My father bought a Chevrolet car in the early spring of 1924 from Fairburn Brothers who had a small garage in Union Place. It was
a four cylinder with exposed valve rockets and quarter elliptic springs all round with no shock absorbers. Runs in the car were limited
as my father had no driving experience despite having had lorries for five years and I was not of age, so Fred Fairburn acted as driver.
When I became sixteen on 4th
July of that year, Fred Fairburn gave me a short driving lesson as far a Moygashel and back, and I was then considered suitable for
taking the car to anywhere on earth. The next Sunday I drove the whole family to Broughshane, a round trip of 100 miles. The first
Chevrolet had a bad piston slap in one cylinder and was replaced by another after about a year, the new one having two rocker covers
and semi-elliptic springs but still minus shock absorbers.
In 1930 that car was replaced by a more comfortable Armstrong Siddeley. A Triumph Gloria followed in 1934.