DESPERATE’S CURRENT TRANSPORT
When I was 18 I bought a 1939 Austin 8 for ten shillings It was in bloody good nick, but it had no engine. Soon sorted that by fitting a modern (then) Morris Minor unit. It went really well, but the rod-brakes struggled a bit, especially when I was coming down a really steep hill in Devon and they completely disappeared! But I really loved that car, and have yearned for one ever since. Looked everywhere but couldn’t find one. Then I came across this on Ebay.
It was bashed and dented, black, covered in rust, the interior was outside, and it had no glass in it, but the little side valve engine purred. Someone had also sold the number.
It’s not an Austin 8, it’s a 1947 Morris 8. Exactly the same body, but different headlamps and grille. I fell in love with this one too. It had an opening screen, and “Suicide” doors (they open the wrong way). After several months of work, I got it road-legal and an age-related plate assigned. The neighbours loved the swastikas!
I drove it around for exactly two weeks and decided it was boring and unpractical, as I’m always carting junk around, so I decided to convert it into a pickup. At the same time, I thought it would be a good idea to chop the roof by 6”. This meant cutting the whole body from the windscreen back, completely off….with a small angle grinder. 35 discs later, it was in a pile outside my house.
Now….cutting it to bits was the easy part. Putting it back together wasn’t, as the roof and body taper out from the front! |
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