How about a 'period' classics pictures thread
Discussion
forsure said:
The 'interesting convertible' in the wedding pic looks like another Mk2 Ford - Zephyr or Zodiac.
Agreed it is definitely one of those and from the just visible chrome side strips, slightly thicker light surround, very small rear window and the fact that the vinyl looks a bit tired, my sharpest guess is a 1957/8 Zodiac, the one that had the rather tasteful "ocelot" covered pad on the dashboard which fell to pieces very quickly! The "Arfur Daley" who ran local "bomb site garage" in the 1950/60's had a cream and red one (VKC 109) that he used to loaf around in usually accompanied by one or other of his four "Secretaries". Even that long ago I was puzzled why he needed so many! The Zodiac eventually was ousted by a Studebaker Golden Hawk in duo tone green which seemed to enjoy a selection of registration numbers depending on which had a matching tax disc! Happy days!!...ANPR has much to answer for!
HQB said:
forsure said:
The 'interesting convertible' in the wedding pic looks like another Mk2 Ford - Zephyr or Zodiac.
Agreed it is definitely one of those and from the just visible chrome side strips, slightly thicker light surround, very small rear window and the fact that the vinyl looks a bit tired, my sharpest guess is a 1957/8 Zodiac, the one that had the rather tasteful "ocelot" covered pad on the dashboard which fell to pieces very quickly! The "Arfur Daley" who ran local "bomb site garage" in the 1950/60's had a cream and red one (VKC 109) that he used to loaf around in usually accompanied by one or other of his four "Secretaries". Even that long ago I was puzzled why he needed so many! The Zodiac eventually was ousted by a Studebaker Golden Hawk in duo tone green which seemed to enjoy a selection of registration numbers depending on which had a matching tax disc! Happy days!!...ANPR has much to answer for!Love the sound of the local car dealer, the sort of character that Leslie Phillips might have played!
forsure said:
Top anoraking there! I think you're right though - it does appear to have Zodiac trim.
Love the sound of the local car dealer, the sort of character that Leslie Phillips might have played!
Thank you! I wish that I had pictures of his premises which vanished under flats about twenty years ago. He specialised in rows of Austin 7/8/10/12 which were all priced from £25 upwards to the best one..that means it started up unaided..which was proffered at £55. In the later 1950's he began to favour the delights of Hillman Minx from 1949 onwards and these were choice gems..one of which made the newspapers when the remains of the "chassis" gave way and the car bent in half just outside the gates of Arnos Vale Cemetery! Remember the car was only about 10 years old at the time. I also clearly recall a very early Jaguar 2.4 Series I (WUM 365) which was that weeks "Quality Car" and it was riddled with rust...dark blue with bubbles everywhere and I can say with total certainty that was in 1962 so just 6 years old and rather hopefully priced at £295. On April 30th 1962, my Dad decided that he wanted something more modern than our 1946 VW Sedan so traded our by then virtually as new "Volks" for a 1954 Morris Oxford Series II (SHY 214)..we got £65 for the VW and paid £225 for "SHY" but it didn't go well. Love the sound of the local car dealer, the sort of character that Leslie Phillips might have played!
Part of the purchase negotiations included "Replacing four door bottoms where necessary" which meant he fillered the things to death and later Dad ended up cutting the whole of each door off and remaking them with new metal. It took weeks! The poor old engine was somewhat tired and sounded odd..in fact all the big ends were mashed so a new crankshaft etc. was the next job. The gear change lever (steering column) was as vague as making a wish in a barrel so got rebuilt using tap washers and coils of nylon fishing twin to act as bearings...don't try that now readers..it will still be vague but extremely stiff with it!
Later we met the previous owner who was able to explain why the passenger sun visor was completely worn away...it had carried his taxi sign and had done 230,000 miles in eight years. The final misery came when one day part of the cills fell off and so I helped Dad by lying underneath and asking him why the back of the cill carried the name "Vono"...(youngsters..they made bed frames!). Well despite many battles with our dealer friend, we got nowhere so sold the car after 12 months for our Doctors 1953 Vauxhall Velox which had been pampered from new. "SHY" vanished after we sold it to the hapless new owner but it had by then received new cills, fully rebuilt engine, restored doors, new carpets, all the seats refurbished, replaced head lining, full respray and in the end looked good...my Dad called it the worst thing hew had ever bought!
