Yesterday. For Today

From their Yorkshire base, classic car auctioneers the Mathewsons sell hundreds of unusual historic vehicles, so it takes a lot to get this family of petrolheads excited. But in series 6, episode 8 of Bangers & Cash, a 1944 Ford Jeep in full military trim did the trick. This is a car that was built to go to war, to be versatile as well as speedy, but it’s the practical design features that could teach even today’s carmakers a lesson. The Jeep’s interior can be hosed down, there’s space for a rifle on the passenger side, along with trench-digging tools attached to the side of the vehicle, and a tow rope that wraps around the front bumper. The headlights are reversible, so the driver can turn them around to shine on the engine to make night-time repairs with a kit that’s supplied with the car. Little wonder it sells for more than £25,000. Watch Bangers & Cash, Thursdays at 8pm, on Freeview 27

Yesterday provides TV for curious minds. To prove it, we’ve gone down the rabbit hole to unearth a quintet of quirky facts that you’ll find curious and curiouser…

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Watch Yesterday on Freeview 27, Sky 155, Virgin Media 129, Freesat 159 – or stream for free on UKTV Play

Driving force: the Ford Capri, Europe’s answer to the American Mustang

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5 amazing facts from the Yesterday channel

1. Jeeps can do cool things

When Inside the Factory presenters Gregg Wallace and Cherry Healey hit Coventry and Europe’s largest crunchy snack factory in series 6, episode 7, they leave us with a lot to digest. “No! That can’t be right! Wow! That’s crazy,” exclaims Gregg with characteristic restraint as he learns that the 27 tons of Spanish corn in front of him will soon be reincarnated as 14 million tortilla chips. But it’s Cherry who steals the show when she discovers that guacamole may be one of the oldest dips in the world. Avocados, we learn, were grown by the Aztecs more than 10,000 years ago and made into a sauce that – when first exported to Europe in the 16th century – was known as ahuacamolli (avocado sauce). Spoken Spanish mangling of the name turned it into “guacamole”, and the first English-language recipe for the dish appeared in 1697. Watch Inside the Factory, Fridays at 8pm, on Freeview 27

2. Guacamole was once known by a different name

Half-buried and decaying in the swamps of Miami is a collection of buildings whose part in the 1969 moon landings is every bit as compelling as those of the scientists and astronauts of the Apollo missions. It was here, in 1962, that rocket manufacturer Aerojet built a secret plant to develop and test highly powerful solid-fuel rocket motors that – it was hoped – would one day carry man to the moon. You’ve heard of the right stuff? This was the wrong stuff. By 1967, Nasa had decided that the lunar missions’ Saturn V rocket would be powered by liquid fuel, which was easier to control. Series 10, episode 6 of Abandoned Engineering finds its treasure nose down in a concrete-topped silo with the water of the Everglades seeping in: the prototype solid-fuel rocket that blazed briefly but never got off the ground. Watch Abandoned Engineering, Mondays at 8pm, on Freeview 27

3. There’s a relic of the space race hidden in the Everglades

In episode 10 of the 13th series of Great British Railway Journeys, Michael Portillo’s visit to Brentham Garden Suburb, Ealing – the childhood home of tennis player Fred Perry – is full of surprises. When Perry won his first Wimbledon title in 1934, he was snubbed by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club because of his working-class roots. Rather than present Perry with a club tie, as was the norm, it was left draped over a chair for Perry to find. Perry got his own back, becoming Wimbledon champion for three consecutive years. In later life, Perry made a fortune from sports clothing, but the label only came into being by accident, when Perry overheard former Austrian football player Tibby Wegner attempting to pitch an idea for a flawed sweatband design, and corrected it. Wegner and Perry went on to become fast friends and business partners, and what began as a practical tennis accessory launched a longstanding clothing brand. Watch Great British Railway Journeys, Saturday evenings, on Freeview 27

4. The Fred Perry brand came about by coincidence

The 1981 Lotus Esprit that is the star of Bangers & Cash series 1, episode 6 – and which scored a very rare profit for the team that restores old cars to vintage glory – was created by the celebrated Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, whose influence stretches from Ferrari and Fiat to camera bodies and pasta shapes. Working together with Colin Chapman, who founded sports car company Lotus in a workshop at the back of his dad’s pub in Hornsey, north London, must have been an unusual experience for Giugiaro. The car looked and drove like a champion, but to cut costs Chapman and his team borrowed pieces from other British cars of the era. The Esprit, which Roger Moore’s James Bond drove in two films, had the rear lights of a Rover and the door handle pulls of a Morris Marina. Watch Bangers & Cash: Restoring Classics, Tuesdays at 8pm, on Freeview 27

5. The real story behind the Lotus Esprit

tv for curious minds

Watch Yesterday on Freeview 27, Sky 155, Virgin Media 129, Freesat 159 – or stream for free on UKTV Play

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