trigger Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 Whilst at my car meet on Saturday someone asked me if i knew anyone interested in a pile of old black and white photos he found in his loft that he was going to chuck away, of course i jumped at the chance of having them and spent the evening scanning them all. From what i can make out all the photos are taken here in sunny Suffolk in 1966 which is usual for BMC at the time i would imagine?, I wonder if they were to used by local dealers or something?. They all have "Quote negative *** and The British Motor Corporation Ltd, Longbridge, Birmingham" on the back. Lavenham? Kersey with the famous ford across the road. Possibly Ipswich police station? Not sure on these, maybe Southwold?. Debenham village Thorpeness windmill Supernaut, Conrad D. Conelrad, Spottedlaurel and 26 others 29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trigger Posted October 15, 2018 Author Share Posted October 15, 2018 Lavenham again i think No idea. Jon, theorganist, barefoot and 27 others 30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datsuncog Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 Those are fantastic. An era when charming olde-worlde English cosiness was enough to provoke car sales, through extolling traditional, solid values and pretty young things with shiny hair. A era when marketing small cars didn't necessarily involve edgy directors, moody shots of urban decay and a pumpin' grimecore soundtrack. I'm sure ARO would be interested too - any idea on the backstory of the box of photos, or were they already there in the attic whenever blokey moved in? KiwiAlistair, mercrocker, egg and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3VOM Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 What is going on with the Farina A40 and Mini Countryman plates? They both appear to be missing a letter or was that format valid at one time? They are XX 999X where I'd expect XXX 999X. MorrisItalSLX 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spottedlaurel Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 What a great batch of photos, of obvious interest to me as well for being local. I don't recall seeing them before, you'd expect them to have been used in publications like East Anglian Magazine - I have quite a few of them from this era and don't remember them from that but I'll take another look at some point. Interesting to see a few of them on Ipswich 'PV', 'DX' and 'RT' plates as the factory-registered cars. I got a photo of a 1960s BMC product in Debenham just last weekend: The places they chose haven't changed much, as to be hoped/expected. Cardinal Wolseley, mercrocker, trigger and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stanky Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 The possibly Southwold ones - the river looks too wide, Are they not the Orwell near where the Butt and Oyser is? With Nacton shores in the background? Could be further long towards Shotley though possibly? EDIT - Also, the 'no idea' ones - are they Woodbridge by any chance? its been years since i have been there though! EDIT2 No, its Orfordness lighthouse in the background so Orford village looking out towards the sea, over the river Alde. £5 says so. Great pics though! trigger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vantman Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 Thanks for sharing Trigger,pure nostalgia for me having worked for a BMC dealer in the 1960s. egg, The Reverend Bluejeans, trigger and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trigger Posted October 15, 2018 Author Share Posted October 15, 2018 I've since found out the police station is the County hall in Ipswich when it was still East Suffolk police and a couple of other people have said the tall ships are likely to be Pin Mill too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Jimmy Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 Fantastic! Orl birds were fit in the 60's! egg, Dick Longbridge and mercrocker 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squire_Dawson Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 These types of locations had been favoured since pre-war times. No wonder the cars were half-timber. The A 40 is a really smart design and a nice conventional alternative to the FWD Issigonis stuff. I always found it odd that the Mini Countryman had 'van' rear windows with rounded edges when it would look better if the doors were similar to the Morris Travellers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egg Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 About £70-80k of mini vans there if you had them like that today... Thanks Trigger. trigger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesapandre Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 Earlier BMC testing in W. Germany: Angrydicky, Uncle Jimmy, The Reverend Bluejeans and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiC Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 "I can't possibly drive through that puddle! Its brand new and I haven't had it ziebarted yet!" egg, Vince70 and trigger 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobyd Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 I wondered if the no-idea ones were down at Shotley Gate marina? Not sure about either the lighthouse in the distance or opposite shore. The long stretch of land on the right looks a bit reminiscent though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trigger Posted October 15, 2018 Author Share Posted October 15, 2018 Apparently some are Pin Mill and the others are Orford, the lighthouse is Orfordness.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RRT22R Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 BMCs finest and Sunny Suffolk. Two of my favourite things. Thanks for sharing. trigger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Reverend Bluejeans Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Kersey, Suffolk. flat4alfa, Dick Longbridge, trigger and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felly Magic Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Bloomin eck Triggles. Top photos there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesapandre Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Looking at the size and shape of the A40 - BMC had a Golf type 2-box car really but they did not know it would be the next big thing in cars. FWD in a cleaned up A40 shape it would have been a hit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flat4alfa Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Looking at the size and shape of the A40 - BMC had a Golf type 2-box car really but they did not know it would be the next big thing in cars. FWD in a cleaned up A40 shape it would have been a hit? It was on the cards, as shown the ADO16 proto from 1963 ADO16 was family line replacement for A40 Farina anonymous user 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felly Magic Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 Hang on a mo, these photos could have been taken last week going by big chunks of Suffolk being stuck in time long past LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlo Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 I'm amazed by these, surely very valuable historical BMC images? Many thanks for sharing. trigger and LightBulbFun 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel Tidybeard Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Looking at the size and shape of the A40 - BMC had a Golf type 2-box car really but they did not know it would be the next big thing in cars. FWD in a cleaned up A40 shape it would have been a hit? no, no, no the golf is an A40 type 2-box car lesapandre and mercrocker 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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