Need a Great Yarmouth taxi? It’ll probably be Swedish
Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, August 1978
Welcome to Great Yarmouth, where the Volvo taxi is king. On this sunny summer’s day in Norfolk’s premier holiday resort – devotees of Hunstanton and Cromer will argue that point – those arriving at the town’s railway station have a choice of Scandanavian cabs. On the left is XAH 582H, a mid-grey 1969 144 with a snoozing driver. Its companion is TEB 777K, registered in January 1972. Note the different 140 grilles; it was in 1970 that Volvo introduced its family diagonally barred grille.
As a contrast to the big Swedes are three more diminutive Brits.
LRT 945P is a 1975 Reliant Kitten, which survived through to 1994. Alongside is NPW 460P; while it may look like a standard Mini from the rear, the DVLA records it as a 1098cc, which means it’s a Clubman. Registered in April 1976, it also made it through to 1994.
Sprite survivor
Next is KWD 518E, a 1967 Austin-Healey Sprite MkIV fitted with a hard-top despite it being summer. The great news is that it’s apparently still around, albeit on SORN and now painted blue. The same can’t be said of its near neighbour, YRT 143S.
This bright and shiny 988cc Datsun Cherry 100A F-11 was only a few months old here, having been registered in June 1978. But by December 1992, its tax had lapsed.
While we can’t read the beige Hillman Imp’s numberplate, the grey primer around its wheelarch suggests it probably wasn’t much longer for this world.
Finally, demonstrating Ford’s take on beige is a MkIV Cortina (in Tuscan Beige). Its lack of any side adornment and the basic wheeltrims suggest a lowly L-spec model.
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN
There was bad news for Great Yarmouth’s Norfo
