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Close up view of the Flying A badge fitted to the top of the A40 Devon bonnet. Unlike on the smaller A30 and A35s, this doesn't act as the bonnet catch.
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The paint isn't as shiny as it looks in this photograph, but its pretty reasonable for the car's age. It came up better with an afternoon's polishing.
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The Austin of England badge as fitted to both sides of the bonnet. This badge appears on a number of Austin cars back in the early/mid 1950s.
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View of the nearside front of the Devon.
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Nearside rear corner of the A40. The tiny rear window and lack of wing mirrors can make reversing a little tricky.
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Back end photograph, again showing the dog guarding the machine!
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Offside rear corner. The bumpers, especially the rear, could do with a re-chrome one day.
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Offside front corner photograph. As far as I know the registration number is the original. The badge bar and 2 extra lamps are period extras and not original fitment.
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Nearside front corner. The pop-up semaphore indicators still work, but on a separate switch I can use the flashing indicators that have been fitted to small brackets below the bumper irons.
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Drivers side from above.
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Passenger roof. These photos were taken before I got the polish out, after 4 goes the shine came up much better on the roof, where the old paint had oxidised a bit.
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Front view shows the upright stance of the A40 Devon. The later Somerset, also powered by a 1200cc engine, would be a little lower and more rounded.
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Another view of the car's rear end. The chrome bootlid hinges are a bit pitted but I do have a smarter painted set which might go on sometime.
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In the period adverts for the Devon, the artwork shows a long sleek machine, whereas in fact the car is quite a dumpy little thing - nice, but dumpy!
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The boot open allows you to pile up suitcases on top of the lid, similar to the arrangement on the Austin/Carbodies FX4 taxi.
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The interior of this Devon is in pretty good nick. This version, the GS2, has a traditional floor mounted gearlever. Later cars have a column shift. The black indicator switch on the far right is a later extra, and is used for the semaphore indicators. Originally the switch near the horn button would have done this.
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Some of the interior, including the rear seat, has been re-upholstered. Carefully placed on the back seat I've put a 1949 Autocar magazine (Devon on the cover), and a correct 1949-1950 RAC handbook. The road map below dates to the 1930s.
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Interior viewed from the passenger side. Unlike in the back, the front leather seats are original - a little tired but still perfectly usable after several decades of use.
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The chassis number plaque is screwed to the inside of the glovebox lid. It contains the Car No., model reference (GS2), and engine number - the latter matches the number on the unit still fitted in the car. Chassis ("Car No.") is 384884, Engine No. is 1G 397970.
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The rear seat and headlining have been replaced by a previous owner to a good standard. The elbow-height panel could do with replacing ideally, but it adds a bit of character so I'll leave it as-is for now.
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I found this tax disc holder years ago, and finally I have a suitable car to use it on. It was issued by an Austin agent in King Street Blackpool (Hargreaves & Bailey), either in the 40s or 50s. It took a lot of cleaning - I found it in the bottom of an oily toolbox. I don't know where this actual car was sold from though.
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Both semaphore indicators still pop up on request. I only use them occasionally as most other motorists won't be looking out for these old-style indicators.
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The original 1200cc 4 cylinder OHV engine of the Devon.
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This little plate is riveted to the bulkhead, on the drivers side. Is it a body number of some type?
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The wiper motors are stamped with their date of manufacture. This one is stamped 51, so dates to a couple of years after this particular A40 Devon was built, at the Longbridge works.
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This plate is set into the bulkhead side, on the passenger side, and seems to be the identifier for the company contracted by Austin to build the bodies (Pressed Steel Co. of Cowley).
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The original bakelite control box.
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Sepia-ish picture showing the Devon parked outside on a sunny day, being guarded by my faithful hound, a collie cross called Olly.
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