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Once upon a time, there was this Hedgehog wanting to cross a main road, as they sometimes do. A Rabbit suddenly dashed across from the other side and sat down next to the Hedgehog.
The Hedgehog says to the Rabbit, “How come so many of us hedgehogs get killed on the roads, and you rabbits are usually alright?”
“Ah, well”, says the Rabbit, “we’ve got a technique. When we see a car coming we judge where the centre of the car is from the headlights. We can then crouch down low and the car will pass safely straight over us.”
Hedgehog says, “That’s brilliant. I‘ll try that.”
He starts off across the road and sure enough he notices a pair of headlights in the distance. He remembers what the Rabbit told him and positions himself exactly midway between them and curls up in ball.
SPLAT.!!!
The Rabbit says “Well bugger me!“
“That’s the first time I’ve seen a Reliant Robin on this road for years!“
(For any from 'far off places' and not ‘in the know’,
a Reliant Robin has three wheels not four! )
- o -
My very first means of transport was a three-wheeler.
A tricycle.
(I did a post on on my early pedal transport here).
As I got older I graduated to two wheels and as I free-wheeled to the end of my teens these two-wheeled machines came fitted with petrol engines. Yes motor-bikes.
In those days most of the girls I knew found motor-bikes cold, wet windy things and my brother Colin, who then had an old Singer car, seemed to get more of his fair share of girlfriends than I did.
So I traded in my motorbike, an Aerial Leader for a three-wheeler. It was a sporty looking machine called a Berkeley T60, but was known by ‘real’ motorists as a “Plastic Pig”!
Ha,ha! Off to the woods in 1964!
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A least my Sylvia was warm and dry.
By now brother Colin had sold his Singer
and bought a very hairy ‘bird-puller’.
A Morgan three-wheeler.
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Colin's Morgan.
This was taken at one of those Sprints in 1969 on an old aerodrome at Gaydon.
A timed dash over a quarter of a mile from a standing start.
No, not from the traffic lights on the Bristol Road.
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Or nudging up to traffic cop!
I must get one of those I thought, but it was not to be. They were no longer made and were hard to come by and fairly pricey. However, Morgan made three-wheelers with Ford engines tucked away under a bonnet in the dry and as they were not so popular, were more in my price range.
I bought a 1935 Ford engined (F type) Morgan in 1966 for £50.
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"A real bargain, Sir. Low milage, one lady owner."
From then on of course I remained firmly on four wheels,
although I hung onto the Moggie for many years and finally,
sold it about three years ago.
(for considerably more than the £50 I paid for it! )
But as they say, “what goes round, comes round”,
and things have at last caught up with me.
I am once again back on three-wheels.
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Only joking - it’s not really me!
Yet.
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Those were the days Bernard the triped, no speed limits, no seat belts, it's a wonder we survived at all.
ReplyDeleteGreat pics though:)
Lovely post, Bernard! How you climb the ladder of vehicle owning with a vengeance.
ReplyDeleteI learned on a Ford Anglia, bought a Ford Prefect 3-gear car for £50, then a Morris Traveller with rotten woodwork and next was a Fiat 500 - children had gone from home by now or had their own transport. I've had a couple of Renaults, Hondas and a Micra and now have another Micra but this is an automatic - ah, bliss! And my son's a mechanic for anything from cars, motorbikes to JCBs and farm machinery...
Recently on Top Gear they did a hilarious piece about a 3 wheeler. I've seen them on TV but never seen one here. They look pretty funny to me !!!
ReplyDeleteCheers
Helen
Morning Angus of Rover fame.
ReplyDeleteThe pictures aren't that great, but at least I still have a few after all these years.
I remember buying petrol way back in those days for 1/9d a gallon! Two star, mind you. :)
And I think my insurance was about £12 a year!
Thanks Sylve,
I haven't been through all my motoring history of course. Whilst sorting out these photos, I have found quite a few old pictures of my relations in their old cars. Another post perhaps. I too had a Morris 1000 - I always wanted the 'traveller' - lots of space in the back (for a cuddle! ) :O
Hi Helen, You must have popped in whilst I was replying t'others. :)
ReplyDeleteIs that the same Top Gear as we have?
Now I know for a fact there are 3-wheeler Morgans in Australia. I used to be in the Morgan club and we had quite a few members out there.
Mind you, Australia is big, and Morgans a wee bit on the small side and not easily found.
You get so attached to your car don't you?
ReplyDeleteMine has to be scrapped this year (june when the car tax runs out) and I'm dreading it!
No-one will buy her, cause she is so rusty and she won't go through another MOT.
K reg vauxwagon polo so she is quite old now, just like her owner. Must get another one, brill cars.
What wonderful old cars. My first was a Hillman Imp, but the best car I ever owned was a Citroen 2CV, it was such fun to be able to roll the top down in the good weather. 2CV owners always wave to each other and I carried on waving (and feeling a twit) long after we "upgraded" it to a Mini metro.
ReplyDeleteMy Brother restored a 2 seater Chrysler Alpine and I made replacement seat covers for it, on my Singer hand powered sewing machine :-D
That was a great blog Bernard, I really enjoyed it,my husband runs a Big Boys Toys day each year and everyone brings their old lovelies out of the shed and shows them off everything from cycles to bikes to cars,trucks and tractors and much talking is done lol.CArs are not romantic anymore are they,they just don't have the factor that makes you smile with memories.
ReplyDeleteTthat story about hedgehog and rabbit made me laugh. Sylvia and the Reliant look very cool!
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely memories :-)
ReplyDeleteI do remember travelling in the back of a Reliant Robin. I didn't feel completely safe ;-)
Hi Annette:
ReplyDeleteI’m less attached to motors these days, than I was all those years back. Todays cars don’t have the character of those old ones. Your Polo sounds as though it has been a ‘good friend‘. Sad to see ‘friends’ squashed.
Morning Kath:
I do remember Hillman Imps and the 2CV’s. Di you remember that bit from “One foot in the Grave” where Victor found a CV in his skip? “I don’t belieeeeeeeve it!”
I tried making seat coverings from ’leather-cloth’. May hands and fingers ached for weeks. It was tough sewing.
Thanks Carole:
I am more at home writing about mechanical things. “Big Boys Toys”? Is that what they are. As I said to Annette, todays cars have no character. When it comes to changing them, I’m in no way attached and there is no sad parting anymore.
Hello Molly:
A sad tale, I suppose, but only a joke. Although, having said that, it no joke that so many hedgehogs to get killed on the roads these days. Glad to have cheered you up.
I’m only just scratching the surface CherryPie.
When I think back there are more tales about what us teenagers got up to with old bikes and cars. What with Dad and us boys tinkering with cars and bikes, our Mum never had a nice clean kitchen sink.
Don't know if Helsie will see this, but didn't they do a Mr. Bean programme in a three wheeler? Hilarious!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your ladies about motorbikes - noisy, cold, windy, umcomfortable.....
Hi Foody, It was Mr Bean trying to reverse his Mini into a carpark through the barrier, to avoid paying. He finally raced out and caused a Reliant Robin to reverse to quickly and topple over. I still have that clip on video. VHS. :)
ReplyDeleteAll now 'ex' ladies Foody. :(