It was the swinging 60s. Had to get a car to be seen to be cool. This (pic) is what I was able to afford on a student’s allowance. Cool or not? You be the judge. Purchased from a Glasgow tram driver of Irish ancestry I knew enough even then to ask him the key question “why are you selling it?” Ah well he explained, I’ve got x children and they keep climbing out of it. On cue they appeared from the close (it’s the entrance to a Glasgow tenement) and surrounded the car. Spotting that it didn’t possess a roof I was persuaded that he was genuine and could be trusted. We did the deal.
For the technically minded it was a side valve first series Morris Minor of 918cc capacity. The fact that it had probably been in a rolling accident provided an opportunity to make a stylish converted (not a misprint of convertible). The bullnose bonnet had obviously taken a bit of a punishment in the incident and an apprentice panel beater was let loose on it to fix it up. The top of the windscreen was sliced off to facilitate the aero screens, must have added a few mph to the top speed, that and the go-faster stripes.
The title? Well there was the odd hole in the floor and despite a thin layer of old carpet in the foot wells, in a heavy rainstorm (no roof remember) water could enter the passenger compartment both from above and below. As my future wife’s mother could attest when she foolishly accepted the offer of a lift from me. One of the friends in the picture came up with the name – I think it was Tommy, seen hanging out of the window of his Dad’s Vauxhall Victor Estate, known for his sense of humour.
Submitted by: Hugh Allan
