À la recherche du temps perdu*

"Cé hé sin" (michael-m-mouse) 08/31/2020 at 16:17 • Filed to: Past times, Morris Eight, Baby Ford, Fordson E83W, Vauxhall Victor

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* Something like “Looking for lost times” or if you want to be more literary “remembrance of things past”.

I’ve borrowed an old family photo album which contains several generations of family snaps. At one end we have postcards from 1910, at the other modern pictures. In between we have all manner of holidays, weddings, days out and the like. Some of these include the family car at the time. So what do we find?

Let’s begin with the oldest.

As we all know it’s a Morris Eight from 1935 to 1937. Not later, because they didn’t have the chrome grille. One can only admire the bravery needed to tow even that little caravan with a car with a 918cc sidevalve engine producing just 23 bhp and driving through a three speed (two synchromesh) gearbox.

Next up we find this, though without a caravan this time.

Not a car as such, but a Fordson E83W van. I had thought that Fordson (JV between Ford and Ferguson) only did tractors but evidently not. This is a little further on from the Morris with the luxury of an 1172 cc engine albeit still sidevalve and still only the three gears. In order to make the best of the limited power to hand Ford fitted gearing which was so low it was almost underground and the top speed wasn’t much more than 40 mph. It was a 10 cwt model. Cwt? Hundredweight. For the benefit of those using neither metric or Imperial, a hundredweight is one twentieth of a ton or 112lbs or almost exactly 5 0 kg. If you wanted to shift this weight in a van this size you’d definitely need that short gearing. Still not a vehicle many would have chosen for their holidays in the 1950s but there you go.

Next we find this.

It’s what was commonly called a Baby Ford, aka Model Y. A very old car even at the time of the picture, it featured yet another another sidevalve engine of only 933cc in this case and a three speed gearbox with synchro on only the upper two ratios. Like the others you only got the one wiper because cheaper and the passenger didn’t need to see out.

Finally we have a Vauxhall Victor F from the 1950s. It’s a series II, the series I being closer in appearance to an American GM model of the time. Like the others above it had a three speed gearbox but with the luxury of synchro on first. If this didn’t appeal you could have had the Newtondrive option which involved a manual box and automatic clutch, something that was quite a thing at the time as automatic gearboxes were imported from America and came with import tariffs.

Just Jeepin' > Cé hé sin 08/31/2020 at 16:28

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I don’t believe I have a single photo of any car I owned before 2012, not even the del Sol I drove for 14 years.

I’m impressed.

fintail > Cé hé sin 08/31/2020 at 16:45

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Fun stuff, I am always amused to see that people tortured themselves with camping even back in the olden days.  The little caravan is cool.

I’ll share a few, too - my great-grandmother (who lived to be 100) and great-great-grandfather around 1912. I believe the car is a Kissel, this is the oldest car pic I’ve found in the family hoard :

Fast forward to roughly 1924, my great-grandmother again (at right) , with my young grandfather, I believe the car is an Oldsmobile:

Roughly 1955, my grandfather with my mother and uncle, I think the car is a 52 Ford:

And around another decade later, my grandpa with his 65 Chrysler:

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > Cé hé sin 08/31/2020 at 16:59

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If you put it in French, you gotta put it in English too.

onlytwowheels > Cé hé sin 08/31/2020 at 17:25

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Thanks for sharing a glimpse into the past.

By any chance, would you know if the the Newtonmatic was a precursor to a GM Torque Drive tr ansmission, or are they not related.

https://www.chevyhardcore.com/news/the-torque-drive-transmission-chevys-manually-shifted-automatic/

Nauraushaun > Cé hé sin 08/31/2020 at 18:22

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Damn that’s cool. Crazy to think what they’d do with cars back then - stuff you wouldn’t do now without 200hp and 6 cylinders

Cé hé sin > onlytwowheels 08/31/2020 at 18:45

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Not related. It was one of several automatic clutch/manual gearbox combinations sold in Europe in the 50s before torque converter automatics were widely available (before then they had been imported from America and attracted import tariffs making them expensive ) . The most common was I think the Sachs Saxomat. Typically they u sed a centrifugal clu tch with a vacuum override. Starting was accomplished with the clutch operating centrifugally (it engaged as revs increased) and a microswitch fitted in the gear lever disengaged the clutch with a vacuum system as soon as you moved the lever.

onlytwowheels > Cé hé sin 08/31/2020 at 18:49

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Interesting stuff. Thanks for the feedback. I will pursue this, for greater knowledge.

ranwhenparked > Nauraushaun 08/31/2020 at 20:47

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Low speed limits and 2 lane surface roads helped a lot

ranwhenparked > Cé hé sin 08/31/2020 at 20:54

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Apparently made by Automotive Products Ltd. and sold to both Ford Motor Company (UK ) Ltd. and GM Vauxhall.

Interestingly, GM did have a similar homegrown concept in the 1930s, with the Automatic Safety Transmission offered on Oldsmobiles and Buicks, but it never worked very well and was quickly discarded and never revisited once the  Hydramatic was ready.

duurtlang > Nauraushaun 09/01/2020 at 05:04

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LOL. I still people towing caravans that size with <100 hp. Most people towing caravans have 4 cylinders here in Western Europe , 6 (and up) cylinder engines are rather rare .

Cé hé sin > Nauraushaun 09/01/2020 at 07:24

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Well, you used what you had! If all you had was a Morris Eight, that’s what you used. Also, bugger all rules and regulations.

Cé hé sin > duurtlang 09/01/2020 at 07:28

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My father used to tow well laden trailers with a 1.3 Cortina which boasted about 55 bhp.

Nauraushaun > duurtlang 09/01/2020 at 16:48

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I didn’t want to upset any Americans, who wouldn’t tow without 400hp.

Might I ask which part of Europe? Just curious.

Nauraushaun > Cé hé sin 09/01/2020 at 16:49

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I’m all for that, as someone who owns a single car and wants that car to be mid-engined.

duurtlang > Nauraushaun 09/01/2020 at 16:53

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Every part of Europe to be honest.

My 135 hp daily driver, a 20 year old Peugeot coupe, is rated to tow 1300 kg if I’m not mistaken. People sometimes exceed tow ratings. That ancient caravan must weigh less than half of what my coupe can legally tow.

Tow ratings don’t tend to have to do much with hp anyway, more with brakes, stiffness and stability.

Speed limits are obviously lowered for vehicles towing a trailer. Even on the unrestricted German Autobahn (I live in Germany). Speed limit while towing is between 80 and 100 kmh, depending on country and trailer.

Nauraushaun > duurtlang 09/01/2020 at 17:21

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Haha, oh sorry. I was asking where you’re from specifically! But you let that slip too. Germany, love it.