SPRING 1985

lifford’s Tower is a stone keep at the top of a conical grassy bank in the heart of York. It’s about all that remains of York Castle, which William the Conqueror built more than 900 years ago.

Andrew Deykin, then a young visitor to the city, took this photo

C

this is the most rampant version of a famously stolid car. But is it a 140bhp fuel-injected 2.3-litre fourpot, or the 2.7-litre V6 automatic that made only 1bhp more?

In the same row, and dwarfing all around it is a brown and cream Volkswagen Transporter. VW had already been offering multi-seat, sliding door vans for 30-odd years when this picture was taken, and continues to do so today. This T3 Caravelle is larger than a modern people carrier, but then it carried more people, too.

Surprisingly, the Japanese cars on show are mostly small or rusty – or both. Check out the Datsun 140J Violet on the right behind the Sierra, the silver Daihatsu Charade driving in front of it and then, to the left, the sadly rather crumpled-looking Toyota Celica MkI sandwiched between the red Vauxhall Nova two-door saloon and beige Ford Cortina 80. Then there’s a red Sunny 140Y saloon with fog-lamps next to an even redder Zastava 101. But what’s that with its bonnet up to the left of the Sunny? We think it’s a mid- Sixties Ford Taunus P5 – a German model but seemingly on UK plates. Maybe that load on the roof is too much for it?

There are plenty more vehicles here – if you have a story behind any that we haven’t mentioned, do write in to us at the usual address.