No, all cars were not like this back then - my first car was defintely a "one-off". Pilots were poorly paid - no way to buy anything that actually ran. I found the remains of a 1928 Swift sitting in a field. Wooden bodywork rotted away...thistles growing up through the cylinder bores. A wreck, but the price was right - £1 - and it came with registration papers and a large collection of rusty parts.
Finally got the engine running, then built a body from scrap metal. Sheetmetal
work was clearly not my strong point but it was the only hatchback around and
had reclining seats stuffed with straw. Mechanics at petrol stations would do
a double-take, then always say the same thing.."Why - it's an o-o-o-ld Swift!"
Married at Acomb, near York, we went on our honeymoon to the Kyle of Lochalsh,
Scotland, by train, not in the car.
The
following year there was another "first"...
