Our family motor in the mid 30s,a Bentley Sports saloon.On joyous outings Papa being of small stature would be in the driving seat with a cushion underneath him so that he was able to see over the bonnet,Mama would sit beside him clutching her smelling salts and in the rear compartment half a dozen children,the seventh not yet born.On the then quiet open roads the older boys would be allowed to stand on the running boards and surf the wind,the younger ones to stand on the seats and poke our heads out of the sun roof.
We also discovered that in the back we could lift the floorboards and watch the road go by underneath, drop things down there and and see the prop shaft whizzing round at high speed.(dont think my Papa knew this)
If you enlarge the photo and look at front wheels you will notice the difference between the two tyres. This didn't matter as there was no M.O.T. test in those days.
The other thing I remember the back window had a neat little curtain which was drawn at night time to stop dazzle but during the day made it very cosy.
Young people don't know what motoring is. We never asked"are we there yet?"there was so much to do in the back,
Wonderful photograph - you could probably write a thesis on it. The car would probably break about a dozen health and safety laws today .... but what a motor.
ReplyDeleteOooo I just went on a family drive in my imagination. My Dad had an Austin 7. He was a motor bike fanatic until he got the car. They were the good old days right enough.
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