100 Strangers : Round 2 : No. 172 : Dale

As soon as I saw Dale and his 1968 Morris Minor 1000 , Police Panda Car, I wanted to start singing "Hearbeat" as I thought it was the car from the popular ITV drama series Hearbeat. However, Dale told me and google confirmed it later, that the Panda Car in Heartbeat was in fact a Ford Anglia.

Anyway, meet Dale and the Panda Car. Dale is a volunteer at the The National Emergency Services Museum in Sheffield and had driven the beautiful car down the M1 motorway to Nottingham so it could be a wedding car.

"Everyone on the motorway looks at vehicle as they pass it" Dale told me.

"When on public roads we cannot show the police sign, however , Nottinghamshire Police have given us special permission to drive from the Hotel (the car was parked outside the George Hotel) to the wedding Venue (Holme Pierrepont)."

Dale continued ..."The vehicle was owned by an elderly gentleman, who when he passed away donated the vehicle to our museum"

I didn't ask about the bride or groom for the vehicle, but I assume one of them must be a Police Officer.

I did an MOT check on the registration number and the government website told me car was first registered on 01 February 1968 and the MOT expired 29 September 2018 (I assume it is now exempt from MOT's)

For none UK based readers, Police Cars in the 1960's and 1970's were known as Panda Cars and were in the light blue and white livery.

Heartbeat was a popular English police drama TV series set in 1960s North Riding of Yorkshire and was broadcast by ITV (18 series between 1992 and 2010). It was an easy watch, Sunday evening , drama, very popular in the Howcroft household !

Thanks for being stranger 172 Dale, I hope the wedding went well

Find out more about the 100 stranger project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

https://www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers


My own strangers can be seen here:


https://www.flickr.com/photos/57144254@N08/albums/72157657822400168

[Allison Williams]

Loved your commentary today. Thanks for bringing your non-UK readers up to speed. I imagine it would be a tight fit in that car for a wedding dress!

[Phil Howcroft]

@allie912 you are right Allison re' the dress, Can you believe 1960's Police cars in the UK were as small as this? I doubt it was able to get much beyond 60mph

[Graham Harcombe]

Nice pic Phil and good info. I used to drive the Ford Anglia Panda cars in 1967 in Liverpool. Happy days. You have to appreciate that they we used purely as transport for the bread and butter minor calls in the main. There were other vehicles available on patrol as well.

[Maggiemae]

He looks very proud to be standing next to this lovely classic!

[FBailey]

It will be tax exempt Phil - what a little beauty! Never seen a powder blue police car before, love it! Steals the show from the gentleman in the shot, but it sounds as if he's used to it grabbing the limelight.

[Dixie Goode]

I found this fascinating and love the look of that car.

[Richard Brown]

Lovely shot and narrative. I wasn't aware until a quick Google told me that cars over 40 years old are exempt from MOT in the UK.

[Dione Giorgio]

Lovely car and colours. I still see a Morris 1000 van almost everytime I go to the coffee shop I frequent in Winter. My first car was a Ford Anglia which I bought in 1967 (the one with the rear window tilting inwards). Love the portrait but in my modest opinion emphasis is more on the car than on Dave in this shot.

[KWind]

Cute car! I like its colour.

[Caterina]

Congratulations for being already so advanced in your second round! Nice portrait! Fav

[David]

A fine young car but shame on you for not knowing a Morris Minor from a Ford Anglia, Phil! I once longed for one of these but somehow acquired a 1952 Austin A40 Somerset instead. 12 years old when I bought it for £30 !

[Phil Howcroft]

@lostphojo @caterina @kwind @sangwann @rjb71 @pandorasecho @fbailey @maggiemae @ellida thanks everyone for your really lovely words on this photo , I am pleased it evoked so many great memories for many of you , the power of photography and a humble moggy minor :)