AEC Routemasters vie with other traffic at the junction of Lower Regent Street and Piccadilly Circus on 19th April 1975.
Routemasters turning from Haymarket into Pall Mall, April 1976
AEC Routemaster No. RM 1976 has just passed under the railway near Tulse Hill station on 16th March 1975.
Ice cream van in Alleyn Park, Sydenham Hill, 16th March 1975.
West End of London 1977
Temporarily renumbered as SRM5, Bulmers Cider sponsored AEC Routemaster No. RM1668 in Queen’s Silver Jubilee livery makes it’s way through Trafalgar Square on 6th June 1977.
Parliament Square, London, April 1976
Trafalgar Square, 1975
Routemasters in Park Lane with RM1240 nearest. 3rd April 1976.
The Archway Tavern, April 1976he Archway Tavern, April 1976
Edison Road, Crouch End, April 1976
Prince Consort Road, South Kensington, Nov. 1975
Colorful locals, Crouch End, April 1975
Whitehall and the Cenotaph, April 1975
Dulwich Common, London SE21, 16th March 1975
Thurlow Park Road and West Dulwich railway station, London SE21. 16th March 1975.
AEC Routemaster No. RM 401 waits at traffic lights in Norwood Road, West Norwood while working route 68 to Euston. 16th March 1975.
South Circular Road, March 1975 Thurlow Park Road, London SE21. 16th March 1975.
A tip o’ the hat to Lars Washburn for the link to these
What is the beautiful baby blue wagon in the Trafalgar square shot???
Ford Cortina mark III (1970-1975).
It’s a Ford Cortina mk3, in Pall Mall east leading to Trafalgar Sq.
It is a 1973-4 Ford Cortina Mk3 Estate. Probably 1.6 litre.
It’s an unusual colour for an estate.
What great photos! I am sending the link to friends who live in London.
So familiar, but was it really over 40 years ago? It’s even been a few years since I last saw a Bedford ice cream van in regular use. Routemasters have finally gone from LT service now. The last tourist route they were on (route 15) was suspended because of covid and now won’t be coming back. In the last shot the narrow light blue vehicle ahead of the Mk.1 Mini is one of the special disabled driver vehicles, another idea consigned, literally, to the scrapheap.
Still, here’s London as I don’t remember it in a phototaken by my Dad 20 years before these shots, around 1955. Trafalgar Square again with the earlier RT buses in the background.
London is such a beautiful city. It’s hard not to love a place and time where a huge advertisement for brake pads fits right in.
Interesting to see the Capri with full wheel covers. Here in the US the styled Rostyle wheels were standard. The wheel covers give the car a far less sporty image, which of course makes sense given its humble Cortina origins. I suppose it might even be a 1300.
I also noticed the Capris. I just bought myself a 1971 project car with the Rostyle wheels. Love these old european Fords.
First Capri I saw looked just like that one British immigrants brought it with them 1300cc engine and all, someone would have repowered it as a used car.
Beautiful pictures, not to go on a rant but looking at that three wheeled Reliant(?) makes me mildly irritated at ridiculous laws (tax laws in this case I believe) that force people to design crap like this. In this country recently Polaris has come out with the Slingshot a Morgan like three wheeled motorcycle that requires the riders to wear a helmet, can it not be classified by weight and not by the fact it has three wheels as to whether it is a motorcycle. I think adding a fourth wheel and requiring Helmet and a roll bar with a proper harness along with that wheel would bring back the return of the low cost roadster. Rant over, once again beautiful pictures thoroughly enjoyed them.
Same applies to the London “black cabs”, here surprising by their absence – the ideal taxi is a used car, therefore anything purpose-built is suboptimal by definition.
The Reliant benefited from the fact, for a time, you only needed a motorcycle license to drive one. There are actually two Robin’s in the series of photos, the other being in the “colorful” photo where half the women in the photo at first glance are all men…
If it had 4 wheels it would be classified as a car, helmets and a motorcycle endorsement would not be required. However it would now need to meet all the safety standards that cars do.
They weren’t exactly forced to design it. They essentially exploited a loophole by claiming that something which was a car, wasn’t.
Lower road tax wasn’t as big a factor as the fact people drove them on motorcycle licences. Later on, the selling points were MPG, resale value and customer loyalty.
Really, you should be annoyed at the gubmint for not closing the loophole and legislating them out of existence. I like them!
