The Austin A30/A35 Owners Club Meets 3 On The Column Classic Car Podcast

Following on from last week's podcast with the guys from Crossley Motorsport and their Jowett Jupiter, this week Brian and Andrew remember that other stalwart of the classic motor racing scene, the Austin A30/A35.  If you want to find out more about these cars there is, of course, only one place to go and that is the Austin A30/A35 Owners Club.

We are pleased to welcome Melanie from the club, who shares with us that this year the cars celebrate their 75th birthday, with the club itself starting in 1970, when the last of the A35 vans were just 2 years old.

We find out how an Austin A30 or A35 comprehensively beats an Aston Martin, even without a tuning kit from Speedwell or being driven by Graham Hill.  It was Melanie's first car but she didn't have it from new, obviously!

Going home sideways in the snow and, if you had an inflatable A35, how would you blow it up?

We've seen the Lions of Longleat, let's go camping... and why a sunroof is always desirable.

An A30/A35 - it's hereditary thing - once in the family, always in the family.

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:20

Hi, you're through to the Free on the Column podcast with Brian Thomas and Andrew Roberts. Hi Andrew. This evening we have a wonderful lady called Melanie, who I believe is the amongst many other things, is the rally officer for the Austin A30, A35 Owners Club. So a warm welcome to you, Melanie. Would you like to say hello?

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Hello. Hello, nice to meet you all.

SPEAKER_04 0:53

Nice to meet you too. Nice to meet you. These are lovely, lovely cars, Austin A30s, A35s. I think if anybody is to think of a classic vehicle, they have to be the perfect classic, do they not? They're absolutely simple to drive, economical. Tell me the story about Austin A30s, A35s. Tell us why, in your opinion, they are so amazing.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Well, this this year happens to be the 75th year since it was launched. The AS3 was launched at the Urzcourt Motor Show. And they actually had one cut in half so you could see exactly how much space is in the back. So for a small car you could actually fit a family of four in. So that's how it all began. So the AS3 ran for a few years, and then they brought out the A30, and that was originally called the A37, following on from the Austin Sevens of yesteryear. And um and then they developed it onto the A35 in the 50s, and then they stopped, and then the vans continued into 1968, I believe, with the last van was made. So, and then they did pickups as well, which is a ridiculous little thing with barely any space in the back, but everyone loves them, they're just such a quirky little car. So yeah, they're brilliant.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

Wasn't it the case with the pickup that Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs were not terribly keen on it because they classed it as a four-seater because there were actually two tiny platforms to rest on in the rear load bay, and it was designed to carry builders and the like around building sites, and so the government said, right, it's of car. It now will attract purchase tax.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

Yes, yes, that was the problem. It was the same as the van. The van um got purchase tax, and you had to own it for so long before you could put windows in it to make it into a countryman. There was actually a you know proper countryman's built with sliding windows and everything, but a lot of people have done van conversions. Um obviously a lot of the vans were used and sign written on the side and everything, so yeah, they were used commercially.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

And of course the police used the A35 van. Sorry? The police use the A35 van, certainly in Wiltshire.

SPEAKER_00 3:37

Yes, they did. Yes, they did. I mean Um One of our members has a A35 um police van done up in the right colours, so that's amazing. Yes, it is Harry. He's our secretary currently.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

I have to say the thought of an A35 van pursuing hardened criminals in a Jaguar 3.8 Mark II um belongs in a carry-on film. And of course, um actually an A30 van or an A35 van does appear in a carry-on film, carry-on constable.

SPEAKER_00 4:14

Yes, yes, it does. I have to say though, I have it in Lancastle Coombe in an A35. What's it like? And we overtook a Lamborghini. I'm sure it was slowing down for a corner, but we overtook it. So, you know, it has happened. Not with a standard engine in, though.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

True, but if an A35 is good enough for Graham Hill, who famously raced A35s, then it's good enough for Castle Coombe. And we mustn't forget the A30, I think it was an A30 van in The Deadly Bees. Yes, yes. Brian, you're looking blank. The Deadly Bees is what is best remote as a Z film from 1966, in which lumps of sugar puffs painted orange and black attack bee actors. And there's a chase in the middle with an A30, A35 van and a Land Rover travelling at 15 miles an hour. It's very thrilling. It was a high-speed chase, then, was it?

SPEAKER_00 5:22

I can't say it was around then to have seen that.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

It was it was it was absolutely terrifying. But to go back to the beginning, I've I mean, you mentioned, of course, that Austin were very keen on promoting the A thirty as the seven, the A thirty seven, the new seven. And it's in the publicity material, but the name never stuck with the public.

SPEAKER_00 5:44

No, no. No, it was dropped quite quickly. People don't don't refer to them as that at all.

SPEAKER_01 5:52

No, I mean I'm looking also.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

No, sorry, carry on.

SPEAKER_01 5:57

No, I say no, you're the important one, I'm merely the oaf.

SPEAKER_00 6:05

I'm worried you know more about them than I do.

SPEAKER_01 6:07

Oh, I don't, of course I don't. I've been doing a little small amount of recce, and obviously I've seen the the newsreel footage of the 1951 London Motor Show. But I love the way that um Austin are so modest about the A30. It's only the greatest achievement in post-war motoring.

SPEAKER_03 6:25

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 6:26

And to be fair, but it was an absolute breakthrough for Longbridge. I believe it was their first car with fascic construction, and of course the engine was new.

SPEAKER_03 6:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

I think because we, I suppose the A30, A35 was perceived as, for want of a better word, to use a revolting phrase, cute. I think its impact on post-war motoring is underestimated. You know, how advanced a car it was for Austin at that time.

SPEAKER_00 6:58

Oh, absolutely. And I mean, you know, even back then it was an affordable car. It was, you know, it was promoted as a family car, and in fact, a lot of families, you know, would uh would have them. My my Grampy had one when my dad was young. Um, there were four children, and they used to go on holiday in a A30 countrymen, which now is a very rare version of the car. Yeah, they used to all go away on holiday, and they had these two cut-off um stools in the back that the boys had to sit in, the girls had the seats, and they would go away a family of six.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

Which six not again, not unusual at that time. And I think we need to tell our listeners about the vast amount of luxury that you could have expected in uh 1952 when full production began for your £504.10 and what luxuries you receive. You have a front driver's seat adjustable to one of three positions, not the passengers. You have a sun visor, you have an electric windscreen wiper, you have counterbalance drop windows in the front doors. This is living the dream. And to be fair, it's probably better. I mean, you people just you know cannot, you know, couldn't cope with such luxury. I think twin stop and tail lights are even optional. And of course that kept the price to about 60 pounds less than a Morris Minor.

