03-06-2018, 02:25 PM
I was talking to my mother about this the other day, and she produced a little notebook kept by her mother, showing what she says is every penny spent by my grandparents on their Ruby from June 1954 to July 1960. My grandfather put £1 a week into a kitty, which was disbursed by my grandmother (who was a book-keeper by training). I'm working on getting it all into a spreadsheet, but there's rather a lot of entries to copy, right down to 3 x 1/4 whitworth bolts (9d), a pedal rubber (1'9d), and 2 fuses (6d). When I've done it I'll share some stats. In the meantime here are a few highlights.
Grandad always used "best" petrol, latterly BP super, together with something abbreviated to "V.C.", which i assume was probably a Redex equivalent.
Regrettably, the mileage is only recorded occasionally. In know it was "low" when the car was purchased in as-new condition in 1954, and was over 83,000 when they sold the car. Mother can remember is was still very shiny, but often needed a push to make it start by that stage in its career...
The car spent those years living in Cromer, always garaged, and took a family of five on some epic tours (passenger luggage in advance). One such, recorded in the book in September 1958:
Llandudno Trip
1291 miles
26 gals (petrol)
13 pints (oil)
That's 50 mpg - not bad. Most of that was done at 35mph - except when going downhill when my grandfather was a fan of coasting on the clutch.
Another Llandudno trip records:
Left Bwlch Fm Llandudno 7.25am 83,724 (miles)
Arr Cromer 7.30pm 83,997 (miles)
And there I am worrying about getting from Ipswich to Beaulieu and taking two days over it!
The car is listed as still around (still in Norfolk), but I don't think it's been on the road since the 60s. I was in touch with now (then) owner some years ago, and he was hoping to restore it one day.
Urgent Austin
Grandad always used "best" petrol, latterly BP super, together with something abbreviated to "V.C.", which i assume was probably a Redex equivalent.
Regrettably, the mileage is only recorded occasionally. In know it was "low" when the car was purchased in as-new condition in 1954, and was over 83,000 when they sold the car. Mother can remember is was still very shiny, but often needed a push to make it start by that stage in its career...
The car spent those years living in Cromer, always garaged, and took a family of five on some epic tours (passenger luggage in advance). One such, recorded in the book in September 1958:
Llandudno Trip
1291 miles
26 gals (petrol)
13 pints (oil)
That's 50 mpg - not bad. Most of that was done at 35mph - except when going downhill when my grandfather was a fan of coasting on the clutch.
Another Llandudno trip records:
Left Bwlch Fm Llandudno 7.25am 83,724 (miles)
Arr Cromer 7.30pm 83,997 (miles)
And there I am worrying about getting from Ipswich to Beaulieu and taking two days over it!
The car is listed as still around (still in Norfolk), but I don't think it's been on the road since the 60s. I was in touch with now (then) owner some years ago, and he was hoping to restore it one day.
Urgent Austin