Car part set

The first set entirely created after I moved to the UK was made from various car parts: spark plugs for the rooks, pieces of tyre for the knights, light bulbs for the bishops, the emblems from our old Opel, who had given up the ghost just before moving to the UK, as queens, and the keys to that Opel as the kings (the key to the game, obviously!). Main pieces all mounted on nuts and painted copper or silver. The pawns were sealed sample vials filled with either cooling fluid (for the white/silver side) or engine oil (for the black/copper side).

The board consisted of Perspex, with the squares separated by pieces of electrical wiring, stretched across the board.

As with several of the previous older chess sets, this set got lost somewhere along the way. All I have to prove it existed is these two pictures, taken with the set sitting on top of the engine of our old trusted Volvo Estate (which has also long ago given up the ghost).

In case you're wondering why the board isn't chequered, and why there is an empty row between the pawns and the major pieces, the board and pieces are set up for Makruk, Thai chess.

Looking back at the set now, I don't think it was my best one. There are some nice ideas (I still like the two sets of pawns having two differently-coloured liquids), but overall it's pretty rough.