Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Sixty years ago, on September 18th 1958, the A40 Farina went on sale.

The A40 shown below was bought new by my great aunt and uncle in 1960, in fact it was both their first new car - and their only car!

I remember riding in it whenever we visited them, and it came into our possession shortly before I took my driving test. It was at the wheel of this A40 that I won my licence.

The A40's still with me, pending some restoration. Do you have any memories, fond or otherwise, of Pininfarina's distinctive creation?


http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/my_car_a40.htm

RJ
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[Ray White]

I like to think that I helped keep a Farina A40 alive by giving away a good gearbox that I rescued from a write off. A neighbour of mine had owned his A40 from new but thought it would have to be scrapped when the gearbox failed. My A30 had the engine from the same car and various improvements like brakes and anti roll bar.

My guess is that both cars are still around somewhere.

[kenpix]

Had an A40 in the early 70's, on which I lavished much time and affection. A smashing little car, despite my sweating blood changing the diff and later, both king pins (assisted by a club hammer, blowlamp and swear words).
It was the mk2 "hatchback" style and the drop-tailgate enabled two of us to kip down in it during a fishing trip in the wilds of Norfolk.
It kept up with modern traffic (just), was pleasant to drive, proved reliable most of the time (providing the grease gun was used regularly) and had just about gone "round the clock" when I sold it. Gone but not forgotten!

[Ellis]

There's an early 1959 blue and black example, SDM 828, still in daily use and belongs to a recently qualified mechanic who works at the garage where I take the moderns.

He bought it a few years ago from a long term owner (38 years +), a mechanic at the former BMC dealership who had in turn bought it when it was part exchanged against a new car in the late 1960s.

Photobucket purged the photos I took of it and pasted on here.
It no longer has it's original engine but a 1098cc unit but the original engine is in his possession.

They A40 was a popular commercial traveller's transport particularly those working in the North Wales area.
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1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[Rootes75]

Thats a lovely story Rick, nice to hear that the car is still in the family and being looked after.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[Mikey77]

My mechanic friend in West Somerset has a very nice original circa 1959 one tucked away. It's in that bluey-green colour with a black roof.
Another friend used to scrounge his girlfriend's father's later hatchback one in the same colour for our mid-60s weekend trips to the lickerish lights of London. It used to get us there quicker than his 100E...
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1995 Jaguar XJS V12 convertible
2010 Honda Accord

[alastairq]

I also had one, around 1975..it was old then [had a BT reg number]....948cc....a huge difference from its predecessor, which was a PC Cresta!

Fuel consumption being the most noticeable difference.

I liked it...quite a 'modern' drive too.

Also discovered the remains of one rotting away in the soggy bottom of a wooded valley in north Devon....[along with a truck chassis, etc]....rescued one or two minor trim bits, and the windscreen wiper mechanisms...which I still have, somewhere...all this being over 25 years ago now!
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Dellow Mk2, 1951 built, reg 1952.
Fiat 126 BIS
Cannon special [1996 registered. Built in 1950's]
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Ford Pop chassis, Ashley 1172 bodyshell, in pieces.

[Ashley]

I had a MK 1 A40 in the early sixties and I think it may have been the most troublesome I’ve owned. It burned oil, knocked out the big ends, the gearbox failed, the dynamo, two half shafts, distributor, king pins, end float in front shocks causing violent wobble and so on.

The MK 2 was a much better car although the 1098 rattled horribly from new. I believe the later A plus engines got a torsional vibration damper to stop it, but until then only the MGB engine and the Morris designed C series didn’t sound harsh.

The 948 was a nice smooth little engine, but it had bore lubrication holes in the con rods that years later I discovered should have been blocked. There was a BMC update.

To be fair I was doing a considerable mileage.

[lowdrag]

I took my test in one in 1963 with BSM, and my boss had one as a company car.

[roverdriver]

I like your story, Rick. When these cars first saw the light of day, I was puzzled about the choice of model name. Am I wrong in believing that 'farina' is the word for flour in some languages?
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