SPEAKER_04 8:35

And they had semaphore indicators as well on the earlier ones, didn't they?

SPEAKER_00 8:40

Yeah, yeah, the A30s did as well. It was only when they brought in the A35 that they had the um they actually put the indicators in the body. So a lot of people still run with trafficators, but they've added indicators as well, obviously for safety in modern times. Um and I believe you can even put sort of LED flashing lights into semaphores now to make it a bit safer. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

Well, of course, the A35 countrymen always had trafficators in the UK, and the vans too until 62, they were the last British vehicles, I believe, with semaphore trafficators as standard.

SPEAKER_00 9:21

Yeah. And I mean they also I mean, even on the A35s, you can st on the four doors, you can still see the blanking plates where they didn't bother changing the structure. They just put a blanking plate over the top.

SPEAKER_04 9:33

But it's probably a pressed steel panel, wasn't it? I would imagine, and it saved them a fortune in redesign costs.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

It's alright. I'm a bit distracted. My son's just reversing into the drive with his car trailer on, delivering another vehicle.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Is this an A30?

SPEAKER_00 9:51

No, it's not. It's an um a Rover 25, by the looks of it.

SPEAKER_01 9:57

Which are now becoming quite rare. They are, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

Well, my son races a um MGZR. Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

She's one of the new generation, one of the new generation of classic enthusiasts.

SPEAKER_00 10:12

Yes, yes. He's he's the youngest generation at the moment, apart from my daughter, who's also mad on them, but she's gone down another route and she's got an Austin Healy Sprite instead, a Mark IV.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

So the penultimate, the last, um I'm not very good. The last of the Austin Healy Sprites was the Mark V for Austin's, weren't they?

SPEAKER_00 10:35

Yeah, well, she's got she's got the Mark IV, and um she was given it by I've known the car since the 90s, and it was her godfather that um gave it to her because his children weren't interested. He couldn't get in and out of it anymore, so he wanted to gift it while he could um and see it back on the road. So she's got it back on the road with help of her brother, and um the first thing she does was is have a tow bar fitted on the back so she can tow her trailer tent. Which is quite weird.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

I I admire that. Now, a quick do you find much difference, obviously different engines, between driving the A30 and driving the A35?

SPEAKER_00 11:25

Um, I've only driven an A3 an A30 was the first one I drove in earnest. My very first A35, I very first car I drove at all was round a car park at Longleat House before it was a centre park, where we used to have a rally, and I sort of learned how to go forward, go back, and everything. And then when I passed my test, my car wasn't quite on the road yet, and so I used my dad's four-door A30, but that had a 1098 engine in it, and um the only way to get it to actually do anything was to double declutch and with its like two and a half foot long gear stick, so that was a bit of a feat. Um, but so that's the one I drove first, and then I got mine back on the road in 1990, I believe, and um drove that. That was my only car for five years, so I used it going in and out of work and everywhere in between.

SPEAKER_04 12:28

Um can I just say at this point, you have just broken my heart because you're telling me Longley is a centre parks now, and I can remember as a child going in my dad's Angliavan to see the lines of Longley, and I'm devastated. I'm so upset now that it's a centre park.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

But it's all still there, all the all the animals are still there, it's just got centre parks on it. But we used to have a rally, um, it was called the Great Western Rally, and that was started in the 80s and went on into the early 2000s, I believe. And that was an A series rally, so you had the A30s, A35s, you had the midget and sprite club, you had the A40 Farinas, and obviously the Morris Miners. So that was quite a big popular rally. I mean, people come all over for that, and I'm kind of trying to get them to do it again.

SPEAKER_04 13:29

And something certainly my my dad had his on his angle van in the windscreen was we've seen the lines of Longleat on a little triangular flag. And I think if you see kind of cars in period and they'd have adorned A30s, A35s, and everything else, there'd be like a collection down the side of the windscreen to indicate to people of all the places that you've been to with these little flags and things. There's nothing quite like that these days, is it? And we were so excited. We said, look, look, we've seen the lines of Longweed. Look, we've got a sticker on the windscreen. Yeah. Yeah. It's uh I bet they don't do one for centre parks.

SPEAKER_00 14:17

No. No, probably not. You probably get t-shirts or baseball app or something like that now, don't you?

SPEAKER_01 14:25

Probably do. Yes. Oh, please don't. My local zoo at Southampton was so bad it was closed down in the 80s. So we didn't have a violence of long lead. We had a chimpanzee whose party trick was smoking. Oh. We're talking about the late 70s, not that long ago. It was horrific. Look up the Southampton zoo online, or rather, don't.

SPEAKER_04 14:54

Did it manage to give up the cigarettes eventually?

SPEAKER_01 14:57

Well, you know, you're never alone with a strand, the cigarette of the moment. Um, so so obviously I envy you going to Longley when all I had was um Southampton Zoo, etc.

SPEAKER_04 15:09

Well, what can I say?

SPEAKER_01 15:11

With a smoking chimpanzee.

SPEAKER_00 15:13

I did only go round and see the animals on one year because I was too busy playing cars. But um one thing I do remember is because we obviously used to camp there, and there's nothing quite so disturbing as in the middle of the night hearing the lions roar. That is quite disgusting, and that's a memory that will stay with me. And um my friends used to have they had a little tiny sprite cadet caravan, and their kids used to sleep in a tent outside, and um they used to tell the kids that they had to stay in the tent or the lions would get them overnight.

SPEAKER_04 15:50

Yeah. Things things used to say to children, they'd they'd put you away now for saying things like that to traumatise children, wouldn't they? Wouldn't be allowed. And we where's the fun in that? Better times, better times. And of course we we touched earlier about um motor racing with Austin A35s, and when you see um things like the Goodwood Revival, um the best, most charismatic and superb cars that you see racing are things like A35s battling it out with the Ford Galaxies and kind of things like that. And they try so hard, don't they?

SPEAKER_00 16:39

Oh, absolutely, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 16:40

They're so determined. They're sort of like real sort of the the motoring equivalent of like the ankle biter, aren't they? They they just don't let go. They don't give up.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

No, they don't give up.

SPEAKER_04 16:52

They don't, no, and and they're always there, as you said earlier, able to just slip round the inside because they can outbreak these faster, more powerful cars. And uh I think Andrew will concur there, there's always been the most amazing kind of tuning options that you could get for a sting A30s in all of the A series engine cars. I mean, what a choice of things you had in those days.

SPEAKER_01 17:21

Now, am I reconciling, of course, that Graham Hill's car was speed well tuned? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:26

Yes, it was.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

That of course is the one that I always um that I always think of when I think of um A-35s racing, their manoeuvrability, their tuned engines, so on and so forth. And we're talking A35, I think from 58 onwards with Graham Hill. And my thing is all the amount of club racers who entered the sport thanks to their small Austin. And of course, the you know, the same engine of the A35, you know, was in the sprite.

unknown 17:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

Give or take a carburetor or two.

