Transports of delight
News of the best in the entertainment world this month
Clive Nicholls
Your first car is always memorable. The freedom of the open road beckons. But the problems of keeping a rusty old banger up to the task weigh heavily.
Like so many I started with an old Mini. I was just 16, so couldn’t drive it on the road but I did manage a bit of grass track on the local showground when they mistakenly left the gate unlocked before I started my year-long restoration.
The car was nine years old, full of rust, but I had to be realistic, even in 1968 you didn’t get much for 30 quid.
It was one of the 1959 models with the lighter body shell. Lighter weight means more speed and to an impressionable teenager, that’s everything.
Lighter weight also means that it would offer as much protection as
