Jags on my tail

[Splitpin]

I don't why I set this up... but I managed to hold them off ...or at least the AI guy did. That black one kept catching us on the straights, but somehow the little Imp did the biz.

[Naki]

Ahh the Imp . My mate at high school had an Imp... many a trip around Taranaki...and I remember riding in another mates Dads Jag Mk2... was very impressed...and his leather driving gloves

[Splitpin]

I had an Air Force mate (Pat Bell) who had one, and I recall many a fun trip in the little thing...and my grandmother on Dads side had one ...but it wasn't called a Hillman, it was a Sunbeam I think. She followed that with a Singer Vogue ...which was really a Hillman Hunter. They were great days car-wise.
Re the Mk 2 Jag, I had one when I was at Whenuapai (young and stupid) I ran it on waste 100 octane from the water test drums, which sadly killed it ...ahhhh, young and stupid. What I would give to have another one ....that long bonnet with that chrome cat, the smell of leather, all those gauges......

[Naki]

Yeah nice car, the Mark 2 Jag

My first car was a Hillman Hunter...Singers were more upmarket versions??

[emfrat]

I remember the original Singer Hunter of the 1950s. I think they were the first production-line car to use fibreglass panels. They were fairly rare but you could always spot one because the paint did not adhere too well
There was a lot of badge engineering across the brands in that era. In the BMC group, Austin/Morris indicated a standard model, an MG was a standard model with twin SUs, a Wolseley had a luxury fitout with the standard engine and a Riley had the luxury fitout with the sporty engine.
In the Rootes Group, Hillman was the base model, Sunbeam was the sports version, Singer was luxury+sports and Humber was the top of the line luxury with the 4cyl Hawk and the 6cyl Snipe and Super Snipe.
Just to make life simple, in Oz the Singer Vogue was marketed as a Humber By the1970s the Hillman Minx name was dropped and they became Hunters and I think Arrow was used for a while, as well.
Back in them days, us kids could identify makes and models by the sound of them moving off, and you could tinker with the engine. These days you're lucky to see it, when you lift the bonnet

[Charl]

Singers were more upmarket versions??

And they still are... very much so.

[Naki]

Nice..a very big Lotto win car for me!....but that's not related to the original Singer?

[emfrat]

Nice..a very big Lotto win car for me!....but that's not related to the original Singer?

Well, they both run like sewing machines