When Hillmans stayed resolutely sidevalve

You feature Oxford High Street in your 12 August issue (p62, The Way We Were) and identify two Hillman Minxes. I believe the first is a MkIV, probably from the early Fifties. The second Minx is a MkVI.

I worked for a Rootes dealership during the late Fifties and early Sixties and remember the introduction of the MkVIII with the OHV engine.

Rootes was so late in fitting OHV engines that there was a line of cars on the road outside with the bonnets up when we collected our first showroom cars from the London depot. Drivers had to check that Hillmans really had made the change, years after BMC!

The ‘Gay’ Look Minx was short-lived. The garage ran a Commer Express van sign-written with a Gay Look image.

I ran the stores at that time and remember selling several sets of the trim that separated the Gay Look colours, for Mark VI, VII and VIII owners who wanted to bring their cars up to date.

❚ Brian Thrussell, via email