SPEAKER_00 18:00

Yeah, yeah. And I mean they brought back, they did bring back the um racing with mostly A30s, and um they did the HDR DC rallying, which sadly has has ended now, but that's what got my son interested in doing the rallying, and uh that's what prompted him to paint his A35 in two-tone because his is teal and teal body and cream roof, so that was his sort of like sort of play to them, really. Um and he's got to the point where um let's just say they're not fast enough for him, so he's gone down into the I always call it road rallying. So I said to him yesterday, I said, so if I say road rallying, does that cover it? And he said, No, he does targers, stage rallying, sprints, and auto solos, and occasional times. I said, Okay, I will include all of that then. Yes, so he's he's out most weekends, but he's um as they say, he's one of those annoying people that's good in both seats. He's an extremely good navigator and driver. I don't I used to he's been a natural driver his whole, you know, well, as soon as he could get in a car, you know.

SPEAKER_04 19:22

And that's a really good skill because that's really quite rare, isn't it, to have people that are brilliant at the driving and brilliant in navigation as well.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:30

Um it it's a completely sort of different skill set, really, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 19:35

Yeah. He's virtually um got a photographic memory as well. So when you're looking at code boards, he doesn't have to stop. They can just keep going and and you can put them down, so they're saving time then. Um but they're looking in, I think there's there is somebody trying to get sponsorship for him because he's now got his own house with his girlfriend, so obviously that's taking up a lot of money. Um try and help him keep going because he is doing so well, you know. My stuff into the classic cars though than than than the racing.

SPEAKER_04 20:09

Wow. So in the day, do you know sort of what they were reliably able to tune these cars to in terms of like sort of brake horsepower? I mean, how how big or how powerful? What could you get?

SPEAKER_00 20:26

You're asking the wrong person. I don't I've got I've got a 1098 in my car, and that gets me up hills and tows its little trailer because I've got an A35 trailer that I tow behind it. Yeah um no A35s were killed in the construction of my trailer. It was from a it was from a write-off, and I helped the guy um with doing like the cover for it and everything back in the 90s, 80s, 90s, and I said to him, if you ever sell it, it's coming to me because I remember it. And I eventually got it in 2016. So had it sprayed up to match my car, and I've now got all our all the South West group, which is the local group I'm in, um, all of our sort of um classic event stuff is in there, like you know, for the stand and putting all the flags up and everything. That all stays in my trailer and then it just gets towed down to the event.

SPEAKER_04 21:25

And and your club has a tremendous presence as well, doesn't it, in the NEC? I mean, I visited the stand last year and again this year, and um what was noticeable um last year um is is the excitement that you have for getting younger people involved in these cars, isn't it? I mean that that's a major thing for the club to do, isn't it? And and how's that?

SPEAKER_00 21:55

Well they're the f they're the future of the club, aren't they? Yeah. I mean take Technically speaking, I was one of the young ones once. The club started in 1970, which, you know, don't tell anyone, but that was the year I was born. So it's been around as long as I have. My dad joined in I think '84, but some of my closest friends have been in it virtually since the beginning. And they've got a hell of a lot of experience and have done pretty much anything you can with an A35 in between. Um and it's it's a different, it's a different thing now. You've sort of gone when I first joined the club, a lot of them were people's like only cars, and it was make, do, and mend, and what we had to do to keep them on the road, and everything like that, and very few restoration projects. Um, whereas now a lot more cars are being saved, being restored, and you've almost got two different um two different camps. Um, I don't know whether you saw our lovely AS3 that was on the stand this year.

SPEAKER_03 23:09

I did indeed.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

It's got 70 years of patina on it.

SPEAKER_03 23:15

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 23:15

Um, and it's an amazing car, but it's so original and so straight and everything. And um Harry actually, that you were talking about earlier, he was like, Oh, you know, I ri I would have to, I'd have to make that shiny and it's so straight, it would make an amazing car. And there's me going, no, no, no, you've got to leave it alone. And he's like, Oh, I have I upset you, and I'm like, No, you haven't upset me. I said, you know, A, I can't do the work myself. I I can take an engine out, but you know, that's another story. Um I can't afford to pay somebody else to do it, and and also if I did have one that was that immaculate, I'm so blibbing clumsy, I'd probably scratch it within a week. So, you know, to me, that car is like it's it's something on its own, it's it stands out as it is rather than being restored. So it you know, there's a lot of people that are sort of in the club for different reasons. And I mean there's there's the social side, um as we were saying before, the reasons for joining the club. I mean, apart from we get and there's an amazing magazine which has been voted best magazine for a classic car club on numerous occasions, um, that's quarterly.

SPEAKER_04 24:33

Side light, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 24:35

It's two accord spotlights, sorry.

SPEAKER_04 24:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 24:39

Yeah, it's a quarterly, it's a quarterly magazine, and they used to be spotlights was always the biggest one, and then side lights was more of an intermediate one, but now they're all the same, they're all full colour, amazing, amazing um ones. And of course, we've also got a spares project. Um, because some of my memories from the earliest cars, because my dad had two daughters, while my parents had two daughters, so my sister was taught to cook, as I say, and and I wasn't, and I was taught to play with cars. So um my earliest memories of the rallies were as soon as it, you know, it was light, me and dad would be out the caravan, and we're like, we're off to go for little rusty bits of metal, mum, you know, um, because you were buying things that you could only get second-hand things back then. So you were scrabbling about to try and keep these cars on the road. Um there were some new old stock things there, you know, that you could buy, but now obviously things are being redeveloped. Um, and that's one of the things the car that the A85 Club is all about is they we've got our own spares project. So there's things that we do that you can't get anywhere else.

SPEAKER_03 25:52

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 25:52

So it, you know, if as you said before, if you've got a car, it is well worth the membership fee to actually get access to the spares project. Um you know, things like um re-sleeving the master cylinders, um, brake cylinders, things that you can't get elsewhere. Um one of the things that the club's invested in in the the last few years is quarter light rubbers. Um, anyone who's had a car with a quarter light knows that you know you have to check them first because if you open them, you might never get them shut again. Yes. Um, you know, and the rubbers get really quite porous. So we've invested and we've had them reproduced. Um the most recent ones have been for the four-door rear quarter lights, which um even though there's you know the actual call for them is fairly low, it's still an important thing to the club. So we have made that investment. Um, the most recent one we were discussing at the last national committee meeting is they're remaking door handles. There's things like that that you can't you can't get. You can only get the second hand ones, and they're you can have things re-chromed, but we're actually getting them remade.

