How things have changed

Rob Driver · Guru

How things have changed

dorian · Guru

I see my favourite car -- R & S Series Valiant. Or at least it looks very much like it.

-- Edited by dorian on Wednesday 23rd of December 2020 08:45:44 AM

Rob Driver · Guru

dorian wrote:
I see my favourite car -- R & S Series Valiant. Or at least it looks very much like it.

-- Edited by dorian on Wednesday 23rd of December 2020 08:45:44 AM

Dorian, are you referring to the vehicle in the foreground slightly to the right above the man walking on the path?

My guess on that one would have been a Studebaker.....

Regards

Rob

Mariner30 · Senior Member

That pic has been doing the rounds on different forums over the last week or so,
SIL had a S model valiant as a family daily in the mid 70' s, couldn't give it away when it eventually broke down

Probably wishes she had kept it now.

Rob Driver · Guru

Mariner30 wrote:
That pic has been doing the rounds on different forums over the last week or so,
SIL had a S model valiant as a family daily in the mid 70' s, couldn't give it away when it eventually broke down

Probably wishes she had kept it now.

You are probably right.

I found the pic on a Nostalgic Australia FB page.

I thought it may generate some interest on this forum due to the average age of most members on here.

S and R series valiants can demand quite high prices if in good condition.

Regards

Rob

Craig1 · Guru

and a gas guzzler Vanguard, hope he wasnt towing

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Crikey! Those tents bring back memories of camping at Rosebud on the Mornington Peninsula VIC. Many a time I was out in the middle of the night with rain bucketing down digging a trench around the edges of the tent to channel water away. The next day you would see clothes and bedding out drying. Yet, we kept going back for the same punishment. Great days and memories though.

DMaxer · Guru

Coming down the picture on the right hand side, under that right hand tree I think that is a Valiant. Over on the far left near where the woman is standing (or a bloke in drag) is a pre war. perhaps 1938 Chev. In the middle to the right of that is a Morris Minor, further to the right is a Zephyr. I think it is a Studebaker further down and below that is a Vanguard.

I reckon that photo was taken about 1964-66. Great memories, thanks for posting.

yobarr · Guru

Craig1 wrote:
and a gas guzzler Vanguard, hope he wasnt towing

Hope he wasn't towing".....me too,that being the famous (?) 'Fergy Fastback' with a huge 28hp on tap.There is an AP5 Valiant up on the beach front,with an EH Holden and a Morris 1100 nearby.And is that a Customline behind the Studebaker?Morris 1000 and a few FJs,but not sure of vehicle in front of FJ panel van.Old Chev or Dodge? Cheers

Dougwe · Chief one feather

DMaxer wrote:
Coming down the picture on the right hand side, under that right hand tree I think that is a Valiant. Over on the far left near where the woman is standing (or a bloke in drag) is a pre war. perhaps 1938 Chev. In the middle to the right of that is a Morris Minor, further to the right is a Zephyr. I think it is a Studebaker further down and below that is a Vanguard.
I reckon that photo was taken about 1964-66. Great memories, thanks for posting.

Mmmm, I thought that was you BigD.

Greg 1 · Guru

Funny you should say that about the Vanguard. My old man was the State service manager for Standard Triumph back in the fifties and early sixties. Had a string of Vanguards and towed caravans all over the continent with them when most roads in the outback were little more than goat tracks. The Vanguards returned good economy, never let us down and I can't ever remember getting bogged with them either, despite going through some country people these days would tell you you need a 4wd for. Great old cars that for their day, were very tough and reliable. The last family Vanguard he owned was a 1962 Vanguard 6 which took us on many adventures and was what I learnt to drive in and learnt to tow a van with. Great little 6 cylinder engine which carried on into the Triumph saloons and sports car range, of which I have owned many. He ran a business after leaving the automotive industry, and ran a couple of Vanguard van's in that which hauled around loads close to their capacity, did close to 400,000 ks before he sold them, and proved again to be absolutely reliable workhorses. The old wet sleeve 4 cylinder was a motor that won its class in things like the Monte Carlo rally and RAC rally in the works TR3's and TR4's and is still proving successful in historic racing, along with being fitted into many Massey Ferguson tractors. By the way, it is a Standard Motor Company engine not a Massey Ferguson one as some like to think. Still have a soft spot for the Standard Triumphs. Like so many English brands though, were destroyed by British Leyland getting hold of them.

Whenarewethere · Guru

1952 Propert fold out caravan, sleeps 2 adults & 2 children. National Motor Museum SA.

DMaxer · Guru

Nothing like a bit of cross dressing Doug. I think that is why they call it camping.

