He comes across as bloody aggressive at that point, even by today's standards, let alone in the more polite laissez-faire early 60s. If I'd done that on my IAM test I'd have expected to get a bollocking.
I think that is more a case of arrogance, the lower classes must move out of the way of my very important Jaguar and not impede my progress,you could get away with that attitude in the sixties, but still I can remember these cars when they were new on the road and I thought that the most beautiful things on four wheels and i still think that sixty years later.
@@kevinmaltby4202 You beat me to it. Even though I was born in 1960, I can recall the later part of that decade quite vividly. By the 1970s the decline had set in, both planning-wise and culturally. The drive through Reading looked rather genteel - not now, that's for certain.
@Aussie Pom I would suggest the greatest cause of accidents in the UK is simply the sheer number of cars in use on a small island. However, modern cars are built to far greater safety protocols making severe injury a lot less likely (incidentally, mobile use whilst driving is already illegal in the UK and other European countries). Personally I suspect that driving today is far safer than in the past.
Well, they were very obliging...three went into the backseats, and the remaining two grabbed hold of what they could in the boot. Free jazz knows no limits.
@@maxustaxus So obvious now, the way you have so graphically explained it all. Just imagine if he'd had one of those chrome plated luggage racks on the boot lid! A septet, perhaps even an octet! Your comment, free jazz had no limits, sums it up perfectly!
It cannot be understated how many snippets of fantastic advice this man gives us - this should be shown to all drivers on the road today! I've got no idea how so many people can pass their driving test with how they drive!
In fairness, the test is harder than it's ever been, and the roads far more congested. I think the issue we face is one of focus and that everyone has a car, a % of people just aren't meant to drive.
I showed this to my 80 year-old father a few days ago. He was full of nostalgia and quite transported back to his driving days when he was in his 20s. He told me that this is exactly how it was then. Motorways were quite exciting, but, generally, driving was a much more dangerous experience than it is today (even with five times the number of cars on the road). I checked the accident figures for that period: he was not exaggerating!
Back in those days cars had absolutely zero safety features and the glass was the solid material you'd have in your house, not the modern shatterables. As a result, most accidents that did happen in those days were generally much more serious. Many cars in the 1950s often just blew up at motorway speeds because the engines couldn't cope with it. That is why modern cars can travel very comfortably past 70mph despite 70mph being the limit, the engine having more power than required means it has a higher tolerance and doesn't just blow up on the motorway. Cars also had terrible emissions and often emitted an acrid, hot oil smell while running. I was reminded of that a couple of years ago when I was walking down the street and someone had a B reg Vauxhall stopped at the lights... the smell brought back so many memories.
@@halfbakedproductions7887 Indeed. I had a friend who had an old Morris Oxford which ran fine pootling around town. Then one day (this would be mid 1970s) he and his girlfirend set out from Hertfordshire for a holiday in Cornwall on the M4 doing a constant speed of - he said - about 65. They got as far as Newbury when there was a very loud bang and cloud of smoke and steam. A piston had broken off inside the engine and bits of engine had gone everywhere inside the engine compartment and when showed us a photograph of the car being towed away (for scrap I would suppose) you could clearly see several quite large outdents in the bonnet! Nobody was hurt, but I think that was more by luck than anything else. So yes, some of those older car designs struggled with the constant speeds attainable on early motorways. Not a problem now of course, a combination of congestion and/or miles and miles of coneworks mean you can seldom do an appreciable speed for very long!
@@alanmusicman3385 Materials science guy at college spoke about the numerous fatigue failures of engines on motorways in the early 60s. I think he said a lot occured around Watford Gap going North. Better materials, processing and design eradicated the problem. Now you have powerful cars in the UK that are designed for speeds up to 200mph being restricted to average speeds of 50mph by the speed limits, congestion, and the deplorable state of the roads.
I remember as a boy in junior high in 1967, going to the Houston Auto Show here in Texas, and seeing a 3.8S in red with black leather. Still haven't forgotten that beautiful car all these decades later; it looked nothing like our American cars. Biggest problem for these Jaguar cars here was the air conditioning and its propensity to cause overheating in our very hot and humid weather. Most of the units were mounted in the trunk/boot. Great video!
I was 18 and had been driving for over a year then. Being largely free to park anywhere in the centre of most Provincial towns was common place, no parking meters and no traffic wardens where I lived. We never realised the freedoms we had, to be able to drive on open roads into the countryside was a joy and to be able to stop for a drink at a Country pub without fear of being criminalised. Our English Provincial towns were all different with local shops and stores owned by generations of families each had its own character. They were wonderful times and we took it all for granted as youngsters do. We didn’t have much money and got on with our lives totally unaware of Celebrity Culture, ANPR and CCTV around every corner
Thanks for sharing this video. I found it mesmerising , in my 60's now and it was great to see the old cars in action. Especially loved the idiot in the Triumph Herald....those people are still around today but usually in BMW's and Audis. 😀
The 60s is such a strange mix of the archaic and the modern, it's super interesting to see footage of regular, incident-free, daily life back then. The fundamentals of driving haven't changed either. Five years ago my instructor taught me all the same things, almost word for word. Only changes I can see are the double clutching (no need for that with modern synchromesh); the strange 3 lane roads (I bet those "experts" were pretty wrong about their safety); and the idea of flashing/honking someone hogging the fast lane (likely to get you brake checked). And also "Trafficator."
