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Experiences with old British cars

This page is about the appearance, comfort and safety of the old British family cars that started appearing on the roads after the Second World War. These cars had been in storage while petrol was reserved for war work, and were mainly from the 1930s. Some were even older, and no new family cars were being produced because the country was still recovering from the war. The focus of the page is on what was experienced as dramatically different about these old cars and car rides compared with those of today. The page is brought to life by the firsthand contributions from people who knew these cars from their own experience.

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By the webmaster: her early recollections and further research with contributions from others who lived at the time

Appearance

Most of the cars I saw were from the 1930s, and they looked like boxes on wheels with an engine sticking out. You can see an example in the top photo.

The earliest cars that I noticed were probably from the 1920s or even before, but there were very few of them. There was no attempt at streamling and the seats were raised above large wheels. The entire car was open to the wind and rain.

A 1920s car

Dangerous doors in older cars

Windows and windscreens

It was common for car windows to be made of some sort of cracking, brownish plastic, which was not really any longer properly transparent. Contributions in the following boxes elaborate.

The drivers must have had to drive with the windows open or with a hole pushed through them, in order to see safely - not that this would have been as dangerous as it sounds because there was so little traffic.

Insects on windscreens

On any reasonably long car journey, the car windscreen would always be splattered with dead insects. This was evidence of the large number of insects in ordinary air. They were killed as moving cars drove into them. This is something that never seems to happen these days due to modern pesticides and the large-scale destruction of wildlife in recent times.

Insects on a car windscreen, normal in mid-20th century

Starting handles

The engines of these old cars needed to be started manually using what was called a 'starting handle' - see the photo. This had to be inserted into a hole at the front of the car and turned with a good 'thwack'. It often needed a number of turns.

Car stating handle, photographed at Tilford Rural Life Centre

Once the sound of the engine showed that it had started, the starting handle was removed and stored ready for starting the car next time. The starting handle was often stored in clips inside the car or clipped under the bonnet.

Running boards on old cars

Old cars had sturdy ledges on both sides running between bulky front and back wheel mudguards. They were called 'running boards', although I have never understood why. I suppose they were designed as steps for passengers getting in and out, based on the old horse-drawn coaches which were higher than cars.

Running board on an old car

Running boards served as shelves for petrol cans, first-aid cans and holders for spare wheels. I also saw running boards used as seats when the cars were parked and as something for joy riders to stand on while cars were moving - a dangerous occupation which would probably not be allowed today.

Bonnets on older cars

Seat belt legislation: comfort and safety in older cars

There were no seat belts in older cars. Although car manufacturers did have to install them from 1965 in the UK, it was not until 1991 that the law required adults to wear them whatever them in the front as well as the back seats of a car.

Some statistics state that wearing a seat belt improves safety by 50%, but I can say from experience that seat belts would have improved comfort:

Sometime in the early 1950s I had a very long journey in an old 1930s-type car. I was appalled at how uncomfortable it was! It was winter and very cold indeed, and there was no heating. I don't think that the car had much in the way of springs, or the seats much left in the way of padding, but it certainly had no seat belts. As there were no motorways, only twisting and turning country roads, I was seriously thrown about, which was no fault of the driver. I felt sick, stiff and cold way before the end of the journey.

However some drivers were not necessarily competent. In 1935, compulsorydriving tests were introduced for all drivers and riders who started driving on or after 1 April 1934. I understand that the pass rate first time was not encouraging, but I can say from my own experience that I knew people driving around who, quite legally, had never had to pass a driving test.

Another safety factor was that it was fortunate that there was not more traffic on the roads. As the trafficator system of signalling drivers' intentions was so unreliable, cars bumping into one another would have been much more frequent than it actually was.

Also to add to the confusion at road junctions, there were no traffic lights

Licences to drive older cars

The following images show the 1939-1940 driving licence for my mother-in-law who drove ambulances during the war. Young women with no pre-school children had to go into employment, by law, during World War Two to fill the men's jobs.

Tap/click thumbnails for larger images.

My family's first car - late 1950s

Ford Anglia family car

Like many other ordinary families, my father bought our first family car in the late 1950s. Such cars were newly manufactured, rather than second hand older ones.

Our car was a Ford Anglia which sold widely, probably because it was relatively inexpensive. To everyone used to the appearance of the old cars, Ford Anglias were dramatically different because they were contoured to look as if they were rapidly accelerating, with an inward slanting back window. Gone were the 1930s-style bulky mudguards over the wheels and running boards.

The following image is a car tax document for 1956. It is not for our Anglian, but does show the format of the car tax at the time. It has to be shown on the windscreen of every car on the road.

1953 car-tax disc for a dark green Lanchester family car DXB 556, courtesy of Francis Duck

My father, like most drivers, belonged to the AA (Automobile Association).

If you can add anything to this page or provide a photo, I would be pleased if you would contact me.

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