I was behind an Austin A30 today and I couldn't believe how small it was.
My Dad had an Austin A35, four door, and I learned to drive in an A30. They never seemed so small all of those years ago.
This one was in lovely condition and in the original grey colour that my Father had.
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There are still a lot around
A Google search for ...a30 cars ... will find a lot of images of them
A further search for ....a30 cars racing will find some more
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I had an A35 nearly 50 years ago. It was almost clapped out then and a horrible bright green colour. My friend the mechanic gave it a 'stage one tune' by touching up the rusty sills with the same pale green paint as he used on his MGA.
Just up the road from where I live now is a village which has transformed itself into a sort of history showpiece, with old workshops, the school, the bar, etc. In the middle of it is a toy and pram museum run by a remarkable Dutch chap, who brought his collection down here in 15 containers a few years ago. He also has a few MGBs, including half of one sticking out of the front wall. I was over there back along with my son and his family and we started talking to him about old cars and his huge collection of models - including a whole case full of XJSs. He said he thought we might be interested in what he had 'out the back'. He took us through and we climbed over all sorts of incredible items stacked up. At the very back, under a towering pile of stuff was - an A30. I wonder if it will ever move again.
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IIRC James Hunt had the van version in his later years
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My farmer had an A35. Can remember travelling to Devon from Ilford with my two brothers on the back seat. My father was proud of his Austin and I can remover him pointing out all the overheating Fords by the side of the road in the traffic jam outside Okehampton
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An A30 was my Father's first car. Family legend is that he saw one from the bus on way to work and gave up smoking so as to save up. Bought it new. Don't think he ever had a second hand car in his life.
Friends used one as the car for their fifties themed wedding.
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I shared an A30 with 5 friends at Cambridge in 1970. It cost us £5. We logged mileages when booked out by any of us, also any petrol etc, and then did a reckoning up at the end of term.
It often carried all 6, or sometimes more. Cars were much bigger in those days :)
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Had an A30 paid £20 as a student. Then an A35 which was noticeably faster.. £45..
Rust in sills and front wings around radiator grille. It was so narrow front passenger rubbed shoulders with driver. Friend had A35 van fitted with mattress in rear.....for weekends...:-)
A30 was very very very slow. Top speed 60mph with a following hurricane down a 3 in 1 hill..
Edit front lever arm shocks used to go.. IIRC £12 for a pair easy to fit.
Last edited by: madf on Tue 11 Jul 17 at 10:03
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Maximum speed of an A30 might have been low, but they were reasonably quick off the mark so quite nippy in towns, due to the OHV 803cc engine which was then fitted to the Morris Minor when Austin took over Morris in (I think) 1952.
That engine was a great advance on the Minor's original SV engine, inherited from the Morris 8 which can never have been anyone's idea of motoring heaven. Although I suppose even that was a better bet than the Ford SV engine which was even more sluggish and wa a pig to start in the morning.
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>> Maximum speed of an A30 might have been low, but they were reasonably quick off
>> the mark so quite nippy in towns, due to the OHV 803cc engine
The A-series was state-of-the-art in 1952. 35 years later it was still in production, as the art-of -the-state in British Leyland, and pulling the Maestro around.
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>> >> Maximum speed of an A30 might have been low, but they were reasonably quick
>> The A-series was state-of-the-art in 1952. 35 years later it was still in production, as
>> the art-of -the-state in British Leyland, and pulling the Maestro around.
>>
And leaked oil from wherever possible. Popular but dreadful engines by modern standards and that awfully fiddly by-pass hose!!!!!!
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Myself and three friends were leaving Exmouth late one night in my A35 when we sneaked up on and overtook an MGB. We laughed for a week.
Apparently they are now a major choice for period saloon car racing. Goodness knows why.
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Perhaps because it's a light car with enough room under the bonnet to put any size of A-series engine.
What was always a mystery to me was why so many kit cars of the 50s and 60s had the Ford sidevalve engine fitted. Maybe that engine could be tuned effectively, but it must still have been slow.
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>> down a 3 in 1 hill..
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3 in 1! Wow! That's steep, man!
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I has an A35 once! I fitted it with a front anti-rollbar, a nice little wooden steering wheel and thought myself a real racer! (I was young(ish) as this was circa 1957/8.