SPEAKER_04 27:11

So they were they were visualizing the door handles now. They were, of course, unique to the A30, A35, weren't they?

SPEAKER_03 27:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:21

Whereas I guess a lot of mechanical parts are straightforward A series or they can be adapted. Into interchangeable. Things like door handles. I mean, they'd I know things do turn up in the back of people's sheds as new original old stock, but I would think the chances are probably fairly low.

SPEAKER_00 27:43

I'm now if they are, they they would they would be pitted or rusting, or you know, even though they were really good chrome at the time, they would be pitted and everything. So just things like that and Dorsey or window rubbers, uh windscreen rubbers. I mean, that's one of the things they did on the stand. Um they were actually, weren't they?

SPEAKER_03 28:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:05

They put the guy's um windscreen rubber in, which is if you've ever done one, is is no mean feat, I tell you.

SPEAKER_04 28:11

No, they were making it look relatively easy, actually, I have to say.

SPEAKER_00 28:16

Um very in very experienced people doing it.

SPEAKER_04 28:20

Yeah, I I got that. Yeah. I was sort of sitting there thinking, if they said to me right now, do you want to have a go at this no? I'd end up putting my hand through the windscreen or something. I mean, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:32

The worst one is the A35 back window because it's curved.

SPEAKER_04 28:37

Oh right, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:38

The A30 one isn't that's my son going. The A30 one isn't so bad because it's you know, the shape on the back and it's glass. But when you get the A35 one and you've got to like force it into the window with the rubber, and you're just like, is it gonna go? Is it gonna and it just like pops in?

SPEAKER_04 28:57

It's um it's anybody has a sigh of relief.

SPEAKER_00 29:00

Yeah, yes, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 29:02

But can you still get things like rear windows? So I mean it must be again, these things must be sort of terribly hard.

SPEAKER_00 29:08

The thing is that you can get the you can get the glass. I know there was somebody making new windscreens, and they were easy even making heated screens as well.

SPEAKER_03 29:18

Really?

SPEAKER_00 29:19

Um because if you had an A35 like mine, they didn't come out the factory with a heater.

SPEAKER_04 29:25

No.

SPEAKER_00 29:26

So you had you had two choices. You had the you had the standard A35 saloon heater, which sat on the bulkhead, and you had the controls underneath the instrument panel, or you had a van heater, and mine's a cheap version, mine's got a van heater, which is absolutely useless, makes so much noise it's louder than the engine. Um, but it hasn't got has it hasn't even got vents that go up to the windscreen.

SPEAKER_04 29:53

Oh, blummy.

SPEAKER_00 29:55

So yeah, it's um, you know, a cloth.

SPEAKER_04 29:59

But people were a lot tougher those days, weren't they, to be fair.

SPEAKER_00 30:04

Yeah, I mean I I drove when it was my only car, I drove it in all weathers. And I mean I I can remember coming home. I worked at Chartnham Hospital at one point, and uh I used to come home to Brockworth in Gloucester, and because they're so narrow that it was really compacted snow, and you've got the two lines in it, you know, the two scores in it where all the other cars have been going, and I couldn't go in that because the two wheels weren't wide enough. So I came home on an angle all the way along the main window.

SPEAKER_03 30:37

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 30:38

But it was absolutely fine. It it you know it outperformed other cars that were struggling, and I just I just kept going.

SPEAKER_04 30:45

Just keep going. Yeah. I mean the skill is in keeping going, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 30:51

I do remember going to work in it and um because I put when when I bought it, I bought uh uh I helped the guy do it, and it was a welded paint, you know, painted shell, and then we refitted everything. So I put in new door rubbers, which you would think that's a really good idea, but they were so hard compared to the originals, um I couldn't shut the door.

SPEAKER_03 31:15

Right.

SPEAKER_00 31:16

Especially in winter when it was even harder. And I used to, if I stopped for petrol, I always used to go to the same garage because they would see me come in back in the day when they would actually fill it for you, you know, you didn't have to do it. Um, but they used to come out and shut my door for me.

SPEAKER_04 31:33

Wow. And that's actually not as far back as you think. So I can remember um sort of in the late 80s, um, there was a garage near me, a shell garage, and it was actually a um a Chrysler dealers, I think. And um they actually had a lady that would fill the car for you. And I can remember when I subsequently moved sort of out to near Harridge, um even as far as the mid-90s, there was someone there who would fill the car for you. Um and very cheery did all the wash your wind screen for you as well. I mean, looking back, it's it it seems like something out of the arc, but yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:21

Well that would have been the mid-90s for me as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's unbelievable now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 32:28

One one thing I must ask, um, and I'm just wondering whether it's been a positive or a negative. I mean, obviously Wallace and Gromit, yeah. A35 van, has that had an effect on, say, the values of these vehicles? Do you think it's been a good thing? It's introduced more people to them, or has it sort of created a challenge because people just want to take every van and turn it into like a Wallace and Gromit mobile, a bit like Dell's three-wheel?

SPEAKER_00 33:04

I only know of two. I know one that was created when the um the first was it Curse of the Weir Rabbit came out with the A35 pan. And they made one very, very similar to the Antipesto van. Oh, right. Um that was around for a while, and that did create interest. It did create interest. Um, the other one that's done is the um the bun van, the sort of green and green and white one. Yeah um, and that one's actually been on display at Cribs Causeway in the Wallace and Gromitz shop. Oh, right. So it has, it's created it, it has created a massive um following. Um obviously, not everything's led to somebody buying a van, but it made the van much more popular. And as I was saying before, a lot of people in back in the day bought the vans and put windows in it. So the actual proper panel vans um became quite rare, and they still are now, and they're very sought-after. Um that's that's what my dad had when back in the day and when he first got back into the car club in the 80s.

SPEAKER_01 34:15

So yeah. And of course the vans had their famous air conditioning device.

SPEAKER_00 34:23

Are you talking about the little vent in the roof? Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 34:26

I think that's how you could always distinguish a genuine countryman from a converted van. Does it have the air conditioner?

SPEAKER_00 34:34

Yeah, you try getting hold of one of those vents right now.

SPEAKER_04 34:37

Oh gosh, I can imagine. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:40

I mean, no, I have a 1960 BMC car myself, so I'm always looking around various Commonwealth countries where it was built, see if they have any spare parts as well.

SPEAKER_03 34:52

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 34:53

It's not an un it's not it's not unusual. Now, question about another famous A35 van. What became of Mr. James Hunt's van?

SPEAKER_00 35:05

I don't know. I don't know. I can I can remember oh I can remember seeing it in in magazines when I first came into the club. And I know people in the club would be able to answer that question straight away because they're a bit more um tech knowledgeable than I am. Um I don't personally know. I don't as far as I know, it's not around anymore.

