BMC's Austin A40 Somerset .
This old photo, cropped slightly to better show the car, sees a black Austin Somerset cruising sedately down the middle of the road, alongside the seafront at Sidmouth. No double yellow lines, or any roadmarkings in fact, spoil the view. In the distance is a pre-war car, possibly a Model Y Ford, parked at the roadside with something else more recent in front of that.
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The Somerset is registered as TLG 571, a good old Cheshire number. Perhaps the occupants were enjoying a holiday to Sidmouth, in the days before affordable overseas holidays, helped along by the advent of jet airliners such as the De Havilland Comet, and Boeing's 707. A lone seagull can be seen atop a lamp post, watching the Somerset (aiming for it?) as it potters by, and a small black dog in the distance feels that he has plenty of time to cross the road, before the A40 gets there.
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It can be interesting to compare old photographs with more recent view(s) of the same location. The pic below, taken from a different angle in more recent times, allows some comparisons to be made. A number of changes have taken place in the intervening 40-50 years or so, not least an increase in traffic, and the disappearance of the small hut on the front, that can be seen in the first photograph.
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Another A40, this time in Dorking.
Next up, a postcard sent over by Les from his own collection, that features a number of old motorcars, including a Somerset, parked outside The White Horse Hotel in Dorking. I've cropped it down a little to better show the line-up of cars. From the left, there is an Austin A50 or A55 Cambridge, an Austin 10 (LPH 888), a Ford 100E (with the now-rare three bar grille), the Austin Somerset (PKJ 734), and a Rolls-Royce (MV 1917).
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The A40 Somerset of 1952-1954.
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| Photographed in May 2001, the Austin Somerset I ran for a while. Reg. VSY 988, where are you now? sold to someone in Bristol. |
The Somerset, introduced in 1952 and replacing the more upright A40 Devon, featured a much more bulbous style of coachwork than the outgoing car, yet shared much of it's forefather's running gear, including the pre-B Series 1200cc engine. Whereas the Devon looked similar to the larger A70 Hampshire, the smoother-shaped Somerset shared many design cues with the revised A70 Hereford. Performance was moderate if not brisk, the 1200cc four cylinder engine being coupled to a four speed gearbox featuring a column shift. I owned a beige Austin Somerset for a while a few years ago, and it was a pleasant enough car, although as with the Devon, it was a bit wallowy and it felt somewhat under-damped up front. Most Somersets were saloons, all featuring four doors, leather trim and a painted dashboard. Some also had the added benefit of a steel sliding sunroof. For those seeking an economical yet eyecatching car, perhaps to use in sunnier climes than those usually encountered in the Austin's native Britain, there was a two door convertible, or dhc (drop head coupe) version available.
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Return to Old Vehicle Photos Page 7.
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