First car was mk1 Escort van, but got my license in the southern classic Holden Kingswood station wagon. Rear window wound down for the kids in the back front bench seat was big enough for naughties
What I learnt and passed in back in 2000. Gives you the motivation to do well and aspire to have a better car
Passed my test on a C reg Ford Escort. Got my bike licence on a CG125 CBT and Full licence on a CB500
Being the old fart that I am, I no longer have pictures of that car. It was a 1953 Buick Special 4 door. Straight 8 engine, Dyna-Flow drive. Here in the US they made you park parallel to the curb between two cones as part of the test. The beast had no power steering and probably weighed 4500 lbs. Ah the days if all steel motoring . ...J.D. FOUND A SIMULAR CAR FOR SALE:
The wife and I got to talking about this just now. She took her test on her dad's 1959 Cadillac Sedan deVille. ...J.D. LIKE THIS ONE. Only blue and white.
No picture yet but a mk1 ford escort van in yellow with a green door. Past first time in a most horrible test area called Jukes Road test centre., one of the hardest in Southampton
Some p.o.s Renault, so memorable I can't even recall what model it was. In "spit spit" Crewe. The week before the test I drove from Gretna to a holiday cottage near Newton Stewart, then drove to creewee down the A1, all on leper plates. Over 1000 miles that week. A Vauxhall astra saloon with the reg letters "F ***ORF.
Passed my test in this on the 2nd attempt, drove it once before my first test and couldn’t work out the gears, push/pull stick that cane out the dash. I had already bought one like this , hillman gazelle for less than a tenner but it had ripped seats and canvas showing through on the tyres so thought I’d better not take the test in it Oh and a fair bit of rust and cracked windscreen
I can't remember what I passed my car test in but I pretty much learned to drive on one of these babies.
Besides the Buick mentioned earlier, we had one of these around the house while I had my learners permit. My dad's 1948 Willys. Ours was a grass green color. ...J.D.
These were civilian models built after the war..Had the same 48h.p.4-hole flathead 4-cylinder as the military ones. Only.problem is they weighed a lot more. Don't know how many of those got out of the country, but the flat grill models are very rare even here. ...J.D.
It was hired for the test and rider training course. Doesn’t every rider training place offer bikes for hire?
In my area, the rider training organizations don't let students use their own motorcycles for the beginner class and they don't charge (well, charge extra) for use of their bikes. The schools all pretty much all use 250-300cc bikes that are fairly small and lightweight. I did my beginner class on a Honda Rebel.
Dinosaur here..suppose thing have moved on since I took my test around 1961. Did the test on a Suzuki 50cc, at the time it was one of the few 50s that didn’t have pedals so was classed as a motorcycle. Examiner stood at a back street roadside and told me to do a figure of 8 round a couple of blocks of houses, then, ride slowly along side him while he walked along the pavement, next was emergency stop, this involved him standing at the kerb and when I approached he stuck out his arm with clipboard, this was the signal to stop. Not really an emergency stop. Final part of test was answering 3 questions on the Highway Code. Couldn’t be any easier. That’s one reason we call them the ‘Good old days’. Thanks for bringing me up to date. Regards,Ken.
PS. Thinking back, this was a friends bike and not insured for me, but the examiner never asked to see insurance, just a provisional license. So after my test, my friend, his GF, my GF and me went to Butlins (Coach) in Pwllheli for a weeks holiday, there he met a Swedish Chalet maid and got so obsessed he actually rode the Suzy 50 from Heywood in Lancs to Pwllheli (And Back) just to see her again! Think that would have put me off motorcycles (Or girls) for life. Ken.
