Family Cars 1946 - 1959

Daimler 15 Mulliner Coupe circa 1935 (based on a standard Light 15 chassis) at The New House, Frenchay, Bristol about 1954 with Axel. The Daimler photos are dated before and after the Talbot. I vaguely remember that a car was borrowed but the back of one Talbot photo says "THBB's car exchanged for a Daimler".
A Daimler Coupe is listed last and undated on a 1931 insurance document covering nine cars over several years in granny Burrough's name and was still owned in about 1954. It seems that granny probably owned it first, Dad borrowed the Daimler in August 1946, had his own Talbot 2-seater in September 1946, then swapped it for the 4-seater Daimler after my brother was born and granny took the Talbot. When Dad bought the Bentley the Daimler may have been returned to granny Burrough as it is shown outside the New House in about 1954.
I can't visualise the Daimler but I do remember the sound of the fluid flywheel.
I remember getting into the dickie seat of the Talbot to go to my Kindergarten school at Winterbourne but I was only three and a half in September 1946 when one Talbot photo above was taken. The family about 1950 page shows more photos of the Daimler and Talbot including a photo of me and my brother in the dickie seat in about 1950.
I remember we fetched a stone garden trough from a cottage just to the east of the road north of Whiteshill Common which was placed in the footwell. When we started going down Whiteshill towards Hambrook Dad said he couldn't reach the brake. I remember him driving very slowly down the steep hill, probably using a low gear and the handbrake. This wouldn't have happened if the car was the Bentley as the trough would have gone in the back. I was sitting in the back, not in a dickie seat, so it must have been the Daimler (which has a flat floor, see Car and Classic).

1934 Bentley in about 1950
It had a small lever between the front seats that opened the exhaust pipe so that the silencer was bypassed and you could hear the roar of the engine. I often asked Dad to use it, but he didn't usually oblige unfortunately. I don't know why the car had that device. For holidays abroad Dad had painted the headlamp bulbs yellow. When travelling in France it obviously didn't have much effect as the French drivers flashed us as yellow bulbs were a requirement there. In Versailles the car bumped a boot scraper outside the hotel which pushed the front bumper against a tyre. We went to a bus garage where a man built like an ape tried to wrench it clear and failed. Eventually the bumper was hitched to something strong and the car was reversed which broke the bumper support, so it was removed for the rest of the holiday.

Bristol 401 or 403 in 1959 at Haneberg, Sweden with Helen, John and Axel
On the last leg home after one holiday a bottle of wine broke and soaked into the carpet. The car smelt of stale wine for evermore.