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This Rover P5B t shirt celebrates the story of this iconic classic car which was introduced as the Rover P5 saloon in September 1958 and was Rover's first foray into unitary bodywork construction. A significantly more modern design styled by David Bache, it featured a traditional wood and leather interior. It was dignified and well appointed but was hardly sporting with around 115bhp from a 3 litre version of Rover's inlet over exhaust straight six engine at introduction. A coupé version was introduced with the Mark II in 1962, still retaining 4 doors but with a lower, more rakish roofline, but the big news came in 1967 with the introduction of the P5B featuring the now famous 3,528cc all aluminium Rover V8 developed from a Buick engine. This gave the P5 a much needed power boost, giving the car excellent performance for its time. The P5b or 3.5 Litre became a much-loved mode of transport for government ministers and was a familiar sight carrying Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, James Callaghan and Margaret Thatcher to and from 10 Downing Street well into the early 80s, some ten years after it was discontinued in 1973. In recent years, the Rover P5B has become a much loved classic car, epitomising all of the best aspects of the British car industry. The car featured on this t-shirt is from a hand-drawn ink illustration, transferred onto my computer and digitised. It is a three colour print, with highlights on the bodywork represented by a white tint which allows the colour of the shirt to show through, making the colour of the car's bodywork. You can read more about the Rover P5's history at the excellent aronline website. You may also be interested in our Best of British Rover P5B T Shirt. -
Ta-ra a Bit!
We're celebrating our proud heritage with these t-shirts featuring familiar phrases from the Black Country and the second city. In fact these t-shirts truly are brummie through and through; they are designed and printed here and all utilise the Baskerville typeface that was created in Birmingham back in the 1750s by John Baskerville (1706-1775). The shirts feature a retro distressed look on the design and the Iconic Ironic logo on the left sleeve. Let everyone know that you're proud of your West Midlands roots with these stylish t shirts available in 6 different colours. After years of being mocked, the time has come to celebrate our unique accent and dialect! -
Taito changed its name from Taito Trading Company to Taito Corporation in August 1972 and introduced its first video arcade game in 1973. It established its American subsidiary in 1973 in downtown Chicago, Taito America. In 1978 Toshihiro Nishikado, a designer at Taito, created Space Invaders which became the company's most popular title and one of the most memorable games in arcade history, responsible for beginning the golden age of arcade video games.[8][9] The t-shirt features a distressed style logo for that retro look and is available in a number of colours.
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Total Control Racing (TCR) was a toy brand from Ideal which appeared in the late 1970s, but unlike Scalextric, operated on a slotless track.The plastic track contained lanes of three metal strips about 2mm wide, which made contact with a configuration of two brass pads on the underside of the cars, providing power. The plastic track had two such lanes, and cars could change lanes with the flick of a switch on the controller. TCR sets came with "jam cars", a slow moving drone which both racers had to avoid crashing into. Like Matchbox's Powertrack, some cars featured lights.TCR was withdrawn from the market in the mid 80s and sets are now very collectible.The t-shirt features a distressed style logo for that retro look and is available in a number of colours.
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Who could forget the classic scene when David Brent goes through big Keith's appraisal form in the classic comedy mockumentary 'The Office'? Keith's general disinterest and lack of any worthwhile answers during the Q&A session still strike a chord with office workers around the country, epitomising the time-consuming and often futile office appraisal process. Brent tries to hide his frustration but eventually cracks when he has to repeat the same multiple choice options for the 4th question; 'NOT AT ALL, to some extent, very much so or don't know'. You can watch the whole cringe-worthy clip here. This t-shirt is a text-based design based on Keith's consistent reply to those very options and is printed in white and blue on a choice of 7 different colours of t-shirt with selected colours available up to 5XL.
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Tiswas (an acronym for Today Is Saturday Watch And Smile) was a children's British television series that originally aired on Saturday mornings from 5 January 1974 to 3 April 1982 and was produced for the ITV network by ATV Network Limited. It was famously hosted by Chris Tarrant, John Gorman and Sally James and also featured Lenny Henry, Jim Davidson, Jasper Carrott and Bob Carolgees with Spit The Dog. Another infamous character was the Phantom Flan Flinger who became synonymous with the show and later was part of the classic 'zig-zag' logo, which was designed by Stuart Kettle in 1977. The t-shirt features a distressed style of this logo for that retro look and is available in a number of colours.
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The Triumph Dolomite range was introduced in 1972 as a luxurious, well-equipped sporting saloon aimed at the emerging compact executive market. The Sprint version that followed in 1973 was conceived in order to remedy the gap in performance between the Dolomite 1850 and competitors such as the BMW 2002. The Sprint’s cylinder head was revolutionary for a mass produced car, featuring a multi-valve arrangement with all 16 of them operated by a single overhead camshaft. This clever design gave the car a 0-60 time of just 8.4 seconds and a maximum speed of 119 mph, very impressive for the early Seventies. The car also had alloy wheels as standard; a first for a British production car. All of this came at a launch cost of just £1,740, which compared very favourably with its other sporting rivals. The mouse mat itself is based on one of the original press ads and shows a Dolomite Sprint in the launch colour of Mimosa Yellow with black vinyl roof. The period correct typeface is used.Read more about the Triumph Dolomite and Sprint range here on the excellent aronline website.
