The Home-Made Car

Fresh from winning an Academy Award for his short film 'Giuseppina' - which detailed the comings and goings around an Italian petrol station - James Hill came closer to home to Weybridge in the Home Counties to deliver this little bon-bon depicting the activities of a young lad labouring away in his garage like any self-respecting English eccentric on a vintage car.

Fondly remembered as a trade test colour film used to fill gaps in the schedules during the early days of colour television, the noisy little sports car driven by our hero's flashy adversary today looks as much a period piece as the home-made car of the title.

Finally I thought this crap would never end it is really a bad movie I mean it's not interesting at all nobody talks in it it's not interesting music maybe it's on but this is not the party we are in Corona times which is very miserable and so on so we are not looking for something which is front and this is the reality about life we don't want any misery in your life know we don't and because of this movie is so incredibly bad that it's too long too bad and I like that you know and because of this you should not go see this movie that's on eBay I don't know if Mama was sleeping about to be quiet I wasn't shouting honey but I was trying to make the recording contact record me well for the machine to notice what I was saying UC.

Saw this film years ago when first aired as a BBC2 trade test transmission. Managed to obtain copy of film 35 years later and was still as good,funny and British as I had remembered it all those years before. A credit to the British Film Makers. Greatly enjoyed.Tells story of man rebuilding car obtained from scrapyard. Lovingly restoring the car to its former glory. Much to the delight of all who are involved.Charming little girl helps in the rebuild ( What ever happened to her no names in credits )After Lots of laughs and even tender moments the car is complete. The man then then wins the attentions of the girl next door with good old fashioned manners. A brill film, with a happy ending. They don't make them like that anymore, more is the pity.

My father-in-law owned - and still owns - the Morris Oxford car featured in this film. The chassis of another car he was restoring at the time - a 1916 Perry - was used in place of the Morris chassis, as he wasn't prepared to dismantle the car for the purposes of the film! He has a 16mm print of the film and also VHS tapes which were supplied by BP. For the preview of the film at Shell-Mex House in the Strand, the car was taken to London and displayed in the building. He is amazed at the number of people who are still interested in this film, its actors and locations, and is in touch with some of them. The car is kept in running order though not currently on the road.

And I thought I was the only person in Britain who remembered this quirky little film, I wrote to BP and they still supply copies of their films at cost on request so I have now got my own copy I never tire of naming all the cars you see in the backgrounds of the shots, I had spotted that the chassis on the handcart wasn't a Bullnose Morris but I had guessed at a Ford of some type because of the spring perches, guess I,m just an anorak when it comes to cars of my youth, I think there was another short film called Boolong and Boater or something like that featuring two fishermen in an outboard powered dugout canoe. Plus the scrapyard scenes are exactly as I remember scrapyard where like even down to the pouring rain.