Standard 8 trip to town, 1963

Wow how brilliant is that. Loving Broadgate with cars and vans.

Excellent find - lots of old memories there! Of course, the suitcases might have been full of spare parts - you never knew in those days when you'd need a new fan belt, carburettor, gearbox etc.

No hubcaps or door trims on that model then. I loved the special tool for mounting steering wheels, i.e. clenched fist, and the special method of connecting gearbox to engine, i.e. wobble it around until something happens. Brilliant! Great old film of the city centre with the Broadgate pre-fab shops etc. and Hertford St.

A very lucky film as the weather was horrendous during 53. also shows we still had no moving track in those days and they seemed to have no time limits for assembling parts.

We were so proud building those cars that delegates and engineers were invited from Russia, France, Germany, and General Motors of USA and every other country, that they copied and improved things and more or less put Coventry out of business. I would think the boys were looking at Lady Godiva. They used to fit the windscreen with two pieces of string, can't remember now, but it was quick and easy.

My brother has a Standard 8, he has owned it since he was 17, he's 65 this year. I remember when we collected it he did not have a full licence so I had to drive it, it was worn out and the fumes nearly choked us. It now has something more substantial than an 8hp engine under the bonnet and has shown a clean pair of heels to more than one boy racer.