The Latest Machray Car's a Somerset!
The Case of the Naughty Wife is the second case for Ned's Austin Somerset. He had already driven it in The Clue of the Curate's Cushion. (In earlier books, he owned a later edition of the A40) In the latest book, his fondness for the car is clear: "Waking my old Austin Somerset so long before dawn seemed as foolish as jumping over fences on a horse with indigestion. I opened the garage doors, patted the rounded shape of her boot, then stood around with my hands in my pockets so that she could get used to the idea. The handbrake was already off and she always slept in neutral so just a gentle push was enough to roll her out to the driveway. The exhaust was so perforated that starting her in the garage would have been cruel to the mice. Besides, she could overheat so easily that I didn’t like to run her standing still for more than half a minute."
In The Clue of The Curate’s Cushion Ned Machray took to an Austin Somerset for the first time. “because it had a steering column gear change and a small back window that made it difficult for “because it had a steering column gear change and a small back window that made it difficult for people to look in .....”.
Back in the 1960’s, a secondhand Somerset was my first car. I experienced all the troubles that Ned has to put up with.
“...... underneath started to vibrate but I knew I could solve that by pulling on the steering wheel and leaning towards the windscreen” ... to say nothing of the unintentionally multi-directional wing mirrors and the heater that switched on and off when it wanted to. But I had great fun. I fitted it out with red crushed velvet, heavy metal chains and black leather. I thought it was a right royal passion wagon.
Prior to the publication of the latest mystery, a regular Timberdick reader gave me a Dinky Toy Somerset to sit on my bookcase with the author’s copies of the books. Another customer has identified the model as the one produced from 1954 to 1960. (There’s more about it on the blog.)
Click on the image for more about the latest Timberdick book My Somerset heads for the coast. Just like the old days. I had the same girlfriend throughout the eighteen months that the Somerset was on the road, so it’s difficult to separate my memories of the car from my memories of the girl What happened? Too many things went wrong at the same time and I couldn’t afford to run her. (I am talking about the car.)
For more about the Austin Somerset, why not visit the owners’ club website.
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