old car snaps

[Richard Dye]

"Daddy, why does your old car say 2.4 on the back?"
"Well son, it's.. err.. it means 2.4 volts."
"Daddy, why does it have two pipes poking out the back?"
"Ah, yes, that's where the air comes out that came in through the radiator in the front!"
"Daddy.."
"Don't you have homework to do?"

Love it!

 

[mw0njm.]

I fancy a new car

 

[Richard Dye]

I fancy a new car

Imagine having one of those day!

 

[Johnfromstaffs]

I suggest that you keep clear of the Clyno, the factory closed in August 1929, so spares may be a little scarce. The Ariel, Bean and Swift may pose similar problems. Given the choice I think the Vauxhall Princeton is the one to go for. If it’s too dear, an Austin Heavy Twelve is almost indestructible, but far from sporting.

 

[Lloyd]

My dad's first car was a Clyno, 2 seater saloon with a 'dicky' seat at the rear. He bought it second hand, at about two years old, and part of the deal was for the garage mechanic to take him out for half an hour and teach him to drive!

 

[bravo121]

Another couple of years on, to 1937/38 and Dad's no. 3, a Ford V8 of probably 1936 vintage, COH619.

This came, in 1937, and very shortly after, nearly went! It's here in Cutler's Garage in Streetly, awaiting attention - the result of a coming-together at the Chester Road/Queslett Road crossroads with a Vauxhall being driven by someone under the influence. My brother and sister were in the car with him at the time but escaped without injury, despite the lack of seatbelts, airbags, soft surfaces and all the other modern paraphenalia. The windscreen suggests that my brother would have had a bit of a headache, though....
View attachment 157788

This was the Vauxhall, almost certainly a write-off:
View attachment 157789

Our V8 was hammered back into pristine condition as shown in the background of this image from summer 1938 - the car is on its holidays (as is the reluctant horseman) and is parked in the same place as the Morris Major three years previously.

View attachment 157790

(Pity it only warranted a full picture when it had been in the wars).

Chris

Hi Chris, I am looking for photo's to do with family history- Cutlers/Cuttlers Garage being one of them. (we believe) they owned a horse & the wine shop next door. Bit of a long shot, but you wouldn't have any other photo's that may show any of these would u. I am new on here, so assuming it's ok to ask this question... Many thanks in advance ;-)

 

[MWS]

There are many mentions of the Cutlers and the garage in this thread...

Children of William Foden

Please can anyone help me finding the children of this couple: William Foden b Aston1830 d 1885 who married Eliza Horton in 1850; have found only one child Ellen Horton Foden b 1851. (In 1881 they were in the Royal Oak, Perry Common, Handsworth). I am trying to trace other children & specially...

birminghamhistory.co.uk

 

[rocketron]

My first car was a Standard Flying 8 registered in 1938 I bough it in 58 great little car considering it was 20 years old

 

[Eric Gibson]

I remember working on those Ron they had an aluminium cylinder head which corroded badly to the studs, the very devil to get off.

 

[rocketron]

I remember working on those Ron they had an aluminium cylinder head which corroded badly to the studs, the very devil to get off.

I was working at Rootes in Charlotte street at the time had the same problem with the old Humber Snipe would hang the car up via the spark plug holes for days working oil down around the studs before the head would loosen

 

[Lloyd]

I was working at Rootes in Charlotte street at the time had the same problem with the old Humber Snipe would hang the car up via the spark plug holes for days working oil down around the studs before the head would loosen

Another trick was to put the plugs back in, carb etc. on and start it up, leaving the head nuts off. Some still wouldn't shift!

 

[Eric Gibson]

There was later a special tool, a hollow tube with teeth on the end designed to pass down the length of the stud to grind out the crud but we too did the other tricks you mention.

 

[Richard Dye]

My first car was a Standard Flying 8 registered in 1938 I bough it in 58 great little car considering it was 20 years old

What was the difference between the Flying Standard 8 and the Standard 8?

