Where Were You In 1972?

19 July 2022

On Sunday 3rd July, the National Motor Museum marked its 50th birthday with a 1970s Classic Car Drive-in Day - Celebration of 50th anniversary of the National Motor Museum and unveiling of The Story of Motoring in 50 Objects. And so, to celebrate the event, we ask –

Where Were You In 1972?

  • New cars of the year – Alfa Romeo Alfetta, Audi 80, BMW 5-Series, Fiat X1/9, Fiat 126, Fiat 132, Ford Consul/Granada, Honda Civic, Lancia Beta, Jaguar XJ12/Daimler Double Six, Jensen-Healey, Mercedes-Benz W116, Peugeot 104, Renault 5 and Vauxhall FE Victor/Ventora.

Ventora

  • The latest television shows – Are You Being Served?, Emmerdale Farm, John Craven’s Newsround, Mastermind, Pebble Mill at One, Rainbow (with the original terrifying Bungle The Bear) and Record Breakers. The majority of Britons still had a licence for a black and white TV set at £7 per year - a colour licence cost £12.
  • In the Hit Parade – The first No.1 record of 1972 is I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony) by The New Seekers and the last is Long Haired Lover from Liverpool by Little Jimmy Osmond. No comment.
  • At the cinema, your choice of British films ranged from Bless This House and Carry On Matron to Dracula A.D. 1972 and Young Winston. If you were really desperate for entertainment there was also Mutiny on the Buses, the second spin-off picture from the LWT sitcom.
  • Prices – Petrol was 35p per gallon, a packet of twenty cigarettes was 26 ½p, and a 22-inch colour television set was £239. Milk was 5p per pint, a loaf of sliced white bread was 10 ½p and, a 16 oz tin of Ovaltine was 27 ½ p. Should you wish to be wildly extravagant at your local Fine Fare, Golden Wonder crisps were 3p while your local Co-Op would sell you two Rowntree’s’ Jellies for just 9 ½ p.
  • The average weekly wage for a man was £36.60 and for women, it was £20.50: The Sex Discrimination Act would not come into force until 1975.
  • Should you wish to invest in a new car, a Mini 850 was £663, a Ford Cortina 1600L 4-door was £1,038 and a Morris 2200 ‘Landcrab’ was £1,365.
  • Some motoring advertising slogans from 1972 – “The Wartburg Knight: It demonstrates the difference between ‘value for money’ and ‘cheap’”, “The Ford Granada – built to take on the best in Europe” and MG’s slightly unfortunate “Your Mother Wouldn’t It Like”.
  • Dining out. A Wimpy ‘Bender Egg Brunch’ (essentially sausages and fried eggs) was 36p, but the Kingsize burger was 31p and ‘Shanty’ (aka a large fish finger) was just 16 ½ p. All washed down with Lemon Fanta at 8p per glass and followed by a Brown Derby at 17p.
  • And some 1972 phrases that are no longer in use. “New Pence” – UK currency was decimalised in the previous year, “Smoking Areas” in cinemas, “Purchase Tax” – which would cease in 1973 with the advent of VAT, “Four-Star Petrol” – last on sale in 1999 and halfpenny, which ceased to be legal tender in 1984.
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