The Jag would have had synchromesh on the top three gears, but double de-clutching was the way we did it in those days. I sometimes do it today in my Hyundai Nline.
@@onelyone6976 Advanced drivers using the Police system would double de-clutch but actually it was a timing thing for the purposes of rev matching.This guy also block changed down from top into 2nd to turn right, another advanced method that the old Driving Standards Agency encouraged driving schools to adopt in the 80's, to replace going down the box, using the gears to slow the vehicle down.
That model MkII Jag had the Awful Moss box which has very slow synchromesh. You learned to do the 1-2-3 shift going up or down to give the box time to catch up .
As a Mk2 Jag driver I love this film. It’s great to see the cars in period, used as they were meant to be and to here George describe the anticipation that was required then (and now). I drive mine a lot and treat it like an every day car but it just isn’t possible sometimes in the modern world. This is the closest thing we have to a time machine. Great video.
We had a mk 2 3.4, and two MK 1's, a 2.4 and a 3.4 with high compression heads and full extractors. This late 1950s to mid 1960s. This film reminds me of those times, end of empire era and the vibrant popular culture.
@@jjs3287 Yeh my Dad drove like a rally driver in his Jags. All around Wales, Shropshire and insane cannonball runs to London now and then. Even went to Italy in 1966 and he flattened a roof rack racing Fiats on the Autostrada. 100 mph all the time...quiet Sunday drive?
My grandmother died at the age of 27 (had my dad very young) she died a year after this film. Knowing that she was alive and well at this point in time warms my ❤
A very nice tripp in the old day's with this driver at the wheel of our magnificent Jaguar. The chap has a very, very relaxing voice and way of speeking really.
In 1966 I had just passed my test and drove the A4 in my dad's Wolseley 6/110 (with him in the passenger seat} from Wokingham Berks to see the new Severn Bridge. I loved every minute and this brought back many happy memories.
I’m reminded of my Daimler SP250. Similar to the MK 2 Jaguar, but with the V8 engine. It was Old English white, black leather, manual with overdrive. Wish I still had it!
you forgot the VW and a BMW isetta. in high traffic in Bath, what a scream so now its all German and Japanese? Jaguar is indian, Bently VW. RR german , Bmw? and Mini. hahaha time changed. nothing left of old Bmc, what a joke British industry back to empire?
@@jonathangriffin1120 usually a month after the warranty expired! My father used to joke instead of watching paint dry, he could watch Vauxhall's Rust...
Often used to do this trip 30-40 years ago at 4am, avoiding the M4. Roads nearly empty after Reading except as you got in towards Bath. Wonderful memories.
Yes! Remember, youngsters, when coning up behind a motorway lane hog, flash your headlights and give them a blast of your horn and they'll immediately pull over.
@kitty “little kitty” on the evidence of the coppers, “he was proceedin’ in a northerly direction, based on my experience of being a traffic cop, at a speed exceeding 70 miles per hour.” And back then magistrates tended to accept the word of a police constable, as they were then known.
@@kingspunkbubble it can also keep pace with modern traffic. some older cars can't get up to 70mph / are strained by it.. a mk2 jag will happily do 70mph
Great background music, it wouldn't be the same without it. Nostalgic journeys like this is something I could watch for hours, such great narration too. Britain was much less frantic in those days, and much more civilised, it seemed to be anyway.
This was an absolute pleasure to watch , barely recognise it as the country of my birth. All roads traversed looked to be in very good order as opposed to today. Thanks for posting.
Get your drift,I could really go to town but then me and thee would probably get a lifetime ban from t' net! Your video almost presented a different world? Best regards.
@@boyfromblackstuff7859 Got you mate...a different world. I live in hope and wonder with every day it remains possible to simply show what the past was like in my country.
@@maxustaxus Indeed,seems to me with every passing day "they" are introducing some law or decree that enables them to chip away,bury or completely destroy the culture and history of these once pleasant Islands.
By Jove! It is terribly terribly British - but on the other hand, how refreshing! He comments so many times about the road being busy - he should see them now. Take me back to the 1960s any time, when England was English and women did what they were told (come to think of it, so did men).
"Driving demands tolerance". But he did flash his lights and honked his horn on the motorway to get a car in front of him to move aside. Ah... those were the times.
This film is a nostalgia fest. I was 8 years old when this was made and loved cars. Hearing him say "trafficators" and "double de clutch" took me back to riding in our car (no seat belts) with my dad driving. Regent and Fina petrol stations have since long gone in Britain and his motorway horn-honking was hilarious. Parking was a breeze everywhere then too, even in London. Happy days.
I lived in Brentford,M4 elevated section must not have been built at the time this was filmed.That part of London,Hyde park corner roundabout,now that is 3 wheel's on your wagon,driven around it many times😄
Wonderful to see this journey down the old Bath Road. I used to do it on a 125cc MZ, back in the 1980s, then on a 250 ETZ. I didn't dare go on the motorway. Lovely drive, past Savernake Forest, Marlborough, the Wiltshire Downs.
Ah...the mention of an MZ brought back memories...for me a CB250 (G5) and hours and hours in the saddle getting to Stonehenge and back! Never under estimate a determined person on a small motorbike in the 1980s!
