Post-postscript - Cobham Heritage Day 2017

First attended this event in 2014 with Amy, and again in 2015. 2016 was a washout, so didn't go last year and of course since then I no longer have a classic car

However, I was told that I would be welcome, despite having my boy racer "modern classic"??!! So took Reggie along for a nice day anyway. Good to catch up with folks and kind of be part of it still.

Got a nice shot of the organiser's Somerset Coupe with the Zed in the background, but I was definitely an interloper and wasn't going to sit proudly next to my car! The next youngest was the very nice 3 series BMW next to me. 1990!! That JUST ABOUT counts...!

The Zed IS a nice looking car though and age aside, didn't look TOO out of place. (I don't think I am too biased?..!)

. Reggie didn't care though, he was chilled!

Postscript..

There is Austin DNA in Amy's replacement. Some tiny piece somewhere!

Nissan wouldn't be what they are today if Austin hadn't partnered wih them to build Somersets in the 50's

Slight difference, Amy's top speed, 55mph. The 350z, 155mph!! Eeek! 

The end of the journey......

 She stayed around a few days more than intended, so  I took a couple of final pics during the week, partly to just go out and look at her. I confess I just started her up and sat in her with the engine running one day! Just to get that one last feeling and classic car smell! 

But finally, Amy was picked up today and off to her new home. Not much else to say. 

Bye girl.

Amy's Last Day

After small touch of rain yesterday evening, I woke up to a beautiful sunny Spring day this morning. In theory today is Amy's last day with me. She should be on her way by tonight, so unless anything changes, today is my last driving day - and what lovely weather for it. I just COULDN'T let Halfords be her last trip!

So she's done the School run first thing this morning around 8:15. Sunny shot outside St. Crispin's School, which of course embarrassed my daughter because all the kids walking in at the same time were looking!

Slightly different weather to the last time she was pictured outside the 1950's School.

(it was built around the same year that she rolled off the production line)

Then taking in the view at the office one last time around 10 minutes later. Away from the modern tat this time - standing out on her own! I pictured her there again, despite saying that a couple of weeks ago it would be the last picture at work! Of course I was never going to resist one more shot - my daily driver (sort of) to the last! 

Figured I'd at least take a different angle for the last one and catch the Spring blossom and the glorious blue skies.

Then lunchtime came, by which time Amy had been paid for and I suppose technically no longer mine. So I took it a little early and made a scenic "memory lane" route home with pictures on the way.

Stopped at Popes Meadow, where she has been before to walk the dog, but not pictured there. I had made a point of picturing her wherever she went pretty much, so I was glad that I remembered that I had missed this one. That fills the gap!

Then a last journey home picture in the fields around town, this where I took her for a Christmas jaunt back in 2015. Same place as then, just taken facing homeward bound.

Went into town, where she has lived for nearly 4 years to take a couple of pictures there too. An updated Broad Street picture, where I recreated an old picture from 1955 a couple of years ago.

And did another last circuit of town to see if I could get a shot outside of the Town Hall in Wokingham. The space was blocked by a bus and a car on first pass, but free the second time around! This on the other side to where I had pictured her on Boxing Day just gone. The archways used to house fire trucks back in the day when they were horse-drawn! Very historic building, way before Amy was made.

And then home again (no, no need for another shot of her in the same place on the driveway AGAIN, just because its the "last time arriving home"!). But there IS a last shot of the Speedo! It shows that I did an extra 100 miles or so after she ticked over the 40,000 target, that also confirms that I have done just over 5,000 miles behind her wheel (she had about 35,100 showing when I got her, and she has just over 40,100 showing now) So that appeals to my nature that I definitely did 5,000+ miles in her:

Just waiting for her to be picked up and taken away now, can't drive her now as the insurance company confirmed that now the car has been paid for, my insurance is not valid for driving any longer. So I just have to look at her sitting on the driveway until then. ;-(

Amy's Last Night

As with my purchase of Amy, I won't mention any personal details of the buyer, but in summary someone viewed Amy today and made an offer, which I accepted. Weirdly enough, same as with the person who I bought her from, this guy also had another Somerset and is a member of the Austin Counties. Strange sense of circularity in that.