The comeuppance was not far away. Very early (no traffic early) one Sunday morning I was on my way to see some club racing at Cadwell Park, stopping on-route to collect a pal. Then came the left turn leading to the agreed pick-up point. Wheel hard over, dynamics came into play. The car tipped over to the right, slid a bit on its side and gently turned over on its roof, leaving me mortified, upside down and located right in front of the left- hand lion guarding the steps to Nottingham Council House, in Market Square. OOPS!
We managed to right the car, drove off to replace the oil which had drained out of the engine and went on our way.
Reported by an interfering Nottingham City bus driver waiting to start his journey; that cost me a fine and points on licence.
I had it resprayed from black to BRG and oh, vanity - had the steel road wheels painted Team Lotus yellow.
Last edited by: Roger. on Tue 11 Jul 17 at 13:19
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>> >> down a 3 in 1 hill..
>> >>
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>> 3 in 1! Wow! That's steep, man!
>>
Maybe I meant 1 in 3..I am growing senile you know ..:-)
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Saw an Austin 8 on The One Show tonight - my father had one for several years from 1947 onwards and we went all over the UK in it...:-)
The car still had the string pull for the rear window blind to stop the driver being blinded by the following car's 6v headlights at night.... There was also a foot operated switch to dip the headlights.
Last edited by: Stuartli on Thu 13 Jul 17 at 01:05
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Foot dip switches continued on for many years. My 1964 Mini had one
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I had one too, I think it was in my Imp. My Mini had a foot pump for the window washers. Though it might have been the other way around.
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A relative is into classic cars. He's had various Austins and probably an A30 - I recall references to the original pull cord for something. It well may have been an A35 we were in... not a great car on the motorway though.
Spent an interesting day on set for a BBC drama in the 1990s when his was one of many cars used. Bumped into some stars. A few a little arrogant to be honest and jumped the queue and the food trailer. I won't name names. This was a day when we went in the car I reference.
He had another classic (MG TF I think) which in the end he sold to someone with a car museum. Even had the original tool box with all items.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Thu 13 Jul 17 at 02:26
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>> I had one too......
My 1973 Escort had a foot-operated dipswitch.....
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>> Foot dip switches continued on for many years. My 1964 Mini had one
>>
>>
My LandRover (1968) and Triumph (1967) both have one.
They also serve as footrests, and are on balance I think quicker and easier than a hand switch.
The Volvo dip-stalk is annoying because it shares a function with the headlight flasher. Flashing the lights rotates the main/dip setting, so there is no way of telling in advance when turning on the headlights whether they will be dipped or full beam.
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>> They also serve as footrests, and are on balance I think quicker and easier than a hand switch.
How do you dip the headlights when you find you want to change gear?
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>> >> They also serve as footrests, and are on balance I think quicker and easier
>> than a hand switch.
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>> How do you dip the headlights when you find you want to change gear?
>>
Similar to today's challenge how do you change gear and use the indicators ?
We are lumbered with the beans counters answer.. Standardise the indicators position as per Europe and you Brits can lump it rather than have the standard Japanese / South African set up.
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> Similar to today's challenge how do you change gear and use the indicators ?
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I'd do them separately, I don't think I've ever needed to do them together.
I remember being taught a change of gear, speed or direction should all be done separately.
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>> How do you dip the headlights when you find you want to change gear?
Back then lights were so poor, it didn't matter whether you dipped or not.
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>> The Volvo dip-stalk is annoying because it shares a function with the headlight flasher.
>>Flashing the lights rotates the main/dip setting, so there is no way of telling in advance
>> when turning on the headlights whether they will be dipped or full beam.
>>
The Jaguar X type and IIRC the Mk I Focus has a similar bad design.
My 98 Mondeo, a sibling of Volvo /Jaguar had a simple mechanical stalk, heave it towards the wheel for headlamp flash and it then springs back to dip beam setting.
It is called progress.
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A35 4-door was my first 4-wheeled car. At six foot I had to re-arrange the driver's seat slides to get comfortable behind the wheel. Meant I was looking behind the B pillar at junctions.
No way I could get my size 12s through the back door, so never sat in the back!
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A used A30 was my first car I bought at 17 having just passed my driving test and did so using Hire Purchase.
I bought it from Car Mart in a South London suburb, in 1955 (I think!). It was in their ubiquitous grey and I think that it had an 848cc engine. Anyway I soon found out that it had a dodgy clutch and that was replaced under warranty, after some argument with the garage.
