Fleetwood Tram Sunday 1992

It's July 1992, it's a Sunday and it's another glorious day for the annual Fleetwood Tram Sunday transport fun-fest.

With such a sunny day I loaded the camera with colour film, not something people would normally have to think about choosing these days I suppose, but... This is a mid to late 1950s Wolseley 15/50 with a contemporary touring caravan. The 15/50 was built from 1956 to 1958 and looked somewhat like the MG Magnette, though the rear panels and boot were different. A heater came as standard fitting - usually an option in cars of this date.

There were other things to look at and listen to than just transport. And before you email me with complaints, this is a Dutch organ so the word carousel is spelt in Dutch and is therefore spelt correctly! Hooghuy is the name of the famous family of organ builders in the Netherlands that go back at least as far as 1754 when Gerrit or Gerardus Hooghuy was born. He moved to Bruges in Belgium in 1806 and advertised his services as an organ builder and repairer.

The Mark-I Ford Cortina was introduced in 1962 as a replacement for the Ford Consul. Indeed, the first models (Mark-1a) were badged as a Consul on the front of the bonnet, then a few tweaks were made and the Mark-1b dropped the Consul name which would only be revived years later for a very limited time as the cheaper version of the first Granada.

An Aveling and Porter traction engine named Patience. It was Thomas Aveling who invented the traction engine in 1859 (and steam rollers in 1867). Following his success he became mayor of Rochester in Kent. Patience was manufactured in 1903 and given the factory number 5293. Her vehicle registration number is MN 9033.

The horse-drawn fire engine of Fulwood, a district of Preston, situated to Preston's north between the town centre and just south of where the M6/M55/A6 junction is currently situated. Water pressure was provided by a steam boiler.

Humber Hawk estate. Humber were a member of the Rootes family of car manufacturers and the first Humber Hawk was launched in 1945 after the end of World War II. Designed in 1938 (pretty much a Hillman 14 with a longer boot and without running boards) the Series 1 Hawk went from Mark-1 to Mark-6. The Mark-6 for the first time included an estate car version. and then in 1960 a new body shape came out as the Series II. There would be a series III, series IV and and IVA before production of the Humber Hawk ceased in 1967. This car was not displaying any information and neither does Google so I presume it is off the road and possibly scrapped. It has not been taxed since 2002.

A Mark-2 Ford Zodiac. Three cars had the body shape from basic model (Ford Consul) through the mid-range Zephyr with the Zodiac being the luxury model. Together they earned the nickname The Three Graces and were the dream car of many a young lad and indeed their fathers! They were built from 1956 to 1962.

Staying with the Fords, here's a Ford Popular 100E. For some reason when the Ford Anglia was upgraded to a new body shape, the old style remained in production but renamed as the Ford Popular. This was the second such model to be continued under the Popular name. As weird as this concept might sound, my Dad bought a brand new one... The Ford Anglia 100E was produced from 1953-1959 and the Ford Popular 100E from 1959-1962. Ironically its replacement was the new 1962 upgrade to the Ford Anglia 105E.

A Reliant Scimitar GTE SE5 from 1968. That a company known for its cheap and sometimes even stretching towards cheerful 3-wheeled cars, the Scimitar was something of an anomaly. They were made with a fibreglass body (as were the 3-wheelers) on a steel box chassis and were ftted with Ford engines from the Zephyr and Zodiac models. This gave them quite a bit of Oomph when the accelerator pedal was pressed and this could top 120 miles per hour.

Other components of the car came from various competitors' models too - a touch of the collect ten different cars and use the bits to make a new one... One model apparently knocked the rear view mirror out of alignment when the sun visor was folded down. But hey - they didn't rust! And they were fairly popular. Princess Anne was given one as a 20th Birthday/Christmas present and liked it enough to own several more. Production ceased in 1986.

The beautiful Vauxhall Cresta PA. Built from 1957 to 1962 this is the second model of the Cresta, which was the luxury version of Vauxhall's series of cars with the basic Wyvern and mid-range Velox models. It was heavily influenced by American cars of the 1950s with it's rear fins, moulded front and rear screen windows and sleek styling, undoubtedly making it one of the better looking cars on British roads at the time. It had a front bench seat and the handbrake was pulled from under the dashboard with a column gear change under the steering wheel to allow three people to ride on the front seat. It had only three forward gears, though an overdrive was optional.

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