Austin A40 Somerset (Page 2).
This selection of photos continues on from a previous page to feature period shots of Austin's A40 Somerset saloon of the early 1950s. I ran one myself for a while in the late 1990s, although my relationship with the curvaceous 1200cc Austin wasn't always the easiest. The low point was reached one bright sunny day when the rear wheel decided to part company with the rear axle, wedging itself under the back wing, causing the car to scrape along and leave a deep groove along a re-surfaced section of tarmac. Not the car's fault really (I'm not sure why it happened), but, as the latest in a series of issues I'd had with the 1950's Austin, I sold it on, replacing it with a 1950's Ford-based special - which didn't run terribly well either.
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To kick off this second page of period A40 Somerset photos is this charming holiday scene from, I'm sure, the mid/late 1950s. A light-coloured A40, registration JAM 605 (was it ever preserved I wonder?) of 1952/1953, rests with its windows open, close by a period caravan. A gent, stood alongside the Austin, and a lady reclined in a deckchair, can also spied in this nostalgic image. A young child stands close to the car also, perhaps dreaming idly of the day when she too can take to the wheel of a dependable Austin such as this one. Given how sturdy the Somerset's separate chassis is, there's every chance that the car was still on the road when she hit her 17th birthday, and was ready to start learning to drive for herself.
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More old photos like this will be added in here shortly.
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Return to Page 15 in the gallery of vintage cars and vehicles.
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