Pete Lewis Posted September 19, 2023 Report Share Posted September 19, 2023 LNM 169 Mk5 Hillman Minx was bought in 1964 for £65 she was bright red ( in fact fire engine red painted at the airport ) we fitted a head from a Sunbeam racer had twin 1.5" copper exhaust and washers under the valve springs and a silly carburettor off the sunbeam . skimmed the head in the Apprentice school and with a add on must have rev counter pulled over 7k used to shear crown wheel bolts and half shafts if took off too quick for an old long stroke side valve she flew just take third gear and open the taps you were king of the road Happy days when she needed some under frame welding my uncle who ran Rootes parts sent a complete side rail down from B' ham and i never got the bill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekS Posted September 19, 2023 Report Share Posted September 19, 2023 Interesting look back there Pete. £65 in 1964 was a considerable amount of money mind, what's the equivalent now I wonder? And the red paint, done at the airport... the chemical factory I worked at had quite a few shiny yellow cars and bikes on the car parks, coincidentally the same shade as the local plant hire mobile compressors and welding sets! Happy days? Yep and the thing is we knew it at the time. Thanks for that! Derek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gully Posted September 20, 2023 Report Share Posted September 20, 2023 10 hours ago, DerekS said: £65 in 1964 was a considerable amount of money mind, what's the equivalent now I wonder? Based on general inflation, it's c. £1,685.00. Gully Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted September 20, 2023 Report Share Posted September 20, 2023 My first car was an Austin 7 Ruby. 3 of it's wings were from other cars that weren't Austin 7s. It had a lovely brass rheostat in the centre of the steering wheel to work the advance and retard. Windscreen wiper was handraulic. Wire brakes, ALL ROUND! Bought it for £10, sold it for £15. This isn't it, mine was blue. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted September 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2023 i tried to imagine you in one of those ....and failed Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted September 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2023 in 64 i was in 2nd year of my 5 yr apprenticeship and probably on the dizzy wage of around £5 a week my first new car was a series 2 super Imp in 68 at £462 and probably on around £1300 as just made Foreman of Quality Engineering (previously central investigation dept ) and out on road test with CID on your overalls would clear a transport cafe in minutes and deemed to be the youngest foreman in Rootes group happy memories Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted September 20, 2023 Report Share Posted September 20, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, Pete Lewis said: on the dizzy wage of around £5 a week Ha! My apprenticeship I was on £4 19s and 6d in a brown envelope on a Friday. Doug Edited September 20, 2023 by dougbgt6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted September 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2023 my first years apprentice wage in 1962 was £2 9s 3d a week you were lucky and .....rich pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted September 20, 2023 Report Share Posted September 20, 2023 First wage as a "proper" aprentice it was £2-2s-0. Just up from £2 the year before. When I was "tea boy" (just 15, and general dogsbody pre aprentice) at the previous place I got the massive sum of £1-15s-3d. But that was boosted quite substantially with tips and change from running errands mostly for fags, getting sarnies and fetching mugs of tea. First, Motor after I sold the Norton, was a battered old Ford Thames 5cwt Van, I put a rear seat in it from the scrappy, which was supported by a bar behind, take the bar out and hey presto a Bed!!. Useful after a belly full of ale!. We squeezed 10 bodies in it one Friday Lunch time celebrating someones Birthday, so loaded It failed to brake for the turn back into the factory and ended up on the grass verge!. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark powell Posted September 21, 2023 Report Share Posted September 21, 2023 1966 and first car was a Reliant Regent 10cwt van, complete with girder fork front wheel... Closely followed by '59 Fiat 600, complete with suicide doors and sunroof, worth a fortune these days. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Faulds Posted September 21, 2023 Report Share Posted September 21, 2023 (edited) 16 minutes ago, mark powell said: 1966 and first car was a Reliant Regent 10cwt van, complete with girder fork front wheel... Closely followed by '59 Fiat 600, complete with suicide doors and sunroof, worth a fortune these days. Great, sadly I don't have a picture, but nice tale, be about 1972 I bought a fiat 500 from Birtley car auction for £27 it was a blue one 1967. I repaired a dent on front wing and put a new exhaust. Ran it for a wee while and sold it for £125. Gone are the days ... Edited September 21, 2023 by Ian Faulds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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