''The Home-Made Car'' (1963) is a short, silent film directed by James Hill about a young man who rebuilds a vintage car and finds love. The film was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

(Short Subjects, Live Action Subjects), and won a

Silver Bear The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fes ...

(Short Film) at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

Plot

A young man sets to work restoring a vintage car at the home of his aunt. The little girl who lives next door is intent on sabotaging his project at any cost, but when he wins her over with a smile, she ends up helping him to build it. He completes the project and wins the hand of the girl’s older sister, who has been dating a mannerless local who tears around in a sports car.

Locations

The film was shot largely in and around Farnborough, Hampshire, and

Cove, Hampshire Cove is an ancient village turned suburb, forming the western part of Farnborough in the county of Hampshire in the south-east of England. The appropriate ward is called Cove and Southwood. It is located south west of London. Cove is adjacent to ...

. The car was rebuilt at Blackwell Cottage, Cambridge Road West, Farnborough. The house remains, although the garage has been replaced by a detached house, now number 26. The house where the little girl lived, next door, is also still there. As well as Farnborough, parts of the filming took place at the petrol station in

Bucks Horn Oak Bucks Horn Oak is a small village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England and is the main community within Alice Holt Forest. A small eastern part consists of buildings facing its main road and of the main management and tourist sit ...

, Hampshire and Seale, Surrey.

Cult success

The film became a cult success when regularly broadcast as a trade test colour transmission on the run up to the start of BBC2 colour transmissions. Originally screened from September 1968 until August 1973, it was one of a series of short films broadcast to help television engineers set up new colour television sets. Other popular offerings were ''The North Sea Quest'', ''Overhaul'', ''Crown of Glass'', ''Roads to Roam'', ''The Small Propeller'', ''The Cattle Carters'', ''Prospect for Plastics'', ''A Journey into the Weald of Kent'', ''

Giuseppina ''Giuseppina'' is a 1960 short British documentary film produced by James Hill, which was filmed in 1959, in Mandriole, Emilia-Romagna, near Ravenna in the north east of Italy. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject). Pro ...

'' and ''

Evoluon The Evoluon was built in 1966 as a science museum by the electronics and electrical company Philips. It quickly became a landmark in Eindhoven, where Philips was headquartered at the time. The museum closed in 1989 and the building reopened as a ...

''. The Home Made Car has been made available by the

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

as an extra on either DVD or Blu-ray discs along with two more short films from the sixties also directed by James Hill called Giuseppina and Skyhook and included with the main movie called 'Lunch Hour'.

The car

The owner of the Bullnose Morris in the film, Eric Longworth, kept the car until his death in 2011. The car is now owned by Stuart Cooke of Darwen Lancashire. When the film was shot, the car had already been fully restored, so the chassis of another car which Eric was restoring at the time, a rare 1916 Perry, was used to replicate the Morris during restoration. The featured sports car, registration VWK 929, is a white late '50s

Austin-Healey 100-6 The Austin-Healey 100-6 is a two-seat roadster that was announced in late September 1956 and produced from 1956 until 1959. A replacement for the Austin-Healey 100, it was followed by the Austin-Healey 3000; together, the three models have beco ...

with red interior.

BP production

Production of the film was sponsored by the British Petroleum company (BP), and the Bucks Horn Oak scenes were based at a petrol filling station. BP continues to distribute the film."BP Video Library"
webpage retrieved 2008-06-18.

Music

The music was by

Ron Grainer Ronald Erle Grainer (11 August 1922 – 21 February 1981) was an Australian composer who worked for most of his professional career in the United Kingdom. He is mostly remembered for his television and film score music, especially the theme mus ...

and it includes a pastiche of the theme from ''

Steptoe and Son ''Steptoe and Son'' is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about a father-and-son rag-and-bone business in 26a Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC in black and w ...

'' when an old

rag and bone man A rag-and-bone man or ragpicker (UK English) or ragman, old-clothesman, junkman, or junk dealer (US English), also called a bone-grubber, bone-picker, chiffonnier, rag-gatherer, bag board, or totter, collects unwanted household items and sells t ...

tries to steal the front wings and radiator shell from the still incomplete car.

Cast

* Ronald Chudley (b. 1937) - Young man * Sandra Leo (b. 1955) - Little girl * Frank Sieman (1908 - 1992) - Garage owner *

Caroline Mortimer Caroline Mortimer (born Caroline Dimont; 12 March 1942 – 20 September 2020) was a British actress. Caroline Mortimer was the daughter of the novelist Penelope Mortimer from her first marriage to the journalist Charles Dimont and the step-daught ...

(1942 - 2020) stepdaughter of Sir John Mortimer) - Young woman * Anthony James (1942 - 2020) Sports car driver * Alice Bowes (1889 - 1969) - Auntie

References

External links

* * Watc
''The Home Made Car''
at BP Video Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Home Made Car British independent films British short films Films set in Hampshire 1963 films Films about automobiles Films directed by James Hill (British director) Conservation and restoration of vehicles Films scored by Ron Grainer 1960s British films