Keepers Austin Ten Saloon
A veteran of European trips, this Austin leads a more sedate life after 56 years with its owner
‘My Austin Ten’s second owner, who was a friend of the family, gave it to me back in 1964 when I was 17. Its first owner drove it all the way to Italy and that gave me the confidence to undertake my own European trip three years after I acquired it.
‘In 1966 I was an apprentice for Lucas and took part in an exchange scheme with three German Bosch apprentices. I went to Stuttgart for three months and stayed with a German family.
‘I drove the Austin to Germany the following year to see the family who I had lived with in 1966. My wife and I left Hockley in Birmingham on the Friday evening and we were in Gerlingen, just outside Stuttgart, by the Sunday night. We slept in the car for two nights and tackled the autobahns at a steady 40mph; even then a lot of cars were passing us at 100mph or more. Our tiny black car must have been invisible until the last moment!
‘The Austin ran faultlessly all the way there and back and caused quite a stir parked up outside the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart, with the locals all intrigued by this ancient tiny English car that had been driven hundreds of miles to get there.
‘The Ten was looking tired by 1970 although it was still running well, so I stripped it and put it into a lock-up.
‘I was still working for Lucas in the 1980s and got talking to a colleague whose son was a paint sprayer – and he was happy to paint the car for me. The Austin had already been re-trimmed when it was in regular use in the
1960s, and there was surprisingly little corrosion in the panelwork. As a result, fresh paint was really all that was required, although the suspension and brakes were also overhauled at the same time.
‘I took the Austin in to work one panel at a time – a wing here and a door there. Once he had painted a panel he’d give it back to me and I’d give him another. Eventually all of the panels were painted and he painted the bodyshell on my driveway. The car still looks superb even now.
‘The Ten returned to the road in 1988, with an engine re-build following a few years later. There was also some re-chroming and re-wiring along the way. Most of the bodywork, chassis and the back axle are original. The period lighting, trafficators and 40mph cruising speed mean that it’s not ideal car for modern traffic, but I still love to drive it as often as possible.’