The only car with modern, or even future oriented safety features in the 50s, 60s and 70s was the Citroen DS. It had very high active safety with front wheel drive, hydropneumatic suspension with individually sprung wheels and constant ride height, full servo brakes with inboard disc-brakes at the front and load sensitive braking power, front and rear. One spoke safety steering wheel, safety glass in the wind shield, center point wheel suspension, and much more. The passive safety was also very good with large crash zones front and rear, a long bonnet with the spare wheel at the very front and the petrol tank in a protected compartment under the rear seat, very large side beams and good inner space with padded surfaces, and so on. Safety belts (in the front) was introduced already in the late 60s.
@@Larryshaw48 - Yes, I remember every curve in Marlborough. Especially coming out near the public school. Must have been amazing to go through 100 years earlier and stop at a coaching inn.
It's wonderful that you can read signs on buildings and see that they still exist - for example, at 13:55, The Bacon Arms, Newbury - easily found on Google Maps and still going strong sixty years later. Then shortly after, the Bear Hotel in Hungerford. Amazing stuff.
What a great journey and what a very professional driver. The red Triumph driver was probably driving under the influence of drink or sheer stupidity. Great to see the vehicles of my youth and as I learned to drive in a Ford Anglia this brought back so very many memories of uncluttered roads and now classic cars, many now rarely if ever seen. Love this and thank you George for a great driving experience!
Come on they had a camera van behind the red car and a camera ready trained on it from within the jag during the overtaking sequence and the whole thing happened on a road where there was not another vehicle in sight - right the way through - it was all highly staged and probably not even on the A4 which - even in the 1960s - was never without traffic in the day time.
This is over a decade before I was born, but I couldn't help noticing how most of the roads were lovely and smooth with a uniform surface. With one or two exceptions, there seemed to be none of the crumbling patchwork of bodged repairs and utility company patch up jobs you see now. And even road rage was more civilised back then, it seems.
Wow! I love the bit on the A4 between Corsham and Bath, going through Box. The Northey Arms hasn't changed much in 60 years! Thanks for posting - a great video.
The beautiful Mk II Jag was pretty much the fastest saloon on the road in the early 60’s, which makes the documentary all the more interesting. Not surprised he got the V. That was hilarious, but you just wouldn’t do that now for fear of the guy coming after you with a wheel spanner or worse. Not to mention that it’s now illegal to sound your horn except in an emergency. And loved the encounter with red Triumph Herald. Great stuff.
An interesting lesson in how humans can quickly adapt to the seemingly impossible at the time. I find it pretty amazing how few serious accidents there are on British roads today in 2023, despite the immense skill required in driving a car today.
What gem and delight. It reminds me of my first Jaguar, a mk2, and motoring to Somerset. Halcyon days.👍 If only our media "voices" could learn to speak in such a clear and concise manner. So many of them spend a fortune on their appearance and not a penny on elocution lessons to raise them out of the gutter.
I grew up in Chippenham and was 6 when this film was made. A real treat to see the old town bridge such a shame the 60s couldn’t save it. The High Street is mostly pedestrians only except for set times. Also the old airfield camp just before Calne, near Compton Bassett gets the briefest of view.
Well spotted! That's RAF Yatesbury....WW1 airfield that once taught Wing Comm. Guy Gibson to fly. It was a training camp for RAF Radio and Instrument ground staff. The domestic site was huge.
I loved every second of this - I'm planning a trip to England by motorbike and there are a few villages along this road that I have family history, especially Bath. I was planning to use the M4 but i think THIS is a better journey =^)
I remember much of that road well, we lived in Somerset (just south of Bath) and my grandmother lived in Uxbridge. I first remember doing the trip in the late sixties, so the M4 motorway had extended, but we still had to go on the A4 through Reading and Maidenhead. Then as the years passed the M4 extended until we could get off just outside of Bath, it was a real relief as it shortened the travel time considerably. We would have loved to have had the luxury of travelling in a six cylinder Jag, we first did the trip in a mini and the later in a Wolsey 1500 and then a Vauxhall Viva. The footage of going through Maidenhead was especially evocative as on our trip east it meant we were nearly there. Thanks so much for this wonderful footage.
Only when watching this video and looking carefully the design of the cars, you are able to grasp how modern looking was the Triumph 2000 MK1 when it came out the same year!
Thanks for posting the video. I’m going to show it to my dad when I see him, he will love it. First thing I noticed was, he jumped in the car, checked his mirror and set off ,but he didn’t look over his right shoulder to make sure the blindspot was clear. An advanced motorist should know better ! I enjoyed the trip a lot though.
At 12:18 in Theale there's a number 11 bus just turning off down Englefield Road. This was the bus I used to catch between Bradfield and Reading. In the 1960s it was a half hourly service, these days 2 a week!
A gorgeous Bristol no less! With a Conductor who helped traffic! For me, the joy of these films is in seeing the vehicles that surrounded me as a child: the old wonderful lorries, double-decker buses and the funny tin boxes we called cars... A lost world.
@@swannvictor1388 Further interest for me is that my grandfather worked as a coach fitter for the Thames Valley Traction Company in the post war years.
