Somewhere in Essex or Hertfordshire, someone owns a new car – because of a big heart and a good sense of judgment.

He, or she, is the winner in the car competition recently organised by the Society for the Aid of Thalidomide Children. Entrants in the competition had to estimate how far a new Consul Cortina Estate car would travel on exactly one gallon of petrol.

At 6am on Thursday April 2, the Cortina was driven by Mr Peter Arundell, the well-known racing driver, from the boundary of Chelmsford westwards on the A414 for a total distance of 43 miles 65 yards two feet seven inches.

The Society for the Aid of Thalidomide Children have not yet checked the entries, but anyone with a legitimate claim to a prize, is invited to send in a written claim.

Other prizes include a weekend for two in Majorca, a stereophonic radiogram and a cine outfit.

[From the Watford Observer of April 10, 1964]