Description

Published just over ten years after the requirement to have a man carrying a red flag to walk ahead of your self propelled vehicle was abolished , this is a reminder of the days when a trip by motor car could soon turn into an adventure or a nightmare. The streets of towns and cities crowded with horse-drawn vehicles, steam lorries and tram cars were not for navigation by the faint-hearted or novice driver. (There were no driving tests until 1933).

An injudicious choice of route out in the country could find your vehicle trapped on a steep hill quite beyond the power of your engine to conquer, and no room to turn, with the only alternative a precipitous and potentially lethal descent backwards. More than 60 years ago I watched fascinated as a tiny pre-war Austin Ruby battled to climb Garrowby Hill in North Yorkshire… in reverse! This was the only gear it possessed of low enough ratio to give it a fighting chance on gradients of 1 in 7 and even steeper for short pitches.

On urban road networks evolved to meet the needs of horse traffic there were comparatively few road signs other than of a purely local nature. A man driving a horse could easily as k a passer-by for directions, while tram drivers did not need to – they merely followed the lines! That brings us to another problem for the intrepid automobilist. Older readers may recall a comedy film called “Genevieve” about a strictly illegal race back from Brighton after the annual Veteran car run, the winner to be the first across Westminster Bridge. On the bridge approach, the hero (played by John Gregson) is just in the lead when his 1904 Darracq breaks down. The Cad (Kenneth More) gives a yell of triumph and gives a hand signal to turn onto the bridge but his car a 1905 Spyker has other ideas, its front wheels comfortably snug in the tramlines drives straight on. For those whose steering track matched the gauge of the tram tracks this was a very real danger. “The Best Ways out of London” helpfully identifies some useful routes “avoiding tram lines”. This is a fascinating piece of motoring nostalgia and would have made a splendid Christmas gift for your chauffer, if you had one…

PREVIEW BELOW – MAY TAKE A WHILE TO LOAD.