I thought it might be appropriate to lighten the mood a bit and offer you a bit of Trivia to use round the Christmas table. Or let’s face it win a bet in a bar! The above shows you the two routes that can be taken to drive from New York to Boston in 16 minutes. This was in late evening so the roads were clear. Just for fun I took the end point besides Central Park, Boston, Lincolnshire in England.
The Boston you may have thought of was of course named after this English town. The opposite appears to be true of New York. Somebody on the local council was a bit ambitious in their choice of namesake.
New York is a hamlet in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, in the parish of Wildmore in the Lincolnshire Fens on the B1192 road near Coningsby, 11+1⁄2 miles north of Boston. At the 2001 Census, its population was less than 150
If appropriating the name “New York” is more hysterical than historical, you can drop off to see some real British social history on the way Boston. The Bubblecar Museum celebrates the micro-cars that were popular from the mid-1950s. There is a sort of progression in means of personal transport still seen in less developed parts of Africa and Asia today. From walking, a bicycle may be purchased as family wealth increases. This is replaced by a motorcycle when the family’s income allows the purchase and then on to a car (and personal jet /s).
In 1950s Britain (and much of Europe), economies were just starting to recover from the wartime. Wartime production had to be repurposed for peacetime output. One UK maker of aircraft parts took their skills molding Magnalium (a lightweight aluminum with 5% magnesium alloy) and produced a range of metal tableware including tea pot, milk jug, sugar bowl and hot water pot (often confused with and used as a coffee pot). Picquot Ware items are now collectables.
Up to the start of the 1950s car production was exported oriented and too expensive for the “man in the street.” In the towns and cities, public transport provided most needs. There were of course war surplus vehicles available (I well remember the petrol fumes in the back of my father’s jeep mixing with the appendicitis to make me even more nauseous as we went to hospital.) War surplus and then home production enabled the upwardly mobile to get motorcycles, some complete with sidecar to accommodate the family or their window cleaner’s ladders. WWII and compulsory National Service gave men training in operating and maintaining vehicles.
Gasoline, even after the end of rationing, was relatively expensive. All had to be imported and there were high taxes at the pump. Motorbikes were an economic alternative to cars. They also carried lower annual “road tax” discs and often insurance costs. In the UK there was another hurdle. A motorcycle licence [sic] would allow operating a two wheeled vehicle {doh!} and a three wheeled vehicle — remember the sidecar. To drive a car you had to take a further practical test.
Cars have a few distinct advantages in often wet and cold North and North West Europe — a roof, sides and heater. Three wheeled cars and vans, including high power 4 seat sports cars were known. Enter the micro-car. The cabins accommodated two people either one in front of the other as on a motorbike or side by side. One iconic model was the Messerschmitt KR200, or Kabinenroller (Cabin Scooter), This was another example of a wartime manufacturer adapting to peacetime production. The KR200 came out of an earlier project for a vehicle for the disabled but the wartime influence is obvious in its design. It does look awfully like they have take a two seat fighter, chopped off the wings and planted wheels in the remainder, taken off the front engine to provide legroom for the “pilot” and a tiny storage space. They put a motorcycle engine put in back to drive the single rear wheel. Heat from the engine kept the navigator in the back seat cozy in the Winter and windows in the “cockpit” cooling breezes in the Summer.
Production of three wheeled micro cars continued into the 1970 with another iconic vehicle, the wedge shaped orange two seat “Bond Bug” from Reliant. The idea got a sort of revival in 1985 when Sir Clive Sinclair unveiled his single seat C5 with bad mis-timing. A bit unfortunate for someone who pioneered sales of digital watches and calculators in the UK as well as his home computers. The C5 was a battery motor assisted pedal tricycle. Battery and (Hoover washing machine) motor tech at the time meant more pedal than assist. The low seat position meant that health benefits from the pedaling were offset by your head being level with vehicle exhausts. I gather he did sell a few to some Caribbean holiday resorts.
What ultimately caused the demise of Bubblecars were the Mini in the UK, the Fiat 500 in Italy, the Citroën 2CV in France (if you pronounce 2CV in French it is a homonym for “two horses”) and of course the VW Beetle from Germany. The original models were cheap and cheerful. The doors on the Mini were opened on the inside by a pull cord. The 2CV originally sported two canvass chairs a bit like deckchairs. The Fiat 500 was fast, nippy and driven by Italians. [I am partly of Italian descent but anyone who has visited Italy will know what I mean :-) ]
All those “peoples’ cars” could easily get from New York to Boston in under half an hour, the ones in Lincolnshire, England that is. So if you want to amuse friends or extract Benjamins, feed these into Google Maps journey planner.
Depart: New York, Lincoln LN4 4YE
Arrive: PE21 6PH, Thorold St, Boston