Classic motoring history

Learning to drive in the 60s in Triumph Herald

This is our guide to motoring in the 50s, 60s and 70s. After the War, petrol was still rationed and new cars went straight for export, but in 1958 the first stretch of motorway (M6 - Preston Bypass) was built.

In the sixties cars were improving and there were few restrictions on the roads. But by the time Mungo Jerry's classic song 'In the Summertime' (1970), about the carefree days of summer, the lines "have a drink, have a drive" and "speed along the lane, do a ton, or a ton and twenty-five" were celebrating a lost age; laws on speeding and drinking and driving had changed three years earlier.

The L-test

The L-test was introduced in 1935. Up until then, there was no need to pass a driving test of any kind. L-plates became required for learner drivers. Aside from the theory test and minor details, the current L-test is very similar to that which drivers were expected to pass in 1935. Learner drivers were never permitted on motorways.

Speed limits

It may come as a surprise that before 1967, on roads outside built up areas there was no speed limit in force. The white circle with a black cross through it meant "end of speed restrictions".

The first speed limit on UK roads was one of 20mph. It was introduced in 1903 and was a universal speed limit which applied on all roads. This restriction was abolished in 1930. In March 1935, the familiar 30mph speed limit in built up areas came into force. Until 1960 this was the only speed limit on Britain's roads. In 1960 a new speed limit of 40mph was introduced for major routes on the outskirts of large towns and cities, bypasses which had housing built alongside, or accident black spots on major routes.

Until 1967 there was no overall speed limit, so that outside of restricted areas there was no speed limit. In January 1967 a new 'blanket' speed limit of 70mph came into force on all roads not restricted by other speed limits. This new limit put a stop to high speeds on Britain's motorway network.

In 1974 the Government introduced new speed limits to save fuel in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis. Motorists could now only travel up to 50mph on ordinary roads and 60mph on dual carriage ways. The limit of 70mph remained on motorways.

The current National Speed Limit is now 70mph on motorways or dual carriage ways and 60mph on other roads, unless otherwise indicated.

Road signs

Old style warning road sign - cross roads

Old style warning road sign - double bend

Old style warning road sign - hump bridge

Old style warning road sign - round about

Old style warning road sign - level crossing

The road signs above are typical of what motorists encountered on our roads in the 50s and for the first half of the sixties. The were mounted on a striped pole with a red warning triangle at the top. These signs were introduced gradually in the pre-war era. Speed limit signs were circular with the number in black, depicting the maximum speed, on a white background with a red border.

There were some small steps to a system similar to that used in Europe in the 50s when some signs, such as the school sign, left, were made more symbolic.

The direction sign, right, shows the style of road sign introduced in the 30s. This type of sign shows a major route with the road numbers. It is still in use today. This type of sign would have been common place in the 50s and 60s. A new style of sign with a yellow border for major routes and a blue border for local directions was introduced in 1957. However, the biggest change was the introduction of motorways in 1958. The original signage was unsuitable for quick assimilation by drivers travelling at high speeds. The new motorway signs had white lettering on a blue background. Compared to existing signs, they were simple and conveyed only what was necessary.

The current road signs were introduced on our roads in 1965. They were a development of the original signs used on motorways. Direction signs had a green background for primary routes, a white background with a black border denoted other A and B roads and a white background with a blue border gave local directions.

The warning signs were also replace with the symbolic signs on triangle with a red border that we are used to today. The steam train for un-gated level crossings was carried over onto the new signs. Speed limits were circles with a red border and black lettering denoting the limit, as before.

Motorway signs had white text on a blue background. The same style, with a different colour scheme, was adopted for all other signs in 1965 and has not changed much since.

The breathalyser

From 1967 a new law governing alcohol and driving came into force. It became illegal to drive a car with more than 80 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood in the bloodstream. This was measured at the road side with the new device: the breathalyser.

Before that date you could still be charged with driving whilst unfit through drink or drugs. Motorists charged with this offence could be banned for twelve months as well as being fined or imprisoned. However, the offence was more subjective than the breath test.

Number plates

Number plates issued before 1963 were a combination of a group of letters and a group of numbers. There could be up to three letters. The second two, or the the only two denoted the district in which the car was registered.

From 1963 number plates were a combination of up to three letters, followed by up to three numbers and a suffix letter denoting he year of registration.

Originally the numbers followed the calendar year of registrations so:

A January 1963 to December 1963
B January 1964 to December 1964
C January 1965 to December 1965
D January 1966 to December 1966

In 1967 it was decided to make the change over in August so E only covered January 1967 to July 1967. The remaining numbers in the sequence followed on from F. So

F August 1967 to July 1968
G August 1968 to July 1969
H August 1969 to July 1970
J August 1970 to July 1971
K August 1971 to July 1972
L August 1972 to July 1973
M August 1973 to July 1974
N August 1974 to July 1975

P August 1975 to July 1976
R August 1976 to July 1977
S August 1977 to July 1978
T August 1978 to July 1979
V August 1979 to July 1980
W August 1980 to July 1981
X August 1981 to July 1982
Y August 1982 to July 1983

MOT

The Ministry of Transport's Roadworthiness Test, or MOT as it is known, came into force on 12 September 1960. It was designed to take many of the pre-war cars, which were considered dangerous, off the road. The test was originally known as the 'Ten Year Test', because it only applied to cars over ten years' old. The result was the scrapping of thousands of vintage cars, that no doubt people would have loved to preserve today, as well as taking many solid cars from the early fifties off the roads, through minor faults. Many were often driven straight from the testing station to the breaker's yard.

The current requirement for cars older than three years to pass the MOT test came into force in 1967.