Sheffield-er · Senior Member

When I got my first car at age of 18 (which is 57 yrs ago) it was a 10 h.p. "Standard 10" - it was very second/third/hand so probably only had about 7 horse-power left.

I used to chuckle many years later when I rode my ride-on mower that exceeded that by 5 horsepower.

Val biggrin biggrin biggrin

yobarr · Guru

DMaxer wrote:
Coming down the picture on the right hand side, under that right hand tree I think that is a Valiant. Over on the far left near where the woman is standing (or a bloke in drag) is a pre war. perhaps 1938 Chev. In the middle to the right of that is a Morris Minor, further to the right is a ZEPHYR . I think it is a Studebaker further down and below that is a Vanguard.
I reckon that photo was taken about 1964-66. Great memories, thanks for posting.

Around 64-66 would be right,I reckon,and the Zephyr is a Mark II.Looks like the first of them,late 56 or early 57,as it seems to have the high roof. Many people do not know that early MKlls first came out with a roof that was 2" higher than the roof on later models,and it was designed to cater for the hats that were commonly worn by the men of that era.Most had external sunvisors,but I'm not sure if they were provided standard,or as a factory option.This model had the chequer-board grill,as in the attached photo,and a domed speedometer,with a sweeping needle. The later model had a bar-type grill,and a 'strip' speedometer that moved across its screen,from left to right.All had bench seats,as far as I recall,and the preferred gearbox was "3 on the tree",although later models had an automatic transmission as an option,I think? People were very suspicious of automatics in the early 60s, with the FB being the first Holden that I recall having one. Cheers

P.S The green car is a 1960 MKll Zephyr,and was known as the "Lowline model" because of its lower roof.And I've just noticed that it seems to have 5 external rear-vision mirrors.....plus the sunvisor! Cheers.

-- Edited by yobarr on Wednesday 23rd of December 2020 04:24:48 PM

-- Edited by yobarr on Wednesday 23rd of December 2020 05:00:18 PM

yobarr · Guru

Sheffield-er wrote:
When I got my first car at age of 18 (which is 57 yrs ago) it was a 10 h.p. "Standard 10" - it was very second/third/hand so probably only had about 7 horse-power left.

I used to chuckle many years later when I rode my ride-on mower that exceeded that by 5 horsepower.

Val

Hi Val...not sure what year your car was,but I once was the proud(?) owner of a 1957 model,which had the Standrive gearbox.This transmission had no clutch,but when you changed gears,you had to flick a switch on top of the gear lever to allow you to select the next gear. Magic,sort of! When selecting first gear,or reverse,it was not necessary to use the switch...just shove it in,and you were on the move.Great for stop-start traffic.Cheers.

-- Edited by yobarr on Wednesday 23rd of December 2020 04:37:35 PM

Whenarewethere · Guru

How things have changed..... maybe not.

You can still get an external windscreen sunvisor.

https://roofrack.com.au/product/mazda-bt50-gen2-10-2011-2020-solid-windscreen-sunvisor/

yobarr · Guru

Whenarewethere wrote:
How things have changed..... maybe not.
You can still get an external windscreen sunvisor.
https://roofrack.com.au/product/mazda-bt50-gen2-10-2011-2020-solid-windscreen-sunvisor/

And they're well worth having too.I recently bought one for my car,and fitted it.$320.Cheers

Whenarewethere · Guru

I remember my grandfather's Peugeot 504, he had one. I had a 504 later but didn't have one.

DMaxer · Guru

Not only did we have the external sun visor on both the FC and the FB Holden, because we had the Standard model and not the Special, old dad got a mascot fitted on the bonnet just to chrome it up a bit and impress the neighbours. We also had the clip on vinyl that came down from the driver's door window so that when you drove along with your arm hanging out and resting on the door frame. It did not mark the "duco". Cop that!!!!!

-- Edited by DMaxer on Thursday 24th of December 2020 01:35:53 PM

Rob Driver · Guru

Dougwe wrote:
Crikey! Those tents bring back memories of camping at Rosebud on the Mornington Peninsula VIC. Many a time I was out in the middle of the night with rain bucketing down digging a trench around the edges of the tent to channel water away. The next day you would see clothes and bedding out drying. Yet, we kept going back for the same punishment. Great days and memories though.

My memories are very similar Doug.

After digging the trench we were instructed by Dad not to touch the walls or have anything touching the walls like stretchers or bedding as this would cause the water to be drawn straight through and onto anything touching.

I remember we thought that to have a caravan was a real luxury. We had a Morris Minor and Dad built a trailer with a plywood canopy that he and Mum had a bed in. He would back it into the opening of the 12 x 12 tent and then a tarp over the opening would help to keep the rain out. We had a tilley lamp as opposed to the more common hurricane lamp for light and with a metho stove we were right to go.

