Confirms what we all know. (1) It was sunnier in ' 63 than it is now. (2) You can fit an entire jazz band into a Jag, old stylee ...Thanks for sharing.
It wasn't a very good Summer after '63s dreadful three month's Winter of snow and ice. On holiday in Austria that year it was very wintry on the Grossglockner pass.
In 1966 I was born. Looking at these videos, I can see life was FAR better post WW2 up until about 2006. Since then it has deteriorated to the utterly horrible world we live in today!
I guess car ownership and overall population was much lower so roads were quieter, I'll give you that. I'm not sure everyone would feel life was better though, say if you were black, homosexual or a woman with ambitions to do anything more with your life than marry and produce children.
"life was FAR better post WW2" - idiotic ignorant comment of the week winner! Congratulations Jon! All you rose coloured glasses twits in these comment sections wouldn't last 5 days in the 50's/60's before begging to return to the present.
Society has been irreversibly changed by the media. The internet SHOULD have made us better “drivers” through life, but unfortunately it appears not. Wow ! Don’t we sound like old farts 😂
Old fellow stopped on the outskirts of Weybridge by a policeman in 1974. “You were doing 100 right down the middle of the road! What the hell you playing man?!” The driver, indignant, hauls out his license and says “Look right here sir! It says ‘Tear down the dotted line’ and that’s exactly what I’m doing!”
I lived and drove in London in the 1970s. I worked in Nottingham place, just off Baker St. I could park all day for free and drive home to Baldock in 40 minutes. Happy days !!!
I was just thinking that, when I lived in Fulham in the early 80s, anyone with a car (I had a beautiful navy blue TR6) expected to be able to park in front of their house. Better days!
As a young American boy, my Dad bought a 59 Jaguar . We moved from Woking, Surrey in 1960 to Exhibition Road and lived in a Flat.. Interesting times in London.. I went to an American school out in Bushy Park. As i look back. I certainly miss those wonderful days..
That has to be an off-the-cuff remark surely?.. don't you think we like Americans these days? Your determination in what you want to achieve is admirable. What one might call the "American Dream". Drive sometimes is misconstrued as being pushy and big headed.... by those that don't have it themselves. The Americans that I have been in contact with have all been very gracious.
My Aunty married a guy from Florida in 1956. We found Americans to be naiive, prone to bs about their wealth and status, had alarming tastes in jackets, thought the world started and ended between New York and LA, older Yanks still had a grudge against King George and women came from the US to get free abortions.
So glad I was able to experience a time when driving was a fun adventure, roads were policed in a wiser manner, and cars were friendly and easy to fix. I always loved driving but over the last few years of cameras, aggression, jams and potholes it became a pain. Now I'm retired and live in the countryside and driving these quiet roads without pressure to do things is fun again.
My dad owned one of these beauties. I remember the lovely red leather seating, and the walnut tables attached to the back of the front seats. As a family, we enjoyed many a happy time driving all over Ireland to our various hotel stays. I recall eight miles to a gallon of petrol!!
What a wonderful time in english history. I was born in 1964. I feel jealous of my mum shes 81. I would give up all modern rubbish to be able to go back and live in that time, as an adult. Yes it is always better having wealth, in any time period, but just the social interactions of people were friendly. Born in the wrong time period.😢 Thanks for this glimpse back in Englands past😊
Life is what you make it. Why yearn for a largely fictitious earlier era when you could put that energy into making life - not just yours but others’ too - that little bit better.
Totally different to the attitude todays drivers have to cyclists and pedestrians. Even with the M4 motorway, for long distance road traffic, Bath is still one of life's cycling experiences.
He didn't bully the driver ahead. The driver ahead should have pulled over before he flashed his lights and then sounded his horn. Still have too many A Holes like that today. Middle lane hogs, etc. You're probably one.
The first few miles out of London as far as the “Hemmersmith Flyover” look much as they do today. Beyond that things are quite different. I started driving in the 80s, and the roads, signage and driver behaviour have changed much less in the 40 years since the early 80s than they did in the 20 years from 1963 to 1983.
Wonderful film, the presentation is fabulous, the narration is excellent, a bygone era, who could have predicted that the entire road system around London would some day be the world's greatest mobile car park.
Hi, thanks for the kind comment. I love the past, though its audience in the present inevitably wains...This is more or less all there is of this here. The optics chased the sound in editing, and almost nothing was cut. That you remember some of this is wonderful. We are the moment, and no more than our memories.
And I thought people's driving was bad nowadays! But drivers were driving like absolute tools in this film - pulling out on each other, overtaking on blind bends, overtaking into oncoming traffic etc etc. Wow.