SPEAKER_01 35:34

That's that's a fair because it's a vehicle I think we always associate with you know the late you know James Hunt. So another question, what is the standard reaction of the public when you're at behind the wheel of one of your A30s?

SPEAKER_00 35:54

I can sorry, it makes me laugh because I had I've got obviously got my A35. Um I've also got Love It or Hate It, I've got a PT Cruiser. Oh wow. And that's purple, that's purple as well. My A35 is purple, my PT Cruiser is purple, and then I had a Renault, a Renault um Grand Scenic. And so you're driving along, and when you're in the A35, to start off with, you're like, why are people staring at me? Why are people waving? And then you remember what car you're in, and then you're driving along in the PT Cruiser, you see another PT Cruiser, you wave at them, and then you're driving in the Renault, you see a PT Cruiser and you wave at them, and you're like, Oh, I'm not in that car, am I? So I mean, really good response. I mean, um, we do a lot of road runs, so um, a lot of people will be doing road runs on drive it day, but I mean we've been doing it for years. So the rally we're doing down in Cornwall, um, there's three different road runs that people can go on. There's like a convoy run or a longer one, a his heritage tour, and all that sort of thing. Um, and when when what is brilliant, if you're near the beginning, you see people and they're like, oh look, there's one of them, and then they'll be like, Oh, there's another one, there's another one, there's another one, you like this, and they're like trying to get their phones out to take pictures and all of this. So it's really good. And we stopped. Um, we did one tour round, um, we got the cars to land uh to land's end, and we also went through St Ives and we stopped on the harbour and just had crowds of people round.

SPEAKER_04 37:30

They're just just mobbed. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:33

Yeah, they're just fascinated. Because some people, you know, you know, they say to you, Oh, I haven't seen one of those in years, or I've never seen one of those, or and you're like, you know, it it because you're around, I've been around them for like my whole life, you sort of don't realise how unique they are. Um I remember my son when I first put um my Austin back on the road, and his friend was looking at it in the garage, and they were like, Can it can it go on the road? I'm like, Well, it's a car, of course it can go on the road. But you're just like they've never been exposed to anything like that at all, and they just didn't didn't understand, you know.

SPEAKER_04 38:12

Um that's quite interesting because you're saying about um taking the cars to St Ives. Um we had a few podcasts ago, we had two guys from the Jaguar Dama Heritage Trust on there, and they were saying the most important thing that they, as Jaguar Dama Heritage, can do is not show the Jaguar cars to Jaguar enthusiasts, although that's incredibly important, but actually taking them out to people that don't really know anything about Jaguars, because that really massively widens the brand because it introduces people to the cars that would never otherwise have even thought about them, and uh taking them down to St Ives and just showing the public. I mean, they're people, it helps everybody else, and you will get somebody who will think, Oh, you're so good, I'd love to have one of those, and and it spreads sort of exponentially, doesn't it? I mean, it's it's an incredible thing to do.

SPEAKER_00 39:21

Um I I remember one time in my when I first put my car back on the road, it that just say had a few teething issues, and one of them was it used to have the fuel used to get stuck in the carb, so basically it would just cut out as you're driving along, and so like you pull over, you know, get it over to the side, open the bonnet, take the top of the carb off, so it's got an SU carb on it, take the top of the carb off, wiggle it about a bit, put some more fuel in the top, tie it all, and and you'd be off and he'd be fine again. But it was doing it regularly, and um my son did a um gifted and talented thing at school where they had to have a project. So straight away Zach's project was um he wanted an A35.

unknown 40:09

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 40:09

So we went back to the same guy that I bought mine from, who lived at the back of my where mum and dad used to live, and he got his A35, and I think he was I want to say he was 12, and um his project was getting this car going and he had to get it running. And it was it was one of those where you know, like you just put your head in the window and it just smelled old car, you know? It just had that thing about it, and he got it running, but he didn't get it to a point where we could take it to the evening event. So I said, Well, I know Bilbo will put my car's called Bilbo, that's why I refer to him. Um we'll take Bilbo along because he was still shiny then, and um, so of course we get there, and it's the same hill in Taunton. As soon as you go up that hill, it played up. So we did it, we got there in time, we parked outside next to um an Aston Martin.

SPEAKER_03 41:09

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 41:10

And this other guy had done this, you know, his project on Ast Martin's and weren't they amazing and all of this. And so I turn up in my little purple A35, park up next to him. Guess who got all the attention?

SPEAKER_04 41:24

Yeah, I was just gonna say, yeah, I better shoot.

SPEAKER_00 41:28

Yeah, I I mean we could we couldn't get into the event because there were so many people there. Really and then what he did for his display was he went to the stock in the garage and got out all these different car parts from A35s and labelled them, and then he did like a quiz to see who could, you know, identify the the most. And then you were getting all the grandparents coming along, the grandfathers mostly, and they're like, Oh, I used to have one of them, and you know, um, I mean, if I could have a penny for everyone who said, Oh, that was my first car, and um I'd I'd be rich because of course they were affordable, so they were popular and there was a lot made, and so there's still a lot of people around. You remember them from way back, and it's like, oh my grandpa used to have one of those, or my you know, but when I say to them, Well, it was my first car as well, they kind of look at me a bit strange. I had it at the NEC this weekend, and I'm like, Well, I didn't buy it new, obviously.

SPEAKER_04 42:30

You know, excuse me.

SPEAKER_00 42:35

So um it it it but it just wherever they go, and I mean it's such a nice environment. I mean, I can't in the modern era there are a lot worse things that kids could be into today.

SPEAKER_04 42:48

Oh goodness, yes, yes, goodness.

SPEAKER_00 42:51

You know, going to car shows, it it feels safe, the kids enjoy themselves, you know, and it it is a family environment, and you get all ages, um not just within my family, but a lot of families uh go there and have been going there for years. So um it is brilliant. And I mean one of the courses is um we've have we have a lot of car insurance companies, as you might know, um, that give reduced car insurance if you're a member of a club. So that's another bonus um uh to join. And I've known people who are like, you know, I'm into different things now, but I'm keeping my A35, but I've got I've got to be a member because at the very least I'm getting my reduced car insurance, which is it's not the only reason, but it's another reason.

SPEAKER_04 43:40

And as you said, there's a social side of things as well, and um, you know, I don't think any insurance company worth its salt would would take board that sort of cover because it is they're gonna be insuring people that love their cars, aren't they? Um Yeah. And when you've taken a vehicle and you've had it a long time and you put your heart and soul into looking after it or restoring it, of course you're going to look after it. And I'd have thought any insurance company would um would love that really.

