MG TF

The pre-war TC was developed after the war into the TD, and then in the fifties into the TF.

One of the Oxbridge Rejects, has: a flashy old sports car in which he roared around town, farting like an old horse – the car, that is, not him. Colin, the owner, calls it the old lady and she is very much one of the characters in the book.

She is – as Pete the petrolhead easily identifies –an MG TF.

Colin loves driving her: He was through the village too fast to read the signs. The old lady was loving it, roaring gleefully at every touch of the accelerator, swinging round corners like a dancer only just in control of her legs. It was quite dark now and the swoop of the headlights added to the sense of being in a bubble of excitement, like a fairground ride.

But these were the days before MOT tests and old cars were often barely roadworthy. Hugh, who borrows the old lady, describes her scathingly: the brakes squelch like mud, the clutch pedal flaps like a mongrel’s tail and the gear stick nearly came off in my hand. Even Colin himself acknowledges that the violent shudders that accompanied her starting-up and switching-off performances must be putting considerable strain upon the rusty bodywork.

These were also the days before the clamp-down on drink-driving and Colin thinks nothing of stopping for a few beers whilst far from home with the old lady.

It is a lethal combination: an inexperienced, intoxicated driver and a fast car in poor condition. When they hit a sudden, sharp Z-bend, the disastrous result is the pivotal event of the plot.