As for Brislington Motors, they battled on until the 1970's with the owner still sporting his Pork Pie hat, dark worsted overcoat, continual supply of "secretaries", five cats that the girls seemed to enjoy playing with amongst the fake palm trees that he had around his desk and with the help of his permanently oil plastered mechanic trying to get his stock to run well enough to get them coughing off the forecourt. Regularly he would turn up at our door asking if my Dad could try to plead for more time to pay the electricity bill (Dad worked for SWEB) and in anticipation once offered him a "half price deal" on a 1949 Opel Kapitan of seemingly vast proportions that he then scraped on the entrance to the lane behind our house.."We'll polish that out". I remember a rather lurching demonstration drive with the glove box opening to allow a set of Double Diamond beer bottles roll out. Thankfully we didn't take his offer!
I'll find some pictures of the Morris, VW and Vauxhall asap tonight!
Re the above memories of the long closed Bakers Garage/Brislington Motors...here are some pictures...
Firstly the 1953 Vauxhall Velox PHY 752 pictured by the side of Loch Ness in August 1964. This was the Doctors car that we had known and ridden in regularly from new. Always very carefully maintained and the chassis filled with Redex every six months, it was sold in perfect condition in January 1970 for £35. I try not to think about it but last saw it abandoned in a garden in a poor state early 1975. Any Vauxhall enthusiasts wanting more information, just say..I have manuals, handbooks and the full history of PHY 752.
Now SHY 214 the infamous Morris Oxford Series II This picture was taken in January 1963 during the big freeze and deep snow that fell on December 27th 1962 and lasted until late March with snow still lying right up until late May! The picture is taken outside our house which was on a hill. We had a garage but on the Boxing Day had driven back from South Wales where we had stayed at my Grandparents but my Grandfather had been watching the mountains and warned of the imminent snowfall so we came home early. Already the lane to our garage was snow covered so Dad decided not to chance driving up it but, this meant that the car was trapped outside for three weeks! I'm the one on the left and the other was my friend Alan, The 1955 Austin A 30 behind us is UHY 342 owned by Mr & Mrs Wood and polished to death, he also having got trapped in the road that same night! As for "SHY" well the snow covers up a multitude of blemishes but by this time, the bodywork repairs were complete and it was just about to get the full engine rebuild about which there is another story sometime!
Next the VW FTM 594 The first pictures shows it the day after we had it on 10th April 1956 and then in it's original form except that by then it had a 1953 1192cc engine and was painted Dark Blue with Castle Earth (grey then!) sides. One would never do it now but over the next six years we rebuilt/repaired everything and updated it with all the later chrome strips, fitted a luggage compartment cover, painted the grey plastic/pvc seats with "Nuagain" upholstery paint in deep blue which amazingly worked perfectly and never peeled off nor cracked! As with the Vauxhall, if readers want more information about "Volks", just ask as I have everything. From 1958 onward we had good friends in Germany who worked at the Karmann Ghia works in Osnabruck so got to know a lot about VW including a factory visit in 1968.
The last pictures show the car in it's final state in the Summer of 1961 and was taken on my Great Uncle's farm at Bowers Hill, Somerton, Somerset. When I think what it was sold for, tears could fill my eyes! I'm trying not to think about that either!
[url]
|http://thumbsnap.com/fFZ7GpBc[/url]
Now remembering numbers/dates etc....it's a consequence of wasting my life away working in a Bank...it leaves you with the peculiar ability to recall details and numbers which you had to do all day, long before computers were thought about. I bought a Lloyton B pocket calculator in 1975 (still here!) and it was like bringing GCHQ into work with a group of fascinated colleagues bunched around to see it go. "Those things will never catch on..you just cannot rely on such toys when you need accuracy" expounded our Manager at the time!
Firstly the 1953 Vauxhall Velox PHY 752 pictured by the side of Loch Ness in August 1964. This was the Doctors car that we had known and ridden in regularly from new. Always very carefully maintained and the chassis filled with Redex every six months, it was sold in perfect condition in January 1970 for £35. I try not to think about it but last saw it abandoned in a garden in a poor state early 1975. Any Vauxhall enthusiasts wanting more information, just say..I have manuals, handbooks and the full history of PHY 752.
Now SHY 214 the infamous Morris Oxford Series II This picture was taken in January 1963 during the big freeze and deep snow that fell on December 27th 1962 and lasted until late March with snow still lying right up until late May! The picture is taken outside our house which was on a hill. We had a garage but on the Boxing Day had driven back from South Wales where we had stayed at my Grandparents but my Grandfather had been watching the mountains and warned of the imminent snowfall so we came home early. Already the lane to our garage was snow covered so Dad decided not to chance driving up it but, this meant that the car was trapped outside for three weeks! I'm the one on the left and the other was my friend Alan, The 1955 Austin A 30 behind us is UHY 342 owned by Mr & Mrs Wood and polished to death, he also having got trapped in the road that same night! As for "SHY" well the snow covers up a multitude of blemishes but by this time, the bodywork repairs were complete and it was just about to get the full engine rebuild about which there is another story sometime!
