Witness History: Britain’s Little Blue Disability Car World Service
My father’s brother, Joe, had what was known back in the 1960s and 1970s as “an invalid car”.
It was a little turquoise blue, three wheeler.
Joe was insistent that although it had just one seat, he could fit a passenger on the floor where the wheelchair went.
My father rolled his eyes and refused to get in. He had six children depending on him.
This episode from Witness History summoned memories of Joe whizzing along at a top speed of 45 mph.
Britain’s little blue disability car is an episode in a series from the World Service about milestones in the history of disabled people.
You’ll hear a plummy BBC voice dating from 1948 announcing “good news for the disabled … 2,000 luxury invalid carriages”. Yes, indeed.
“Something to make the way easier on the hard road of disablement,” said the presenter.
It was a wobbly contraption because of the three wheels - think body of a car built on a motorbike.
Colin Powell was delighted when he got one at 16 years old. As a wheelchair user, it spelled independence.
His driving test followed a single 20-minute lesson. Colin took the test with the examiner looking on from the pavement.
He had to drive about and perform an emergency stop when the examiner raised his clipboard.
Imagine his horror when he turned a corner to spot the examiner lying flat out on the road in front of him.
He had stepped out to stop Colin, only it wasn’t Colin but someone else in one of the thousands of blue cars. So he got knocked down.
Still, the cars were light and the examiner was able to get up, dust himself down and carry on.
As the years went on, Colin confessed that he wasn’t averse to sneaking a young lady on to the space on the floor. A chick magnet?
This was a fond look back at the old three wheelers that offered people an imperfect wobbly taste of freedom.
