Page 99 - Designing Ways 238

TAIL OF
THE DOG

Sit up and Beg

y father, ever practical, chose wheel. In those days, you had to do was raining, this had to be jammed
as my first car (in the 60s), a hand signals as well, putting out an closed with my right shoulder. Add
MFord Popular. This was a very imperious arm to turn right, or an this to the gear lever being held in
basic car, but for me it was love at first arm rolling anticlockwise for a left place, the stop-start throttle, driving
sight. It was the design affectionately turn, and then the upright arm with up hills in the rain was challenging.
called “Sit up and Beg”, possibly palm facing forward for a stop. Also
because of its upright willing look. “slowing down” was an arm hanging The gentleman traffic cop of the time,
The colour was British Racing Green down moving back and forth. who did volunteer traffic duty for fun,
– despite the car being a far cry from was always delighted to see this
anything racy. The windscreen wipers were attached special car arriving at the bottom of
to the frame above the windscreen, Yale Road, and he would bow and
It had two doors, three forward gears and worked from the top down, like sweep us through every morning with
with synchromesh only between little fans. The wipers operated on an extra flourish.
second and third, so you had to vacuum power off the exhaust, so if
execute a double declutch manoeuvre you were driving with full throttle, the When I finally sold the car, I gave the
if you wanted to change down from wipers worked asthmatically, and you new owner a lesson on how to deal
second to first. had to ease the throttle to get them with its quirks, and I waved a tearful
to work. This car also slipped out of goodbye as he bounced off down the
The indicators were the ‘semaphore’ second gear when going up a hill, so road, all set to start his new love affair.
type. Little yellow plastic arms would I had to hold the long gear lever in
lift out and light up from the sides of place with my left hand to keep going Gill Butler
the car, signalling a left or right turn, up any hill. The driver’s window also
operated by a switch on the steering rolled down of its own accord, so if it