Examples of Austin's A30 feature several times in the old-motoring photo gallery, but for some reason photos of the later A35, in saloon form at least, have taken longer to track down. This is the first A35 saloon to be added in, a black 2-door A35 with a smiling lady sat behind the wheel. The photo was taken in September 1965. This classic A35 has been fitted with a radio, so if this photo was taken early in September '65, she could well have been listening to the current Number One in the UK Singles Chart - "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones. Other Number Ones in that month were by The Walker Brothers, and Ken Dodd..
The A35 looks to be in good overall condition, and shining nicely, although the driver's door handle is exhibiting a touch of the droop, not unusual on Austins after a few years.
(Please click the thumbnail to view full-size image.)
In the background is a moderately interesting old bungalow, probably dating from the 1930s.
2. A Speedwell-modified A35.
David sent me an email in April 2011 regarding some old slides that he'd scanned, following on just a few weeks from him arranging for my old truck to appear at the 2011 Race Retro event at Stoneleigh. The first of these images to feature on the site shows his dad's Austin A35 negotiating a ford, as David recalls:
"Dad's 1958 Austin, A35 EEC 951, in a Westmorland ford, taken in 1963. This was his first small car, previously he'd always used motorcycles for recreation and a large car for business purposes (trailer towing etc.) I remember that the A35's previous owner was one of the driving test examiners at Kendal. As well as the sunvisor, there was a slight Speedwell tuning element incorporated in the A35.
I honed my driving skills in this car, although I actually learned to drive in the business' Standard Vanguard Phase 2, starting at the age of fifteen years old. I took at least two driving tests in Lancaster in the A35 but failed each time, very frustrating. Of course I was driving too quickly and confidently and had to have that knocked out of me by a professional instructor, before passing my test in his Triumph Herald."
3. An A35 plus other cars, at Cheddar Gorge.
The year is 1965, on a particularly sunny day. The parking area is populated with a varied selection of British classics, with a grey two-door Austin A35 - registration 954 AUR - closest to the camera. Next in the line-up is an early (1963) Morris 1100, registration 711 FMO, while alongside it is a black Morris Minor Traveller, and a Mk1 Mini in Tartan Red. Car registered 557 ARC is a Vauxhall Victor FB, and in front - taking up a considerable amount of parking space - is a voluminous Jaguar Mk10. One, possibly two, 1100s nestle up close to the front of the Jaguar. A Standard 10, its roof rack well loaded, heads in the photographer's direction.
4. A 1958 Austin parked outside a hotel.
Finding original, clear photographs of A35s continues to be an uphill task. This next shot, that came with the colour photo shown above, again shows the rear corner of an A35. This 1958 Austin, parked close to the Bryn Awel Hotel in Aberdovey, was caught on film in 1959, making this not just a photograph of a nearly-new car, but also one of a late A35, the model only continuing in production until 1959.
Locking petrol caps were usually aftermarket accessories rather than factory fitted items on cars in those days, this A35 being just such an example, from a time when syphoning-off someone else's tank was a rare occurrence. Unusually this example has a black painted numberplate lamp cover, rather than the chrome type more often seen on these cars.
The car's registration, 720 HHA, points to the car spending most of its days in Warley, situated in the West Midlands. It would seem its owner(s) had popped over to Wales for a short break at the hotel. Powered by a 948cc engine, the Austin would have been a willing, rather than electrifying, mode of transport for traversing the mountainous Welsh scenery. Showing to the right is the n/s/r tail light assembly of an F-Type Vauxhall Victor.
Collection of preserved Austin images.
I put together a photo collection featuring 130 (mainly preserved) Austin cars, vans, lorries & pickups, and rolled them into a slideshow video for Youtube. I've embedded it below so that it can be watched from here, or alternatively over on the Old Classic Car YT page. Lots of favourites included, with A30s and A35s of course.
Other items of A35 interest on the site include this screensaver (XP only at present), and some photos of a rare A35 pickup. A hunt around via the Site Search at the foot of this page will turn up plenty more relating to these small Austins of the 1950s.
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Old Classic Car (C) R. Jones 2023. Content not to be reproduced elsewhere.
