IN Memories 65 we were "driven to distraction" by a mysterious vehicle with a "rounded back" that was parked beside the River Tees in Neasham one summers day in 1962.

The reader rapid response unit swung swiftly into action thank-you to every one of the scores of people who rang or emailed.

But the rapid reader responses did not produce a unified outcome.

For every three responses that came in saying it was a Standard Vanguard, there was one who said it was a Jowett Javelin.

And practically everyone is convinced they are right.

The Vanguard was the clear favourite. It was first built in 1947 in Coventry by the Standard Motor Company, and it took its name from HMS Vanguard - the biggest, fastest and last of the Royal Navy dreadnought battleships which was launched in 1944.

Heather Munsey of Witton Gilbert called hers "the whale", whereas Maurice Henry of Darlington called his "the pregnant elephant".

The key design feature of the phase one Vanguard was the American-inspired sloping "beetleback" which can be seen in the Neasham picture.

Thomas Spresser of Coxnoe learned to drive in a Vanguard. "The rounded back was also known, I think, as a "fast back"," he says.

In 1949, a Vanguard cost 671 and had a top speed of 78.7mph.

"The old whale was a very good family tourer, much better than your average doodle-around-the-parish car," says Heather. "We called it a whale because it was quite roomy, you could accommodate six people as it had a front beach seat and column gear change. We travelled throughout Scotland and down to southern England in it, but it wasnt a car that would take corners provocatively, and its gear change was a little bit clunky."

Heather knows what she is talking about. Shes been a self-confessed "petrolhead" since she was four when she got a little uppity at her grandfathers funeral. "One of the cortege drivers relieved my mother of me and showed me his car. I later told my father that I had been riding in the best car in the world, a Rolls Royce, and from that day I wanted one.

"Thinking back now, it must have been a Phantom 3, and Im lucky enough to be able to say that I had two of them for nearly 40 years,."

Back to the Vanguard, its distinctive beetleback was replaced by a more conventional boot when the phase two design was introduced in March 1953.

One of Echo Memories resident motor experts, John Biggs of Bishop Auckland, says: "The one in the picture is the later version of the phase one, built about 1951-52 it is the later version because it has got a larger rear window than the first versions.

"The remarkable thing about the Vanguard was that its four cylinder two-litre engine was also in the Triumph Renown, the Triumph 2000 Roadster, which was the car driven by Bergerac, and in the Ferguson tractor."

Ralph Davison of Darlington recognised the Vanguard as he worked on it as a mechanic at Woodlands Road Garage in the 1950s, and Peter Simpson of Hurworth Place said: "I owned one in 1959, but they were very heavy on fuel and being a young lad at the time I swapped it for a Morris Minor which was more affordable."

Len Campbell of Woodham, Newton Aycliffe said: "I remember one of my teachers from Gladstone Street School telling us how he raced his Vanguard against the trains that ran from Middlesbrough to Darlington along the track beside Teesside Airport that would have been in 1957-8."

Mike Crawley emailed to say: "The Vanguard was hailed as the first really new post war British car. It was produced as a four-door saloon or estate, and as a delivery van and pick up. The list price in 1950 was 515, plus 143 16s 10d purchase tax.

John Lambard said: "The first Vanguard to appear in Bishop Auckland was owned by Dr Wardle. It was a beige colour and certainly cut a dash! How "sad" can I be to remember that!

"Other firsts that I remember were Billy Gill, of the furniture store, who had the first Jaguar 2.4 Mark 1 in the town and, best of all, Ronnie Roddam, the solicitor, who had the first Jaguar XK 120 in white in 1948.That was a sensation!"

As Heather Munsey showed, this car-spotting isnt an exclusively male preserve. Sheila Robson of Newton Aycliffe knew two Vanguards, both maroony in colour.

"When I worked on a farm in Allendale in Northumberland, they bought one brand new but the wife wouldnt drive it because she thought it was too big for her and she was frightened by how fast it would go.

"In the late 1950s, my husband and I bought one secondhand. It was loaded right to the top when we drove it back from London it was a lovely car. "

Derek Jago of Bishop Auckland said: "It was a very heavily built vehicle, like a tank, almost made of girders."

Bob Hopkins of Crook: "It was a three-speed column change with an umbrella handbrake on the right hand side and guards on the rear wheels. I bought my 1952 Vanguard, registration BGR 928, from Clarendon Motors, Bishop Auckland for 250 in 1957 and exchanged it a couple of years later for a motorcycle."

Among others in the Vanguard vanguard are Phil McManus of Sunderland, John Hunter of Crossgate Moor, George Hope, Bryan Folkes, Bob Forster, Brian Miller of Wheatley Hill, Jim Milburn of Sherburn, Walter Harrison of Mickleton, John Sharp of Middlesbrough, Dave Bown of Darlington, Harry Glenny at Bishop Auckland, Brian Derbyshire of Spennymoor and Peter Wheatley of York.

But not all agreed. John Weighell, the chairman of Neasham parish council, says: "It is a Jowett Javelin, as it is too bulbous for a Standard Vanguard."

And plenty agreed with him, among them Graham Turner of Middleton-in-Teesdale, Gordon Clethero of Shildon, Frank Cowans of Willington, Eric Elgie of Darlington, Paul Dobson. W Bohannon of Durham, and John Patterson of Bowburn.

The Javelin was made in Idle, near Bradford, from 1947 to 1953, and had a similar American-inspired beetleback. Many callers thought it an inferior car to the Vanguard, but in 1953, it cost 1,207 and had a top speed of 82.4mph. One caller said it was one of the first cars to top 100mph.

Peter Daniels of Bishop Auckland said: "It was very advanced for its time with independent suspension."

And Gordon Dolby of Darlington said: "The Jowett Javelin was a car so far ahead of its time it faded away."

There were two votes for a Saab and one for a Volvo PV444, and if anyone wants to keep it going, try and work out what the two-tone car in the centre of the picture is. Answer in Wednesdays paper.

Thanks to everyone who contributed, and apologies to those whose names have been missed out.