MANY thanks to everyone who responded to our picture a fortnight ago which showed the opening of Catterick by-pass on Good Friday, April 1960. What was the car in the foreground, we asked, and some people even responded with touching stories.
“It is a Hillman Minx and the one behind, on the right, is a previous model Hillman Minx,” said Derek Noble, of Hutton Rudby. “I had one in the early 1960s, which I bought second hand for a hard-earned £37 10s. In order to run it while a student, the deal was that my fiancée bought the petrol and I bought the copious amounts of engine oil it needed. She had, by far, the best deal – and it worked, because she has been my wife for 50 years this year.”
How lovely is that?
However, this car-spotting is an inexact science. Not everyone agreed that it was a Minx.
“I believe it is either a Vauxhall Cresta or a Minx,” said Peter Galvin, while Ken Hannah of Guisborough said: “It is a Vauxhall Velox, first available 1955.”
“I believe it is a Vauxhall Victor,” said Phil Garwood in Northallerton. “My friend had one. He loved it but it rusted badly and the wheel arches fell out!”
Alan Kirby agreed: “It is an F Series Vauxhall Victor, made from 1957 to 1961. By the registration number, I would think it is a 1960 model.”
Sifting through the emails, it gradually became clear that the Victor was indeed the victor – and another theme emerged.
“It is a Vauxhall Victor F-type,” said Howard Ellis. “Nearly 400,000 were built between 1957 and 1961, most of which have rusted away! They did about 75mph and cost just over £750.”
John Young in Baldersdale added: “Alas the steel from which the Victors’ bodies were pressed was of a very low grade (some said it came from Russia). This led to holes rusting through panels in the most unusual places!
“The following vehicles are a Hillman Minx & a split screen Morris Minor.”
And Gerald Burnett added: “From the shape of the grille, bumpers and sidelights it looks like a Vauxhall Victor F Series II. These were produced from 1959 to 1961. The Series II improved marginally on the original with a mildly more powerful engine – up from 48 to 55bhp. It also had slightly fewer chrome embellished rust-traps, but it still rotted as you watched.”
Also in the Victor camp were John Todd, Linden Purvis, Les Parker, Richard Stone, John Weighell and Stephen Garbutt.
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