Amy is a better, more solid car than when I bought her, but cosmetically she had started to deteriorate. Her restoration was done over 20 years ago, so not surprising. Therefore I was satisfied to recoup some of my money invested in her, but didn't expect to gain all of that back. That wasn't the point. I had a GREAT time with her, and what price can you put on that enjoyment and what other type of vehicle can you expect to buy and be able to sell 3½ years later for roughly the same money?

So all in all I am very pleased. I didn't enjoy the  time wasters so much - there were a fair few! But I also had a couple of  nice chats and exchanges too. Finally the chap eventually buying the car was also very pleasant to deal with and, reading between the lines, I suspect he's going to get her bodywork fixed up. I'd love to see her in the future to see how she turns out. That will put her up into the next bracket.

I guess that I won't really see her again, but a nice thought though!!

But on a sadder note, tonight is probably to be her last night with me.

And there is just enough rain around to seem like tears!

Won't be getting the White Lion and Pinewood double header in after all, c'est la vie! She should be paid for and picked up by the end of tomorrow and that's where the story ends.

Each drive could be the last - final destination, Halfords???!!! Plus Classic Car Weekly

Doing a lot of the "pop to the shops" journeys in Amy, because who knows, I may not have her any day now. She has been to Halfords many times before to get Oil, bulbs, WD40 etc.. But never photo'd there. She's been snapped at the Swimming Pool, the Kebab Van and Tescos - so why not Halfords. Although not an auspicious last photo if that is the way it pans out!

She was also featured on the cover of last week's Classic Car Weekly - I forgot to go out and buy that one, I had figured they had just passed Amy over because nearly a month had gone by since Brooklands. Oh well - at least I can download the pic for posterity!

The phone has rung more since she went up for sale in print, so there is something to be said for "old media" still,  the only problem being is they printed the wrong price. So although it generated lots of enquiries, the potential buyers were put off by her "crusty bits" - they were expecting better condition at that price.

I wasnt really thinking of doing anything else but placing her online, it was only because the guy approached me at Brooklands and did a feature, so I cant complain about the wrong price cos it was great to see her on the cover and it was free. So it's worthwhile considering good old fashioned newspaper ads - just get the price right!

*Now Sold* 1954 Austin A40 Somerset for Sale

I will not delete this post as it is a personal record, but I have now dated it 12th April, which is when she was listed for Sale @£3,795 - that was when things got moving.

This post was created some time ago and pinned to the top of this Blog, but as of this update (18th April) - Amy has now been Sold

See below for sale details, kept for posterity:

I mentioned in a post over a year ago that I would probably reach my Classic Car Journey's end in 2016.

That was written in 2015 and the reasons I listed then remained sound, just delayed the decision by a year!!

I didn't get to enough shows in 2016 for my liking so I at least wanted to attend the Brooklands Austin Morris day one last time. For a strange reason I also want to see the mileage tick over to 40,000 before parting ways. But truthfully I was probably just finding excuses to put it off now.

I paid £3250 for her getting on for 4 years ago. Lot of work done, which is documented very openly in this blog, and she is a better car for it, the only deterioration/concern for me is the bodywork, some bubbles have got bigger and will need some cosmetic attention if she continues to be kept outside. Probably OK to be left as-is if she gets a garage to live in. Also lots of useful spares that I either already got with her in the first place, or collected over time. (set of front brakes i.e. drums, shoes, cylinders, back plates, springs etc, crown & pinion, inlet manifold, short engine (turns over), cylinder head with small crack but confirmed suitable for unleaded conversion, all other parts except valves to make a complete engine, gear box unknown condition, fuel pump, original distributor and new points , cap and condenser for refurbishing, new and original coils, original dynamo for refurbishment if preferred. Spare gaskets, bulbs) Also probably some less useful spares!! Rusty old front bumper, bonnet and boot lid, wheels, rusty old hub cap!!

Original service manual, Cassell's Book of the A40, and DVLA history from 1974, plus some other Austin memorabilia also willing to sell with the car,

(quick reference of the work I have done can be seen on the About Amy page and link to Flickr album of lots of photos is here ).

Flowing Spring Classic Car and Bike Breakfast Meet

I was looking for new meets that I could attend, partly to get some good use out of Amy before she is sold, but partly to advertise her too. I looked at the Barkham and District website for some clues and found this one, at a pub between Reading and Henley called the Flowing Spring. They do a classic car and bike meet every second Sunday.