I know these streets well, and for those who don’t know London, they are mostly Sarf London which isn’t on the Tube map. Most depressing thing is a reminder that we once had a viable car industry 😟.
I had to look twice at the Haymarket pic. The lad on the bike could have been me!! It’s not – and my Mum’s DAF was orange not white…
In addition to “mind the gap”, here is another very important reminder before you cross the street.
I was getting ready to cross one street and fortunately my wife grabbed me before I become bus windshield splatter!
Half of the cars are over 10 years old, but they’re all clean and rustless.
London is WET. Maybe London rain is healing rain like Eugene rain?
I’m afraid I would have to disagree there. Very few of the cars shown would be 10 years old in 1975/76 (only two pictures are 1977). There are some*, but the majority are G, H, J, K, L and M reg. Even where the reg. can’t be read the majority are late’ 60s or early ’70s designs.
The early Mini in the last picture is old (and looks it) but even that can’t be even 15 years old in March 1975.
* e.g. the Wolseley 1500 in Dulwich, the 1964 Spitfire in Crouch End
In addition to “mind the gap”, an important reminder to visitors before crossing the street.
I noticed “mind that child!” on the back of the ice cream van – I rarely see “mind” used in that sense in the U.S, except occasionally in the phrase “mind the gap”.
Yep, that was my mantra the first few days in UK. Look right, look right, look right…
I’m not so irritated at UK law, Reliants, black cabs, and TVRs all came from the UK and their laws. Spending a month there I really felt they’d got a number of major things right that we in North America did not, like the National Trust.
I hope to go back to London someday!
I’ll take the Saab 96. I’ll take a pass on the Reliant Robin.
Nice pictures, thanx .
It’d be neat to have a local go take current pictures of the same locations…
-Nate
Did anyone notice the invalid carriage in front of the Mini?
These remind me of reruns of The Sweeney which was shot in and around London in 1974-77. The great thing is the realistic cross section of vehicles which you don’t see in modern period pieces where the cars more British and nicer than reality.
The Saab 96 is actually a 1967 Monte Carlo 850, very few made. The chrome framed rear side windows are openable and the twin chrome stripes low on the side of the car reveal it is a Monte Carlo. The abcense of a “V4” sign on the front fender also prove that the engine is a tuned 850 cc two stroke, 3 cylinder engine with 3 carburettors, producing 55hp DIN. The factory ralley cars had engines producing well over 80hp DIN.
I would very much like to have that car in my garage.
Takes me back to, well, the 1970s.
Lower Regent St – a Humber Hawk or Super Snipe just exiting, stage right, and a Capri with matt black bonnet. Can you be more 1975?
Haymarket/Pall Mall – the central bus is actually an RML, the long wheelbase longer Routemaster. Giveaway is the extra small window. And the Merc New Generation appears to be LHD, so likely a tourist.
Alleyn Park – ahead of the ice cream van on the far side of the road looks to be an Austiin 3 litre
Around the Daimler Fleetine DMS bus, a Marina, a Cortina and a Hillman Hunter, and an ADO16 Austin 1300 – Britain’s leading family cars of the past 10 years
Parliament Square – a Renault 8 entering stage left and the inevitable early Ford Transit
Park Lane – a Peugeot 504 and a Cortina mk3 GXL passing a Cortina mk2. Far left is a Ford Escort van
Archway Tavern – ahead of the Cortina, a Vauxhall Cresta PC. Rare now, rare then
Edison Road – a real mix, with 2 Renault 4s, 2 Beetles, a Fiat 125 (or is it a Polski Fiat?) and a Renault 8, frunk open. A Bedford CF van, Triumph 2000 mk1 and a Hillman Avenger, ahead of the Mini van
Prince Consort Street – parked up, between 2 Beetles, a very early, and new, Vauxhall Cavalier
Dulwich Common, near side, just ahead of the postbox, a Reliant Regal saloon. Regal in name only.
Norwood Road, right at the back a Hillman Super Minx estate and Minx series 5, possibly the oldest cars here
Thurlow Park Road – Datsun Cherry 100A, Bedford HA van and an Invacar
I think the oldest has got to be a toss-up between that early Mini and the Wolseley 1500. Both have pre prefix plates so could go back to 1959-63 and 1957-63 respectively, unless one of the Beetles is very early (so not the one with big rear lights or those orange ones).