Smudger Snippets
Created | Updated Aug 29, 2005
Motor Cars
Today we received a call informing us that we had been awarded £200 cash back from the mobility scheme for keeping our car in good condition over the past three years.
This was good news for both of us as things have been a little tight recently to say the least. There seems to be misconception going around these days that people of benefits are well-off, well at least thats the impression I get when we meet people. The true fact is that if you are on disability benefits you are not so well off as people think, despite all the stories that are going around.
In fact the mobility car that we get is a Godsend indeed, it does not come free however, as you have to hand in your mobility book to pay for the privilege of owning it for the three year lease. The main point is that all it does cost you is the petrol you put into it, as everything else is covered by the scheme, including road tax and insurance.
We went to look at a few models recently to find one suitable to replace our present car, as we need it to have a large boot area in order to put my wife's electric scooter in the back. It fits perfectly into our present car, by means of two wooden ramps that I made to drive the scooter up into the rear of the car. However, in order to do this at present, we have to remove two of three rear seats, which leaves us room for one passenger. This is usually one of my wife's sisters or nieces, who normally accompany us to help every time we go out, as I myself am disabled with a back condition that leaves me unable to lift things or indeed walk any distance.
It was while we were in the showroom looking at various models and to see all the latest gadgets and stuff that these modern cars have to offer these days, that got me thinking about just how far cars had come over the past few years. In fact we chose a rather clever design of car in the end, which has seven seats, two of which are placed behind the three rear seats and actually fold down into the floor, thus leaving ample space for our scooter, plus the bonus of still having enough seats for three passengers in the back. It was when the salesman was demonstrating this seating arrangement when my mind drifted way back in time.
I could remember my very first car, which was a Hillman Imp with that plastic seat covering material which caused your skin to stick to it on hot sunny days. It never even had a reversing light on it, and I could remember fitting one which was so bright it lit up the whole neighbourhood when I reversed out onto the road very early on those cold winter mornings to go to work. I had wired a switch to operate it on the dash board, in fact it doubled as a warning light to any driver who I felt was too close to me, I would simply flash the light and they would immediately back off, as the light was so bright!
I must have really liked that car, because when I changed over to a newer car I bought yet another one. This one was bright yellow, and I mean bright! You could pick it out in any car park, no matter how large, simply by the colour. In fact I recall one trip we took with the family to Loch Ness on a really hot day. My poor kids were stuck to the seats as they were wearing shorts, and it also had those horrible plastic seat covers as standard. We parked the car and went down the Loch side for a picnic, but when we returned we were horrified to find that a swarm of wasps had covered our bright yellow car, they were still crawling out of the air vents hours later as we were rushing home. The whole experience left our poor kids terrified of wasps from that day on! It never had a heated rear window either as I recall so as with the other one I had to fit one of those as well, it was a stick on kit that you could buy at the time. The heater was not very good either so on those really cold winter mornings the car would mist up very quickly especially if I was giving one of my mates a lift to work, so the heated rear window was a must have item. The engine, which was prone to overheat, was in the back, and the starter was on the floor along with the choke control. It was fun to drive as it had superb road holding qualities, this was down to the low centre of gravity that this car had. The second one I had actually had carpets, which was a lot better than the plain rubber flooring on the first one.
As time went on and I earned more money we worked our way up the car ladder as you might say, and the makers of British cars were forced to offer more extras to compete with the influx of Japanese cars that were flooding into Britain during the early seventies. In fact some British cars never even had a heater or carpets as standard until they were forced into supplying them by the competition. What a difference in the quality and standard of cars we went through in those times, as more and more gadgets and ideas came into the cars on the market. I remember when they first started to put reclining seats, and split rear seating into them, interior lighting and built in heated rear windows. In fact many of the things that we take for granted as being standard these days, were a luxury back then.
Now we have air conditioning, tinted windows as well as all the improvements in safety comfort and reliability, in fact the list is so long that it would take hours to make up. All you have to really do is to go to one of those rallies where they show old cars that the owners have lovingly restored and have a good look inside, only then will you will have an idea of just how far technology has come in both car comfort and design.
I suppose in a way I am one of the lucky ones, as I am of the age now where I can look back at all these old classics as we now call them, and be able to remember driving them when they were in their heyday. It might be a bit of fun to some of the younger people, who drive them, but to me they are more than that, they are a piece of my lifetime, my past.
In those days if your were asked what sort of car you had, you would answer, Ford or Hillman. These days the makers list is endless, as is the list of abbreviations that comes along with them telling you all that cars features and safety devices. In fact you really need a dictionary to understand all these abbreviations and then try to figure out what they all do.
Yet when I looked at those brand new gleaming cars in that showroom that day, and listened to that salesman we went on the tell us about the cars features, I couldn't help but wonder just how long it would have taken him to describe one of them earlier cars that I owned. Oh! Yes, I do look forward to driving our new car next month when we take delivery, yet somehow I will still be comparing it to the cars of the old days.
