OT Fuel Ration Books

I wuz there. I had a Humber Hawk, so I got the book appropriate for

I kept it for years but it's gone now.

mine was for 2201cc and over, or 20 HP and over

It has been suggested to me that the books (which have no date on them anywhere) may have been left over from the Suez crisis ?

So was I, and I don't remember receiving any

I was driving at that time, and all over the country. I half remember not bothering, or being too busy to collect them, and took the risk. As it happened, they were not needed, so my gamble paid off.

Nothing wrong with your memory!

I still have a lot of them. I took the form you were sent to a Post Office. They gave me the requisite Ration books - and the form back, so I took it to another Post Office - and another!

I was driving in 1973 and received a ration book (printed in 1956) in the post. They were sent out "in case of need" but were never actually used.

In reality, a lot of filling stations implemented their own rationing arrangement. I remember when forecourt shortages arose because queues of motorists were topping up with half a gallon to keep their tank full to the brim, the garages I used most often greeted each customer with "£10 worth, no more, no less" which kept the half a gallon customers away (an up to £20-a-gallon price was a real deterrent for small quantities) and left customers like me doing a long distance commute at the time and getting through at least £20 of petrol a week, able to get the amount of petrol I needed.

Which all adds some weight to my "left over from the Suez crisis" theory

That is true. And the rations for motorcycles were for 1950s models, and not very suitable for the 1970s ones. I don't remember the issues involved.

I'm sure everybody got them (assuming the administration went well). I certainly had some and no-one asked me whether I needed a car to get to work.

Mine hung around for years. But I don't think they survived the move from my mother's house to my own first property purchase.

It was early 1974, I think.

No, there weren't.

Agreed.