SPEAKER_00 44:14

So uh yeah it it's they they do struggle, they do struggle with the younger members getting insurance. I know one locally to us, he's just managed to get insurance now, so he's really pleased that he can start driving theirs, and they've got an AS3 as well, so um one of the very early ones.

SPEAKER_04 44:33

So it's good thing is it sounds like a really healthy amount of younger people getting into these cars in the club, and and that's so good to see, isn't it? Because we've touched on this earlier in the podcast about a lot of things are you know things you remember from sort of being a child, and I think we probably say this to somebody on every podcast, don't we, Andrew, about how important it is. And you know, a lot of people will think of their classic car as being the cars they were in when they were five or something, um but with these sort of cars, it's it they're simply falling in love with them. It's not because unless it it's your family where there's a tremendous family history, yeah um it's so important to get younger people to things like classic car shows because like your grandson Zach going to the school um talking about his age 35. I mean that is price. Sorry, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:39

Sorry, it was my grandson. He's my son.

SPEAKER_04 45:42

Oh, your son, sorry. I thought it was sorry. I'm the fourth generation, he's the fifth generation. We'll we'll edit we'll edit that one out.

SPEAKER_01 45:52

Edit that right, make a note, edit that bit. Edit that bit, yeah. And of course, another challenge is because the last A35 New was sold in 1968, there's that generational gap. So it's essential that younger people are involved, are enthused to continue the flame.

SPEAKER_00 46:15

Absolutely, absolutely. And I I was having a conversation with another car club when I was up at the NEC, um, because I also love Volvos, and um what they were saying is I mean, they've got cars going back from the 30s right through to modern day, they cover the whole section, and what he says is you can see that every 10 years the interest moves forward 10 years because it's all about the nostalgia and what you had. It's like I love the 70s because that's when I grew up. Um, but we haven't got that. So what we've got to do is is like, I mean, everyone loves the 50s and 60s anyway, but we've got to keep that going for the new generation. And I mean, what we do do, we have a national rally, well, an international rally actually every year. We've got a lot of members in Holland, um, Sweden, Belgium, all over America as well. We had one guy to a rally I did in 2008, he came over from I want to say New Zealand, it might have been Australia, but it was one of the two. And uh, he was loving it. He was helping, he volunteered the whole weekend, he was absolutely brilliant. He loved it. You know, so it's an international rally. Um, but what we do is we move it round the country every year. So you get the people who don't want to drive them too far can still come to an event, um, and you get the people who it doesn't matter where it is, they'll get there. Because they do every year. So, I mean, we've had people we've got people in the car club that have gone to every single rally since they started. Wow. You know, that's that's how it is. It it it gets in your blood, I think.

SPEAKER_03 47:59

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:01

Um so the one we're doing one in Cornwall, um, and that is going to be, well, we're hoping to what I what we've said is back get back to the olden days because there was a rally in 1989 that I remember in Cornwall, and um the Southwest group turned up in in numbers that say all dressed in Hawaiian outfits, and um and sort of made an entrance. So uh and it's us, and I and someone was telling me about that at the rally. The rally this year, we were advertising uh last year, sorry, we were advertising this year's, and this guy was telling me this whole story, and I'm like, yeah, I was one of them. I was 19, you know. So um it's sort of well, I think when I first went, when I first went along to become chair of the Southwest the first time I did it, um I was the age my dad was when he joined the club, and my son was the age I was when dad joined the club. So yeah, it's it's a real it is a real family thing. But it's a family club, you know.

SPEAKER_03 49:19

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:20

You you get the people who you get the purists who want everything absolutely original, you get the people who use whatever they've got around to get their cars going. Um, we've got people who wouldn't use anything standard because um people who are really, you know, the engineers that really sort of do everything they possibly can to it, you know. Um I'm the one that I go on holiday and I come back and something's been done to my car. Because I went away the one year and a tow bar had been fitted without my need. I went away another year and it had better suspension and a servo added because I'm pressing the pedal. So um yeah, it's worth going on holiday. It probably is people within the car club helping out, you know, and this is why you know I I'm a strong supporter of the national club, but I think the local groups are what keep the car club going. Sure. Because you've got local knowledge. We've got we've got a guy, um a guy joined the club last year and um really, really enthusiastic. Again, uh his family have got other classic cars as well. Um and he's got this A35 van, and his little son, who I think he's seven or eight, um loved my car, and I gave him a little ride along the road, and he was so chuffed that he'd been in, you know, he'd experience this classic car. So he's he's the future, you know.

SPEAKER_04 50:58

Absolutely, yeah. And and they're accessible cars, aren't they? I mean, you're probably finding that values are sort of increasing, or are they sort of fairly goes in waves, and I think it's for a really good one that's you know, show winner, they will reach top prices.

SPEAKER_00 51:20

But even top prices compared to other classics is still low, because they've always been they've always been affordable. That's kind of been their thing, isn't it? So even you know, you you can pick you can pick them up very cheap if you want to do some work, or you can pick sort of middler range that you know is still affordable, but might need a little bit of work doing in the future, and then you've got the ones that have been completely overhauled. You know, I mean some of the ones now that are show winning, they would be better quality than when they came out of the factory.

SPEAKER_04 51:56

Probably would, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:58

You know, and I mean they're amazing, absolutely amazing. I mean, just it's just like looking at a new car. You know, the level of workmanship and everything and the the and the time and care that people put into it is just absolutely amazing.

SPEAKER_01 52:14

Now I have a very serious question to ask, Melanie. One that I think will, shall we say, arrive at the heart of the A30, A35 movement? A question of profound um importance. Have you ever had to start your uh one of your Austin's by hand?

SPEAKER_00 52:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 52:37

And what was it like? And did people and was it like being in a black and white film as you did so?

SPEAKER_00 52:45

It was it was quite scary when it first kicked in, I must admit. I must admit. I've also had to um as and somebody I think they did there is a picture kicking around somewhere as when I had this same problem with my fuel, I did actually have to blow up the exhaust pipe to um to force a force a blockage and get the car going again. So but then that's part of the fun, isn't it? What's what's the fun in just driving somewhere and getting there? There's there's no fun in that, you know.

SPEAKER_04 53:19

So you say you blew up the exhaust pipe, did you? Did what literally or yeah.

unknown 53:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 53:28

I don't know whether it was my friend winding me up or not, but it worked and the car started, so I don't care.

SPEAKER_01 53:34

Look whether you're trying to actually inflate your Austin.

