Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Several members here have experienced roads in the 1950s/1960s, it'd be interesting to hear of your memories and experiences.

What are the major changes since those days?

What has improved since the 1950s/60s, and what has deteriorated?

Do you prefer driving now, or was it easier/more fun back then?

Your thoughts welcome

RJ
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[peter scott]

I think it was more fun back then. There were no speed cameras and far fewer white lines on the roads. Nowadays central road marking isn't too bad but there are plenty of places where they make it illegal to overtake even when it's safe to do so.

Another thing that has almost disappeared is traffic light junctions on dual carriageways where a good green light drag race can take place.

Back then it was also possible to fully extend your car. This for various reasons. Apart from no upper speed limit, few cars could exceed the ton and even fewer were capable of sustained high speed. Nowadays there are very few opportunities to push the car to its limits either in terms of speed, acceleration or road holding. Hence part of the fun of old cars, you can still test the limits legally.

Peter
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http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[JohnDale]

It was definitely more fun, Rick, but looking back we did stupid things just the same as young people now. As Peter says, the cars weren't as powerful as the pocket rockets available to the young now,so we got away with it. Pre Motorway, when we only had the Preston by-pass, journeys took longer, but dual carriageways(like some of the A1) were more relaxing & helpful. I started my long distance journeys in '59 (when I joined the RAF), in a 1947 Ford Ten.
It wasn't quick, even with an 8 head & a motorbike silencer exhaust poking out under the passenger running board, & in greasy damp conditions, you were never too sure which end would come out of the roundabout first. By the mid '60s I had moved through Mkl & Mkll Consuls to Mkll Zephyrs so life was a lot better in the 'fast' lane, & here I am now, nearly fifty years later, still driving the same models of cars, Cheers,JD.
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1958 Ford Zephyr Mk2 Convertible
1976 Ford Granada Ghia.

[Ray the rocker]

no road rage in days gone by--traffic jams only occured when the booms on the trolley bus came off and you had to wait for the conductor to collar the arms back on track ! most cars in any street totalled less than two or three--you were classed as rich if you owned one ! petrol was one and sixpence a gallon and the petrol attendant filled the tank and cleaned the windscreen and who can forget the courtesy salute from your RAC man riding his BSA/sidecar combo !! life seemed easy going coming home from the seaside and listening to radio luxembourg fading in and out when you turned every corner...can`t beat the bench seat and column gearshift too--especially if you were courting----anymore of this nostalga and the wife will say i`ve gone senile...HAPPY DAYS..........cheers---Ray the Rocker.....

[RotaryBri]

Ray,

It was the AA man who rode a BSA outfit, the RAC man rode a Norton outfit.

Yes it was nice to get the salute.

The roads were so quiet except Bank Holidays in places like the Exeter bypass! That was so notorious that I used to set off for Cornwall from Birmingham at midnight. It was great if you had a big motorcycle as you could pass anything on the road. I regularly did Birmingham to Bournemouth (150 miles) on my Dominator 99 in less than 2 hours with no motorways or dual carriageways down through the Cotswolds.

There is too much traffic now and the standard of driving is worse as most car drivers today do not start out on two wheels before going to four.

Yes Ray I also remember my courting days in a Velox and Cresta with the bench seat and column change - definitely happy days.
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Keep Torqueing,

RotaryBri

1976 NSU Ro80

[roverdriver]

Here in Oz, no roadrage, no freeways (motorways), no actual speed limit, but if you were travelling more than 50 mph and were involved in an incident you had to prove that your velocity was within safe limits. Much less regulation.
Nowadays, any curve on a major road has a sign giving a 'suggested' speed for the corner. In my day, one learned to read the road and adjust one's speed for a curve accordingly.
I do believe that back then the onus was on the driver to look, think and act. Today drivers seem to need to be told how to drive by a plethora of roadside signs and road markers.
I used to love rolling along on quiet unsealed country roads, but so many of them are tar sealed and too busy now.
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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[Geoffp]

I'll agree with the more fun less restrictions, but accidents had more serious effects with the lack of seat belts and other safety features we take for granted.