Wow, I did this journey in 2022 in a Mazda Rx8. Sat reading a paper most of the time in London and Bath. Flew along the M4, with a nice coffee from Chieveley services.
I remember my uncle in the 70s who was quite old by then would give us a running Commentary when out driving I loved when he would say we're doing sixty we are now achieved a mile a minute how's that and I would clap my hands and he'd laugh
Funny you mention that, very much like my grandfather who recently passed. He was a policeman back in his day and never minced his words. To the point.
@@silasmarner7586 or perhaps just the Queens English, Whatever, but is any body else offended by the use of "tweny" instead of twenTy and other such verbal atrocities by those who use their voice for a living on the radio?
![A Day in London 1930s in color [60fps,Remastered] w/sound design added](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/A-jb8ydfsqw/mqdefault.jpg)
"Giving me the V sign, I cannot think why he should think I'd be interested in his politics" Classic.
timestamp?
@@bobbie3713 8:30
@@dsadawrware thanks
Lol
😂
The man giving the v sign never knew he would be immortalised forever thanks to the internet
“Just popping down to Bath for the weekend. In the Jaaaaaaag!” 🤣
At 7:56 "Speed is not dangerous. It's speed in the wrong place."
Great quote.
Similarly with aircraft. Flying is not dangerous. It's smacking into the ground at 500 mph that is dangerous.
Ahh, the British sense of humour, that guy flicking the ‘V’s on the motorway. Priceless.
👍 Good old England. The way it used to be.🧐
I love the fact he's so politely road raging the lane-hog using lights and horn.
He comes across as bloody aggressive at that point, even by today's standards, let alone in the more polite laissez-faire early 60s. If I'd done that on my IAM test I'd have expected to get a bollocking.
I think that is more a case of arrogance, the lower classes must move out of the way of my very important Jaguar and not impede my progress,you could get away with that attitude in the sixties, but still I can remember these cars when they were new on the road and I thought that the most beautiful things on four wheels and i still think that sixty years later.
Caddish behaviour by the Jaaaaaaaaaaaag
There's at least three manoeuvres here which would make him the villain of a dashcam video if he did them now.
If he did that these days he would be stabbed to death on the hard shoulder.
My God what have we lost?!!!
Everything.
@@kevinmaltby4202 You can say that again Sir!
@@kevinmaltby4202 You beat me to it. Even though I was born in 1960, I can recall the later part of that decade quite vividly. By the 1970s the decline had set in, both planning-wise and culturally. The drive through Reading looked rather genteel - not now, that's for certain.
"Driving is a state of mind", "speed is not dangerous, (it is) speed in the wrong place"... Words of Wisdom.
True!
Absolutely true, people should tell the State that.
@Aussie Pom I would suggest the greatest cause of accidents in the UK is simply the sheer number of cars in use on a small island. However, modern cars are built to far greater safety protocols making severe injury a lot less likely (incidentally, mobile use whilst driving is already illegal in the UK and other European countries). Personally I suspect that driving today is far safer than in the past.
@@drg111yt Really! So which state is driving dangerously?
@@imwelshjesus In my case the UK State, it's been driving us dangerously for decades!
Hearing him roast other drivers is pure gold.
How he fitted the five peice jazz combo in the back, I'll never know.
Well, they were very obliging...three went into the backseats, and the remaining two grabbed hold of what they could in the boot. Free jazz knows no limits.
@@maxustaxus So obvious now, the way you have so graphically explained it all.
Just imagine if he'd had one of those chrome plated luggage racks on the boot lid! A septet, perhaps even an octet!
Your comment, free jazz had no limits, sums it up perfectly!
You may mock, but they were less cumbersome than fitting an 8 track.
Literally LOL'd at this comment. Excellent sir
@@maxustaxus Try putting a mute on a trumpet in a MKII without hitting the driver around the back of the head.
It cannot be understated how many snippets of fantastic advice this man gives us - this should be shown to all drivers on the road today! I've got no idea how so many people can pass their driving test with how they drive!
In fairness, the test is harder than it's ever been, and the roads far more congested. I think the issue we face is one of focus and that everyone has a car, a % of people just aren't meant to drive.
The past was better than now and the future looks grim as hell!
Everything looks so clean too! Wow.
I showed this to my 80 year-old father a few days ago. He was full of nostalgia and quite transported back to his driving days when he was in his 20s.
He told me that this is exactly how it was then. Motorways were quite exciting, but, generally, driving was a much more dangerous experience than it is today (even with five times the number of cars on the road).
I checked the accident figures for that period: he was not exaggerating!
It takes me back too, though I am not quite so old. There is nothing like moving pictures from times past, they awaken the memories in a special way.
I loved driving with my parents in the 70’s going through different towns before most motorways.
Back in those days cars had absolutely zero safety features and the glass was the solid material you'd have in your house, not the modern shatterables. As a result, most accidents that did happen in those days were generally much more serious.
Many cars in the 1950s often just blew up at motorway speeds because the engines couldn't cope with it. That is why modern cars can travel very comfortably past 70mph despite 70mph being the limit, the engine having more power than required means it has a higher tolerance and doesn't just blow up on the motorway.
Cars also had terrible emissions and often emitted an acrid, hot oil smell while running. I was reminded of that a couple of years ago when I was walking down the street and someone had a B reg Vauxhall stopped at the lights... the smell brought back so many memories.
