Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Apr 13, 2021 19:10:49 GMT
Starting handles were another. My A40 had one and if the battery went down you weren't stuck. They were also useful for setting up valve clearances, BMC cars seemed to persist longest with them, the other British manufacturers phased them out in about the 50s or early 60s.
I knew someone who had a Lada in the 70s, and that had one.
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Post by D.C. Burtonshaw on Apr 13, 2021 19:40:06 GMT
Great pictures there, the old car in the picnic photo is an early 50's Hillman Minx.
Other things I remember back to the 70's;
Cars being held up on one brake drum on the back wheel by bricks. Not many cars had wheel locks then.......
Radiator blinds, fitted to cars grilles in the winter or wet times of the year to keep the damp and rain out when driving to stop the points and plugs getting wet and causing breakdowns and so the engine would start better in the winter.
Cars being driven with sidelights only at night but only in towns with street lamps on.
The petrol station attendant who put the fuel in for you.
A driveable bus chassis with no body, being delivered by a poor driver dressed like a bi-plane pilot with scarf and goggles driving the "vehicle" to the bus body builders on trade plates.
Car recovery garage tow trucks (not the car recovery transporters you see now or "spec lift" units) with a hook, usually at the back of a Land Rover pick up or in some cases a MK1 Transit (like Arnie's in a Minder episode!). Illegal I understand now.
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Cartman
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Post by Cartman on Apr 13, 2021 20:20:52 GMT
There's a brilliant tow truck in an episode of the Sweeney, In from the Cold, series 3, where it pulled the doors off the back of a van. It was a late 50s American Ford car with a crane added
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Three Litre
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Post by Three Litre on Apr 13, 2021 20:36:54 GMT
Not that common, but I remember in the winter of '69 seeing oil soaked rags set alight under lorries to warm up the diesel or the engine oil.
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Nightfly
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Post by Nightfly on Apr 13, 2021 20:39:52 GMT
Not a common sight on the road, but maybe a common sight on the coffee table of anyone learning to drive years ago. A relative would pass on their well worn copy of this classic by good old A.Tom Topper:- In the copy I had, Tom goes off the subject a little and dedicates a chapter to "Driving the AC Cobra". Probably not the first choice of car to learn on I would have thought. I also remember a few paragraphs of his opinions on raising (or maybe even abolishing) the motorway speed limit.
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Post by Sam Tyler on Apr 13, 2021 20:44:49 GMT
Good pic Nightfly, that reminds me of the old Highway Code I first bought back in '77: (image courtesy of eBay) I can remember they always had the stopping distances at 30mph, 50mph & 70mph on the back: Sam.
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Three Litre
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Post by Three Litre on Apr 13, 2021 20:53:27 GMT
Good pic Nightfly, that reminds me of the old Highway Code I first bought back in '77: (image courtesy of eBay) I can remember they always had the stopping distances at 30mph, 50mph & 70mph on the back: Sam. Wow, that's the one I got! Not the exact one ............ I wonder if stopping distances are improved since?
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Three Litre
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Post by Three Litre on Apr 13, 2021 21:06:53 GMT
Car bumpers. Whatever happened to them?
Nice bits of chrome on the front and rear.
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Nightfly
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Post by Nightfly on Apr 13, 2021 21:24:51 GMT
The back street used car lots from back in the day with the inevitable strings of bunting... Or if you lived in Birmingham in the 70s, add a giant model of King Kong to your forecourt and call it "King Kong Kars".
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Three Litre
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Post by Three Litre on Apr 13, 2021 21:32:31 GMT
These days someone would have nicked Kong before you got the benefit.
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