The Way We Were
One tourist has clearly come quite a distance in his al fresco Volkswagen…
Henley-In-Arden, June 1965
You join us live from the White House where President Trump is about to… oh, hang on, it’s not White House. This particular palely-painted structure isn’t in Washington but Warwickshire, on the High Street of lovely Henley-in-Arden. It dates back to the 17th century, so it’s rather older than its more famous 19th century US counterpart and, to the best of our knowledge, has never hosted Donald Trump or any other American president, for that matter. We’ll just have to leave it to your imagination as to what Donald might be about to do. Don’t over-think it…
In the background is the 15th century tower of the parish church of St John the Baptist, but our attention is somewhat distracted by what we assume is extreme window cleaning, removals, building or
renovation work at the premises next to the White House. We’re not convinced that that ultra-long wooden ladder would escape Health & Safety Executive scrutiny today.
In the street below, we have examples of the three landmark British cars that so dominated the British Motor Show six years previously. First is a fresh-outof-the-showroom Mini, in Morris Traveller form, complete with two auxiliary lamps. It’s being rivalled in the newness stakes by the Triumph Herald 12/50 next door – the upmarket variant of the 1959-launched small Triumph that debuted in 1963. Then – appropriately enough, given the nearby building – are white Ford Anglia 105E twins in Deluxe form. Two of their direct ancestors are adjacent – that’s a 100E Popular driving towards the camera and a a 103E Popular parked behind the makeshift barriers outside the threestorey building undergoing work. Both these used the body shells of older generation side valve Anglias as their basis… and then stripped out practically everything but the absolute essentials to make them as cheap as possible. Neither had heaters as standard.
Moving further along the row of parked cars, we can see a Ford Consul MkII keeping company with a pale green Morris Minor. There’s more newness in the form of a Ford Corsair, the Cortinabased compact executive Ford that was only launched in 1963. The 1.7- and 2.0-litre ‘Essex’ V4 engines weren’t fitted until after this shot was snapped, so this one would be packing the 1.5-litre Cortina straight-four engine instead.
Beyond, there’s another Morris Minor, then we can make out another Mini just pulling out of its space. Behind it, in front of the church and almost matching the shade of its stonework, is a mid-sized BMC Farina. It’s so far in the distance that it’s difficult to tell exactly what version it is, but the lack of any major ornamentation suggests a common-or-garden Austin or Morris.
Arguably the most stimulating vehicle – sorry, BMC and Ford fans – is what’s heading away from us on the High Street. It’s the only foreign vehicle here, and that description extends beyond just where it was originally built. The Karmann Ghia convertible’s oval number plate suggests that it’s come all the way from Switzerland. The position of the rear badge is consistent with a post-1959 facelift example, but the two-tier bumpers are unusual. They were standard on cars bound for the American market, but much less common on European ones, unless specified. The journey from Switzerland to the county of William Shakespeare’s birth would have involved around 750 miles. Still, it is a Volkswagen…
The one-mile High Street of Henley-in-Arden is now a conservation area so it still looks much the same, but the White House is now a private residence, so has lost its lovely ornate sign. And hopefully they’ve finished working on the building next door…