Classic & Sports Car - December 2015 UK

The Austin has now gone up to
Manchesterfor its engine to be
rebuilt and the car to be MoT
testedandputbackontheroad.
GarethDaviesatChartistGarage
in Hyde collectedit in mid-
Septemberusing my mother’s
faithful Subaru Outbackestate,
whichshehasownedfromnewin
1997andnowinsistsisaclassic.
Iwastheonewhorecommended
that she bought it, so I do get it
right sometimes.I have often
wishedthatmyvariousGammas
haditsreliable2.5-litreflat-four,
whichhasn’tsomuchascoughedin
almost20years.ButIdigress...
AlthoughtheAustin’sstraight-
six looked pretty goodinternally,
Garethdecidedtotakeittobitsand
replacethemainbearings.Hehas
even ordered the correct BMC
greenpaintfortheblock.We have
decidedagainstgoingdownthe2in
SUcarbsroutefornow,butGareth
doesn’tseeaproblemwiththenew

A t 3 t e

Run byMartinBuckley

OwnedsinceOctober 2014

Total mileage47,549

MilessinceMarch

reportnone

Latestcosts£86

REJUVENATIONOF

JEKYLL IN HYDE

THANKSTO

ΔChartistGarage: 0161367 8705

Austin 3-litre

manifoldor sorting the brakes.

EventheHydrolasticsystemhas

reviveditselfatthefrontafterbeing

pumpedup,andheisconfidentthat

theself-levellingwillcomebackto

lifeoncethepumpisrunningagain.

Thereissomerustbehindthe

battery tray that needs sorting

beforetheenginegoesbackin,and

Iintendtofindanearsidesill,which

Ipresume(probablynaïvely)canbe

adaptedfromaLandcrabitem.

ChartistGaragelooksafteralot

of1960s and ’70s cars, which are

simplecomparedtothemoderns

thatdriveGarethspareonadaily

basiswiththeirconstantelectrical

problems.Increasingly,theyhave

tobescrappedforwantofasmall

butexpensivepartthatmassively

outweighsthe value of the car.

Daviesservedhisapprenticeshipin

’65withHollindrake’s(theColwyn

BayJaguaragent),sohegoesback

tothedaysoftheMk2andE-type,

andiskeentodomoreolderstuff.

Oneofhismanyclaimstofameis

thatheworkedforGeraldRonson

whentheHeronGrouptookover

Hollindrake’s;anotheristhathe

looked after a Series III XJ6 for

TonyBooth,the‘scousegit’ofTill

DeathUsDoPartfame. He has

recent ly finish ed the restor ation of

aRolls-RoyceSilverCloudIIand

anSIIILand-Rover.Heisinthe

midstofdoingaSeriesIandcan’t

waittogetstartedonrebuildinghis

V12manualXJ-S,butnotbefore

he’sfinishedmyAustin.Apparently,

itgetsahugeamountofattentionin

theworkshopfromthe‘mydadhad

oneofthose’element.Although,in

reality ,whatdadprobably hadwas

an1800or2200Landcrab.

Backathome,meanwhile,Iam

strugglingto sell the idea of the

Austintomynearestanddearest

Mia,butIsuspectthatshemight

warmtoitifthey’dmadeaconvert-

ibleversion.I havehalf-jokingly

threatenedher with selling the

Mondeorunaboutandreplacingit

withthe3-litre.AsBarryNorman

usedtosay:“Andwhynot?”She

mightevengettoliketheAustin,

withits hugeinternal dimensio ns,

automatic’boxandpowersteering.

MaybeIcouldgetherachauffeuse’s

uniformandsitinthebackpretend-

ingtobeLenMurrayonthewayto

Number10fora beerandsand-

wichessessionwithHaroldWilson.

By the way, could someone

corroboratemy often-repeated

storyaboutDavidOwenrejecting

anAustinfromtheministryfleet

becausehewantedaRoverP5B?It

hastherightfeelaboutit,although

Ican’trememberwhereIheardit.I

wouldhateittopassinto3-litre

lorewhenthereisnoevidence!

Nicelysprucedup with new frontbumper

Daviesrecentlyrebuiltthis SIII Landie... ...andserved his apprenticeshipon Jags

Blockwill be repaintedthe correctgreen

‘IcouldpretendtobeLen

Murray,sittingintheback

onthewaytoNumber10,

withMiaasmychauffeuse’

On a higherplane:3-litre

has perked up compared

to how it left Buckley’s

barn(below right)since

suspensionwas revived

December 2015 Classic&SportsCar 173