Next the VW FTM 594 The first pictures shows it the day after we had it on 10th April 1956 and then in it's original form except that by then it had a 1953 1192cc engine and was painted Dark Blue with Castle Earth (grey then!) sides. One would never do it now but over the next six years we rebuilt/repaired everything and updated it with all the later chrome strips, fitted a luggage compartment cover, painted the grey plastic/pvc seats with "Nuagain" upholstery paint in deep blue which amazingly worked perfectly and never peeled off nor cracked! As with the Vauxhall, if readers want more information about "Volks", just ask as I have everything. From 1958 onward we had good friends in Germany who worked at the Karmann Ghia works in Osnabruck so got to know a lot about VW including a factory visit in 1968.
The last pictures show the car in it's final state in the Summer of 1961 and was taken on my Great Uncle's farm at Bowers Hill, Somerton, Somerset. When I think what it was sold for, tears could fill my eyes! I'm trying not to think about that either!
[url]|http://thumbsnap.com/fFZ7GpBc[/url]Now remembering numbers/dates etc....it's a consequence of wasting my life away working in a Bank...it leaves you with the peculiar ability to recall details and numbers which you had to do all day, long before computers were thought about. I bought a Lloyton B pocket calculator in 1975 (still here!) and it was like bringing GCHQ into work with a group of fascinated colleagues bunched around to see it go. "Those things will never catch on..you just cannot rely on such toys when you need accuracy" expounded our Manager at the time!
Edited by HQB on Thursday 16th February 08:52
forsure said:
I notice the Velox has the side-hingeing bonnet.
Friend of mine spent ages looking for a '53 Velox, settled for a Wyvern eventually.
He also has a '54 Velox, but that has the more conventional rear hinges.
Well spotted it does indeed have the side hinges which meant it opened both sides or if opened together, you could lift the whole bonnet off completely. Your friends 1954 Velox must be a very late one and a 55/56 model year because the "alligator" bonnet came in with the new styling changes. Any 1955/56 is a rare find as they were inflicted with that dreadful import steel and so rusted like mad from day one and far worse than the 1951-4 builds. Finding a good 1953 Velox would be very hard work indeed...if I could find PHY 752, I would pay a lot more than £35 now!Friend of mine spent ages looking for a '53 Velox, settled for a Wyvern eventually.
He also has a '54 Velox, but that has the more conventional rear hinges.
spoodler said:
Having a clear out of stuff left by my parents and came across a few car photo's. Not really any classics but they are old...
Me with my Bug, keep your four hundred brake, this was fun with about thirty - and no, I wasn't going to a fancy dress party...
The family transport, many a picnic or overnight stay spent in this. Took us all over mainland Britain inc. from Swindon up to the Highlands and all round the Lake District (late 1960s)...
Any of you lot old enough to have had a go on one of these? Dad, probably Brighton or Southend (1950s)...
Just loving the Bug.Me with my Bug, keep your four hundred brake, this was fun with about thirty - and no, I wasn't going to a fancy dress party...
The family transport, many a picnic or overnight stay spent in this. Took us all over mainland Britain inc. from Swindon up to the Highlands and all round the Lake District (late 1960s)...
Any of you lot old enough to have had a go on one of these? Dad, probably Brighton or Southend (1950s)...
The Bedford van holds fond memories for me. Friend of my father used to have a small business that made batteries; he had a couple of these to make deliveries. As 8-year olds we used to love going on deliveries as he used to let us ride up front with the doors open. To think, how did we ever survive such dangerous shenanigans? What were our parents thinking to allow it? Someone call social services now!
The Bedford van holds fond memories for me. Friend of my father used to have a small business that made batteries; he had a couple of these to make deliveries. As 8-year olds we used to love going on deliveries as he used to let us ride up front with the doors open. To think, how did we ever survive such dangerous shenanigans? What were our parents thinking to allow it? Someone call social services now!
[/quote]
AH the shared memories of those wild times! I survived thousands of miles riding with my father in his South Western Electricity Board 1952 Ford 10 van (OHU 144) and 1953 Ford 8 van PHT 13 neither of which had passenger seats actually bolted to the floor..just loose. Dad was already with his arm out though to stop me hitting the dash' as I slid across the floor! Never hit a thing!
[/quote]
AH the shared memories of those wild times! I survived thousands of miles riding with my father in his South Western Electricity Board 1952 Ford 10 van (OHU 144) and 1953 Ford 8 van PHT 13 neither of which had passenger seats actually bolted to the floor..just loose. Dad was already with his arm out though to stop me hitting the dash' as I slid across the floor! Never hit a thing!
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