There were no solar panels and therefore no arguments about types of controllers or wether we would have enough battery to stop the block of ice melting in the ice box. biggrin If we were camped by a river Dad would put the drinks and his beer in the river to keep it cold. There were no 4wd vehicles but we still managed to get to remote spots. When we got bogged we dug it out.

By todays standard things were a bit rough but we all managed to enjoy ourselves.

Regards

Rob

bgt · Guru

My grandfather had a caravan park from about 1948 to about 1960. Each night after dark he would do the rounds 'just to check'. I often went with him. Now pop was a perv. Shadows looked just fine to me also. Thin canvas. Hurricane lights. Only 1 in 10 campers had a caravan. I can still smell the camp kitchen and the gas cookers. A penny in the slot to get enough gas to half cook ya eggs in the morning!

Mum still thinks their first car was their best car. A 1952 Humber Super Snipe. You needed a cut lunch just to walk around the long bonnet. Got my finger jammed in the door of that car. Finger has always been bent.

Rob Driver · Guru

My Grandfather had large Buicks all of his driving life up until he retired and then he bought a Lloyd Hartnet.
This was a shock to the entire family. He was a big man and he could hardly fit into it...

I remember the days when he used to pick both me and my sisters up in the Buick so we could spend parts of the holiday with him and Grandma.
They lived up the coast near Woy Woy and the road in those days was only the old highway from Sydney.
As he negotiated those several hundreds of bends on the old road the Buick would get a real sway up.
My younger sister could not cope with this movement and she would get carsick almost on every trip.

Does anyone get carsick today? I know none of our children ever got sick.

It is great how these old memories come back from a simple thing like a picture.

Regards

Rob

yobarr · Guru

bgt wrote:
My grandfather had a caravan park from about 1948 to about 1960. Each night after dark he would do the rounds 'just to check'. I often went with him. Now pop was a perv. Shadows looked just fine to me also. Thin canvas. Hurricane lights. Only 1 in 10 campers had a caravan. I can still smell the camp kitchen and the gas cookers. A penny in the slot to get enough gas to half cook ya eggs in the morning!

Mum still thinks their first car was their best car. A 1952 Humber Super Snipe. You needed a cut lunch just to walk around the long bonnet. Got my finger jammed in the door of that car. Finger has always been bent.

Ah,yes! The 1952 Snipe,enormous by today's standards,with room in the back seat to hold a party! Same engine was used in early model Commer trucks,and had heaps of torque at low revs.A real stump-puller! Cheers

Craig1 · Guru

And now the worst bit. The most valuable "car" in the pic is the blessed VW Kombi, they are bring insane prices , or being offered for insane $$

DMaxer · Guru

Those bends coming into Gosford on the old Pacific Highway were legendary Rob. You would drive along and see all the cars parked on the side of the road with half the family stooped over having a "liquid laugh" calling out for Ruth.

Another one of the great accessories on our Holden was the strip that hung down the back and dragged on the road to stop car sickness. I think it was made of rubber with a metal end and was supposed to earth the car.

I remember that where we lived there were a number of newly arrived people from the Mediterranean area. One of their cars had the two rear aerials with fox tails. Another had all the rear window area adorned with a fringe and cushions and a dog whose eyes lit up when the brakes were applied. The best one was an old Ford Customline with the spats over the rear wheels, twin aerials with the the fox tails, pictures of Elvis in the rear window and on the bumper bars and "Flaming Star" written on the bonnet. The bloke that drove it did so in a side on position, back sort of resting against the door, right hand on the steering wheel and the left arm along the seat.

Great memories.

yobarr · Guru

Craig1 wrote:
And now the worst bit. The most valuable "car" in the pic is the blessed VW Kombi, they are bring insane prices , or being offered for insane $$

Here we are Craig...this one is in Victoria.The price would not be the only thing that would be insane if it was paid! Cheers

Old Garbo · Member

Yes the old Gosford trips,used to take about 2 hours to get to Long Jetty, with the first stop Brooklyn pub before tackling those bends,then on to Tuggerah for the home caught fish used to cost sixpence a piece + chips. Then head on into Long Jetty via the old Wyong Rd , more bloody bends. So straight to the Long Jetty pub. Ah those were the days!!

Old Garbo · Member

Anyone know where that caravan Park picture was taken.?

bgt · Guru

Left side half way up Is that a Ford Pilot? A couple of Customlines in there as well. As a kid my wife toured around Vic in a small caravan. 3 kids, mum and dad towing the plywood box. They were heading for Gippsland. But the old Vangaurd couldn't get up some hills. That was the first and last camping trip they ever did. To think on some forums there's grizzles about ONLY a 3500k tow rating!!