Austin A55 Cambridge

[angrydicky]

I decided absolutely no more cars this year. But the problem is that my interest in unloved old cars is fairly well known now. Hence I get offered stuff occasionally.
I had a message from a friend asking for some advice. The story was that his friend had inherited two adjoining houses in London, and was clearing them out ready for sale. His aunt, and her husband, lived in no. 108 Cranbourne Avenue, Wanstead while her brother lived in 106. The houses were both full to the brim with clutter, they never threw anything away and as they bought the houses in 1938, they were both incredible timewarps too.
Muriel, the lady who lived at 108, bought a 1959 Austin Cambridge in 1962. She managed to clock up 72k by the time it failed its mot in 1987. It was parked in the garage and she bought a Maxi, then in 1990 a Rover 214.
In 2017 she died, and the house was inherited by her brother. He tended the garden and so on but didn’t have any interest in selling the house. Time went on and last year he sadly died as well.
While the Maxi had died of rust in 1999, the Cambridge was still in the garage at 108 and the Rover was still on the drive, with moss growing around the windows.
Tom initially asked me what it was worth and where would be the best place to advertise it. He’s into his BL era stuff and had already made arrangements for the Rover to be collected by the 200/400 owners club (who should be using it on their stand at the NEC restoration show). However, he was out of his comfort zone with the Cambridge, not knowing much about them. He uncovered it but was unable to gain entry, as it was all locked up and the keys were nowhere to be seen. He had already contacted Mathewsons auctions from that Tv series that everyone seems to be going on about, and they didn’t have the courtesy to even reply to him. Obviously they have far more valuable cars to sell than an old Cambridge.
He had offered it to someone else already, but he was a dealer and the price he offered was low.

Based on just the photos showing it buried in stuff, I offered £150 more than the dealer had offered. I thought I couldn’t lose at that price even if it turned out to be rotten as a pear. It would have been a great source of spares. It looked extremely original with all the right bits on it, and appeared complete. Tom confirmed the interior was blue, the car was full of junk, and it was a rare floor change.
The offer was quickly accepted.
I borrowed a set of wheels from one of my other Austins, loaded up the car with tools, trolley jack, blocks of wood etc and headed off for Lahndon taaan.
After a fairly easy 2.5 hour drive from Lincolnshire, got to the house, met the owner, and straight away met a problem. With all the turmoil in the house and people going in and out over the last week, he’d lost the key to the side door of the garage, and the front doors were bolted from the inside.
“I hope you’ve brought some tools with you” he said!
The newer Yale lock on the door quickly succumbed to a large pry bar and 4lb hammer, and within 5 mins we were in.

First impressions were that it was a very original car indeed. Still wearing its original registration number (so somehow managed to avoid losing it in the 80s and ending up with an A-suffix reg, and original Hills plates, it also had the overrider beading, original hubcaps, and most of its original paint.
The first thing we had to do was gain entry. Fortunately, I’ve collected about 40 surplus Wilmot Breeden keys and usually the drivers door locks are worn enough on these old crocks that any old key will operate it so I wasn’t too worried. I had to tools to prise open a quarterlight as well but that would have been a last resort. I have spare quarterlights for these in stock but I didn’t want the hassle of changing it.
Fortunately, the very first key I tried opened the drivers door. It wasn’t the right number though, and wouldn’t turn the ignition or the boot. None of the others would either.
The handbrake had been pulled on in 1987. I released it then set to freeing the brakes. This was difficult as the back of the car was very low, it was sitting on four completely flat crossplies and had a load of timber stashed underneath. I pulled all the wood out and stacked it up to the side.
The O/S rear brake freed off with a few hits from the 4lb hammer, lovely. The passenger side was a bit more of a problem. I tried hitting it, heating it, hitting some more, I tried backing the shoes off but the adjuster was seized solid and I didn’t want to shear it off. As a last resort, I used a couple of big screwdrivers to lever the drum off. It was hard going but eventually it popped off.
The car had been parked at an angle in the garage with the n/s/f very close to the wall to make it easier to get in and out. I couldn’t get anywhere near that front wheel to change it, fortunately the old car gods were smiling on me and I was able to reach down the side of the car and connect my airline to it and it took air. One of only two of the tyres on the car that did, in case you were wondering.
We rolled it back and forth to get it straightened up, fitted the last of the four spare wheels and packed the tools back in the car.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a suitable towcar or a trailer. The Outlander would be overweight as would the Rover.
I contacted the retired chap from Wisbech I’ve used a few times. He said he would go and do the job but he didn’t sound keen because of where it was, he doesn’t like going to London and it’s inside the ULEZ so he admitted he wasn’t competitive anyway due to the age of his truck.
I found another bloke based locally in Boston. He seemed a lot keener for the work and his quote was £50 less, result.
When I was there on Saturday getting it rolling, the Rover was still blocking the garage. The owners club were coming to fetch it Monday, so I arranged the Cambridge collection for Tuesday. I had my fingers crossed that the transport guys didn’t let us down.
The Rover was moved as agreed Monday morning, leaving the access clear to get the Cambridge out. My chap turned up about 4pm Tuesday, having already done one job to Corby and back that morning. There were no problems and Tom, the executor Paul and the driver quickly got it rolled out into the daylight for the first time since 1987.
With it strapped onto the transporter, it was quickly off up Cranbourne Avenue for the last time, exactly 61 years after it arrived at that address, 31st Jan 1962.
It arrived safely home about 7:30, in the dark and the driver unloaded it into our workshop.
There was a bit of paperwork, the old V5, a cluster of old MoTs and the bill of sale from when Muriel bought it for £485.

[angrydicky]

Here are the first pictures I was shown.
I could see the rear wings were rotten, they all do that and I wasn’t too worried, I was more concerned with the front wing condition as they are rare as hens teeth and command stupid prices for nos. From what I could see they looked ok.

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[The Reverend Bluejeans]

That’s lovely.

[angrydicky]

With the clutter cleared it looked a lot better.

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The MoT failure sheet from 1987 was found in the house.

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[angrydicky]

The garage it had lived in since 1962.

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My first sight of the car.

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Under the bonnet was very original, complete with the Zenith carb and mechanical fuel pump.

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[angrydicky]

Removing from its resting place of 36 years:

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And in its new home.

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[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Well done for saving it. I love stuff like that. I bet it will polish up well.

[angrydicky]

It was nice to wash the years of dust off it. I also cleared the rubbish out of the inside and vacuumed it. Apart from the drivers seat, which has really suffered as the rubber straps have failed and she carried on driving it around with a cushion, it’s in pretty good condition.
Floor change is rare on these, it was only offered on the 1959 runout models before the Farina came in. Dark grey dash top is also runout spec, I’m guessing. Haven’t seen one so equipped before and it’s clearly original.
A nice job was fitting the replacement Flying A found in the house during the clearance.

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[angrydicky]

Well done for saving it. I love stuff like that. I bet it will polish up well.

Thanks! Yes, most of the paint is original and the small area I’ve T-cut looks good. It’s a shame about the crusty bits and the aerosol touch ups on the passenger side. To be honest it was a bit worse than I thought when I got there but it’s still very repairable.
The garage it was stored in looked nice and dry and I don’t get the impression it’s deteriorated much in storage, but the outer sills are a bit frilly, as are the inner and outer wings. It’s had a few plates underneath which need cutting out and redoing. But the main thing is it’s safe.

[treehugger]

I take my hat off.