@@halfbakedproductions7887 Indeed. I had a friend who had an old Morris Oxford which ran fine pootling around town. Then one day (this would be mid 1970s) he and his girlfirend set out from Hertfordshire for a holiday in Cornwall on the M4 doing a constant speed of - he said - about 65. They got as far as Newbury when there was a very loud bang and cloud of smoke and steam. A piston had broken off inside the engine and bits of engine had gone everywhere inside the engine compartment and when showed us a photograph of the car being towed away (for scrap I would suppose) you could clearly see several quite large outdents in the bonnet! Nobody was hurt, but I think that was more by luck than anything else. So yes, some of those older car designs struggled with the constant speeds attainable on early motorways. Not a problem now of course, a combination of congestion and/or miles and miles of coneworks mean you can seldom do an appreciable speed for very long!
@@alanmusicman3385 Materials science guy at college spoke about the numerous fatigue failures of engines on motorways in the early 60s. I think he said a lot occured around Watford Gap going North. Better materials, processing and design eradicated the problem. Now you have powerful cars in the UK that are designed for speeds up to 200mph being restricted to average speeds of 50mph by the speed limits, congestion, and the deplorable state of the roads.
'I cant think why he should think why I should be interested in his politics...' Beautiful.
I remember as a boy in junior high in 1967, going to the Houston Auto Show here in Texas, and seeing a 3.8S in red with black leather. Still haven't forgotten that beautiful car all these decades later; it looked nothing like our American cars. Biggest problem for these Jaguar cars here was the air conditioning and its propensity to cause overheating in our very hot and humid weather. Most of the units were mounted in the trunk/boot. Great video!
This guy made a RUclips video 42 years before RUclips was started.
That guy in the red Herald, absolute bellend.
Ah, Yes. I'm often frustrated by other drivers' lack of use of the 'Trafficators'.
This really takes me back. I turned 22 in 1963 and had a Mini.
Remember, folks, next time you are out driving, ask yourself, "what would george do?".
I was 18 and had been driving for over a year then. Being largely free to park anywhere in the centre of most Provincial towns was common place, no parking meters and no traffic wardens where I lived. We never realised the freedoms we had, to be able to drive on open roads into the countryside was a joy and to be able to stop for a drink at a Country pub without fear of being criminalised. Our English Provincial towns were all different with local shops and stores owned by generations of families each had its own character. They were wonderful times and we took it all for granted as youngsters do. We didn’t have much money and got on with our lives totally unaware of Celebrity Culture, ANPR and CCTV around every corner
Agree a very nostalgic video.
yikes, you are 78! I was 6...
@@chancesareshewears - And still enjoy riding my bike…..!
Used to drive London to Bath quite regularly in the early ‘80s, avoiding the M4. Absolute bliss!
Bring it back!!!
I love the groovy music with the commentary.
I had no idea there were RUclipsrs with dashcams in the 1960’s - you learn something every day
Yeah I find myself wondering how big that camera is that the passenger is carrying, and how frequently they had to stop to change film
I love how he explains setting the handbrake without pulling it up the ratchet to save wear on the teeth. Very sensible indeed.
Do you think the mechanism was made from butter ??
Well I was taught to do it that way, always have! Just remember, that mechanism almost never gets greased and every click is wear on the teeth.
This is incredible footage! The aesthetics of the 1960s, particularly places like London, are absolutely unmatched
Louisiana in the 60s aswell
It was even better before the war
"Trafficator",and the M4,two lanes only,no central barrier.
Japan 60s economy boom is better, even today
Thanks for sharing this video. I found it mesmerising , in my 60's now and it was great to see the old cars in action. Especially loved the idiot in the Triumph Herald....those people are still around today but usually in BMW's and Audis. 😀
The 60s is such a strange mix of the archaic and the modern, it's super interesting to see footage of regular, incident-free, daily life back then.
The fundamentals of driving haven't changed either. Five years ago my instructor taught me all the same things, almost word for word.
Only changes I can see are the double clutching (no need for that with modern synchromesh); the strange 3 lane roads (I bet those "experts" were pretty wrong about their safety); and the idea of flashing/honking someone hogging the fast lane (likely to get you brake checked).
And also "Trafficator."
The Jag would have had synchromesh on the top three gears, but double de-clutching was the way we did it in those days. I sometimes do it today in my Hyundai Nline.
It seems like rev-matching is also present, about 2 years ago taking driving lessons, nobody had even mentioned a thing called rev-matching
@@onelyone6976 Advanced drivers using the Police system would double de-clutch but actually it was a timing thing for the purposes of rev matching.This guy also block changed down from top into 2nd to turn right, another advanced method that the old Driving Standards Agency encouraged driving schools to adopt in the 80's, to replace going down the box, using the gears to slow the vehicle down.
That model MkII Jag had the Awful Moss box which has very slow synchromesh. You learned to do the 1-2-3 shift going up or down to give the box time to catch up .
Can still be useful on block down changes, even with modern cars.
"he's giving me the V sign..." Brilliant commentary!
Probably get stabbed today.
