Pity you kids don't know what REAL cars were like. My first car was a 1934 Morris 8/40, & what a rocket ship it was in 1957. I lived in Randwick [Sydney], worked at GMH Pagewood 2.5 days a week, & attended Sydney Uni the other 2.5, on an engineering scholarship. The little lady was parked on a hill, as she was a little short on battery & cranking power on cold mornings. God knows how old the spark plugs were, I didn't. Would start all day after her first warm up. I had the car & no money, 3 uni mates had no car, & just enough money to fill the 8/40 with petrol each Friday night, for a weekend chasing birds around the beaches each weekend. Don't think we ever caught any, but hope is strong in the young. Then I joined the navy, & after some training they sent us off to the RAAF NO1 BFTS [basic flying training school] at Uranquinty. Drove the little Morris there from Sydney, with another trainee, & all our gear. She didn't actually stop up any of the hills, but I think we were holding up some of those slow 50s semi trailers up some hills. At Quinti I was the only one of 6 navy types with a car, so all 6 used to pile in for a night out in Wagga on Saturday nights. Only 3 of us left to graduate with a big night in Wagga, & the poor little Morris died that night. We got involved & stayed the night. Never heard of antifreeze, the Morris had a cracked head, & radiator the next morning, having been left out all night. We were off to Pearce WA for our jet training in just 4 days, so the Morris was given to someone on the next course. Bought a 1936 Pontiac Super Chieftain, roadster, with the dickey seat missing over there. We got 10 in that one night, but that's another story.
Published on 29 April 2017
By logging in via Google, you consent to Google sharing your information with Shannons. Shannons agrees to use this information in accordance with the Shannons Club Privacy Statement.