WE probably did a disservice to Spennymoor Probus club last week when we accused them of identifying the mayor of Darlington’s first known car as a Daimler Pullman. Confused by cars, we probably forgot what they had told us, and we were, of course, inundated by people correcting our error.

Mike Crawley wrote: “The exact model is a Humber Pullman limousine, which was based on the Humber Super Snipe body and was in production from 1950 to 1956.”

It had, he says, a 4,139cc engine, and could seat eight people, although the mayor in the back was separated from his chauffeur by a glass screen.

“The front was upholstered in leather and the rear, which featured reading lights and cigar lighters, in West of England cloth,” he says. “Price in 1951 was £1,395 plus £388 purchase tax: total £1,783. Radio and air con were extras.”

John Biggs of High Etherley added that the limo was 17.5ft long – certainly a vehicle fit for a mayor.

Amazingly, Ivor Errington actually worked on the very vehicle in our picture.

“I left school at 15 in 1959 and worked at Minories in Chesnut Street, where Sherwoods is now,” he said. “The council used to bring it in for repairs. In those days, cars weren’t treated for rust, so they used to rot like anything.”

Lots of people had their own memories of similar Pullmans (should that be Pullmen?). Clive Sledger said: “A friend of mine had one in the late 1950s and I remember him running it on Calor gas from a cylinder in the back seat. It did about 8mpg – but you could still pack a few people in!”

Alan Barrass said: “My uncle drove one, and I spent many an hour being driven around in it on my summer holidays in Cullercoats.”

Howard Wilson was a passenger in a Humber Pullman in a mid 1960s Demolition Derby held at Aycliffe Stock Car Stadium.

He said: “Aubrey Blackett, who specialised in repairing automatic gearboxes from his workshop in Coniscliffe Road, Darlington, regularly took me there on Sunday afternoons.

“His reputation and expertise in his field spread far and wide and I remember him working with the skill and precision of a surgeon, which was all the more remarkable because the garage was incredibly basic – it had an earthen floor, was cold and draughty, and its corrugated tin sheet skin was hardly watertight.”

Peter Campbell leaves us with another question: “I started work in 1954 at Crowborough Engineering Works on the Aycliffe Industrial Estate where the company secretary, Fred Butel, drove a Humber Super Snipe. I understood that Crowborough Engineering came from Crowborough in Sussex – does anyone know if this is right?

IT is impossible to name everybody who has contributed to our stories today, but thanks go them all, including Don Taylor, John Weighell, Mark Cooper, Alan Hill, Bryan Folkes, Alan Hardwick, John Hunter, Derek Lavery and J Todd of Masham.

Plus a special mention for the hard work of Phil Hunt in Barningham. He had a go at identifying all the cars parked in last week’s 1968 picture of Redcar seafront.

“What struck me was that none seemed to be more than about ten years old, which was quite something in 1968 – no old bangers,” he said.

If you wish to see if he got them right, go to the Memories section of the Echo’s website – northernecho.co.uk/history – where we’ve posted Phil’s list.

KEN THURLBECK, a former policeman from Stockton, has kindly sent in this photo which shows Durham Chief Constable Alec Muir inspecting his force’s fleet of Humbers at Aycliffe in about 1950.

Ken says: “A small number of Humber Pullmans and Imperials, which were Pullmans without the central glass partition, were used as staff cars by Durham Constabulary, although they were outnumbered by other Rootes Group models such Humber Snipes and Humber Hawks, which were used by traffic patrol officers.

“I had considerable experience driving the latter but drove the Pullman on one occasion only. A huge car with a very uncomfortable bench seat in front and lack of power steering, I found it quite difficult to drive.”