Harkness – MacGillivray Stories

The car race occurred when we were on holiday with Uncle Gavin and Auntie Violet. You can read more about who they are in our life here on this post: Family and Friends. We had been somewhere in the highlands and were driving back to Glasgow via Loch Lomond. The plan was that my father in his Wolseley 12, and my Uncle Gavin in his Austin 10 would race back to Glasgow taking the different routes around Loch Lomond.

There were two routes you could take, the ‘high road’ and the ‘low road’. By the time we reached the outskirts of Glasgow, we were on a three-lane highway. It was a pretty advanced and fast road for the mid-1950s, as motorways hadn’t yet been built.

Uncle Gavin vs. My Father Car Race

My father was driving the car ‘flat-out’ at 72 mph. We were fairly sure we would be the first ones to arrive at the house of my Grandmother Morag. She lived at 29 Scotia Street, together with her son Aleck and daughter Violet. So we all felt quite smug that victory was in the bag.

That was until a familiar Austin 10 came creeping past probably doing 73 mph with a smugly smiling uncle at the wheel! My young mind was unable to comprehend how this could happen. After all, the Austin was only a 10hp car and not very glamorous! However, it was a much lighter car than the bulky Wolseley. My uncle also owned a car garage in Glasgow so it put him in a better position to keep his automobiles at the top of their game.

When I was older, I couldn’t help but think that the route my Uncle took must have been longer than ours and he still beat us. Losing the race was somewhat humiliating considering that the Austin 10 had a smaller engine, but was probably slightly faster. 

The Magnificent Wolseley Lives On

There was also a similar instance that confused me about the ‘magnificence’ of the Wolseley 12; one afternoon, we were driving along a narrow and winding road in Scotland. I looked out through the small back window, and saw a Jaguar almost touching our bumper, with an unending zeal to overtake us. When we came to a straight stretch in the road, I waved the driver past through the back window. The car accelerated at great speed past us and soon disappeared over the horizon as if our car was standing still.

However, I strived to put this episode at the back of my mind, as if it hadn’t happened, and carried on thinking about the Wolseley 12 as a magnificent car. In retrospect, it wasn’t surprising the Jaguar could accelerate past us so quickly; its twin-overhead cam 160 BHP 3.4-litre engine was at least four times more powerful than the Wolseley’s. It is aslo not surprising, considering that the MK VII Jaguar had the same engine as the Jaguar XK120 that won the 1951 Le Mans race.

Remembering the Car Race

But my father’s mind was still stuck in the 1930s, when he was a young man. The MG sports cars had had many ‘race victories’ in the 1930s. Thus, in my father’s mind his Wolseley 12 had also won victories ‘by proxy’, as it had an MG engine. But technology waits for no man, things had moved on – and it was Jaguar that ruled the roost in the 1950s (and later).   

My brothers probably don’t remember this ‘event’, and many other things. I remember having a conversation with my Uncle Gavin some years ago (before 2010) about his cars, especially about the Packard Convertible he drove in the 1950s. Unfortunately, he seemed to have forgotten a great deal about all the cars and the events which had made a strong impression on me during my childhood.    

The fitting of the new tartan seat-covers for the car was a new experience in itself. The leather seats were exquisite and brought that luxury look; but when my mother purchased the woollen tartan green and blue seat covers for the Wolseley (or did she sew them?), it was almost as if we had bought a new ‘comfy’ saloon. I remember my parents made it look like it was a big deal. They were made of wool which came in handy as far as warmth was concerned.

You see, what most modern cars have as basic features were not even in use back then. For instance, cars in those days didn’t have heaters, at least not the 1949 Wolseley 12s. This is why it was such a big deal when my father finally installed a heater in the car.

Ye tek the high road and I’ll tek the low road – the ‘race’

You’ll take the high road and I’ll take the low road,
And I’ll be in Scotland afore you.
Where me and my true love will never meet again,
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.