 

[ChrisM]

Hi Chris, I am looking for photo's to do with family history- Cutlers/Cuttlers Garage being one of them. (we believe) they owned a horse & the wine shop next door. Bit of a long shot, but you wouldn't have any other photo's that may show any of these would u. I am new on here, so assuming it's ok to ask this question... Many thanks in advance ;-)

Welcome to the Forum, bravo121. It's perfectly OK!

A horse
I'm certain that the family were very much involved with horses (in the plural) in the immediate post-war years. (I'm not sure about the earlier period). There may well be photographs which survive from those days. I think the best thing is for me to contact a family member whom I know and who may be able to help with this. I'll let you know as and when I get a response.

Wine shop
I am not aware of this at all. Next door to the garage – there was a pub (and still is, although the garage is no more), named the Hardwick Arms but I am unaware of any connection apart from the fact that they were neighbours. I am not sure whether there might have been some separate business selling alcohol, probably dating from later and more likely on the other side of the premises, but I rather doubt it.

Have a good delve in the thread which MWS recommended. (I also have some information on the Cutler/Foden families on a separate website page: http://www.staffshomeguard.co.uk/D20ReminiscencesFodenCutler.htm)

I would advise you to continue this discussion in that other thread here, so that we can keep this one on-topic. Perhaps you could post a bit more detail there about your interest in this family which will help things to develop further.

Chris

 

[Johnfromstaffs]

What was the difference between the Flying Standard 8 and the Standard 8?

Flying Eight, 1939/40. Three speed box, louvres in bonnet.
Eight, 1945-48. Four speed box, no bonnet louvres, otherwise very similar.

”Flying” was a marketing thing introduced prewar for those cars built by Standard Motor Co. between 1936 and 1940. It was dropped postwar, as were many of the cars bit by bit until the Vanguard Phase 1 became the only offering in 1948. Triumph had been acquired in 1945, giving them some other designs to play with.

 

[Richard Dye]

Flying Eight, 1939/40. Three speed box, louvres in bonnet.
Eight, 1945-48. Four speed box, no bonnet louvres, otherwise very similar.

”Flying” was a marketing thing introduced prewar for those cars built by Standard Motor Co. between 1936 and 1940. It was dropped postwar, as were many of the cars bit by bit until the Vanguard Phase 1 became the only offering in 1948. Triumph had been acquired in 1945, giving them some other designs to play with.

Thank you for the background info!

 

[Johnfromstaffs]

Thank you for the background info!

No problem. The history of the British car industry overarching the war is interesting. People had more cash than ever before after earnings from industry, (except those who were called up) and a market existed. The trouble was the cars didn’t, and like the Standard Eight, prewar designs were revived. It took the best part of ten years to sort things out, and then incompetent management and greedy unions between themselves killed it. I don’t attach blame to one side or the other, they were both as bad.

 

[Richard Dye]

No problem. The history of the British car industry overarching the war is interesting. People had more cash than ever before after earnings from industry, (except those who were called up) and a market existed. The trouble was the cars didn’t, and like the Standard Eight, prewar designs were revived. It took the best part of ten years to sort things out, and then incompetent management and greedy unions between themselves killed it. I don’t attach blame to one side or the other, they were both as bad.

You are so right. I only had two cars when I lived there and a couple of motorcycles. However working in that industry in the US I have followed with much chagrin the demises of the British car industry as you clearly state. It seems also that government intervention did not help very much. Recently post some surgery I was not very mobile and studied (if that's the right word) all those great innovative brands that have disappeared and some that have been handed off to foreign competitors and are thriving with good management. So very sad!

