Lot Ended
Description
Wonderfully correct and original; few owners; only 49,700 miles
indicated; lots of history; a proper Forties time capsule!
A successor to
the much-loved Seven, the Austin Eight was another excellent little car but had
the misfortune to be launched in early 1939, just a few months before Germany
invaded Poland, sparking off an unfortunate chain of events that would soon
turn every car plant into a munitions factory.
However, military staff still needed to get about, so while most of
the Longbridge works was swiftly turned to war production, a steady stream of
Eights continued to trickle from the gates.
The
chassis was a major step forward for Austin, being half-way to full unitary
construction in that the main member was a pressed steel floor-pan with a box
section welded down each side of the car and three others going across the
floor. The body was then bolted to this structure.
Styling was by Ricardo ‘Dick’ Burzi, recently poached from Lancia,
and was influenced by the 1938 Buick range with a rounded front-end with
horizontal slats and a novel alligator bonnet. Suspension was by semi-elliptic
leaf springs with hydraulic dampers, allied to Girling drum brakes all round
The Eight kept the 900cc, four-cylinder,
side-valve engine from the Big 7, now with a higher 6.5:1 compression ratio.
Mated to a four-speed manual gearbox. top speed was a respectable 60mph.
Some 20,000 were made, mainly for military and
government use, before production was halted in 1942, over half of them saloons
and the rest tourers. The Eight was brought back into production from late 1945
until 1947, but only in four-door saloon form, another 36,000 of these being
sold.
First registered in Birmingham in August
1946, this wonderful four-door saloon has had just five owners from new,
according to the V5C, and shows only 49,699 miles on the clock which is believed
to be correct and is certainly reflected by the overall condition of the car.
A buff logbook shows that by 1958 it was owned
by a Mr F Breakwell of Rednal (presumably the first owner) who kept it right up
until 1982. A Shell service book shows that he had the car serviced every year
from 1959 – 1968 by Tessall Garage of Birmingham, during which time the mileage
crept up from 34,355 to 41,695.
In 1982
the car was acquired by a Mr B Jenkins of Northfield at which point it had been
laid up since 1971, judging by the 19 old tax discs on file. There are lots of
invoices to suggest a light restoration and thorough recommissioning over the
next couple of years before the car passed an MOT in 1985, at which point it was
showing 44,166 miles.
In 1987 ownership passed to
a Mr WG Morris of Tamworth, moving to a Mr M Stevens of Bedworth in 1999 and
then to a Mr R Luddington of Bedford in 2001, a valuation certificate showing
that it was insured for £3,500 in 2002 – a hefty sum for such a car back then.
Mr Luddington kept the car for the next 15
years, invoices showing that it was serviced by Allon White of Beds in May 2005
at 46,932 miles; had a cylinder head rebuild in June 2012; was fitted with LED
indicator bulbs in 2013 and the gearbox was reconditioned and a new clutch kit
fitted in 2015. Inertia-reel seatbelts were also fitted for safety reasons.
The current keeper acquired the car in April
2016 and has continued to look after it carefully, including having the wiring
tidied-up and four new leaf springs fitted in 2017. He tells us that the car
drives as well as it looks and it has certainly been starting promptly and
running nicely as we have moved it around on site, with healthy 35psi oil
pressure.
Many old MOTs show that it has only
covered some 5,500 miles over the last 40 years and the sub-50k miles currently
displayed seems entirely credible. It comes with a large and interesing
history file (some of it shown in the photos), including period road tests and
much useful technical literature relating to the model.
As you can see in the photos, this gorgeous little Eight is a proper
Forties time capsule with that priceless patina that only comes from decades of
careful use. So if you need a break from Twitter, Tesla and Trump, just switch
your phone off and come and sit inside.
Close
your eyes and before you know it - there’ll be bluebirds over the white
cliffs of Dover, just you wait and see...
Consigned by James Dennison – 07970 309907 – [email protected]