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How did we get about before Motability cars, was it horse n cart or did we just not go out
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We were locked up in one of the many asylums.
There were those little blue invalid carriages. I have no idea how people went about getting one, or from where but they were horrible looking things but despite that, i’m sure users must have been glad of them.
I just spent a few quid at the auctions and bought a TPS(Ten Pound Shitter), standing bid from scrap man and made sure I had good breakdown cover.
As the years moved on I bought cars around the £500-£1,000 mark and the same again with the breakdown.
As I became more and more knackered I started to buy newer cars that I could rely on a bit more and still had good breakdown cover.
Now I am leasing and I’ve had more problems with the lease cars than I ever had with the cheap crap I used to run around in, I suppose that when you know you can fix it or just get a cab/bus and sort it later it doesn’t matter too much, once you need all the associated mobility gear I drag around with me these days and the fact I can’t just walk to a bus stop then newer makes lots of sense, I would still happily buy a 3 year old motor that’s had it’s 1st MOT and be quite confident it would manage to get me from A to B for 3 years though.
Martino, a lot of disabled, if fit to drive got free three wheeler blue Invacar’s which had one seat in them, which was my first car in 1974. I accept that no Motability driver would be seen dead in one nowadays, however if you were, too disabled at 17 to jump on and off buses, it was a god send, not worse or more embarrassing than any of my friends cars, as my friends of that age simply did not have cars.
Only in the mid 70’s, when disabled and other organisations campaigned against these fibreglass bath tubs on wheels, using the late great Graham Hill (Damian’s father), the British racing driver, at the head of their campaign, did the birth of the Mobility Allowance arrive in 1976, that was enough to run second hand cars, but not buy them, then Motability arrived in 1977, where the disabled could get a small choice of brand new cars on a three year lease, that changed the lives of thousands of disabled people and their family’s forever (hopefully).
My official Invacar learner driver training, consisted of one full day’s driving (it should have been two half day’s but the other guy called off) up and down a hospital dirt track and that was me considered to be fit and fully trained for the main road’s (although not Motorways), as no one was officially allowed to be in the car with you on a main road.
Basically my father had to teach me how to drive by illegally sitting next to me in this one seated car, sitting in a small stool I had made in woodwork at school the year earlier.
Thankfully my parents bought me an automatic Daf 44 car and installed hand controls in it for my 18 birthday. But they were good times, sorry I am straying into the hovis advert.
Was that a Daf variomatic with the big rubber bands?
I used to buy 12/18 month old cars low mileage cars which have depreciated in value, for example an Audi A4 Advant S Line full loaded when new @£34,000 +, I brought from an Audi dealer 18 months old for £18,000, they obviously had their mark up say £3000 so probably owed them £15,000.
I ran it for 2 years before changing it to a Honda CRV, in practise I lost about £5,000 in depreciation, £700 in insurance not forgetting servicing and running cost say £1,000, so a total of £6700 in 2 years.
Then I part exchanged the Audi for the Honda CRV £23,000 sold it less than 2 years later for £13,000, depreciation due the diesel scandal, 2 years servicing and running cost including 2 tyres £1000, and not forgetting insurance £700, total loss £11,700.
So in practise over 4 years I have lost approximately £18,400 in 4 years ( I except the loss on the Honda was exceptional due to the diesel scandal and depreciation would have been around the £6,000 as opposed to £10,000) Which would have meant my losses would have nearer £14, 400 over the 4 years.
We came to conclusion the Motability scheme is a no brainer, even a decent specification car with an £2000 AP 3 years Mobility payments £9700, there is little to be gained struggling to buy privately, plus all the hassle and you get a new car every year
Unfortunately I have suffered a brain injury and occasionally I get confused and often say the wrong thing.
Yes Saintman, The Daff 44 variomatic worked with two rubber belts, which put a lot of people off, although I never actually knew anyone who had to replace the belts, mind you in fairness I never actually knew many people with a Daff 44. It was a simple automatic system the gear shift that went back for the car going forward and forward for reversing back and a neutral position which you only ever used if the car was being worked on, the the gear was always in gear. Basicly CVT transmissions were based on a similar system.
It was not so easy to get small automatics back in the 70s and especially second hand ones. I liked the Daff 44, in fact I had two of them. Apparently they had the peculiar ability to go just as fast backwards as they did going forward, although not being a stunt driver I never actually put it to the test.
The other piece of useless information is that the person who designed the 44 also designed the Triumph Dolomite.
I later had to move away from them as although I could get car insurance for a Daff 66 (basically a 44 with a nose job and a bigger engine) I could not get car insurance for the Volvo 66 which was basically the same car with a Volvo badge and heavier bumpers. Although the 44’s were relatively cheep to buy new or second hand, once Volvo took them over and re-badged them, the cost of servicing/repairs and parts were all priced at Volvo prices.
How did we get about before Motability cars, was it horse n cart or did we just not go out
Oh, that’s so simple, we had our chauffeur drive us in the Rolls
Or we may have been still driving the car we had since before we became disabled & somehow just managed with some dodgy adapted controls.
Thanks Olpk, that takes me back.
I used to see a lady in the 1960s in an electric three wheel like a bicycle with a canopy she used to look like someone from the victorian days and even dressed the part she used to frighten us kids at the time.
I started on a dark blue mini, you were lucky if you had issued a new one. And if you had problems with a mini they later issued Renault 4’s a fantastic car to drive.Apart from the rust on the window frames.
On a motorbike.
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