RE: My First Car: Austin A30
Discussion
My first car was a 1955 A30. HTK 899. I called her Harriet. Island blue. Semaphore indicators. She even had a water valve heater fitted. I loved that little car. Never failed an MOT. Got bashed by a drunk driver when she was parked one night, so I (very Foolishly) sold her and bought a Cortina 1600GT as a replacement.
Harriet, where are you now? :sob:
Andy
Harriet, where are you now? :sob:
Andy
but I love classic touring cars 
Back in our salad days my mate ran an Austin A35 van (FOM113D AIRC) which always acquitted itself well compared to Anglia, Viva 'n such. Although that had more to do with his driving style than the engineering of the car.
We always regarded it as ancient although it would have been less than 5 years old when we all gained our licences around '69/70!
Anyone who judges 'drifting' as a modern automotive passtime hasn't driven an A35 on crossplies!
Talking about first cars reminds me of the said Anglia which I bought from a car lot in Broadway Cardiff, just a stone's throw from the infamous (then) City Road. "Son, for your 40 quid you can have this anglia or that MK1 Jag - take your choice." Head ruled heart and the Anglia was mine.
Only problem was that it had serious rust in the A post to the extent that the passenger door was unusable. Remedy was a trip to the scrappy with a hacksaw to remove a servicable A post which I then bolted into position on my car. Didn't meet at the floor so a plywood offcut provided shuttering for a concrete floor. Coat of underseal and off for an MOT...... No problem!
We always regarded it as ancient although it would have been less than 5 years old when we all gained our licences around '69/70!
Anyone who judges 'drifting' as a modern automotive passtime hasn't driven an A35 on crossplies!
Talking about first cars reminds me of the said Anglia which I bought from a car lot in Broadway Cardiff, just a stone's throw from the infamous (then) City Road. "Son, for your 40 quid you can have this anglia or that MK1 Jag - take your choice." Head ruled heart and the Anglia was mine.
Only problem was that it had serious rust in the A post to the extent that the passenger door was unusable. Remedy was a trip to the scrappy with a hacksaw to remove a servicable A post which I then bolted into position on my car. Didn't meet at the floor so a plywood offcut provided shuttering for a concrete floor. Coat of underseal and off for an MOT...... No problem!
Thanks for all the comments; there are obviously more memories of A30s than I'd ever have guessed!
In due course the Minor was swapped for a 998cc Mini that had had a certain amount of rally preparation done and then, at last, I was in business as a rally driver. No wonder I never actually did any work at Uni!
JPKerr said:
How about telling us of your experinces with the Morris Van.
The Minor is a whole additional chapter! It had the 1098cc engine and since the vans came with a lower final drive it was actually reasonably quick by the standards of the day. Again, being a van it had stiffer rear springs and I fitted a front anti roll bar and wider back wheels. In my memory it handled really well. It also came as standard with the brilliant rack and pinion steering that all Minors had: light, direct and full of feedback. I used it for autotests (removing the back doors to see when reversing) and also for recce-ing road rallies and as course car. For this I followed LJK Setright's advice and fitted Jaguar 75 watt healights, which he claimed to prefer to the new fangled halogen things. Strangely, the navigator insisted I also fit a paseenger seat belt, something that the British Motor Corporation hadn't felt was necessary. This is an old poor quality photo of it autotesting. Note the cunning reversal of front and rear wheels so that the skinny wheels are on the back to make handbrake turns easier.In due course the Minor was swapped for a 998cc Mini that had had a certain amount of rally preparation done and then, at last, I was in business as a rally driver. No wonder I never actually did any work at Uni!
beanbag said:
The bike looks fantastic! Why shouldn't we ask!!!????
Because it was a piece of complete junk! I knew the front brake was knackered but couldn't undo the spindle nuts to remove it because they'd been completely rounded off. When I sold it, the guy who bought it was an old Etonian who had no cash but, from what I could gather, his family owned most of the South Downs. After the summer holiday I asked him how the bike was going. "Fine" he said, "except that I had a puncture in the front tyre". "Oh yes" said I, "did you get it fixed OK?" "Well, I couldn't get the wheel off so I took it along to the estate blacksmith and he cut through the forks with an oxyacetyline torch, changed the tyre and then welded the forks together again." So, not a problem at all, really!Apparently the (real) Mini prototype used a A30/A35 front panel to disguise it when being tested on the public roads. 
