Look at Life

[Bob]

These short films, from Rank, were made to run before the main feature once TV made the old Pathe News films redundant.

Really interesting look back:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B6Oa1NFmiKY

[Gefail]

Great films and Commentary from Raymond Baxter. When cars had style, motoring was a joy and life was less complicated.

[helen&tony]

Hi
Coo...I remember driving in them thar days...My first car was one of these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_ ... 0_1954.jpg
Cheers
Helen

[Gefail]

First car I remember my Dad owning
Standard Vanguard Estate

[helen&tony]

Hi
There were some KOOL cars around...I had a yellow Mk 2 Consul Convertible in the late '60s...:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Cons ... _front.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Cons ... e_tail.jpg
Looked exactly like the pictures with a grey soft top.....cross-ply tyres were great, you could slide sideways everywhere!....3 people on the front bench seat!...column change, and a heater good enough to drop the roof in November!....
Cheers
Helen

[Bob]

My first was a 1963 Ford Anglia 105E.

9 Years old when I bought it, now I've got a 19 year old Bongo and 23 year old MX5 - progress?

[helen&tony]

Hi
Ah...the standard was my first roadworthy car, but I was building a Hamblin Super 2 with a supercharged OHV inlet side-valve Ford / Elva engine ....I got quoted £25.00 insurance on said glassfibre 2-seater as a first car!!!!!...quoting all the modifications, too!!!!!...in fact, it was IDENTICAL to this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_YPZdfvmN8
It was only partly assembled , and I had an Arnotts blower in the garage, and it had a Brooklands 4-spoke steering wheel,and I had the Elva bits on order, and a set of vintage Brooklands alloys coming....Oh, boy, I wish I'd never got rid of it....they are as rare as hen's teeth!
Cheers
Helen

[philpdr]

That Super 2 is wicked,never seen or heard of them.

[Northern Bongolow]

watch out we may get the police like these, they look like ice cream men. love the high pursuit space rocket with the after burner on the boot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI9jQWkXo2w.

[Diplomat]

Anyone remember those public safety films there used to be as fillers on the telly before air time meant money?

Dip, don't dazzle, safe overtaking and other motoring advice which wouldn't go amiss nowadays.

Also, I remember one about not leaving clutter on stair cases which began with someone calling upstairs " Gran, tea's ready". You can guess what happens.

There's a film which is currently much googled about how newcomers to Britain in the 1950s should catch a bus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBOcLnyMX-M

If you had a voice like Raymond Baxter or Bob Danvers Walker, there was always work available doing commentaries.


Frank

[Diplomat]

First car I remember my Dad owning
Standard Vanguard Estate

Looks like a big version of a Nilma Nusky.


Frank

[mikeWalsall]

Loved the Jag. pics .. especially the engine builds .. normal blokes .. ancient machinery .. all low tech .. no clinical working conditions or health or safety ..

The MK2 was the simplest of motors to work on .. drop the front axle beam complete in half an hour ..

I had three MK2 in my younger days .. a 2.4 (rubbish) Bank Job 3.8 .. wow could that gobble up tyres .. and a 2.5 (V8) Daimler..

I helped a mate ( John Martin) to rebuild a 3.4 basket case about 15 years ago .. except for setting up the tappets it was a pleasure to work on .. he lived in Walsall .. but his (new) wife moved back to Scotland so he used to commute every weekend ..

The Jag. was super reliable and never once did he have a problem with it ..

But ... the same could not be said about his marriage which folded ... They found John hanging from a beam in the garage alongside his beloved MK2 ..

Within a month his widow had sold it ....

[Bob]

Mike, thanks so much for sharing such a difficult story.

I'm glad BF brings such good friends together.

[helen&tony]

Hi philpdr
Those Hamblin super- 2 s were exceptionally rare in the early '60s when I bought mine...It had previously been built and modified, but I bought it as already fitted with a chassis, which was a chopped and boxed E93a chassis, designed to use a plywood floor, but I was working on using an under-slung floor. The cockpit was so small, you'd bang your knuckles on the edge if you were in a hurry. Mine had a straight windscreen 8 inches high, or thereabouts, and I was searching to find headlights like the ones in the youtube vid...most other bits I had ready....Then I got the Standard, modified it, and the steering box failed...LOL...then I got a mini...also sent the engine off to be modified....
I wish I still had the Hamblin, and the Consul, and two others....but all the rest were just passing!
Cheers
Helen