3 JUNE 1955, Page 15

THE GRAPEVINE

SIR,—Mr. John Betjeman's story about the sinister garage and the substitution of engines is remarkable if only on the score of its ubiquity.

I first heard it some three years ago, when e narrator specified a particular make of car anc -41,'West End garage.' My indulgent ears listened to it again a few days later; this time, it was a different car and a suburban garage.

To my astonishment, an almost identical story was trotted out by the French family with whom I was staying in Paris last year. Local 'props' had been substituted—a Citrodn, a well- known Parisian garage, etc. By then, however, the talc had assumed a rather tired air, as if the Channel crossing had been too much for it.