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The Triumph Dolomite range was introduced in 1972 as a luxurious, well-equipped sporting saloon aimed at the emerging compact executive market. The Sprint version that followed in 1973 was conceived in order to remedy the gap in performance between the Dolomite 1850 and competitors such as the BMW 2002. The Sprint's cylinder head was revolutionary for a mass produced car, featuring a multi-valve arrangement with all 16 of them operated by a single overhead camshaft. This clever design gave the car a 0-60 time of just 8.4 seconds and a maximum speed of 119 mph, very impressive for the early Seventies. The car also had alloy wheels as standard; a first for a British production car. All of this came at a launch cost of just £1,740, which compared very favourably with its other sporting rivals. The mouse mat itself is based on one of the original press ads and shows a Dolomite Sprint in the launch colour of Mimosa Yellow with black vinyl roof. The period correct typeface is used. The high contrast style of the image means that it is only available in black, but the good news is that sizes go all the way up to 5XL!Read more about the Triumph Dolomite and Sprint range here on the excellent aronline website.
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Not all of us were lucky enough to go to University, but that doesn't mean you have to miss out! If you're a brummie who was schooled in the 'University of Life' why not let everyone know with this stylish varsity style contrast hoody.This hoody has a distressed style graphic for that retro look featuring the Birmingham coat of arms and is available in a range of colours with contrasting hood lining and drawstrings, giving a very distinctive look. It has a front pouch pocket.
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Introduced in 1964, the Vanden Plas Princess 4 Litre R remains the only production car that is not a Rolls Royce to be fitted with a Rolls Royce engine.
It was based on a modified version of the A110 Austin Westminster bodyshell and was sent to Vanden Plas Coachbuilders in Kingsbury, London, to be finished with luxurious fittings including leather seats and real burr walnut dashboard, door cappings and picnic tables in the rear. The 3,909cc straight six Rolls Royce engine was an all-aluminium version of their B series engine with overhead inlet and side exhaust valves, hydraulic tappets and a low compression ratio of 7.8:1, making its 175 bhp output quite impressive for the time. Priced at £1,994 (around £55,000 in today’s money), the car came with Borg Warner automatic transmission and Hydrosteer power steering as standard. Only 6,555 were built between 1964 and 1968 and few survive today, due to a combination of their strong structure making them a banger racers’ favourite and their prodigious 15mpg thirst making them virtually worthless during the early 70s oil crisis. The t-shirt itself is based on one of the original press ads in which BMC certainly made the most of the Rolls Royce link. The wording is as the original ad, and features a distressed look. The high contrast style of the image means that it is only available in black, but the good news is that sizes go all the way up to 5XL!You can read more about the history of the Vanden Plas Princess 4 Litre R here. -
As a proud Brummie I have fond memories of the WMPTE buses from travelling to school on the famous No. 11 Outer Circle route in late seventies and early eighties. The Outer Circle was the last route to still operate the front-engined buses with the open platform and conductor and I think my journey from the Fox & Goose to King's Heath was 12p back in 1978! These buses were then replaced by Daimler / Leyland Fleetlines in various guises, which were then replaced in turn by the MCW Metrobuses, built locally in Washwood Heath (all were usually powered by the legendary Gardner 6LX diesel engine). The single deck Leyland National was another very popular bus at the time, with their very distinctive noise, smell (and fumes) from the 'headless' Leyland 500 series engine. The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE) was the public body responsible for public transport in the West Midlands metropolitan county from 1969 until 2016. The WMPTE logo featured here was current from 1969 until 1990 and the cream and blue livery of the buses was once a very familiar sight around Birmingham and the West Midlands.Join me on my nostalgia trip with one of these t shirts which features a distressed style logo for that retro look and is available in two colours that reflect the old bus livery - yellow haze with blue logo, or royal blue with cream logo.
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As a proud Brummie I have fond memories of the WMPTE buses from travelling to school on the famous No. 11 Outer Circle route in late seventies and early eighties. The Outer Circle was the last route to still operate the front-engined buses with the open platform and conductor and I think my journey from the Fox & Goose to King's Heath was 12p back in 1978! These buses were then replaced by Daimler / Leyland Fleetlines in various guises, which were then replaced in turn by the MCW Metrobuses, built locally in Washwood Heath (all were usually powered by the legendary Gardner 6LX diesel engine). The single deck Leyland National was another very popular bus at the time, with their very distinctive noise, smell (and fumes) from the 'headless' Leyland 500 series engine. The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive (WMPTE) was the public body responsible for public transport in the West Midlands metropolitan county from 1969 until 2016. The WMPTE logo featured here was current from 1969 until 1990 and the cream and blue livery of the buses was once a very familiar sight around Birmingham and the West Midlands.Join me on my nostalgia trip with one of these hoodies which features a distressed style logo for that retro look which is matched to the contrasting hood and drawcords.
Tel: 0121 318 2009
