Great work on the Toe Ring topic fellas. It was suggested to me that there is a connection with the change from a straight to bent Tommy bar, and the variation in toe ring styles, that I hadn't even considered.

If you check the second image Jonesy posted, you can clearly see that the bent end is used to fit the ring - it appears it was designed specifically for that. So it looks like the bent bar spanner and that style of Toe Ring came along at the same time.

Thought I would spice up the thread with this:

Feb 21, 1958 - Daily Mirror

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I've also come across some intriguing new images. Remember the front flap variation we were discussing:

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Now we have this photo, from a seldom seen Automatic pamphlet, and documented confirmation that in the month of October, 1957, changes were made to the Automatic...but the specifics of those changes are still not clear.

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What to make of this new image? I'm increasingly convinced that the cable running from the flap to the axle housing is infact a throttle cable, which must have run through the height adjusting rod to the rear flap...maybe...