I think most of those incidents were "constructed " for the purpose of the film
I burst out laughing
@@sneakerfreak2002 "No idea why he thinks I'm interested in his politics" 😂
@@coyote5735 🤣🤣🤣
As a Mk2 Jag driver I love this film. It’s great to see the cars in period, used as they were meant to be and to here George describe the anticipation that was required then (and now). I drive mine a lot and treat it like an every day car but it just isn’t possible sometimes in the modern world. This is the closest thing we have to a time machine. Great video.
We had a mk 2 3.4, and two MK 1's, a 2.4 and a 3.4 with high compression heads and full extractors.
This late 1950s to mid 1960s.
This film reminds me of those times, end of empire era and the vibrant popular culture.
@@jjs3287 Yeh my Dad drove like a rally driver in his Jags.
All around Wales, Shropshire and insane cannonball runs to London now and then. Even went to Italy in 1966 and he flattened a roof rack racing Fiats on the Autostrada.
100 mph all the time...quiet Sunday drive?
@@buddhastaxi666 glad to hear someone in the past had the exact same experience I am having these days, albeit in an MK3 MR2
This film is the same age as me! Just fantastic cars too!
My grandmother died at the age of 27 (had my dad very young) she died a year after this film. Knowing that she was alive and well at this point in time warms my ❤
A very nice tripp in the old day's with this driver at the wheel of our magnificent Jaguar. The chap has a very, very relaxing voice and way of speeking really.
And on today's episode of "I'm watching this 20-minute video all the way through and I have no idea why"...
brilliant😆. I could listen to this man narrate just about anything for hours on end.
In 1966 I had just passed my test and drove the A4 in my dad's Wolseley 6/110 (with him in the passenger seat} from Wokingham Berks to see the new Severn Bridge. I loved every minute and this brought back many happy memories.
I’m reminded of my Daimler SP250. Similar to the MK 2 Jaguar, but with the V8 engine. It was Old English white, black leather, manual with overdrive. Wish I still had it!
Love seeing the cars of this era The Humbers Fords Vauxhalls Hillmans BMC
A lot of the old Vauxhall PAs, sadly the dreaded 'tin worm' consigned most of them to the 'Great Parking Lot in The Sky'.
@@jonathangriffin1120 TBH most if not all cars of that era became Frilly in the extreme. Had a few that you could almost hear fizzing away :(
you forgot the VW and a BMW isetta. in high traffic in Bath, what a scream
so now its all German and Japanese?
Jaguar is indian, Bently VW. RR german , Bmw? and Mini. hahaha time changed. nothing left of old Bmc, what a joke British industry
back to empire?
@@jonathangriffin1120 usually a month after the warranty expired! My father used to joke instead of watching paint dry, he could watch Vauxhall's Rust...
22:34 BMW Isetta
if you did this journey at 4am today the roads would be fuller than that, and no speed limit on motorways back then either, heaven,
Often used to do this trip 30-40 years ago at 4am, avoiding the M4. Roads nearly empty after Reading except as you got in towards Bath. Wonderful memories.
What an absolute delight! Thank you so much for putting this gem on RUclips. It should be mandatory viewing for all the youngsters learning to drive!
Yes! Remember, youngsters, when coning up behind a motorway lane hog, flash your headlights and give them a blast of your horn and they'll immediately pull over.
@kitty “little kitty” on the evidence of the coppers, “he was proceedin’ in a northerly direction, based on my experience of being a traffic cop, at a speed exceeding 70 miles per hour.” And back then magistrates tended to accept the word of a police constable, as they were then known.
@kitty “little kitty” no quite.
And now we're another 60 years further and the Jaguar MkII can still perform perfectly well in modern traffic.
It doesn’t overheat in traffic jams is what you mean then?
@@kingspunkbubble it can also keep pace with modern traffic. some older cars can't get up to 70mph / are strained by it.. a mk2 jag will happily do 70mph
@@MichaelFlatman 🤣🤣
@@kingspunkbubble like, if you're committed to driving an old Jag in modern traffic, an electric fan is a must
Especially since everyone still does 55 on the motorways...
Great background music, it wouldn't be the same without it. Nostalgic journeys like this is something I could watch for hours, such great narration too. Britain was much less frantic in those days, and much more civilised, it seemed to be anyway.
This was an absolute pleasure to watch , barely recognise it as the country of my birth.
All roads traversed looked to be in very good order as opposed to today.
Thanks for posting.
I agree...I would say more but this is 2024.
Get your drift,I could really go to town but then me and thee would probably get a lifetime ban from t' net!
Your video almost presented a different world?
Best regards.
@@boyfromblackstuff7859 Got you mate...a different world. I live in hope and wonder with every day it remains possible to simply show what the past was like in my country.
@@maxustaxus Indeed,seems to me with every passing day "they" are introducing some law or decree that enables them to chip away,bury or completely destroy the culture and history of these once pleasant Islands.
How very enjoyable! When the car was still our hero (it still is mine).
i want more of this.....i could watch it all day........FANTASTIC
So so well spoken like many people back then roads so quite seriously
just look how bloody smooth all the roads used to be...
Great video and how I was educated in driving. For today's modern motorist it's simple, don't be asleep at the wheel👍
By Jove! It is terribly terribly British - but on the other hand, how refreshing! He comments so many times about the road being busy - he should see them now. Take me back to the 1960s any time, when England was English and women did what they were told (come to think of it, so did men).