 

[Covroad]

To celebrate the award of UK City of Culture to Coventry, local boy Mark Evans tells the history of the classic cars made in Coventry, including the Daimler, the Triumph, the Riley and the Jaguar. (Iplayer BBC4)

BBC Four - Classic British Cars: Made in Coventry

Mark Evans tells the story of Coventry’s classic cars, from the Daimler to the Jaguar.

www.bbc.co.uk

Some pictures I took yesterday in a local pub , these are old advertising brochures for Jaguar,Riley, Lea Francis, and Alvin cars (look at the price’s) £385 for a Super Snipe - 10 to 30 mph in 10 seconds

Source: self taken picture @ 17:00hrs 25/3/2023

 

[izzy eckerslike]

Well this photo is not of a car but the making of one which might be of interest to some of you

Boring three cylinder blocks simultaneously at the Morris motor factory at Cowley, Oxfordshire, England 1930's

 

[Richard Dye]

Well this photo is not of a car but the making of one which might be of interest to some of you

Boring three cylinder blocks simultaneously at the Morris motor factory at Cowley, Oxfordshire, England 1930's
View attachment 178879

Archdale built really good presses, I used to operate a radial arm drill press made by them as part of my apprenticeship, a little later than the photo.

 

[adap2it]

Archdale built really good presses, I used to operate a radial arm drill press made by them as part of my apprenticeship, a little later than the photo.

I had an Archdale radial drill in my shop...
Dave A

 

[izzy eckerslike]

Here is another photo, same factory and era, all cylinder block holes drilled at once and fed by a roller conveyor

 

[Jonathan Del Mar]

Another couple of years on, to 1937/38 and Dad's no. 3, a Ford V8 of probably 1936 vintage, COH619.

This came, in 1937, and very shortly after, nearly went! It's here in Cutler's Garage in Streetly, awaiting attention - the result of a coming-together at the Chester Road/Queslett Road crossroads with a Vauxhall being driven by someone under the influence. My brother and sister were in the car with him at the time but escaped without injury, despite the lack of seatbelts, airbags, soft surfaces and all the other modern paraphenalia. The windscreen suggests that my brother would have had a bit of a headache, though....
View attachment 157788

This was the Vauxhall, almost certainly a write-off:
View attachment 157789

Our V8 was hammered back into pristine condition as shown in the background of this image from summer 1938 - the car is on its holidays (as is the reluctant horseman) and is parked in the same place as the Morris Major three years previously.

View attachment 157790

(Pity it only warranted a full picture when it had been in the wars).

Chris

We have been looking at Dad's No. 1. Three years later, No.1 is still in the family, at home. So this isn't Dad's No.2, unfortunately.

We are looking at OG 6698, a Birmingham registered Riley Monaco of late 1930 or early 1931 vintage standing at a Berlin kerbside in the summer of 1932, with my father next to it. What a journey it has made, in those pre-autobahn days.

View attachment 157676

And another one, from the same moment:

View attachment 157677

(The whole story behind these images has appeared before in this Forum).

Chris

(Sources: staffshomeguard website and family archive)

Beautiful pictures! OG 6698 was issued in December 1930.

 

[Jonathan Del Mar]

Thanks for this. I’m glad that it’s not just me who took that sort of photograph!

Let’s start with what we know for sure. That Minx is, at the latest, a Phase VIII, or VIIIA, the production of which ended in 1956. At the earliest, the grille started with the Phase VI, Anniversary Minx, celebrating the model’s 21st year, in 1953. Difficult to tell, but I think it might be a drophead coupé, or a Californian Coupé. So we have a period of time, ‘53 to ‘56, before which the picture could not be taken. The registration of the subject vehicle appears to be EOJ, if so, a Birmingham index in use from August 1938 to February 1939, and reserved for commercial vehicles, although the Brum authority included estate cars as commercial vehicles. If it’s EUJ, that is June to October 1948, issued by the County Council of Salop (Shropshire). Those dates, the suicide doors, and the height and width of the vehicle pretty comprehensively rule out a Land Rover.

Now to the guesswork. The style of the drop-down tailboard, (love the tablecloth!), and the horizontally opening half doors suggest a home or local coachbuilder alteration of a damaged car, or van. The prewar registration plate, (if EOJ), rules out a conversion of a “Tilly” of which there were many still around at that time. although some jiggery-pokery might have occurred, especially due to the arcane tax laws and shortage of vehicles at that time.

