In this episode of Shannons Club TV, Mark Oastler and John Wright take a look at the tiny British sedans which exude the austerity of post-war Britain - The Austin A30 and A35.
My first car in the UK! Superb handling and atrocious road holding on its cross ply tyres meant wet greasy roads on roundabouts. were a joy to negotiate at 20-30 mph with the tail hanging out. I learned about car handling at legal speeds and everything about car maintenance.
We had a A 30 4 door back in the late 70s'. Dark Green . Always remember the central position of the indicator switch on top of the dash..and the thrill of being in the passenger seat and helping dad turn corners. .such simpler times.
Love the simplicity of these earlier cars. I wish we could buy cars like this new today. They might not have airbags, abs, traction control, lane departure alert, collision avoidance, reverse cameras and 5 star ancap safety ratings, but at 45mph you dont bloody need it! Still baffles me as to why motoring needs to be so complicated today.
I’m in the process of restoring a 1956 Austin A30 2 door 'Deluxe'. I think in the case of the Baby Austin’s tasteful performance upgrades probably increase the value of the car and thanks to BMC parts bin sharing an AH Sprite 1100/1275cc Motor goes in easily and the relevant brake upgrades.
Always like original close to stock visually as does the market, but Peter Brock's tasteless conversion would have to be the most valuable A30 in the world if it had survived and went for auction.
As the A30 was smaller & lighter than the Minor & slightly than the Standard 8, it performance was considered quite decent for the time & being lighter, all it would take is moderate modifications to make it get up & go. & that happened even before the A35 came along. To beat an unmodded A 30 you needed a Minor 1000 or a Standard & (of course by then Ford were producing small overhead valve cars in the UK.) Now, same again with the A35, noceably lighter than the Minor & same engine.
