Austin A30 or 35.

[SteveandKelly]

I have been thinking about getting an Austin lately, mainly because there seems to be a thriving Owners Club and spares doesn't seem to be a problem. Had a quick look at Bull Motif and they seem to offer spare parts for the Austin on the same scale as for our Minors.
Has anyone experience of these cars ? I would imagine the rules for buying are pretty much the same as for a Morris,(Rust etc). Would I be wrong to assume that some engine parts are interchangeable with the Morris ?
There is something about the "Baby Austin" that makes me want to own one.....

[ColinP]

Wallace & Grommit?

The space around the engine is very much restricted (compared with a Minor) so servicing will be a bit more of chore.

IIRC the suspension is much softer (front) - and the rear springs weaker. Be careful of the bodywork - again it's more enclosed...

Colin

[Blaketon]

The A30 was Austin's answer to the Minor and after the BMC merge, the Minor got the A Series engine and transmission (Though some early S2 had Morris transmission).

The Austin had a mix of hydraulic and mechanical brakes, it had quarter elliptic springs at the back (Like the Frogeye and early Spridgets.....and the pre war Austin 7) and it didn't have rack and pinion steering. Being narrower (Like the Spridget, which was based on the A35), it is less roomy and the Austins don't handle as well as Minors. However as circuit cars, they did better than Minors, as they were lighter and on smooth circuits they could be made to handle sufficiently well when there was no need to compromise settings for road use.

I've no idea how good they will be for spares in terms of A30 and A35 only parts but all the running gear (Except the steering - steering wheel excluded!!) will be shared with the Frogeye Sprite.

[SteveandKelly]

Thanks for the replies, I'll bear the advice in mind when I decide what to do.

[MarkyB]

Based on one I had over 30 years ago, A35s rot like pears.
Newspaper and filler had been liberally applied.

[samuria]

body parts are quite rare. no one makes steel front wings but you can get repair sections. or fiberglass ones. goodluck with your search

[ErnstBlofeld]

Oh, blimey, the A30/35, and the Minor.

I believe the little Austin was developed by Longbridge in a fit of pique after Nuffield rebuffed an Austin merger in the late Forties.

And it has to be said two things about the A30/35 were remarkable: the AS3 engine and the car's incredible structural strength. They'd employed some aeronautical engineers at the Austin, you see, and the A30 - possibly the first pure monocoque car in mass-production (unless you consider the Lancia Lambda and SAAB 92 as mass produced) was over-engineered to a nicety. IIRC one of the folk involved was Ian Duncan of Duncan Dragonfly fame: a little transverse, FWD car whose suspension was developed by a certain Alex Moulton...

I'd rather the A30/A35 hadn't existed. If it hadn't it might have had huge implications for the UK motor industry.

If the Austin-Morris merger had gone through in the late Forties then the A30 would not have been developed, and the Minor would have become BMC's de facto small car. The Mog could have been the basis from which the merged company could have spun the Spridget, Nash Metropolitan, Farina A40 and all the rest of it. So much duplication of effort avoided, and think of the economies of scale...

And before the 1952 merger, Morris was planning a one-litre OHV unit which would no doubt have been streets ahead of the 803cc Austin unit.

It was all Lord Nuffield's fault, I suppose. If he'd realised how special the Minor was and put his company four-square behind it then the Austin takeover of Morris need never have happened. Morris taking over Austin: now that might well have averted the disaster we're all so familiar with.

[Mogwai]

My brother in law has had a couple, one was featured in Kim Hensons book. mechanically similar to the midget & Minor so no major worries there (brakes maybe ). As with everything this age chassis condition is key as panel availability is a lot more limited than the Minor

[SteveandKelly]

Thanks to all of you for the replies. I'm going back to plan A and getting a second Mog.

[moggydriver62]

I have only worked on a couple of A 30 ,35's.
Its a pain in your back and--------,woking through
that little hole in the bonnet.

[moggydriver62]

Sorry I forgot how to spell,since I came over here.
No I didn't live in-- working sorry woking.

[stubborn_fairy]

I have an A30, it was my main car for years, I used to use it in London rush hour traffic, drive it down to Cornwall, and regularly zoom up and down the A1 to visit my family. Loved it! It has many parts in common with the MM, I never had any problems getting parts, either from Bull Motif, Autofurbish (now bust?) or other club members (once travelled the London underground with a propshaft). Unfortunately it's 803cc engine didn't quite cut it when I graduated and actually had to get a job and be there on time every morning...it is off road at the moment as my Dad is restoring it for me. So hopefully I'll get it back as a retirement present. (He's also doing a Morris Cowley, Austin Nippy, Austin Ruby, and an MGBGT)

One thing I noticed, not sure if it is mutual, but the Austin A30/35 OC really didn't like Morris Minors...someone once smashed my headlamp and club members were really annoyed when I bought a new sealed beam unit from the MM parts shop up the road, they said I shouldn't 'go to the other side'(!)

Wonder what they'd think of me looking for a MM1000 now?!

But yes, the baby Austins are lovely cars.

[Kevin]

One thing I noticed, not sure if it is mutual, but the Austin A30/35 OC really didn't like Morris Minors...someone once smashed my headlamp and club members were really annoyed when I bought a new sealed beam unit from the MM parts shop up the road, they said I shouldn't 'go to the other side'(!)

Wonder what they'd think of me looking for a MM1000 now?!

But yes, the baby Austins are lovely cars.

That's odd as at the North London Morris Minor Rally, your owners club has attended with a selection of vehicles for some years and I hadn't heard of any differences between the clubs.

[ASL642]

I have heard this as well. I was a member of the A30?35 OC going back about 25 years ago, and no they didn't like the Morris Minors - think it had something to do with parts but not sure it happened - before I became a member.

[Blaketon]

I've never heard this one but there were rumours about the owners of Triumph sports cars being anti MG and visa versa .

If anything, I reckon this sort of thing is likely to be less common these days. Classic cars are pretty few and far between these days and I have found that owners of such cars are more likely to acknowledge you, whatever you're in, than in days past. There was a time (In the air cooled days) when VW drivers would always acknowledge each other and it's been like that with MGs in all the 26 years I've owned one. Now it seems to be a classic car thing and I'm quite happy to flash might lights at a Marina driver (As happened on Drive it Day). Indeed I was parked next to a couple of Marinas at a recent event and spoke at length with their owners.

We are a minority group, who all do the same sort of thing, albeit with different cars and so I feel we should stick together. For a long time we were viewed with contempt by certain influential individuals (I hope this issue is now behind us or at least the environment less hostile), for whom classic car enthusiasts would have been little more than convenient scapegoats to blame for various aspects of environmental damage. It has to be said that some "Regular" motorists make unfounded assumptions about us, whether we drive A30s, Minors, MGBs or any other classic car.

[stubborn_fairy]

I think it's hilarious, it's like a sort of fundamentalism... as my Dad quips: 'I'm not a Christian, nor an atheist, I'm a member of the Austin 7 Owners club'.

Tee hee

[Blaketon]

One of my dream cars is a sports Austin 7; an Ulster being the one I'd really like.

Yes it ranks above a Ferrari!!!!!

[stubborn_fairy]

My Dad has a Nippy and a Ruby. Maybe I'll inherit them one day....