Britain's best-selling car today is the Ford Focus, but when the Queen took the throne in 1952 it was that vicar's favourite, the Morris Minor. Britain has changed considerably since 1952 - besides the eruption of rock 'n' roll, the Swinging Sixties, the Eighties boom years and Millennium madness, the country's industries, working culture and lifestyle expectations have changed almost beyond recognition. In '52, very few households had a television, only the very wealthy went abroad for holidays, a job or profession was "for life" and owning a car was still largely a privilege for the upper- and growing middle-classes. And when people did buy cars, most bought British.
But for years after the end of the war, it was very hard to buy any kind of new car at all, because the government wanted the industry to 'export or die', in a bid to rescue the ravaged economy. The car makers started where they had left off in 1939 by producing pre-war models, and if some enjoyed significant changes, many went back into production almost unchanged. It would be years before anything truly new turned up, but buyers were grateful even for pre-war designs, such was the difficulty of getting any new car. But car ownership gradually became more accessible, mass-production techniques improved and the eventual end of petrol rationing encouraged people out of the train, and into the car. Back then, imports were rare - you might see the odd Citroen and Renault, an Alfa or a Lancia and even the occasional American car, but mostly it was British makes, most of which are now defunct. Buyers in 1952 might be surprised to hear that Jowett, Wolseley, Riley, Humber, Singer and Sunbeam have disappeared, but they'd be shocked to the core to learn that Austin, Morris, Triumph and Hillman, makes which accounted for well over half the market, had gone too. But the news isn't all bad. Though Britain owns far less of its motor industry, we produce vastly more cars - in 1952, our factories produced 448,000 cars, but in 2001, 1,492,000. So, take a misty-eyed look back at some of the car's our grandparents drove back in 1952...
