Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Kaybee]

Hi folks, this oddity has been on Ebay a couple of times here and I was wondering if it really is a factory item as the vendor suggests, or....


http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Austin-A40-Rare-4x4_W0QQitemZ110250312867QQihZ001QQcategoryZ6763QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

...not ?...thanks, Col.
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[47p2]

I would be suspicious of this not being what the vendor says.

To me (who is untrained in such matters) it looks like a ute which has been converted at some point.

The vendor never actually says it is a genuine 4WD all that he says is

[Rick]

I must confess I've never heard of this conversion, but thats not to say perhaps a 3rd party company didn't do a few back in the 50s? I'd have thought that if it was a recognised conversion, the company that did it would have been mentioned in the listing..

R
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[Old-Nail]

I've been a member of the Austin Counties club for several years and there has never been mention of such a project, not factory as far as I know.

[Peter_L]

The front end of the front leaf springs appear to be attached to the steel tube forward of the front bumper.

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

A40 and A70 Australia

[poodge]

This actually looks like an Austin ute body having been dropped onto a Jeep chassis.Certainly the wheels look typical Jeep.This would also explain the HUGE ground clearance.
A local chap used to do something similar.His choices of body were a bit unusual though.1964 Holden station wagon,70'sTriumph 2000 MKII saloon,and the last one i saw was a rather hacked about Toyota Corona wagon.

[Peter_L]

I found the site below, which has some great history about Austin vehicles.

(Select Home from link) I have not found any reference to a short run version, but the e-bay model does appear to have front leaf springs.

http://www.austinworks.com/t-chass.html

Maybe someone added the springs to give more ground clearance. The front hubs do seem to be original so I can't see it being 4WD.

[Kaybee]

Thanks for the replies, pretty much confirms what I thought about it being a made up item. I agree with Poodge, they look like military Jeep wheels and hubs and it's definetley 4wd, you can see the front diff through the wheel arch and the transfer case shift levers are visible in the cabin shot. Might have to go and have a look over the weekend and take some better pics, and see what it looks like up close, see ya, Col.
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If it's old...it's good !

[Peter_L]

Any chance it is part Austin Gypsy. The gypsy used the same power unit as the A70.

Early Gypsy's had swinging arm suspension, on later models there was an option for springs.