Brilliant video . The Red Herald/Vitesse driver really had car envy going there... Hilarious.
"Driving demands tolerance". But he did flash his lights and honked his horn on the motorway to get a car in front of him to move aside. Ah... those were the times.
This film is a nostalgia fest. I was 8 years old when this was made and loved cars. Hearing him say "trafficators" and "double de clutch" took me back to riding in our car (no seat belts) with my dad driving. Regent and Fina petrol stations have since long gone in Britain and his motorway horn-honking was hilarious. Parking was a breeze everywhere then too, even in London. Happy days.
I had forgotten, but I remember Fina garages!!
Belgian petroleum firm I think maybe ?
I was 8 when this was filmed, and live in one of the places passed in the footage, ah happy days.
Born in 1956 ,, June 26 😊
A textbook lesson in sound instruction and Great British manners.
Brilliant!
I wish this never ended...
Oh man! I grew up through the sixties being driven up and down that stretch of road into and out of London! So many memories!
Bless you Johnny! I hope you are keeping well. 🙏
I lived in Brentford,M4 elevated section must not have been built at the time this was filmed.That part of London,Hyde park corner roundabout,now that is 3 wheel's on your wagon,driven around it many times😄
A wonderful journey indeed! I could watch this over and over again like a time machine into the past...
Glad you enjoyed it!
it is fantastic
Look at those roads. Light to moderate traffic even on major routes. Glorious.
Wonderful to see this journey down the old Bath Road. I used to do it on a 125cc MZ, back in the 1980s, then on a 250 ETZ. I didn't dare go on the motorway. Lovely drive, past Savernake Forest, Marlborough, the Wiltshire Downs.
Ah...the mention of an MZ brought back memories...for me a CB250 (G5) and hours and hours in the saddle getting to Stonehenge and back! Never under estimate a determined person on a small motorbike in the 1980s!
The only car with modern, or even future oriented safety features in the 50s, 60s and 70s was the Citroen DS. It had very high active safety with front wheel drive, hydropneumatic suspension with individually sprung wheels and constant ride height, full servo brakes with inboard disc-brakes at the front and load sensitive braking power, front and rear. One spoke safety steering wheel, safety glass in the wind shield, center point wheel suspension, and much more. The passive safety was also very good with large crash zones front and rear, a long bonnet with the spare wheel at the very front and the petrol tank in a protected compartment under the rear seat, very large side beams and good inner space with padded surfaces, and so on. Safety belts (in the front) was introduced already in the late 60s.
Very enjoyable film. I'd love to see the same drive today 60 years later to compare. Wish everybody drove like this gentleman, lol.
Classic footage 🐒🐻🤗👍I grew up in the 60s and my father had a rapier(lovely car) complete with trafficators.
brilliant .Its great to see the start of this film at last.
What a nostalgic trip. Brittany is so close to my heart. Miss Bath. Stroud. Cheltenham and Gloucester.
I live in Bath and have made this journey many times. Some things utterly different but a surprising amount the same.
Marlborough town centre not changed a bit!
@@Larryshaw48 - Yes, I remember every curve in Marlborough. Especially coming out near the public school. Must have been amazing to go through 100 years earlier and stop at a coaching inn.
I love this such a differant time
Truly enjoyed the journey, ❤
It's wonderful that you can read signs on buildings and see that they still exist - for example, at 13:55, The Bacon Arms, Newbury - easily found on Google Maps and still going strong sixty years later. Then shortly after, the Bear Hotel in Hungerford. Amazing stuff.
Wonderful clip of film, born in 1950 I was a young motorcyclist in the late 60's, a very different era indeed.
The West London Air Terminal at Gloucester Road, now a Sainsburys. Some many memories.
Wonderful... thank you so much. From the year of my birth.
What a great journey and what a very professional driver.
The red Triumph driver was probably driving under the influence of drink or sheer stupidity.
Great to see the vehicles of my youth and as I learned to drive in a Ford Anglia this brought back so very many memories of uncluttered roads and now classic cars, many now rarely if ever seen. Love this and thank you George for a great driving experience!
Come on they had a camera van behind the red car and a camera ready trained on it from within the jag during the overtaking sequence and the whole thing happened on a road where there was not another vehicle in sight - right the way through - it was all highly staged and probably not even on the A4 which - even in the 1960s - was never without traffic in the day time.
It was clearly staged for comic effect.
Also the big lorry that was meandering all over the show and across the double white lines😄
The view of the A4/Great West road is incredible. So much empty space and old buildings - now almost all demolished.
Classic, what an occasion, all British makes in period driving on good roads. 👍🏻
I love the gigantic intersections without any markings
This is over a decade before I was born, but I couldn't help noticing how most of the roads were lovely and smooth with a uniform surface. With one or two exceptions, there seemed to be none of the crumbling patchwork of bodged repairs and utility company patch up jobs you see now. And even road rage was more civilised back then, it seems.
Held together with all of the coal dust in the air during those years….
You didn't have the volume of traffic or the 40 ton articulated lorries of today on them
Wow! I love the bit on the A4 between Corsham and Bath, going through Box. The Northey Arms hasn't changed much in 60 years!
Thanks for posting - a great video.
