Wigan Album

The car is a 1958 ish, Hillman Husky.

Well spotted Garry. Do you think the van opposite is a Ford Thames?.

Garry, my hubby agrees about the car. He says it is a late 1950s to VERY early 1960s Hillman Husky. We have a 1959 Hillman Minx, pale blue and cream.....look out for us!

Jack you're right, Ford Thames 400E 15cwt.In production From 1957-1965. Irene a great car the minx, the Husky an estate car the minx a saloon. Could well be a 1300cc engine, both from the Roots group stable.

The car between the caravans looks a bit like a Wolseley 16/60.

A mate of mine had one of the first Hillman Huskies in late 1956 = passed his test in it at 17yrs and three weeks old. The van version was the Commer Cob.

Yes Jack, also related Riley 16/60, Riley 4/68 and Princess Vanden Plas. All part of the BMC group.

Knowledgeable motor enthusiasts. Were Rootes Group, a manufacturer of the Hillman model, or were they only the main distributers of the Hillman cars?.

Albert, Rootes Group were the manufacturers of the Hillman, Singer, Sunbeam, Humber, Commer (vans), and possibly other commercial vehicles. We have the "Rootes Group" emblem on the centre of the dashboard in our Minx, (which we have christened "Dorothy"!)

Albert, America's Chrysler company took a minority shareholding in the ailing Rootes Group around 1967 and took them over completely in the early seventies, after which all cars were re-branded as Chrysler.

Irene: Oh! I do like the 'look out for us' line in your post to Gary - it zings.

Thank you all for your enlightening information.

And then Talbot.

The first fleet of Panda cars that were used by the Kent Police,in the mid sixties, were Hillman Imps.

What! no comments about the 1950s & 1960s caravans. Compare them to today's models. In 1966 I bought an Eccles 16ft 4 berth caravan to live in whilst working on the motorway west of Glasgow. It served its purpose and saved on living in "digs" for years. In 1969, I traded it in to buy a 27ft residential 'van.

Pemberton Caravan's business, was on my beat, in the early sixties, at Pemberton.

Barrie: Did you have sufficient time and energy to stroll around the magnificent Hall and its 'crisp and even' grounds during the festivities. Caravans? I'm afraid I know next to nothing about them, other than having spent a week at the Windy Harbour site during the summer of '59'. One of my many lingering impressions of that holiday is the aroma of the caravan's upholstery which, I'm sure you'll agree, is like that of a cared-for motorcar. Rather strangely, no one seems to have put a name to this atmospheric aroma ... how about sandalwood? Thanks.

Caravans all look the same.

Our '59 Minx has a smell which some people might not like, but I LOVE! It isn't at all musty, it just smells of AGE! It is like being back in the fifties.

Irene: That 'smell of ageing', as you put it, is probably the same pleasing 'atmospheric aroma' that I had been referring to - yes, it evolves during years of care. I'll look out for the team. Take care!

PS...we had a VW Beetle but sadly we traded it in for a Hillman Husky when the baby & carrycot came along !

PG -It was an afternoon walk from Standish -Standish via Redrock, across the fields to Haigh Hall. Didn't know about the rally until I spoke to some of them and cannot remember whether the hall was open for them over Christmas.(whether this rally became a annual event I'm not sure). I came back through the Plantations to Standish. I was young and fit then (18) and was used to long walks as it was a family tradition in the post war years. Now I am lucky to manage 5 miles on a walk. Never really noticed the smell in the caravans, new cars yes!

Barrie: Thanks for your kind and informative reply - it's worthy of subsequent readings.

I suppose the smell would have been due to the real leather upholstery as well. That's how I remember cars from that era.

Our "Dorothy" hasn't got real leather seats, Veronica, but I love the smell of her, and the sound of her, the dashboard complete with a choke and the fact that there are no seat-belts. It's like being in a time-warp.

The pleasing aroma of a cared-for car interior can, I suppose, be likened to 'the pleasing sound of a Strad'. A TV docu' mentioned how the Strad's wood, once settled, goes 'some way' towards producing the instrument's unique sound - unsettled wood maybe pulling in various directions.

Hope you don't get 'pulled up' Irene and I hope you still love 'Dorothy' if she breaks down and blows a gasket! (only joking)!

Irene: I've been having a look at the '59' Minx on Google Images, and compared it to the Minx bought some years ago by our Dad - our Minx pre-dated yours by a few years. It was red & cream, quite a brute and wouldn't have carried a feminine name very well - Dreadnought, yes. The dashboard on the '59' Minx also reminds me of the '60s' Mini van that Dad bought; both having wide open space around the speedo, for 'chucking' thing in - beltin!. Best of luck to the team during its travels, and my hope that Dorothy's windows won't become smeared with those horrible stickers - she'll probably say Ouch! Regards.

Philip the speedo on the Mini and Minx were made by Smiths and the electrical systems made by Lucas. Both companies supplied goods to the British motor manufacturers ie Rootes and BLMC. The brakes had Lockheed or Girling components, like most car at the time, they had drum brakes all round and no servo. Great days.

Philip, Our Dorothy has no stickers except an original Hillman Owners' one!

Irene: That'll do nicely. Again ... Take Care!.

Colin: Great Days indeed.
Your post has stirred a few other memories for this would-be car mechanic; the tin of Lucas light-bulbs, the 'greasey' box of Girling brake liners, the 'motorbike clutch extractor' that Dad had made, each having been lain half-forgotten within the confines of the garden shed ... Girling ... well, well.
Your post also encouraged me to look a little further into the floor-mounted starter switch of Dad's Mini-van, when I soon discovered that the switch had been deleted in 1964.
It's been ten or eleven years since I last took to the road, and my current experience of motoring comes by way of being driven unstintingly by my brother to 'the shops'. I fear that within this post my short-term memory of what had once lain in the garden shed, my brother's steadfastness and Dad's ingenuity, might create the impression that I was the least 'driven' of 'the trio'.
Notwithstanding that, the true ambience is that when faced by someone better than myself I've never felt bitter or envious; just that my ability is pending (I'm sure you understand). My thanks and regards.

Yes the early Mini van had floor mounted starter switch. The early Hillman Husky/Minx had a starter motor solenoid fixed to the inner wing in the engine compartment, it was controlled by a cable next to the speedo and opposite side of the choke cable. If memory serves me right, the Hillman had Zenith carburettors fitted to the engine and a see through glass lift pump that could be easily cleaned.