Wigan Album
Adverts
9 CommentsPhoto: RON HUNT
Item #: 28847
In the early 1960's me and two other mates bought an A40 SOMERSET from the garage which was on the side of the canal, on the right as you came from Pemberton, I can't remember the name WILKES springs to mind? but I could be wrong. It cost us £30 i.e. £10 each. Only one of my mates could drive so he kept it opposite his house in Walkden Avenue on the land which is now Wigan Tech. We used it to take us to the EVERTON away games, we went all over the country in it. It ran O.K.but for every couple of gallons of petrol it used it used a gallon of oil, which we had to carry with us in a 5 gallon can in the boot. I can remember one day we drove through Ashton, when we came back 1/2 hour later the smoke was still hanging about in Gerard street. L.O.L. This was a time before MOT's were thought of.
I bought my first car from Ernie Wilkes. There is a pic on Wigan World of it somewhere. It was a Standard Vanguard built like a tank. It cost me £90 and I loved that car!!
Great advert. Nice choice of lovely motors with lots of character, unlike the square euro boxes today with no soul. But I wonder just how many ordinary working class people in the 1950s could afford a brand new car from this place, or even a car at all?. You had to be either a Dr or businessman to own a car then.
My dads first car was a second hand Commer Express Delivery van (not the campervan version but the small delivery van similar to a Minor or Ford Thames) which was given to him by my grandad on his birthday, then his second was another Commer van, I think bought from Carr Mill Motors, paid about £120. You'd be lucky to find one of those for sale today. The first car he set his eyes on, but which way way out of his price range, was a Vauxhall Cresta; thought it was the most gorgeous car ever until he set eyes on the E-Type Jag.
I bought my first car(one of many) in 1969 it was a austin a30 it cost me the grand sum of £25 pound,then i went up in the world and bought a austin a35 for £40 pound,this little car used to take three of us on fishing trips to scotland,over the shap all the way to lock ken and lock doon and never let us down.great memories that i always will think of.
You would not see many of the Austin A90 convertibles in the U.K. It was designed for and aimed at the American market and, although attractive to look at, wasn't well regarded mechanically and didn't sell well there. The few seen in the U.K. tended invariably to be the hardtop version rather than the convertible.
Convertibles like the Atlantic seem to be fetching a considerable amount of money in the classic car market today, came across one for sale on the net for an eye watering £55,000. Ridiculous amount of money, but that seems to be where the classic market is going these days.
Even the austin a35 is selling for as much as £3000 pounds and are being classed as classics now.
the picture of the sheerline makes it look good,a classy car for its day ,though does anybody know how reliable they where.
There was always a austin Atlantic parted in kingst in the mid to late 50,always fancy one myself .my first car Jaguar 1948 model cost me 30 quid in 63.ran it at couple of years before going to Australia,sold it for 12quid to a guy from beechhill.