The pub hasn't changed, but the road past the station has long gone. Was it necessary to turn down that road back then, or was that a diversion?
What a lovely film.
The beautiful Mk II Jag was pretty much the fastest saloon on the road in the early 60’s, which makes the documentary all the more interesting. Not surprised he got the V. That was hilarious, but you just wouldn’t do that now for fear of the guy coming after you with a wheel spanner or worse. Not to mention that it’s now illegal to sound your horn except in an emergency. And loved the encounter with red Triumph Herald. Great stuff.
The DVLA website has no record of that car these days sadly. I suspect it's long gone.
The guy I the Herald is a complete nutter.
@@peterwallis4288 I suspect he's an IAM 'stooge'.
Well done George ! I am pleased to tell you, You have passed !!
I don't know about anybody else, but the incident of upper class road rage from 8.10 had me in stitches!
An interesting lesson in how humans can quickly adapt to the seemingly impossible at the time. I find it pretty amazing how few serious accidents there are on British roads today in 2023, despite the immense skill required in driving a car today.
What gem and delight.
It reminds me of my first Jaguar, a mk2, and motoring to Somerset. Halcyon days.👍
If only our media "voices" could learn to speak in such a clear and concise manner. So many of them spend a fortune on their appearance and not a penny on elocution lessons to raise them out of the gutter.
I grew up in Chippenham and was 6 when this film was made. A real treat to see the old town bridge such a shame the 60s couldn’t save it. The High Street is mostly pedestrians only except for set times. Also the old airfield camp just before Calne, near Compton Bassett gets the briefest of view.
I moved to Chippenham when I was 18 in 2003, I've never seen the high street look so wide.
Yeah man. I spent time in Nam too. It was hell there.
Chippenhaam 😄
Well spotted! That's RAF Yatesbury....WW1 airfield that once taught Wing Comm. Guy Gibson to fly. It was a training camp for RAF Radio and Instrument ground staff. The domestic site was huge.
Pop this on when you cant sleep
I Know this is to us very old with all the vehicles of the past. but his advice is relevant today.
I loved every second of this - I'm planning a trip to England by motorbike and there are a few villages along this road that I have family history, especially Bath. I was planning to use the M4 but i think THIS is a better journey =^)
Hell yea . Here’s some beautiful country side on the approach to Bath .
I remember much of that road well, we lived in Somerset (just south of Bath) and my grandmother lived in Uxbridge. I first remember doing the trip in the late sixties, so the M4 motorway had extended, but we still had to go on the A4 through Reading and Maidenhead. Then as the years passed the M4 extended until we could get off just outside of Bath, it was a real relief as it shortened the travel time considerably. We would have loved to have had the luxury of travelling in a six cylinder Jag, we first did the trip in a mini and the later in a Wolsey 1500 and then a Vauxhall Viva. The footage of going through Maidenhead was especially evocative as on our trip east it meant we were nearly there. Thanks so much for this wonderful footage.
I live in Corsham (between Chippenham and Box) so this was quite a pleasant watch!
A real treat watching this. Last time I was in Marlborough was early 80’s. I recognised it from this film. Happy days!
Only when watching this video and looking carefully the design of the cars, you are able to grasp how modern looking was the Triumph 2000 MK1 when it came out the same year!
As an example of safe driving I find this rather amusing.
Thanks for posting the video. I’m going to show it to my dad when I see him, he will love it.
First thing I noticed was, he jumped in the car, checked his mirror and set off ,but he didn’t look over his right shoulder to make sure the blindspot was clear. An advanced motorist should know better !
I enjoyed the trip a lot though.
I was 5 back then living UK. Brings memories back. Seeing a cement truck beginning of movie my father drove one at this time in london
At 12:18 in Theale there's a number 11 bus just turning off down Englefield Road. This was the bus I used to catch between Bradfield and Reading. In the 1960s it was a half hourly service, these days 2 a week!
A gorgeous Bristol no less! With a Conductor who helped traffic! For me, the joy of these films is in seeing the vehicles that surrounded me as a child: the old wonderful lorries, double-decker buses and the funny tin boxes we called cars... A lost world.
@@swannvictor1388 Further interest for me is that my grandfather worked as a coach fitter for the Thames Valley Traction Company in the post war years.
Superb. This is how I was taught to drive many years ago!
Wow, I did this journey in 2022 in a Mazda Rx8. Sat reading a paper most of the time in London and Bath. Flew along the M4, with a nice coffee from Chieveley services.
I remember my uncle in the 70s who was quite old by then would give us a running Commentary when out driving I loved when he would say we're doing sixty we are now achieved a mile a minute how's that and I would clap my hands and he'd laugh
Has the same type of accent, language / syntax as my late Grandfather did...wonderful to hear now...no ego, no bulls**t, just straight, concise.
As English should be spoken, not like the speech of a typical radio two presenter these days.
Funny you mention that, very much like my grandfather who recently passed. He was a policeman back in his day and never minced his words. To the point.
I believe it is referred to as "Received Pronunciation"
@@silasmarner7586 or perhaps just the Queens English, Whatever, but is any body else offended by the use of "tweny" instead of twenTy and other such verbal atrocities by those who use their voice for a living on the radio?
He did such a splendid job of driving in this film that they let him drive his Jag in every episode of The Sweeney