ON August 27, in our holiday edition of pictures, we had a mystery soft-top car parked outside Smiths’ furniture shop somewhere in Darlington in January 1965.

Nearly everyone agree it was a Ford, and one of “the three graces” – either a Consul, a Zodiac or a Zephyr. But which one?

“It is, I think, a two door, convertible, Lowline Zephyr, dating from around 1959,” said Richard Stone.

David Robinson and Mark Cooper agreed, but John Waddleton and John Weighell thought it could be a Consul.

The Northern Echo:

IS THIS OUR CAR? A Ford Consul convertible

Barry Chapman in Norton said: “It is a Ford Consul 2, although depending on the year, it could be a Consul Lowline 375 or a Zephyr 4.

“In 1959, we went touring in France in a 1958 Lowline. Wine was 3s 6d – about 20p a bottle. Double rooms 10s, or 12/6 with a hand basin, and we were allowed to take £50 sterling each.”

There were lots of bonus points for all the correspondents who unanimously spotted that the wrapped-up motorcyclist behind the Ford was riding an NSU Quickly. We last had cause to mention these bikes in Memories 215, when we concluded the bikes were manufactured in Germany, in the town of Neckarsulm, by the Neckarsulm Strickmaschinen Union, a company which started life as a knitting machine – a strickmaschinen – manufacturing co-operative in the 1870s. It grew to become Audi, and the five interlocking rings on the Audi logo represent the company’s co-operative beginnings.

BUT where was our January 1965 picture of Smiths’ furniture shop taken? We said Bondgate, because that is what was written on the back of the photograph, but every one of our correspondents said Northgate.

They are, of course, right – the Kwikfit tyre garage is on the site today.

The Northern Echo:

But who were Smiths? They were established somewhere in the country in 1829 but only moved into Darlington in the early 1950s, in Northgate. In 1968, they were one of the first tenants of the Queen Street arcade – “Darlington’s newest shopping development where customers can wander and windowgaze happily without worrying about passing traffic”, said their advert announcing the move.

Their name survived until December 1975 when they were taken over by Kentons furniture stores.