Summer 1975, Sheffield

SHEFFIELD, SOUTH YORKSHIRE A colourful line-up of classic steel greets us at the station, though some are more corroded than others…

‘It’s appropriate there’s a Bedford HA here: BR was a big user of the Viva-based van’

This is a scene that encapsulates what life in the 1970s was like for many, away from the more glamorous parts of the UK. Sheffield struggled during the decade as its industries declined – it’s certainly much more vibrant today. But there’s a pervading sense of greyness here (or, in the case of the Class 47 diesel locomotive and Class 108 diesel multiple unit at Sheffield station, British Rail blueness) enlivened only by the colourful cars on Granville Street.

Most cars were still British-built at this time, so it’s interesting to note that the only two imports – Volkswagen Beetles – have clustered together for companionship. The yellow one is a 1970s model, while the grey example hails from the previous decade.

Elsewhere amid the Sheffield steel, the number of Vauxhall Vivas is impressive. We count six HB and HC saloons (albeit one is a mighty Magnum, in white with black vinyl roof and Rostyles). The best-selling Ford Escort can only muster four examples, all of them superseded MkIs. If you factor in the two Bedford HA vans – the white one belonging to the local Wigfalls TV specialist – the Viva-esque quota rises to eight. Nearby Vauxhall dealerships must have been happy.

It’s somewhat appropriate that there’s a Bedford HA outside the railway station, because British Rail was one of the biggest users of the Viva-based van, along with other nationalised companies such as the Post Office, electricity boards, British Gas and British Telecom.

RICHARD’S TRAIN OF THOUGHT

The yellow-liveried BR load-luggers were once familiar sights.

Note the Harvest Gold Austin Allegro – only a couple of years old at most – and its older Longbridge stablemate the blue Austin A40 Farina, still clinging to life with black underseal up to its front wing trim. It probably ended up as cutlery before too long.

To the left of the aforementioned Allegro is what looks to be a fourdoor post-August-1971 Triumph Toledo, judging by the back lamps and chrome trim under the numberplate. Triumph’s mid-sized car range of the 1960s and ’70s was quite bewildering, probably even to Triumph itself. The Toledo was similar to the 1300, but confusingly it switched to rear-wheel drive from front-wheel drive.

It wouldn’t be wise to park on Granville Street these days; the road has now been taken over as part of Sheffield’s Supertram network and twin tracks now dominate this former vehicle thoroughfare. The first new trams ran in 1994, and the system was carrying some 12 million passengers per year– up until the pandemic struck.

Maybe the dull, grey Sheffield of 1975 isn’t quite as unappealing as we first thought?

HIP TO BE SQUARE The Austin Allegro was launched in 1973 with what is now considered to be the infamous Quartic steering wheel, a feature this one almost certainly possesses. A much more traditional, circular wheel was used from 1975 onwards. PULP NON-FICTION The most famous Sheffield resident to own a Hillman Imp was Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker. He bought a 1970s’ example; but when it grew terminally rusty he had it crushed into a cube, which he then gave away in a competition. LUTON LUNACY Vauxhall’s mid-sized car line-up was almost as bewildering as Triumph’s. The Magnum, introduced in 1973, was effectively a more powerful and betterappointed version of the HC Viva. It was available as a saloon, coupé and estate – the Sportshatch.

He joined Classic Car Weekly in 2000. Although now a freelancer, he’s kept his connection with the newspaper that started his career