Edinburgh to
Blairgowrie
by
Hillman |
Trip to Blairgowrie -
1937

©
Reproduced with acknowledgement Bryan Gourlay, Biggar, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Trip to Blairgowrie |
Thank you to
Bryan Gourlay for sending me the photograph above of his Gran and his father
on a trip from Edinburgh to Blairgowrie in a Hillman.
Bryan wrote
|
Transport
"The photo at the top of this page shows my gran and my dad
They are
on a trip from Edinburgh to Blairgowrie in about 1937.
I think the car is a Hillman, but I guess someone will be able to tell me
the model and what date it was registered." |
Fashion
"My gran and my dad
in the photograph above are dressed in what would now be called ‘smart
casual' gear.
Although the weather is warm enough for the car’s windscreen to be open, my
great grandmother is in no mind to discard her fur coat. |
At Home
Here is another
photograph of Bryan's gran, dressed in her fur coat, standing on the steps
of her house at 13, Lutton Place with two of Bryan's aunts:
©
|
Bryan Gourlay, Biggar,
Lanarkshire, Scotland: July 31, 2008 |
Answer 1
John Robins
Stafford,
Staffordshire, England |
Thank you to
John Robins who answered Brian's question about the car in the photograph
above.
John wrote
|
Hillman
"If Brian Gourlay hasn't received an answer about
this car I can advise the following:
-
The car is a Hillman Minx Magnificent, which is the type name given by
Rootes to the late 1935 to July 1937 version of the Minx. The car had a
1185cc four cylinder side valve engine producing 30 bhp, and cost from £159
for the basic model. In the picture the car looks to have had little use so
was probably fairly new at the time of the trip.
- The Minx fitted into the hierarchy above
the Ford, Austin and Morris Tens, which were about £20 or £30 cheaper, and
below a Wolseley or Rover. Vauxhall's Ten
was not yet in production at the time.
- The Minx was mechanically sound and
reliable, if a little stodgy, but when they got older they suffered badly
with rust."
John
Robins, Stafford, Staffordshire, England: November 24, 2008 |
Reply 1
Bryan Gourlay
Biggar, Lanarkshire,
Scotland |
Bryan Gourlay
replied: |
Hillman
"Many
thanks to John Robins for his run down on my dad’s family’s Hillman and
confirming I was right in thinking it was around 1937. Here is another
photo of the car:
©
It was the family’s first car which they bought from
my dad’s best friend, John Brown,
who was the founder of the Eastern Western Motor Company. My
dad must have liked Rootes as he also got a Singer Sports from John which he
picked up from the factory in Coventry in 1939.
Bryan Gourlay, Biggar,
Lanarkshire, Scotland |
Answer 2
John Robins
Stafford,
Staffordshire, England |
Thank you to
John Robins who added:
John wrote:
|
Hillman
"This
photograph of the Hillman confirms its identity beyond doubt as a Minx
Magnificent.
©
From
the angle of the picture with Gran and Dad there was a scintilla of a chance
that it could have been a Hillman Fourteen, and I had to scale the width and
height to be certain.
John
Robins, Stafford, Staffordshire, England: December 7, 2008 |
Answer 3
John Robins
Stafford,
Staffordshire, England |
John Robins
also gave more details of Singer cars and Rootes.
John wrote:
|
Hillman
"Here
is a further thought for Bryan on Singer Cars. Singer did not become
part of the Rootes Group until late in 1955, so the sports model Singer his
Dad bought would not have any Rootes connections at all, but maybe the
garage run by the family friend had agencies for many makes, which was more
common pre-war.
Singer produced their own engines, using single overhead camshaft designs
which were more efficient, ie powerful, although more expensive to produce.
The crash involving the three 1935 TT Nine Le Mans models which was caused
by faulty forging of the steering arms started the rot, and by the early
1950s, Singer just could not compete with the
likes of Austin, Morris and Ford. It had
only struggled that far due to war production contracts.
The
last true Singer was the ugly and expensive slab sided SM1500/Hunter model,
1948 to 1956, which was virtually unsellable at
the end. Thereafter,
the Singer, having been saved by Billy Rootes, became a better trimmed
Hillman. The six story factory in South Birmingham, where the Singer was
built, became a Rootes spares and service depot."
John
Robins, Stafford, Staffordshire, England: December 7, 2008 |
Further comments
Bryan Gourlay
Biggar, Lanarkshire,
Scotland |
What Car is This?
The family apparently used
to borrow a car from John Brown from time to time –
such as the attached splendid racy model
that my dad and his sister used on a trip round the north of Scotland
around 1938 – accompanied by the obligatory Box Brownie.
©
I bet John Robins could tell us what type of car it
is."
|
Yes, John has provided
the answer. Please click on the thumbnail image above to read more.
-
Peter Stubbs, December 7, 2008
|
Bryan Gourlay, Biggar,
Lanarkshire, Scotland: December 6, 2008 |
|