BOOMERANG B

Mick Tillott sold this early B in 1975 to make way for a new company Cortina. He knew even then that it was the wrong thing to have done and, years later, he was able to make up for it.

- Bernard Holloway

It’s many years since I have sat in a B and the restrictions of the Bermuda hardtop do not make life any easier. I pull on the door handle (no push-button or anti-burst locks here until April 1965), fold my body and squeeze through the aperture into the seat of Mick Tillott’s black, June-built, 1964 model; one of 26,542 made that year. For some reason I found this more difficult than the Morgan Plus 4 I recently drove; that had narrower doors and the hood was up, an awful admission, but my excuse was heavy rain and thunderstorms. Perhaps I have just got used to the extra inches afforded to me in my C GT?

After a few more attempts, honed by the need to stop for photographs, it becomes second nature and I take the time to look around the interior. The carpets and leather seats are replacements but the well-preserved dashboard and door cards combine to provide a period feel to this car. I realise that this aftermarket hardtop may not be to everyone’s taste but it makes the interior a very pleasant place to be. Compared to a Roadster with the hood up, the interior felt more spacious, brighter, with slightly more headroom and better all-round vision.

Unexpectedly, the slight tint of the panoramic Perspex roof panels deepens the colours of our surroundings when compared with looking through the clear windscreen. The downside, of course, is that, with windows up, it can get extremely hot. This early version, sold by Classic Motor Crafts Limited in the early 1960s for about £50, does not have the benefit of the rear ventilator fitted to the later versions. For longer trips, in the summer, Mick relegates it to the garage and relies on the soft top.