1934 Austin 10
(Featured on 2nd December 2013)
Make: Austin
Model: 10
Year: 1934
Registration: VY 5092
Sellers original description:
VY 5092 an Austin 10/4 was purchased new by Harry Moyser in March 1934 for £172 -10 shillings from Lister & Edmond of Holgate Road, York.
Harry worked for British Rail all his life and was a land surveyor. He lived with his sister, Gladys a school teacher, and they used the car for days out on the Yorkshire moors and Dales. He kept a log of the trips, mileage, cost of fuel etc. and apparently had no problems with the car in his 34 years of ownership.
When Harry’s health deteriorated in 1968 the car, which was apparently in mint condition and only having 45,642 miles on the clock, was sold to a dealer who then sold it to another dealer who later sold it to its second owner in July 1970. Still with less than 46,000 miles on the clock the purchaser took the car home.
Unfortunately the car was vandalised shortly after the second owner acquired it and was then stored in not very favourable conditions in a damp barn and then later outside.
The poor battle scared Austin was later sold in 1983 to a scrap car dealer in Manchester. A picture I have shows the Austin parked in a scrap yard surrounded by other unloved vehicles. He obviously thought it was too good to scrap and in November 1994 the car went to auction in Cheshire.
Sold as a restoration job, the third owner bought the Austin for £1061.63 and took it home. He put new glass and flooring in the Austin along with various other bits of work. He also stripped the wiring out of the car and bought a new loom. The work then stopped for 10 years and was sold to it’s fourth owner who just pushed it into a shed and left it there until I acquired it in August 2010.
The story and history of the Austin intrigued me and I felt it was time to put the Austin back together and back on the road in the memory of Harry.
I tracked down pictures of Harry’s house in York, birth and death certificates while building up an insight into this gentleman’s life.
The Austin was completely dismantled and treated to a nut and bolt rebuild without expense. The body was taken back to bare metal and re-sprayed in Midnight Blue while the interior had new carpets and was re-trimmed in Oxford Blue leather. New headlining was fitted as well as re-building the sliding sunroof and rear blind. New trim panels were made and covered in matching blue vinyl along with the piping for the door apertures.
All the bright work was removed and sent to be professionally re-chromed. A new wiring loom was fitted and all the brakes and running gear was dismantled and put back together by a professional Austin restorer.
The instruments were sent away to be cleaned and calibrated and the wheels shot blasted and fitted with new tyres. The running boards have been fitted with new rubber. The Austin retains the original trafficators but I have has fitted discrete flashing indicators into the side and rear lights.
Fitting up the finishing touches was the most satisfying part of the restoration. In the bucket of parts that came with the car I managed to find the brass ‘Pytchley’ sunroof label and the original dealers name plate, both have now been re-fitted.
The Austin was featured in the December 2012 edition of ‘Practical Classics’ with a five page spread and the November 2012 edition of ‘The Automobile’, so if you want more information about the restoration you can read the articles. The Austin is registered for film work and was shown on a National Geographic programme when it was filmed at the NEC Classic Car Show while on display for three days.
As you can see from the pictures this Austin 10/4 is arguably the best car of its type in the country with a low mileage and traceable history, in fact it won the ‘Practical Classics’ best restoration of 2012. It comes with its original handbooks and buff logbook, period magazines, fuel ration book, magazine articles, full tool roll and various other interesting items. It also has two albums of step by step restoration photographs along with the receipts for all the items bought and work carried out. It is difficult to put into words what has been done to this car has every item has been removed, cleaned, painted and re-fitted.
The Austin drives superbly, is tight and draws attention wherever it goes. It requires no more than to be loved, polished and driven. Obviously it is tax free and now does not require an MOT (although I disagree with the government on this point!). I have an MOT until June 2013 (and will be putting a new MOT on it!) and is taxed until May 2014. Insurance is £48 per year unlimited mileage.
If you are looking for the best you have found it and investing in this Austin is better, and much more enjoyable than having money in the bank (remember it’s only paper!).
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