MAY 1969

YORK, NORTH YORKSHIRE York at the tail-end of the 1960s, and the executive car park boasts its own row of daffodils to complement the rows of Rovers and other classics

There’s a sweet theme to this location, which is the Rowntree’s confectionary factory in that most wonderful of Yorkshire cities, York. This 20-acre Haxby Road site was acquired in 1890, after previous plants became too small. Rowntree’s employees were treated in a way that was much sweeter than the situations that most Victorian workers found themselves in. The founding family’s Quaker principles and genuine concern for social reform meant staff were looked after far more kindly than in many other manufacturing facilities of the era.

While this is supposed to be May 1969, we’re not so sure. The daffodils are in full bloom, so it’s more likely late March or April. An Easter egg or two would help confirm things... and there were probably plenty being made in the background building.

This car park is reserved for senior staff only, and with a sign that size, woe betide anyone of lesser status who dares to pop their Prefect into one of these neat bays. Although, given the variety of vehicles, some managers here appear to be better paid than some of their colleagues.

Rover P6s proliferate, making us wonder if Auntie’s 2000 executive saloon was the Rowntree’s vehicle of choice. There are three basking in the sun, admiring the daffodils. Over by the sign that warns of dangerous curves ahead (insert your own Diana Dors joke here), we have a 1967/68 example in desirable TC spec, complete with a full Webasto roof. This twin-carb version was originally only to be sold abroad, the excuse being that the UK’s recentlyintroduced 70mph speed limit meant there was no need for its extra power. In reality, it was because stocks of the redesigned manifold were low. Fortunately, the TC did become available from October 1966.

The 1967 P6 alongside is a standard single-carb 2000, so its owner must have been a little jealous. But probably not as much as the driver of the adjacent early Morris MiniMinor Deluxe Traveller, looking a bit past its best with a rippled grille, a small bumper dent and signs of seam rust. Not great for a car under a decade old, but… well, it is a Mini.

We’re then back to another Rover 2000 TC, boasting front auxiliary lamps under its bumper. The Wolseley 16/60 has opted for the above-bumper option for its single illuminating accessory. Opposite is one of its lowlier siblings, a Morris Oxford Traveller Series V or VI, of the same Farina shape. Well, aside from the load-carrying box of metal on the rear, of course.

The Blue Oval is represented by a Ford Consul MkII, in post-1959 ‘ lowline’ form, accompanied by a Corsair, which we think is a V4 version. Consul production ended in 1962 and the Corsair came out the following year, but there’s a huge gulf between the 1950s and 1960s styling.

We assume the Volvo ‘Amazon’ estate belongs to a manager who thinks a little outside of the box, despite driving an extremely practical Swedish one. This would have been a rare machine at the time, before load-lugging Volvos captured the imagination of the British middle classes in the 1970s. Then there’s a Morris Minor – an inevitable occupant of any 1960s car park.

We assume that the rear car park is for employees further down the pecking order. Inevitably, there are more Minors, but we can also make out Minis, BMC 1100/1300s, a couple of Volkswagen Beetles, an Austin A40 Farina, Fords Anglia 105E, Corsair and Zodiac MkII, a Vauxhall Victor FB and even the top of a Fiat 500. There’s also another Rover 2000 P6. Maybe it got lost negotiating the dangerous curves while trying to find the senior staff parking?

‘Woe betide anybody of lesser status who might want to pop their Prefect into one of these neat bays’ SENIOR STAFF PARKING ONLY