Some of the bad driving seems to have been set up - the red Triumph Herald at 15:55, for example. There are two situations when I was quite surprised by Mr Eyles driving: the incident at 8:15 when he repeatedly sounded his horn and flashed his lights to encourage a car to pull over to let him pass came over as aggressive even by today's standards; and he seemed to cut it very fine when overtaking a bus on the wrong side of the road at 15:15.
I must agree, but I must further add that he gets awfully close to the turning bicycle at 3:31 for my liking. I think that would be cited today for reckless driving. @@Mortimer50145
Notice in those days there were no central barriers on the motorways ? Drivers doing a U -turn or crossing the central barrier to get to a garage or cafe on the other side , were the cause of many accidents and fatalities in these times !
No, those days were better and these deaths you suggest never happened. Just going by the other comments suggesting this was all idyllic and without concern.
Lovely to see the old “Dual carriageway without a clearly defined central reservation”. Hence, the speed limit was 60, not 70. Such roads are almost non existent today but ppl still believe the speed limits on modern dual carriageways is 60 🤔
When this was filmed, there were massive plans for a web of motorways around London and most towns and cities across the country. More akin to American freeways with grand junctions that would have eaten up a lot of land. Obviously it didnt take long for resistance to set in. Sadly the destruction of the once great railway network took place despite most of the replacement roads never getting built leading to the 'worst of both worlds' situation that exists up to today.
we may have seen the same one, but there was a guy on here did a great YT on those motorway plans. crazy now to think what it woudl have looked like if they were all built
My dad had a MK II, 3.8 liter I believe, and my favorite 10-year-old place to be was in its passenger seat. He drove at a sporting pace on the near-empty back roads of rural Ontario, but would slow right down as we got close to town. As my dad cautioned me despite my early age, when in town at any moment a little kid could dart out between parked cars. The horrifying prospect of that happening has stayed with me through the years, leaving me not paranoid but on the alert for the unexpected.
Nice to see these empty roads before the M4 was built. They used to be my regular weekly commute. So much has changed including the IAM commentary. Also it now often takes longer to drive the same journey using the motorway.
My friends dad is called George Eyles and he'll be old this year, born 1935. This can't be him because he only ever drove a forklift at Martin Bakers in Denham (Ejector Seat specialists) and now he rides a wee mobility scooter each afternoon when he takes his dog for a walk. I wonder if they were related as the George Eyles i know was from London originally. Very cool video and many thanks
Fascinating video really brought back early motoring memories. I'm so fortunate to have lived and driven through town and country in that era. Passed my test in 63, and I bought a three year old Morris Minor on HP for two hundred quid, Halcyon days 😂
I remember those 3 laned roads also known as trunk roads. Very very dangerous and I'm sure a lot of people must have ended their lives with a head on smash in the middle lane
1. Trunk road was not the definition/synonym of a 3 lane road. A 2 lane road may be defined as a 'trunk' road. 2. 3 lane roads still exist in parts of the U.K.
@@markgt894 OK, so you're one of the 30% who had a car in 1963 and you're sure you wouldn't have been one of the 5,000 a year excess fatalities. Lucky you.
Ahh, the London I knew as a child ! Fascinating how courteous drivers seemed to be allowing plenty of space😎😎😎. Then I think of Elephant & Castle NOW😱😱😱😱😱
So.... the IAM suggests we flash twice, then sound our horn if someone is in the outside lane and you want them to move? Wow. That's 6 points these days!! H😂😂
The commentary was a part of the IAM test at one time. There to understand your thinking and observations by the examiner. I took my test in 1990 and by then it was optional.
A friend of mine was taking his advanced driving test, and was waiting behind a car at a roundabout. It was clear from the right so he started to pull forward, and totaled the car infront, because it had stalled and he did not notice.
Most shan't know that the saying ' After you, Claude ', (which was always followed by ' No, after you, Cecil '), was from the '40's radio show ' ITMA ', (which was an abbreviation for ' It's that Man Again '). The ' Man ' was Tommy Handley. Jack Train played Claude, and Horace Percival played Cecil, who were very polite handymen.
I was expecting to feel nostalgic watching this, imagining that England was a rural idyll back in 1963. Then I saw the driver go along new-looking highways that didn't have many trees growing along them yet. So actually this journey would in some ways look greener and more pleasant today.
Interesting to see this version of the film. The version I've seen up to now starts at about 5:14 as he's about to join the M4. I liked his demo at around 4:40 of how *not* to steer, with lots of crossing of hands. I notice that even when he is steering "properly", he doesn't make full use of the wheel when turning tight corners: he makes a lot of small movements whereas I tend to start with both hands at 12 o'clock, pull down on one side to 6 o'clock, with the non-pulling hand mirroring the other one and then pushing up from 6 to 12 - a smaller number of larger movements. Mind you, he was driving a car that probably didn't have power steering - did a pre-1963 Jag Mark II have power steering as an option?
