It's interesting looking at
the past through modern eyes isn't it? I
hope you agree, and have enjoyed my peregrinations through the old Autocar
magazines that I've been perusing lately. So far, I've concentrated on the
pre-WW2 editions where the motoring world was still in its infancy and cars
were an expensive luxury.
Luckily, I have magazines
that cover cars in the immediate post-war period and which feature vehicles
with which we may be more familiar. Indeed, some amongst us may own a few of
the models I'll mention.
We see that vehicles have
changed. The angular cars of the thirties gave way to cars with curves and
rounded panels offering both form and function. No doubt, considerations like
aerodynamics, post-modern aesthetics and monocoque construction were the
reasons.
The cars now reflect the
austerity of the age where the ostentatious, gas guzzlers of the thirties no
longer make sense. Peacetime cars, made from scare materials offered better
mileage from rationed fuel. Sociologically speaking, we can see the increased
democratisation of motoring. The cars, although expensive, edged nearer to the
budget of the average family with all the economic advances that would bring.
It's worth noting that UK
motoring manufacture started to coalesce into a limited number of familiar
brand names. We will all recognise these brands. The exotic wannabes of the
pre-war years largely stymied by the lack of commercial opportunities. Wrenched
away by total war.
By 1949, our old friend SS
Cars had rebadged to Jaguar. The connotations of their pre-war moniker tossed
in the bin reserved for unfortunate brand names. The motoring press were
swooning over the XK120, the supercar of the day. This beauty had wowed by
achieving 136mph on a Belgian 'motorroad'. With a burgeoning range of motoring
lovelies to their name Jaguar's future was assured.
What I found in a later mag
1960 mag' is interesting. Have a look at this picture of the Bertone designed
Maserati 3000. Is it me or does this look like a seventies XJS to you? If you
squint your eyes, it's remarkably similar. Makes you wonder...
As we progress to the early
sixties, familiar names abound: Capri, Anglia, Rover 75 and Hillman Minx. There
was even an early Jensen Interceptor made in 1961. Here's me assuming that the
latter was the name given only to the thrusting 'ubercar' launched in 1966. Who
knew?
We also see the emergence
of names we now take for granted. Take VW for example. A car brand with a murky
past. Here the Autocar mags extol VW's virtues with no questions asked about
its dubious genesis. It's well known that it was the British Army who revived
the manufacturing of the Beetle after the war. They preserved Hitler's
'peoples' car' not as the symbol of an evil, fascist regime, but as Ferdinand
Porsche's engineering tour de force.
On the same theme, I quite
like the look of this VW 1500 from 1961. It's the very early version of what are
known as the VW Notchback/Variant/Squareback. This is the VW I'd own if I were
going down that road. Typically, you don't see too many of these out and about
so it’s a rare car but interesting too.
The only car that doesn't
seem to have settled on a name is the 'luxurious' Austin Seven. Correct me if
I'm wrong, but that's a Mini and the year is 1961. Marketing hadn't yet done
their 'thing' so the 'Seven' was laden with a stuffy, functional name, rather
than one that would appeal to the masses. Soon, it would become the Mini that
we all know and love and claim its rightful place in motoring history.
Finally, something that
made its way into all our lives, and cars. The 'Guardian' three-point safety
belt, demonstrated in this picture. Seat belts were by no means mandatory in
1961 and it was years before they became standard fit on all cars. Nonetheless,
here is one you could buy and install yourself if safety was a concern. I wonder
how many sales they made in these circumstances.
What is clear is that this
modest innovation is one that has helped the most to improve car safety. How
many lives has it saved? How many people after a shunt have lived to tell the
tale due to this simple product? As ever, it took too many years and too much
protest from penny-pinching OEMs, for it to become standard kit. Now, of
course, it's a legal imperative but I'm shocked that even today some still shun
wearing one.
So there you have it.
Modernity was on the way and motoring, as we know it, was here. And whilst
there was still a good few twists and turns to come, these cars are starting to
feel familiar. Having seen many of them on show in various fields in Cheshire
it's interesting to see them described as new.
So now that the showing
season is on its way I'll look forward to encountering them again with fresh eyes. All thanks to a pile of crumbling car magazines.
See you out and about!
