Passed my driving test in a Postman Pat van.
I took my first driving test when I was seventeen in a blue, Ford Popular car. I’d driven with a provisional licence in my brother’s car but never had any lessons. I failed because I hesitated too much at entering the flow of traffic. That was in Stirling in Scotland. They say the best drivers pass on the second attempt.
There wasn’t a theory test back then in 1966. It was all based on traffic manoeuvres, emergency stop, three-point turn, reversing into a parking space and general, traffic sense. If you passed this OK, then the examiner asked a few questions from the highway code.
The emergency stop was fairly basic. The examiner took you to a quiet street to drive at a steady speed. When he thumped the dashboard with a rolled-up newspaper, you had to drop anchor fast.
On the day of my second attempt, once again in Stirling, I still hadn’t had any formal lessons. So, I didn’t have a school-of-motoring vehicle at my disposal and my brother was working in Glasgow. I needed a vehicle for the test. My boss drove around in an old, ex-Post-Office van so I asked if I could borrow it for the morning. He agreed and lent me his secretary as my qualified driver to accompany me to the testing station.
I was getting on great and then we came to the emergency stop. The examiner thumped the dashboard. I gave it maximum welly on the brake pedal and the van nearly stood on end. What my boss had forgotten to tell me was that there was a full sack of coal in the back of the van and I hadn’t noticed. The examiner was a bit surprised to find chunks of coal rolling under his feet but he accepted my emergency stop. We drove back to the examiners office. He asked a couple of questions and then said, “OK lad, you can take off the “L” plate. I’d passed and now I could get my own car.
The Morris 1000 or Morris Minor, as it was called, was a classic. The van version in red was a familiar sight in rural Scotland for many years. After a number of years in service, they were sold off but were still good, well maintained vehicles. I can vouch for the fact that the brakes were good!
With a full driving licence, I set about looking for a car and in the end bought one together with my brother. It was the bigger Morris Oxford, coloured classic black. We both liked it but I don’t remember what happened to it. What I do remember is the lovely young lady who bounced into my life, selling raffle tickets while we sat in the Morris, watching the local football club. We married five years later and are still together.
A few years back, we went to India. Nearly all the taxis were Ambassador cars. British Leyland sold the design and production facilities to a collaboration of Hindustan Motors and Peugeot. Rather than black, they were all white.
We couldn’t resist booking one for our trip back to the airport.
