SEPTEMBER 1967 ILFORD, GREATER LONDON

Will the weekly budget allow for spending four shillings and ninepence on a Wimpy Cheese Eggburger? Let’s rewind to the mid1960s and have a look at the bigselling family cars in vogue

It seems to be a busy Saturday afternoon and nearest to the camera is an A40 Farina saloon, production of which will end this year. In front of the Austin is an Essexregistered Ford Consul Cortina Super Estate with its trademark Di-noc synthetic laminate ‘wood’ panelling. This example has a bench front seat and appears to have suffered a parking mishap, judging by its back bumper.

Next to the Cortina is an Audaxseries Hillman Minx – a Series IIIB judging by its tailfins. A few yards away is its fellow Rootes Group product, the Hillman Imp. Some of the passers-by in this shot are probably thrilled by the Imp’s screen adventures in Man in a Suitcase, an everyday story of a chain-smoking American detective.

The adjacent row of traffic contains a Mini Van and a Ford Anglia 105E, which appears to be a De Luxe – it has opening rear windows but lacks the Super’s chrome trim. Approaching the junction is a second Audax Minx and a Bedford CA. It seemed to be obligatory for CA drivers to a) still have a Shane Fenton quiff, and b) pilot with the door open in 1967.

On the roundabout, a second Anglia 105E and a Ford Corsair head leftwards; the lack of Aeroflow vents on the latter’s C-pillar denotes an early version. Meanwhile, a BMC FG pantechnicon, with the distinctive ‘threepenny bit’ cabin, waits outside the Wimpy Bar. Its driver has possibly succumbed to the lure of a Cheese Egg Burger for just 3/8d. A few yards behind it is a second Bedford CA featuring the grille and windscreen of a late version.

Passing a ‘No Right Turn’ sign, Cortina estate MKI number two follows the Corsair, this example with chrome trim and Aeroflow vents; Dagenham had stopped offering Di-noc trim by 1965. The singledecker bus travelling in the opposite direction is a London Transport AEC Regal RF – in red, according to CCW’S resident bus fanatic, Nick Larkin. In addition, no 1960s British street scene would be complete without an Austin A55 Cambridge MKII. Preferably with a tartan rug sitting on the back seat.

The Cambridge passes a Thames 307E van waiting to enter the roundabout. A tanker – a Karrier? – is parked outside the Co-operative, and further up the street is the Commer Walk Thru. This commercial vehicle is familiar to most Britons of a certain vintage as a mobile shop. Moving clockwise, we see a pale-coloured Thames Trader, the first large commercial to be designed in-house by Ford GB.

Another Minx – this time a Series VI with a 1725cc engine and allsynchromesh gearbox – exits the roundabout. Autocar thought that its interior had been re-designed ‘by someone who really knows what a driver wants’. A few yards from the Hillman, a couple who resemble Wilfrid Brambell and Thora Hird are having a spirited discussion in the middle of the road – possibly about the imminent end of the BBC Home Service on 30 September. Meanwhile younger Ilford residents on the pavement may well be deciding whether the King Size Wimpy is worth an extravagant 4/-.

Further away from the camera, the sharp-eyed will spot a Ford Zephyr 4 MKIII, a second A40 Farina and another British Motor Corporation 1.5-litre Farina. One mild surprise is the lack of BMC ADO16S in the image, given their enormous popularity at that time.

Evening approaches with the joys of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in Bedazzled at the Gant Hills Odeon or, for the smart set, a visit to the Room at the Top nightclub. Some 57 years later, traffic lights no longer have striped poles and Bedford CAS are no longer common sights, with or without a be-quiffed driver. Nor does a Wimpy Shanty Grill cost 4/9d.

‘One surprise in this image is the lack of BMC ADO16S’