Ah, happy carefree days with little traffic on the roads.
I 'modded' it with a NoteK blue-spot fog light and put an A35 Chrome surround around the existing grill. I think the Reg. No. was PLK 510.
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I think that it had an 848cc engine
Probably 803cc later A35 had 948cc and very late A35 Vans 1098cc
same as used in later Morris Minors late Series II onwards..
848cc was a variant BMC 'A' for the original Mini.
Sad !
Last edited by: sherlock47 on Sun 16 Jul 17 at 20:28
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>> 848cc was a variant BMC 'A' for the original Mini.
>>
I am devistated, I thought my mini was an 850. :-)
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See:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Minor
My first car was a 1960 Morris Minor 1000 in Dove Grey - it was four years old when purchased and had done just 19,000 miles in the hands of an elderly lady driver who lived in Blackpool.
Great fun and wonderful handling, which is why quite a few owners put bigger engines in their vehicles.
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>> A used A30 was my first car I bought at 17 having just passed my
>> driving test and did so using Hire Purchase.
>> I bought it from Car Mart in a South London suburb, in 1955 (I think!).
Ah, that brought back memories!
The Car Mart Sales were Austin Distributors for London, when such a system was common,
I worked for them as a salesman at 163, Bromley Rd. Catford SE6 from the start of 1964 to the end of 1966, when I left to join a finance company (Lombank) as a rep. at their Harrow Branch.
Very traditional company, was Car Mart, in those days. I had an interview in London and as soon as they knew I was a junior lieutenant in the T.A. (5th./8th. Sherwood Foresters if you are interested) and could talk "proper", was pretty well employed straight away. £500 p.a. basic + commission which crept it up to a grand or so, a year No company car.
I was introduced to SWMBO by one of my sales colleagues, who was a cousin of a friend of hers.
He invited her to come to Snetterton to watch me race my 970 Cooper S in a club event. She brought the food (nice, it was!) and the rest is history!
Last edited by: Roger. on Sun 16 Jul 17 at 20:45
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Did you live in Harrow Roger?
I met Mrs B through the Harrow and Wembley Youth Hostel Association local group. She shared a flat in Welldon Crescent while I had a bedsit in Belmont/Kenton. Our first home together was a flat in Bessborough Road, overlooking the Middlesex New Synagogue.
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>> Did you live in Harrow Roger?
Not in Harrow.
When I first joined Lombank I was living at home with my parents and sister as I'd recently moved from Nottingham. They lived in a self-build bungalow in Pratts Bottom, Kent, and for six months or so, I commuted from there to Preston Rd., Harrow every day. I learnt a whole load of rat-runs through Southeast, Central and Northwest London. Couldn't do it much under and hour even then.Impossible trip these days, I guess.
I then lived in a rented plat in Pinner, with the future SWMBO, bought a new-build "town house" in Ruislip and finished up with a detached house in Chalfont St Peter, before getting itchy feet and moving to buy and run a guest house in Pembroke.
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SQ
>> The Car Mart Sales were Austin Distributors for London, when such a system was common,
>> I worked for them as a salesman at 163, Bromley Rd. Catford SE6 from the
>> start of 1964 to the end of 1966, when I left to join a finance
>>
Ah that's funny. I brought my 1st Austin Healey Sprite from Car Mart Catford in 1959. It was in Leaf Green and was so basic when thinking back. This was the first of four Sprites I bought over the next decade or so. The last one had the 1275cc engine.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 17 Jul 17 at 22:01
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The A30 was way before my time (I learned to drive in a Metro and my Mum's Cavalier) but I'm sure I saw them racing at Goodwood Revival last year and they seemed to be having fun. Funny looking little things though!
A30s?
youtu.be/VMtrlPGtc5E
Last edited by: PeterS on Sun 16 Jul 17 at 21:05
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Yes, that's them. IIRC they had to carve a lump out of the sump and weld in a shaped piece to fit a front anti-roll bar off a Spridget.
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My uncle has a black 1955 A30 that he bought about 10 years ago as a runner needing light restoration. It's pretty much as new now, and he uses it as a weekend toy, and shows it at local classic car shows.
It's a lovely thing. Absolutely tiny, as the OP says.
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Saw An Austin A30 - henry k
