Different times, different tastes - the 15,000-pound jam car
03/10/2011
In 1971(AR 44/1971), Automobil-Revue described a one-off English car:
" Alan Whitehead, the lead drummer of theMarmalade Pop Group, paid15,000 pounds sterling, or around 150,000 Swiss francs, for his one-off car, which was built according to his personal ambitions.
It was built by Sidney Carlton, a photojournalist and automobile designer. The "space-age style" vehicle was christened "Quest", which means search or investigation. Fans of the pop group also respectfully call it the "15,000-pound jam car".
It is powered by a Ford V6 engine. The body is made of reinforced fiberglass; the doors open upwards in the manner of gullwing doors. They give access to an almost four-seater interior with reclining seats. The instruments have a battery-independent permanent illumination system in which a green light is generated by tritium gas charged by an electron beam. This is said to have a "lifespan" of 18 years. The futuristic aspect of the interior is further enhanced by various other gimmicks. These include a whole gallery of switches, some of which are housed in an overhead console. The equipment also includes a Sony radio/stereo tape/television system."
It's not just the conversion ratio of pounds to Swiss francs (1:10!) that reminds us that 40 years have passed since then; the clothes and design ideas also clearly come from a different era. An interesting question would be whether the car has survived and whether anyone has changed the tritium gas for the instrument lighting after 18 years.