I'm pretty sure they didn't. I passed my IAM test in 1979. I handle the steering almost exactly the same when driving my 1974 Rover P6 3500s today as that has no power steering.
Good to know that people with inadequacy issues about their cars who subsequently drive like like ...well the 🤡 that they are, is not a new thing. 😊 Lovely stuff.
Thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to improve what was already a most interesting and fascinating piece of motoring history. I have watched this many times before, and will do so again and again. As a classic police car enthusiast, I was particularly interested in the Wolseley 6/99 Traffic Car turning left off the A4 into Heathrow Airport. I think that this version shows the registration number more clearly. I read it as 704CXA, which could be correct. Can you confirm this?
Hi, I have tried to make this out myself...and and it is a bit frustrating. My copy does not look very much better. I get 7C4 CXA. But is it is really hard, it could be 704 CX3. The only number I would bet on is the "4".
It must be 704CXA, a 1961 London issued number. In other u-tube gems, I have also identified 703CXA, 665CXA and 708CXA, all Wolseley or Austin Metropolitan Police cars, so I think that 704CXA is right. Regrettably all these cars seem to be no more. Not surprising, but sad nonetheless! @@maxustaxus
We had 3 of these Jaguars/Daimlers in the 70’s they are beautiful cars… I remember if you held the starter button in to long it would jump off, under the bonnet and you had to hop out and reset it…😂 I restored a number of these in later years as well..
We did Reading, Theale, Newbury and round the CLOCK TOWER 2 days ago. How things have changed. ALL WHILE LOOKING FOR A BANK THAT WAS STILL OPEN NOT VIA A LONG WAIT ON THE TELEPHONE!!! Oh the days of double de clutching. Mk 1 Metro. Neutral slip into second and it lines up for first. David and Lily Reading.
I'm 86 so all these cars were the models in my youth and that Austin A30/35 was my first car I bought on HP after passing my driving test in 1956 or thereabouts.
@@nickhickson8738 I'm a mere 74, worked in a garage whilst still at school, so serviced many of them, new the ins & outs of most of these cars. This was long before the days of electronics / engine management systems, pollution controls, even seat belts!!
Its a pre 63 jag as it has flat headlight glass, My dad had a 1963 3.8 Mk2 now as a 73 year old i remember it well. Road rage and aggression seem to be the order of the day nowadays , one doesn't have to look for trouble its out there waiting. Pity we cannot do the same run today for comparison ! you'd probably get mugged !
0:14 - the Ford Zephyr running white indicator lights - and being followed by a Renault Gordini - a rare car even then. Following behind a Vanden-Plas Princess (either 3L or, if with a R-R engine - 4L)
Nice job mate.. I have a pro-version of Davinci Resolve and it has an extremely cool upscaler. Happy to run this video through a 4k upscaler for you. Just shout (I'm on RU-vid too.. You'll work it out!). PS - It works really nicely.
Probably less dangerous because there was considerably less traffic in relation to the number of lanes, but set against that, cars were not limited to 70 mph in 1963 and were (AFAIK) unrestricted (except by the power of the engine!). Was it 1965 when the 70 mph max speed limit of Britain's roads was brought in?
I believe the absence of a speed limit was only for motorways, although as an American I am unsure when that was. We always had limits on the Interstate System.@@Mortimer50145
Continuity error in Bath: For some daft reason he's on Lower Borough Walls (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5lq1caGu0Hs.htmlsi=vjeHiKjl6EKPUW0a) passing the Lamb and Lion pub, which still exists today. A couple of seconds later he's on Walcot Street, going past the old cattle market and St Michaels Without church.
We had an XJ6 in 1978 and the Old Bill was always on our case. It was seen as a villains car. Love this chaps commentary and defensive driving. Lovely red interior on the Jag. Had a red XJS in 1980, could still drive fast then. 140mph plus.
So even today It's still not a motorway to Bath? You have to leave the M4 and go south down the A46 or take the A350 thorough Chippenham ( by -passed ) and then the old A4 through Corsham ( the road this was filmed on ? )
This should be a mandatory driving instructional video in today’s world (for all countries using Right Hand Drive Cars and who drive on the left side of the road) and those who dont follow it, should be severely penalised. Nowadays almost no one turns right keeping to the correct side of the road, in the manner depicted in this video.
You'd think he was flying a plane. I was born in 63. Nobody I knew had a Jaguar. Class awareness was everywhere. If you weren't like this jolly good chap you really knew it. I'm very glad this world has gone.
You think this is bad... LOL Now it would be all camera-monitored cycle lanes (because cyclists pay so much to use the roads) bus lanes ..No car lanes... 20mph roads .....speed bumps in the middle of the road... CCTV everywhere... Make one mistake it costs you £100 or 3 penalty points.
