No need for change

“When Dad sold his 1935 Baby Austin in 1949 and I bought my first motor-bike – a Francis Barnett 197cc – he passed on to me some of his motoring accessories. One of these was a tyre gauge,” writes a Craigie regular.

“That old gauge stood me in good stead for years. After Dad’s death, I even kept the little leather case in which the gauge was housed – a sentimental souvenir. Then, when the gauge finally gave up the ghost in the 1970s, I bought a replacement exactly the same, but still kept it in Dad’s old leather case.

“By this time, the case was falling apart. I clung on to it until it was so dilapidated that it served no useful purpose, but the new gauge did good service until last year. I sought out a replacement, bought what looked like the same kind of gauge, then found it was to a completely different design, with the nozzle to one side instead of on the end.

“This did not work nearly so efficiently, because the side fixing made it very difficult to place the gauge flat across the tyre valve. The wheel rim and the tyre bulging out beyond that kept the gauge sloping in at an angle.

“I finally gave up recently, tried unsuccessfully to buy a gauge to the original design and bought a much more expensive, digital, battery-operated gauge, being careful to select one with the nozzle at the end. The new gauge works a treat, but it will mean periodically replacing the battery.

“After all the kerfuffle, I wondered: ‘Why did the makers of Dad’s old gauge decide to change the design’. Change for the sake of the change seems to be the motto these days.”