SPEAKER_00 53:37

Yeah, I mean they do look a bit like a bubble car, but yeah, it it did look like that. But it worked. Whatever it was, it worked. So I mean, we we broke down coming back from a rally that's um we go to Powderham Castle Rally and uh in July, and everyone else had gone home. My son had brought his car down on a trailer, he'd gone home, and we were gonna go back the next day and thought, oh no, stuff it, let's go. We'd already come back to bring my caravan back and everything. Got in the classics to bring them home, and my daughter's obviously she's got 1275, she wasn't towing that day, but I was. And um normally I'm leading when we're in the Austin, I'm going first, and she brings up the rear, otherwise she goes too fast. And when I say too fast, like for an Austin. Um, and she overtook me, and all I could see was smoke billowing out, so she'd overheated because she'd been stuck in the queue getting out of the rally field, and um, so I sort of pulled in behind, and of course, you don't have hazard flushes, so I got the triangle out and everything like that, and the policeman stopped and asked us how we were, so I sort of phoned my son and he's gonna bring his trailer down, and he said to me, He said, Why don't you just tow her off the motorway? And I went, you realise I've got a trailer on the back, yeah. So, yeah, that was another delayed, delayed um homecoming, but I find that part of the fun. The first I arrived at the first show that I'd been to after I'd redone my car and I hadn't been to a show for a few years due to sort of work commitments, and um and I I was doing really, really well. It was the Lichfield rally, and I'd gone from here and I was driving up, I stopped at Cribs because my foot was hurting, pulled in, it was doing, I said it's going really, really well. So I thought I can overtake that horse box at 55-60 miles an hour. No, I couldn't. I blew the head basket. So um, yeah. So I arrived to my first rally in a few years on on the back of an RAC truck, not on the back of an AA truck. Um so I arrived in style, let's say, and everybody's like, we know whose car that is.

SPEAKER_04 56:09

Wow. So but it's fun. Your plans for the future then. Are you buying any? Do you have any more A30, A35s on the horizon to buy? Or do you have a enough already?

SPEAKER_00 56:23

We've already got um I've already got an A35 van. My son has just taken on my dad's other A30 that he bought in 1984, and it sat in a garage, and then the garage fell down, so we've got that one home. Um sadly, my dad's A35 van has had has had to go because that was just literally falling apart. Um, I think it virtually fell in half. Um they've got we've dad's still got his A30. Um I've got an A30. What else have we got? Yeah, and obviously mine and my son's. So I what I really like is the AS3 that was on the show at the NEC. And I'm hoping that that one might just end up being left here on its way home from the rally.

SPEAKER_04 57:19

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 57:21

So again, there's two groups. There's the people who have got one pristine A35 or A30 that they keep four rallies and they always bring that one along, and then there's the other ones who they kind of just keep growing and and multiplying, and I feel sorry for them, so I buy them and that sort of thing.

SPEAKER_04 57:42

And then you've got the challenge.

SPEAKER_00 57:44

Yes, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 57:46

They are addictive, aren't they?

SPEAKER_00 57:48

They are addictive, but they're they're just such lovely cars. I mean, the only thing I have said to dad is I wish he'd got into something that was slightly bigger that would tow my caravan. So my standard my standard conversation at the minute is whenever I find a classic car and I love estate cars and everything, I'm like, will it tow my caravan? Will it tow my caravan? So um so if I could get because uh the cars I remember from like when I was young was mum and dad had 1800s. Um they had an Austin 1800 and a Morris 1800, and then next door had one of the bright orange maxis.

SPEAKER_03 58:28

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:29

So that's sort of my early memories as well. And so if I could get something like that, then that would be good. But I've also got a 1300 Vanden Pla as well.

SPEAKER_01 58:40

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 58:41

What year? 1970.

SPEAKER_01 58:45

Uh four years away from uh it being discontinued, if I remember rightly.

SPEAKER_00 58:50

I don't know a lot about them. But it was a it was one of those phone calls. My son was in Cornwall and me and my daughter were sat here, and I get a phone call, Mum. If it's what I'm going to see something tomorrow, and if it's what I think it is, I'm going to buy it for you. And then put the phone down. And I'm like, okay, what's this gonna be then? Because you never quite know. And uh, and I got as close as an 1800 because he knew I wanted one of them, or uh another vintage caravan, and that's as close as I got, and it turned out it was a 1300 van der Plough, which the interior is immaculate, the carpets look like they've never been stood on. Um it's been in uh the only the history I know of it that I was told at the time was um it was originally bought by a titled lady in London, so it's a London plate, and um and then the grandfather of the guy I bought it from sold it and he he bought it from the titled lady, whoever she was, and it was in their family for three generations, um and got garaged in the 90s, and and yeah, it's come out now, so it's almost starting, we've almost got it running. If I can get that one running, then that'll be that'll be another little run of it.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:15

Wow. Okay, well, it has been absolutely an amazing podcast, thank you. Um how can people get in touch and join the A30A35 Owners Club?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:31

The easiest way is to search it on for our website. We've got a website which is literally Austin A30 A35 Owners Club, um, and there's loads of information on there. There's backstory information, there's um old magazines you can access and and all that sort of thing, and it's got all the membership information on there. Um, or they can contact membership at Austin A30 A35Ownersclub.com, I believe. I will just check that because I want to get it right. Dot co.uk.co.uk.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:10

Yeah. Brilliant. We sure pop that on the uh Facebook page. So uh great. Well, thank you very much. Yeah, it has been um so what do you think, Andrew, of A30, A35 Zen? Do you reckon you're gonna buy one?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:27

At my size, I'd probably be able to have one for each foot. And I'm putting that very tactfully.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:35

However, did you did you see the guy that was on the stand with us, Ryan? I don't know whether you saw him. He's he's nearly seven foot and he drove that AS3 into that.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:47

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:47

He drove that AS3 in into the stand. I never came.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:52

Yeah, it never even crossed my mind.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:55

Well, I am tempted, but only if I can reenact the chase scene from The Deadly Bees, which everyone must go out and watch immediately or sooner.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:10

Brilliant.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:11

I nearly suggest them. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:14

Yes, it has been absolutely amazing. Thank you. And uh we'll um speak to you again.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:22

Can I just say one more thing, just to apart from the rally, which everyone should go to because it's gonna be amazing, um, on the 25th of July on Dartmoor, it's also 75 years of the Dartmoor National Park. And they have invited us along with A30s, well, and the A35s, because of it being 75 years since they were launched, to have a sort of joint event.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:51

Oh, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:52

Oh, that's gonna be really good.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:54

Yeah, absolutely brilliant. If you um send me some links and bits for that, we'll get that promoted on the uh podcast.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:07

Brilliant.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:08

That is amazing. Thank you very much. Delighted to. Lovely.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:15

And uh we'll say goodnight to our listeners. And and Andrew, what do our listeners have to do to make sure that they'll keep being able to listen to the Free on the Column podcast?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:27

They need to subscribe immediately, and then they need to go and watch carry on constable to watching the thrilling chase with a 1959 often A35 Van.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:41

Fantastic. That sounds like a recommendation enough to me. And if they don't do that, we'll make sure they listen to some more free on the column podcasts. So they need to like and subscribe, otherwise they'll be listening.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:55

So good night to our listener in Southampton. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:01

And uh we'll see you again soon. Thank you very much. Cheers, guys. Thanks.

unknown 1:04:07

Bye.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:08

Bye-bye. Okay and cut. So how was that?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:16

I didn't know you were gonna ask me so many questions about the history of Austin's. I'd have done a bit more research.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:23

Well, that's all right. My favourite A30 detail are the counterbalance drop windows. I find them fantastic.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:31

Yeah, we should have mentioned that. What what actually is a counterbalanced drop window?

