Frederick Wilfred, Street photography, London 1957-1962

[Robert Leigh]

The mention of Pimlico reminds me of my first car purchase. In 1959 my father gave me £10 on Ipswich station when I left to start work in London next day. He knew I would not get paid for 2 weeks. The following evening I went to Pimlico to meet a friend for a drink. We went to his nearest pub, and outside was a 1932 RP saloon with £5 chalked on the windscreen, so we went inside, found the seller, and I did the deal which included tax to the end of the month. In those days it was based on the calender and could be done for 3 months. It was 2 weeks later that I told my father I had spent half his gift on a car, having driven it to Woodbridge in Suffolk. With various bits of maintenance that car lasted me nearly three years and 30,000 miles until the CWP gave up and I stupidly scrapped it, because it was cheaper to buy a running Ruby for £5 than the cost of the repair.
Robert Leigh