The biggest change in the sixties was in the vehicles on the road. In 1960 early post-war shortages meant that there were still lots of prewar cars and motorbikes and sidecars around, but the introduction of cars like the Mini, 105E Anglia, BMC Farinas and the like meant that by the mid-60s secondhand fifties cars with luxuries like heaters and ifs were affordable and the older stuff virtually disappeared overnight. Heavy lorries were virtually all rigid 8-wheelers that would struggle to get up anything of a hill, the difficulty in passing them on single-carriageway roads was the main reason that journeys took so long.

Taking an average week's wages in the mid 60s as about £20 per week, the best thing for me was that insurance on my first car at the age of 22 was £14 My biggest regret, buying an 11-year old Ford Prefect when a prewar MG sports car would have cost less, and a vintage Alvis not much more

Geoff

[poodge]

[peter scott]

Or maybe you will just end up with stand still as everybody gives way to left and right!

Do you still drive on the left in NZ? Is this perhaps just the subtle first steps to driving on the right?

Peter
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http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[Jim.Walker]

As already said - there are too many road signs now. Many of which are a distraction rather than a help.
Also as said - there were far fewer car owners and thus less traffic. But a large percentage of owners only took out their cars at weekends (unless it was more enjoyable to polish it again!). These SUNDAY DRIVERS were generally a very real hazard, their crawling pace and lack of road sense causing many accidents.
And then, of course, as most reading this will know, the cars were lacking in almost every refinement accepted as the norm today. Poor headlamps, often with single dip; lack of heaters; single windscreen wipers with no screen wash: cross-ply tyres; a steering wheel which needed to be in constant action to keep the car on the straight and narrow; and on and on.
Speed limits were less and only two - 30mph and as fast as you liked, except the lorries limited to 30mph (or even 20 for some) often artificially limited speed.
But it was wonderful to drive on roads as deserted as you will only find now in the wee-small hours.
Jim. 57 years on a clean licence and sometimes up to 50,000 miles per year.
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Quote from my late Dad:- You only need a woman and a car and you have all the problems you
are ever likely to want". Computers had not been invented then!

[Bayliss Thomas]

Remember driving my Vauxhall Cresta along a quite 'A' road in a peasoup fog. Mate was hanging out of the front passenger window looking for the kerb whilst I was driving at 10mph looking for a white line! We ended up driving onto a petrol pump station, not intentional either!
You don't get fog like that any more.

[emmerson]

Having started driving in 1960 I can identify with all of the comments, and regret the passing of such a relaxed driving age. It can still be found though, which is why Herself and I like to get lost in rural France as much as possible. Quiet, peaceful roads with very little traffic, hardly any traffic lights or roundabouts,little villages where you can stop outside the local cafe, and my Range Rover always does 2/3 mpg more in France than in UK. Roll on April and we're off again!

[Mog]

I remember coming back from Dudley Technical College at night to Stourbridge on the moped. It was in the early 60's and a pea soup fog. Nothing came past me. Go the 50 c.c.'s !!!

[Beetlefan]

I started driving (legally) in 1977, No speed bumps, you could actually park for free in a lot of town centres, and if you got caught for speeding itwas by a humam being!

As for Sunday drivers in my opinion they are still around and are still a Hazard, these are the drivers that during the week use busses and trains and only get let loose behind the wheel on a weekend!

[Jim.Walker]

Can't agree about the Sunday Drivers beetlefan.
The 1950s ones often did less than 1000 miles per year, spending even most of a Sunday polishing etc.
We had one notable customer with an early Herald who polished UNDER the wheelarches and the inside of his bonnet etc. Fortunately he did not have the knowledge to remove and polish such engine parts as the inside of the rocker box and so on.
There always will be people who only use cars at weekends, but they would not survive in modern traffic if they drove like their 1950s forebears.
Jim.
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Quote from my late Dad:- You only need a woman and a car and you have all the problems you
are ever likely to want". Computers had not been invented then!