02-02-2023, 02:36 PM
(01-02-2023, 11:13 AM)Reckless Rat Wrote: The vagaries of the British climate and the lack of decent corrosion protection on cars of the period meant that a Box Saloon was already well past it's sell-by date by 1946
I'm not sure when the local authorities started regularly salting the roads. I think it was probably in the 'fifties, with the upsurge in the car population.
This is the real reason for the pitifully short life of many 'sixties and 'seventies cars, they just weren't built to withstand being driven in a highly corrosive environment. It caught the last of the pre-war cars that were on the road in the late 'fifties and early 'sixties as well. Unprotected steel, soaked in salt water has a very short lifespan.
My father bought a 1966 Riley 4/72 in 1970. It was 3 1/2 years old then and by the time it was 5 it was heavily rusted.