I have tried to identify the front door. No easy job and I have no definitive answer, sorry. No Ford of that era still had suicide front doors. The Ten Model CX ceased build in 1937 and did not have a quarter light. The just prewar Austin Ten and Twelve had suicide doors, but the handle was mounted lower. The late thirties Morris models had no-draft ventilation with a strip of fixed glass across the top of the doors’ window aperture. Similarly for Flying Standard cars.

The nearest I can get with that door is a 1936-38 Talbot Ten, or a Singer Bantam from that time, which seems unlikely.

Later…..

I think I have it. Hillman New Minx, 1938/9. The door matches, even to the handle in the chrome belt line.

I hope that this is a possible solution.

This is the Commer van version, from which the conversion might have sprung: -

1936 Commer 8cwt Van

Antique miscellaneous such as this are historical limited editions (date of manufacture is 1930). Cherished back then - rare find today. Priced at £6,950. For sale by M.H & S.A Webster Ltd - Heathcote Antiques.

www.sellingantiques.co.uk

Well done again, John! As for the registration, I am quite certain it's EOJ, and would plump for 287 though it just might be 297. Whichever, the date of registration was late September 1938.

View attachment 119792
I have posted this picture before. it was my Private Hire Car when I worked at Radio Cars on Soho Road.

Can Johnfromstaffs please tell us what this car is? Thank you!

 

[Jonathan Del Mar]

View attachment 119800
My son bought the one on the left, an AC Cobra but it was so powerful that he decided to swap it fore the hot rod. Before this he had a 1942 model B ford. He buys from and sells to a man in London who buys all the new engines and spares from America. When you order a car from him he will deliver it on a small transporter right to your door. He then gives you a lot of advice on how to drive it and what not to do in the name of safety. As you can see the hotrod has no mudguards, this is legal because the car is classed as original but Jason is having mudguards fitted, you can see in the next picture what it will look like.
View attachment 119803

In case anyone is interested, YFO 681 is an age-related number issued by Bournemouth in 1996.

 

[ChrisM]

OG 6698

Thanks, Jonathan. Just to say....that all reminds me of an article I wrote many years ago in which the image of the car (from the family archive) appears and which explains the circumstances surrounding the photograph. Whilst it DOES all take place in Berlin, nevertheless there is a strong Birmingham connection both via the car itself and the men standing by. So, if you or anyone else want to glance at it, it is still online, here:

Staffs Home Guard Memories L2

(it's safe to click on, even if Google tries to tell you otherwise).

Lovely car, as you say. Wish it had been Dad's!

Chris

PS Edited to correct reg. no.

 

[Jonathan Del Mar]

OC 6698

Thanks, Jonathan. Just to say....that all reminds me of an article I wrote many years ago in which the image of the car (from the family archive) appears and which explains the circumstances surrounding the photograph. Whilst it DOES all take place in Berlin, nevertheless there is a strong Birmingham connection both via the car itself and the men standing by. So, if you or anyone else want to glance at it, it is still online, here:

Staffs Home Guard Memories L2

(it's safe to click on, even if Google tries to tell you otherwise).

Lovely car, as you say. Wish it had been Dad's!

Chris

Thank you, Chris - you have narrated the poignant story quite brilliantly. Every family of that time has a ghastly story to tell, and they are all interesting and captivating. My grandfather was from Stuttgart; he got out in 1895 when he was told, as a new recruit into the Army, that "you'll never become an officer - Jews are not allowed to be officers". That was already back in 1895! And so, like so many others, he had the foresight to turn his back on his country. Many of his close relatives perished.

I believe there is now an amazing chocolate shop just there in the Charlottenstrasse - amazing, but eye-wateringly expensive!

And (forgive me) even more mundanely: you do mean OG 6698 (not OC). Thank you for the nice picture.