Vauxhall Cresta PB.
Ian kindly dug out this old photo and emailed it over, of himself, the family pet "Scruff", and his dad's capacious mid-1960s Vauxhall Cresta PB, a plush motor-car of the era powered by a 3.3 litre engine and, in this instance, attached to a two-speed "Powerglide" automatic transmission. FGH 697C dates to mid-1965, the year that the PB would be phased out, to be replaced by the PC Cresta. This example was finished in a two-tone green paintjob - at the time of this shot, a wipe over with a damp sponge was required to really show off it's handsome appearance.
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Compared to the dumpy Austin A30 or A35 from the previous decade parked alongside the Vauxhall, the PB looks much more modern and illustrates how British car design was turning its back on the curvy designs of yesteryear, in preference to squarer, clean-cut lines. Arch rival Ford was also following this trend - witness the angular Mk2 Cortina estate visible across the road, outside Ford dealer Searle of Worthing Ltd. Interestingly, a BMC Mini van sits in a prominent position, on sale in front of the showroom. There's also an Austin Mini Mk1 saloon, with a 105E Anglia for company, across the road, but no other Vauxhalls that I can make out.
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"Searles Manor Garage" occupied the site from 1937 onwards. By the early 1980s it had become home to a VW-Audi dealership, however the site was cleared completely around this time, to make way for a Safeway supermarket car park. Another garage from the pre-war era gone forever.
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