Call me a motorhead if you like. It’s the cars and bikes of my youth. I suppose they are associated with good memories. It’s the freedom of the road. In the 1970s-80s that was still a freedom. Summer jams hadn’t crushed the spirt of motoring.
It’s nice to hark back to the analogue era. Long before digital engine controllers made engines practically untouchable. Looking at the basic BMC “A” series engine. Everything was fixable. No degree in engineering required. A 15-year-old could do it.
Now, the Austin A35 van has been elevated to the hall of fame. Without it how would Wallace and Gromit[1] ever foil their nemesis? It’s iconic shape is unmistakable.
The van we owned as a field car had a former life as a chicken shed. Some friends and I bought it from a schoolteacher who’d put it back together. We raced it around the open fields. The rugged little engine held-up long before the bodywork fell apart.
Shame we didn’t see the value in it. 50-years on they are much valued[2]. But I don’t think I’d spend ten grand on one.
[1] https://www.wallaceandgromit.com/
[2] https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1777209
John Vincent 