The Way We Were

Pre-war machines dominate in this scene at Cambridge station, but the new order is emerging

Cambridge Railway Station, autumn 1952

Low autumnal sun highlights Cambridge’s 1845 station, showing off the porte-cochère through which horsedrawn carriages once drove to deposit their well-heeled occupants during Victorian times. But with the birth of the motor car, such days are now over – the left-hand side of the porch is still open but being used for trolleys, while the rest has been glazed for pedestrian use. Today, the enclosure process is totally complete, with windows along the entire façade, while the foreground so crowded with cars in 1952 has been given over to the bicycles that are now the main way of getting around student-heavy Cambridge.

But there’s not a bike in sight in 1952. This is a fascinating snapshot of motoring Britain still recovering after World War Two, but looking forward to more optimistic times. There are vehicles here dating

back to the early-1930s, but in the foreground is something so new that it looks like it could have driven out of the showroom that very morning. It’s a 1951-52 Vauxhall Velox E-type EIP, which, although not quite as extreme as the follow-up PA, still represented a huge step forward in styling from most of the upright, 1930s-born machines clustered behind it.

As sparkling as it looks here, a few more years would probably knock the gleam off, for tinworm was never too far away from Vauxhalls of this era, prompting Luton to fit rear wing stoneguards to the revamped 1952on EIPV in a bid to keep rust at bay.

Many of the cars beyond are in taxi service, as indicated by the numbered plaques decorating their rear ends. There’s a significant number of 1937-39 Austin Light 12/4s – identified by their split rear screens – which were popular as provincial taxis. We count at least four, with more doubtless parked up near the buses.

The Austin with the divided back window just behind the Velox isn’t a 12/4, though – it’s a post-war 12 or 16; the two were identical, but the 12 featured a rather asthmatic 1535cc sidevalve engine, while the 16 had Austin’s first-ever overhead valve engine of 2199cc. Another example is parked over on the far right.

Next is a sleek Jowett Javelin, one of the first British cars after the war to steer away from 1930s looks. The row is completed by Rover P2 10 or 12; its disc – rather than spoked – wheels suggest a post-1945 example.

In front of the station, starting from the left, is a Morris 25 ‘Big Six’

Series 2 or 3 alongside its direct ‘Big Six’ Vauxhall rival in BX or BXL form. Both are taxis, the Morris having a rear fold-down luggage rack fitted for extra capacity. Then, after a trio of Austin Light 12/4 cabs, is a Hillman 80 saloon, which looks a little past its best with its discoloured bootlid. It’s obscuring a Standard Vanguard and the rear end of a Ford V8-40. Following on is another Austin Light 12/4, a very perpendicular Armstrong Siddeley 14 with distinctive disc wheels and a Morris Minor, competing with the Velox to be the freshest design here. There’s also a Ford V8 Pilot, which might well be in police use, judging by the rear signage, and finally a Humber Pullman before we get to the buses. All three are Eastern Counties Bristols, with the double-deckers being K-types and the single-decker an L-type. As much as we love pre-war cars, this picture does exemplify how similar many of them looked, and how newer, more distinctive designs like the Velox, Minor and Javelin were a welcome breath of fresh automotive air as the war years faded into history.