may have only sold five cars annually while ten cars was considered a good year, Mr. Stirling said.

And in the late 1970s sales almost nil as no Peugeot cars met Bermuda's specifications for private use although they were suitable for taxi use on the Island. But with the advent of the French car makers' 305 model, Continental Motors again sold Peugeot's to the public.

For several years, the car business was a sideline to the family's auto and boat paint business, Stirling Paint Services, which still operates, Mr.

Stirling said.

Sales were also slow during the recent recession, he said.

But the combination of a recession ending and Peugeot releasing its 306 models, which meet Bermuda requirements, resulted in a couple of "good years'', he said.

Two years ago, Continental introduced the Peugeot 306 line to Bermuda with a new marketing move, they displayed the cars on the Regency Terrace at the Hamilton Princess.

Continental Motors put 72 Peugeots on the road last year and Mr. Stirling predicted sales could come close to 100 by the end of this year. A significant jump from sales of about a dozen in 1993.

Mr. Stirling, who has been with Continental for about nine years and effectively run the operation for the last three, said the 306 is a "upscale, executive'' style of car. Peugeots are noted for their excellent suspension and have always been rated very high in Europe, he said.

"The French have always been unique, combine that with European technology and I think the results are a very good car.'' The basic 306 model carries a price tag around $25,000 while the sporty convertible starts at about $40,000 -- about $50,000, fully loaded.

Looking down the road, look for the Peugeot 306 station wagon early in 1997, Mr. Stirling said.

The last of the Peugeot 405s, replaced with the 406 model, is en route to Bermuda and has already been sold, Mr. Stirling said.

The 406 model fails to meet Bermuda's size specifications.

PLANNING A NEW CURVE -- Continental Motors Ltd. managing director Jeff Stirling says his company is looking to steer the Peugeot car dealership onto an additional Curving Avenue site. The company's existing North Shore Road location will also stay open.