Daddy,what did YOU do when you were a boy racer" 5128

I had to remove the pooe first. There was not a great deal to choose from in a Rural area and you got what was available down the local garage which was not a lot. I got a cow poo covered A35 van which had belonged to a farmer (deceased).Once washed and polished it came up quite well though.Only had 9000 miles on the clock. Nearest to keving it up was some wag at the digs I moved to sticking a Cartoon Rupert Bear and Daffy Duck on it and tying small flags to the trafficators. Initially it was a couple of union flags but a game started and various flags appeared .I think the best were a couple that had BANG on them like a cartoon gun. As to the reasons for modifying your car when you are a spotty oik then I suppose it is part of the natural process of growing up and wanting to show off a bit when young. I took a different route not having any facilities to do much work. While mates were trying to make their mini or Cortina look different from others I often went down the car auction at bin end time and bought something dignified from an earlier era.Humber Hawk, Rover 100, Rileys 1950's MG Saloons, Hillman Superminx Convertible, Jowett Javelin were a few I had. Tcut ,polish some filler and touch up paint and some elbow grease made them look quite presentable for the last few months of life till the MoT got them. And they compared well with the common pooe on the road at the time.This was the era of Vivas,Morris 1100s etc with orrid bare metal or plastic interiors orrid plastic seats often no radio and a very basic intrument panel. Mine still had leather seats,rev counters a bit of wooden dash and often a valve radio as standard. no need to spend half the weekend fitting such things from Halfords to kev up an Anglia. Occasionally one which should not have been in a general auction could be sold at a profit to somebody with serious ideas on restoration when advertised in the right place. It was cheap motoring, usually paid about £30 to £70 and you still got a bit from the scrapman back then. G.Harman