The Mini was the direct descendent of these great little cars, albeit in a totally different form. The legendary A-series engines were retained and further developed of course, in both the Mini and the whole range of small BMC cars.
The Mini was the direct descendent of these great little cars, albeit in a totally different form. The legendary A-series engines were retained and further developed of course, in both the Mini and the whole range of small BMC cars.
Edited by grahamw48 on Thursday 23 October 22:17
My elder brother had an A30 van -- drove it like a wild thing, and impressed the girls with the rug he kept in the back.
The Austin range was amazing at this time. It featured exactly the same basic design, just blown up like a balloon into ever larger versions - Devon, Somerset and Hereford if memory serves.
I had a Dinky Toys Devon and Somerset for my Carrymore car transporter!
The Austin range was amazing at this time. It featured exactly the same basic design, just blown up like a balloon into ever larger versions - Devon, Somerset and Hereford if memory serves.
I had a Dinky Toys Devon and Somerset for my Carrymore car transporter!
Phanmall said:
The old A30 brings back many fond memories for me also, my A30 cost me £8 back in 1968! I can't imagine how young drivers these days would cope with such a weedy engine.
Well im not a "young" driver as I was born in 1971 but an Austin A30 was my first car, paid £250 for it, did some restoration and sold for £600, didn't really drive it much though.This is the best picture I have on my pc (lots of photos though, remember those they came on paper and you use to put them in albums)
I used to love crank starting it.
Edited by Cotty on Friday 24th October 21:36
Cotty said:
minimatt1967 said:
One for dinkel......
A35's as they have indicators on the front not semaphore's. The A35 also had the larger rear window and a couple of other things I can't think of right now 
Edit: E35's had colour coded grills
This was my first car, the Austin A40 Farina Mk II. It said it was a 948cc with 39bhp on the logbook but turned out to be a bit of an urban terrorist with a 1048cc with a heady 48bhp. The car had exquisite chromed doorhandles and headlight switch and a crackle black dash. The instruments were like a little radiogram with innocent dash lights and wipers that were either on or off.
It was an advanced layout - a hatch without a hatch - a drop-down bootlid and rear seats that folded perfectly flat into a small estate that was perfect for moving entire student lifestyle from South to North Wales. It had an "advanced" 4 speed box albeit with no synchro on first and a beautiful little electric fuel pump in the spare wheel well which had a real steel lifting cover overhead. If it didn't start, it was usually the earth on the fuel pump - originally a sylph-like black wire but soon a braided battery cable ensured reliability.
The car was epic. It never failed bar when the very very old battery failed and it was down to the dynamo to power everything like a flickering candle. The all-round drum brakes were heroic in their effort to no real effect ratio and when the front slave cylinders spilt brake fluid all over the innards, it was a testament to the efficiency of the brakes that new cylinders and shoes made very little difference.
The car did 30000 miles in 2 years in my hands during which it was generally thrashed until the speedo needle floated aimlessly somewhere the other side of the maximum 90mph indication. It died because I took off the air filter and fitted an alloy trumpet so the car was unfiltered. She was replaced by a far inferior Cortina Mk II 1300.
I always had an idea of removing the front wings completely, fabricating flush alloy panels, fitting cycle cuards and 2CV headlamps for that Lotus 7 look but it never really happened for some inexplicable reason.
Great car. Much faster and better handling than my friend's Anglia. It did benefit from an Astrali Successor 13" steering wheel for an Anglia and I sawed the gearshift lever down to half it's normal height and stuck on a wooden knob for that Healey-esque feeling. Mine was burgundy all over and I had welded steel wheels on the back wearing super-wide 165/70 radials (upgraded from 5.20x13 crossplies) and some fat 155s on the front. The steel wheels were painted white and wore a set of chrome "AH" hubcaps offa Healey Sprite Mk II.
You may laugh but it was a RWD sports saloon - sort of a BMW 1-series equivalent (no, really....)
Edited by LuS1fer on Friday 24th October 22:13
I didn't know what these where we I first saw them and caught some pictures of them for my 'Supercars spotted, some rarities....' thread, but glad I did. I think they have such character in their headlamps and their overall shape is very 'kindly uncle' [if you get what I mean!!!!]. Seem to have a reassuringly solid fanbase. 
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