SPEAKER_01 1:04:38

Well, think of an old slam well, think of an old slam door train, the windows in those.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:43

Oh, right.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:44

Windows don't go up and down by a rack and pinion mechanism, they're counterbalanced.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:48

Oh right, well. So you you have to use your hand. And the tr the pro there's one of the other things I did with my A35 was um we used to go to a rally over in Sherbourne, Sherbourne Classics at the castle. And um you had to pay five pounds as you went in, and my car's got a sunroof, got a full-length sunroof, which obviously in an A35 is not very big. And um there's a picture of my son paying the five pound out the sunroof, because I couldn't get my window to open. And uh they took someone took a picture and they used that as the advert for the next year's show.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:29

So yeah, oh no, no, that is that is absolutely that is absolutely perfect. Wow. Well, I think it's a tough one. Well, I didn't say in the podcast, because it would probably have annoyed um certain other Austin owners, that the A thirty eight thirty five are probably far better remembered than the Somerset, the Devon, the Hereford. Even And I would argue the A fift A forty, A fifty, A50 of Cambridge Mark I and the A ninety, A ninety five, A one A five Westminster. They're known to those who appreciate interesting cars. But I think it's the A thirty, A thirty five that has the most public appeal. Um and again I'm just fascinated because Ost I think it was the second cheapest four-seater car in the UK when it was launched. Below that you'd have to buy a sit-up and big Fort Anglia, but which is essentially a pre-war hangover. So the A30 would look modern engine, the first car with an A series. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:43

Yeah. And obviously forerunner to the um ever so slightly popular minis.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:49

Yes, because obviously, and of course, when uh BMC were testing the mini prototypes, they used A35 grills.

unknown 1:06:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:59

Yeah, to disguise the prototypes, which actually probably gave them better engine bay access. So yes, a lot was learned from the because uh really it's about half the size down from a miner, if you look at it. I think its nearest rival, which was a 53, would be the standard eight. But the standard eight was even more Spartan than the A30. That didn't even have um that had sliding windows. And it didn't have a boot lid either. You remember those, Brian?

SPEAKER_04 1:07:30

I do, yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:32

Um was it um rain and dust sealed boot? Yeah, there's no lid.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:38

Available with a tin opener if you wanted to get something.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:42

Folding back seat or nothing. Um again, because these vehicles were launched at the tail end of the austerity, you know, austerity era. And the but yet they look forward to a uh new be to a new beginning and so forth. Of course, in 51, when they were launched, you still had to sign a covenant saying you would not sell your car, I think, within a certain period. Oh right. Yes. It was ter I mean petrol had only just come off the ration by 1950. So you know, this is why when you're looking at cars like the A30, the A35, you're looking at a you know, another world. Uh you know, we're looking at recent social history. And I love the fact that the A35 pickup did not have a tailboard. That was genius of a design. You had to use I think if you were a couple of burly workers, you had to sort of use the rear bumper as a step to climb into it. Which of course I probably meant the bumper would fall off after a while. It was they're beautiful vehicles, but they are completely niche, aren't they?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:52

Oh, absolutely, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:55

I mean that's why we love them.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:57

Yeah, yeah. They're so unusual. It's just I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:02

Is there an oddity? And of course the odd thing, and um before I disappear because I'm boring you all senseless is my job. Of course, when the A35 van was finally discontinued, um BLMC had to put Austin badges on the Morris Minor van for Austin dealers.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:20

We had this conversation the other day because obviously um the rivalry that say between the Morris Minor and the A35, um which obviously we were better, but um, I went along to a show, and even now in sort of the classic car world, there's that sort of well, I suppose they've been around long enough, we've got to be friends type thing. There's always that little bit of you know of fun. And um and this guy turned up next to me in in what I thought was a Morris Minor van, and he went, It's all right, it's an Austin.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:52

Yeah. I mean, it was because they still had separate dealerships. So you have this Morris Minor van with a crinkle cut radiator grill and different brochures.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:04

Yeah, yeah, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:07

I mean, it's in it's always a nice talking point if you see him onto a show and think, why does that minor van have an odd grille and different badges? It's an Austin.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:16

So on that happy note, I've now got to speak to a gentleman about a Saab 99 Combi. There's no answer to that, really, is there? There isn't.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:26

And then Drew, you're gonna get in touch with Melanie about the family car article if that's still okay with you.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:33

Yes, indeed, I'll do that after Easter, because I've got to write about Melanie, don't take offense, please. I've got to write about Boris the Morris tomorrow.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:42

Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:46

But don't worry, I know the prin I've known the prince for years. I know Harry, so I'll note with such con I will do my best to do a good job for you.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:55

Brilliant, thank you. It's something that I've wanted to do for such a long time because I mean, like my dad will be 86 this year, you know. I want to do it for him as well. So let's do it. He's ever so excited, and he's he's been getting photographs, he's fine photographs of his van and all sorts of things then.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:15

Well, let's make a start on how about on the Tuesday after the bank holiday?

SPEAKER_00 1:11:20

Yeah, what's that date?

SPEAKER_01 1:11:22

Uh you're putting on the spot now because it's the first today. So second, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. That'd be the sixth, wouldn't it? Yeah, sixth, I think. Sixth. April sixth. How how about that? So something to look forward to after the Easter holiday. Right. I'm on that bomb show. Take very good care. Speak soon, and wish me luck as I go swift, go safe, go sob. You've got all the cliches, Andrew, haven't you?

SPEAKER_04 1:11:53

That was one of the best slogans ever. It is really. Cheers, guys. Bye-bye.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:00

Alright. Bye.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:02

Take care. Thanks again.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:03

Bye. How do I get out clothes?

SPEAKER_04 1:12:06

Um, yeah, just stop it and close. That's it. Okay. Lovely. Bye.