1959 Austin Cambridge Mark 2.

The son of the Austin's previous owner contacted me, asking if I knew of anyone who might be interested in buying this sturdy old motorcar. His father had run the Austin since 1965 as his only car, never seeing it as a 'classic', but simply his day-to-day car. Now in his 83rd year, he had decided to hang up his driving gloves for the final time.

As I was on the lookout for a slightly later classic than my A40 Devon to use on a regular basis, I thought it'd be worth checking out. This would allow me to give the Devon an easier time of things, and instead put the mileage on something a bit comfier, and easier to drive, while still being distinctive. Plus, I like old Austins! So arrangements were made and we both headed to London to inspect this old timer in the metal. Somehow we managed to choose the one day of the year that heavy snow hit the country, but undaunted we set off anyway, observing many mangled moderns on the side of the motorway as we drove steadily southwards.

Seeing the A55 for the first time.

I'd seen a couple of photographs, so had a reasonable idea of what I was going to find, plus owning a Wolseley 16/60 some years back meant I had an idea of what areas to check on this example. The car I knew was taxed and MOT'd although hadn't seen a great deal of use in recent years, borne out by checking the mileages recorded on recent MOT certificates. On arrival, we were shown into the garage in which the Cambridge had lived since the mid 1960s. Overall the condition was as expected, tidy yet showing evidence of home-grown improvements as time had rolled along - again, this was the family car, and never viewed as something to preserve, just to maintain it well, and use as others would use their modern car, hence the numerous accessories and updates that had been applied to it.

A quick photo of the Austin with it's previous owner, before we set sail northwards.

The Cambridge's B Series engine (updated to 1622cc courtesy of an A60, replacing the original 1489cc unit) fired up instantly, and sounded as sweet as a nut. With the car on the drive, I was able to have a good crawl around and poke in the usual rotspots. Prior to retiring, the elderly owner used to work at London Heathrow, so told me how several enthusiastic car owners would wheel their cars into the workshop, and spray the vehicles' undersides with an oily anti-rust treatment, which had done an excellent job in preserving the Austin's underside. In fact I cannot find any evidence of welded repairs, which for one of these old Farina-designed Austins, is quite unusual. Sills, spring hangers and floors are all as they left Longbridge, back in 1959. In fact much of the car, especially under the bonnet and along the lower edges, has an oily-ness to it, which suits me fine as I'm a keen fan of the oily-rag finish, when it comes to running older cars.

Included in the deal was a veritable mountain of spare parts. A relative of the owner had operated a recovery vehicle serving the M4 motorway, so whenever a crashed A60 (or Morris Oxford, Wolseley 16/60 etc) came in to be broken, the A55's canny owner went along to pick off any usable parts, which were then stored in his old wartime Anderson shelter at the bottom of the garden, 'just in case'. He has lived so long in this house that he remembered hiding in this same shelter during the war, when a bomb dropped and demolished the end house in his block!

Loading all the Austin parts took quite a while, as did the unloading at our end.

Fortunately I'd taken my battered but solid box trailer with me, as I knew there were many spare parts with the car. These parts including a secondhand 1489cc engine, gearbox, electrical parts (distributors, coils, dynamos, starters, coils), spare doors, glass, gauges, carburettors, radiators, chromework, lamps and lenses, suspension and steering components, full new clutch and so on, enough to fill the trailer and my Volvo estate completely.

After being taken around the block by the former owner in his 'dependable Austin', I handed over the £asking price, the cars were loaded with the parts, and we set sail, on what was probably the longest trip the Austin had done for many a year (best part of 190 miles). It seemed like a good test for the old girl, so Lid followed behind in the Volvo and we ventured off towards the motorway, taking it easy and keeping the speed and revs down, in deference to the Austin's age and stately demeanour.

Driving the Austin.

Plenty of room in the boot of these old Austins for spare parts.

The Farina range of large Austins first went on sale in 1959, and this being a '59 makes it an early-ish example of the breed, although updated with a few parts from later Farinas as time went on. This was the beginning of the motorway era, and as such axle and gearbox ratios were designed with faster cruising in mind, when compared to earlier cars that can often feel very low geared at anything more than 40-45mph. The A55 rolled along comfortably at 55 or so, benefiting from its whisper-quiet (well..) 1622 engine, and we made our first proper stop part-way up the M40, to top up with fuel and grab a bite ourselves.

With snow blanketing much of the country that weekend, the gritters had been out, meaning it didn't take long for the Austin to be covered in a corrosive paste of slushy, salty water. The trip though went well, and we arrived back home late afternoon, the Austin not having missed a beat, despite being driven through some lousy weather conditions.

With the car back home, I was able to give it a good scrub and check over. The initial thoughts about the car still hold true fortunately, the paintwork has seen plenty of enthusiastic touching up over the years, but still looks presentable and perfectly acceptable for a car used regularly, come rain or shine. Some might call it 'scruffy', I just like to think that it shows its years on its sleeve, and doesn't pretend to be a minter, simply a good sound example of an increasingly scarce old car. With most BMC Farinas either succumbing to rust, or the banger racer's gentle touch, they aren't something you see in use much on the roads now, except on classic car runs or en route to a show. The big fins seen on these Austin A55 Cambridge Mk2s were toned down for the later A60s and Morris Oxfords, losing a little of their appeal to me, so I was really pleased to stumble across this finned version.

At some point the original leather seats were consigned to the dustbin, and replaced with later vinyl chairs from an A60. It'd be nice to find some leather seats, perhaps out of a scrap Wolseley, so if anyone has a decent set please get in touch.

One thing I have changed are the auxiliary lamps on the front, they looked like quite recent additions. Old photos of the car show a variety of lamps fitted to the Cambridge, so I removed the plastic lamps and fitted a more in-keeping pair of old Lucas units, complete with clip-on covers. Other modifications, such as the towbar, and smart full width wheel trims, will stay naturally. At one time the family went on camping holidays, so an auxiliary 12v socket was fitted under the bonnet on the bulkhead, which would have been used to power the lighting in the tent. Spare fanbelts and hoses were also found stashed behind the grille, another example of the former owner's hands-on approach to keeping this old Austin on the road.

I'd like to extend my thanks to Geoff and his family for emailing plenty of photos showing the Austin prior to our trip, and also for scanning and sending some old photos from the family album, all featuring the A55 in the background, either at home or during a family holiday. Since buying the Austin, I've pressed it into regular use and, touch wood, it is performing superbly.

Update. As I'd hoped, the A55 proved to be a dependable old car, and I ran it for a couple of years before selling it to make some room in the garage.

Old views of the Austin in the 60s and early 70s

Old views of the Austin in the 60s and early 70s

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