Readers will now be aware that the authors and contributors of this blog have been around for a considerable time and have seen many changes in that period. When we were boys back in the 1950’s not every family owned a motor car and if they did it was usually a pre-World War II vehicle.
In the early 1950’s it took a long time to save for a motor vehicle as the basic wage was around six pounds a week equal to $36. Most vehicles were showing their age by that stage as the war had stopped production of new motor vehicles.
By 1950, about 58,000 vehicles were manufactured in Australia a year. As well as the “FX” Holden, which had swelled production to 100 a day to meet demand, other popular models included the Austin A40, four-cylinder Vauxhall Wyvern and the six-cylinder Velox, and the Standard Vanguard, all of which suffered in Australia’s unique, rugged conditions.
I can remember as a five year old coming down from Mount Magnet in 1950 with Mum and Dad in our old Ford V8 Utility. This journey was over shocking roads covered in corrugations nearly all the way to Perth. These roads would literally shake vehicles to bits and travellers would have to stop often to mend tyre punctures.
Pictured: Similar ute to our old V8. Ours had dents, a roo bar and no white-walls!
As far as our family was concerned, things didn’t change much over the next 10 years as work was hard to find and Mum and Dad really struggled to make ends meet. Fortunately we were able to stay in Mum’s old family home in North Perth until Dad was able to secure a War Service Loan and we were able to move out to the new suburb of East Victoria Park in 1955.
During that period Mum sold the old Ford V8 much to my disappointment, to buy a Standard 10!
Standard Ten - Wikipedia
(1934–1936) - Edwardian 10 hp cars-Standard 9.5 hp
Engine: 1343 cc inline four side-valve engine
Wheelbase: base: 2,311 mm (91 in); optional:
Production: 1934–1936
Manufacturer: Standard Motor Company
The Vauxhall 10-4 is a British-built small family car produced by Vauxhall between 1937 and 1947. It was launched at the October 1937 London Motor Show Also called: Vauxhall H-type or HIY-type; Vaux... Curb weight: 2,016 lb (914 kg) Production: 1937–1940; 1946–1947 Engine: 1203 cc ohv I4; 34 bhp (25.4 kW); ...
Once again Norm (Dad) was not to pleased with this, however he had to put up with it because Mum (Trixie) did most of the driving because Norm was a terrible city driver! The only good thing about the Vauxhall was it had more guts than the Standard Ten.
Apart from that it had all the usual faults the Standard had as well as a very annoying habit of sticking in second gear. To remedy this the floor cowling in the cab over the gearbox had to be removed and the gear box cover with the gear stick had to be unbolted. The gear selectors could then be manipulated with a screwdriver to bring them back to neutral to sort out the jam!
This fault continued on a regular basis so Norm left all the screws out of the floor cowling to make the job easier!
Mum’s old family in North Perth were getting on in age and needed help with household chores and cooking. Mum spent a lot of time travelling from East Vic Park to Woodville Street in North Perth to help them. This went on for a number of years and the old Vauxhall managed to get her there and back until it started to become very unreliable.
Mum decided it was time for the Vauxhall to go and brought a Morris Minor, once again from Inglewood Motors. I learned to drive in the Morris and often borrowed it from Mum as it was far more reliable than my old 34 Ford V8 and used a lot less fuel! We drove the Minor around for about five years and it never let us down however it was very under-powered!
From 1952–56, an 803 cc a A-Series inline-four engine was used, producing 30 hp (22 kW) at 4,800 rpm and 40 ft⋅lb (54 N⋅m) of torque at 2,400 rpm A horizontal slat grille was fitted from October 1954,[20] as well as a new dashboard with a central speedometer. 269,838 examples of the Series II had been built when production ended in 1956
My uncle Charles who was the head of the old family in North Perth decided to buy Mum a new Morris 1100, a reward for all the help she had been looking after them. Mum was ‘over the moon’ with her new car as it was the first ‘new’ car she had ever owned. She owned two 1100’s until she gave up driving in her late 80’s
From Wikipedia:The BMC ADO16 was a range of small family cars built by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and, later, British Leyland. Launched in 1962, it was Britain's best-selling car from 1963 to 1966 and from 1968 to 1971.[3] The ADO16 was marketed under various make and model names; however, the Austin 1100 and Morris 1100 were the most prolific of all the ADO16 variants
When I was working for Sands & Mcdougall the old printing firm in the early 60’s our boss Reg Frizzell had an 1100 as a company car. I used this car on many occasions to pick up and deliver stuff around town and developed a respect for it as it was a great to drive, easy to park and very economical.
Anyone interested in Morris cars may join the Morris Car Club. The Club was formed in 1980 by a group of enthusiasts wishing to share the joys of owning and driving Morris cars. They are the only car club in WA catering solely for Morris vehicles.
This page is dedicated to Bakers Delight, proud sponsors of the Pickering Brook Football Club, located at shop 15 Kalamunda Central, Cnr. Mead Street and Central Road Kalamunda, WA 6076. Contact: Liz Appleby 9293 1486
http://www.bakersdelight.com.au
