I'm old enough to remember when there were NO speed limits in the UK outside of "built-up areas." There was a 30 MPH sign when you entered these, and on leaving there was a slash on the sign, meaning "as fast as you like, fella." (You could be prosecuted for driving at a "reckless" speed, that being in the opinion of the cop who pulled you over.)
When the M1 Motorway opened in 1956 (?) thousands of drivers, frustrated at being confined to twisty roads, drove with the pedal to the metal to "see what old Betsy can do," with the result that there were thousands of old Betsys (Betsies?), many of them pre-WWII, or early post-war models that were just slightly revamped 1939 designs with long-stroke sidevalve engines, that had survived for years at more sedate speeds, littering the side of the M1 (and later M5), or in junkyards, with terminally busted engines.
Aston-Martin's works in Newport Pagnell were close to the M1 at the southern end, and Jaguar at the northern one, and they both tested the new cars at 100mph plus. I recall several times being on the M1 in my MG or later Rapier, at 80 or 90, and being passed by an XK140 or DB5 as if I were standing still.
Then the s*c*al*st government, following the dictum of being terrified at the prospect that someone, somewhere is enjoying himself, appointed a Minister of Transport, Barbara Castle, who proudly announced that she didn't drive and never had. One of her first acts was to impose a 70mph speed limit (the Public Service Announcement son TV and in the papers had the lying "Let's Give it a Fair Chance," as if they really would listen to the public's opinion.) And that was it for the next 50 years. Until now.
