Wednesday 21st October 1959

The London Motor Show opened to the public- considered by many to be the greatest ever – as the news announcer said at the time, ‘There’s something for nearly every purse.’ For the sporty type of chap there was the Sunbeam Alpine or the Austin-Healey 3000 and drivers with very understanding bank managers considered the Rolls-Royce Phantom V or the SP250 Dart and the Majestic-Major on the Daimler stand. For those buying their first new small cars, there were four main show attractions – five if you counted Citroen’s Bijou, a 2CV assembled in Slough and sporting a glassfibre two-door body. The Herald was comparatively expensive but it was well appointed and the Triumph badging set it at a class above the outgoing Standard 8/10 range. But the Herald not only featured a turning circle smaller than a London taxi, it was Italian styled transport for the sort of chap who pretended to like expresso coffee and French art house films. Meanwhile, the Anglia 105E was the first British Ford with a four-speed gearbox and electric (as opposed to vacuum) windscreen wipers as standard, although most show-goers were more impressed with the ‘Breezeaway’ rear windscreen- ‘The World’s Most Exciting Light Car’.