What a great pub! Down by the river, made all the better by glorious sunshine and lots of REALLY nice cars. All sorts. I wish I'd taken a picture come to think of it, there was a mint Mini van parked next to a HUGH Caddy! Talk about little and large!

As far as Amy was concerned, I buffed her up nice and she purred there and back. Had a couple of coffees and a nice chat. Sweet.

Again, days like this make me question whether I need to sell her or not!! But when sensible head goes back on, unfortunately, the answer is still yes I do. Either way - looking forward to a White Lion / Pinewood double header at the end of the month!

Distant siblings from Longbridge c. 50 years between my Austin and the MG Rover, but both rolled off same the production line. (well same place anyway!) Obviously the '50s were happier times for the factory. 

Trying to tell me something, Amy? Flat Tyre!

I think she's telling me that she doesn't want to go anywhere. Hiding in the corner looking all sweetness and light!

In all the time I have had Amy, I have only had to re-inflate the tyres once. Even then I think they weren't really low. Yesterday I took some additional pictures of Amy for a prospective buyer, but noticed that one of her tyres was quite flat.

I got the pump out, expecting that it was just a lack of attention on my part and pumped back up, only to hear a constant pshhhhhhhhhhh........ Can you believe it? A puncture.

So it was the relay unit for the flashers the other day and a puncture now. Niggles!!! Anyway, she's not getting the better of me. Spare wheel on, new inner tube ordered and get that done at the weekend. Cranky old bird!!!

On the flip side, great excuse to take her out for a drive in the sun today, just to see if the spare tyre affected the handling much (it's different to the others, but there was no discernible effect) Went to the pertol station, topped up, drove around town a bit. Nice.... Maybe she can stay... hmmmmm....!!! Things always look different in Spring / Summer.

But no, she's got to go. It wont be practical after no.1 son has passed his test. Still a while to go for that, so no rush, but.......

Edit: New tube ordered, received and fitted within the week!

White Lion as good as ever!

White Lion Antiques near Hartley Witney held classic car breakfast meets from 2012 or so, but stopped year before last. It was always a nice regular visit, so very pleased that the new owners hav started that up again. What marvellous weather too, bright and sunny, it was almost like back to the old days with the field starting to fill up.

I had to make it an early one because of other commitments, so was there around 8.45, left by 10.45, but cars were still arriving in ones and twos when I left. Really good meet, back to it's best - hopefully it will last a while although I hear that the land will eventually be developed.



Of course, Amy had a For Sale sign up, but that's not why I visited, the weather made it, but really nice to get along again and see some old faces.

Just one of the crowd, feeling at home at the White Lion!

One more repair - Flasher unit

In the last couple of photos from the interior, it's noticeable that a red light is permanently showing in the dash. No biggie, just quite amusing timing that the flasher relay just decided to give up the ghost now.

Anyway - replacement relay arrived this morning and swapped over. All flashing working again (they were just static all the way to Brooklands and back, but they still lit up, so it gave other road users a clue at least!)

And YES - I checked that I had re-connected the right way around, it was a straight swap, but had to check.

Amy in print and online

So to be honest, I bought Classic Car Weekly because their roving editor had spotted that Amy was for sale and offered to do one of their "driven" adverts for me. 

He mentioned it might be in this week or next. BUT this was more interesting.

We managed to get into print in a national newspaper.

(OK, that's taking rather a large dab of artistic licence.. but either way .. still a nice round off to the whole experience)

Just listed her on Car and Classic too. :-(

It's like full circle from when I first saw her here.

ACCC night and 40,000 up!

Very pleasant evening at the ACCC meet at the Royal Oak in Pirbright.

40 mile round trip, which meant the 40,000 miles ticked over as I pulled onto the driveway.

Last one at work?.... Ready to sell now.. ish..!

Stretching out a 2 ½ mile journey to 10 miles is going some, but that's exactly what I did on the drive to work today!! One final photo in the work car park. Look at the size of the Jag compared to Amy!

Brooklands was great at the weekend, despite the weather. Yesterday's little spring drive and the first trip to work since last year also nice after getting Amy out of  her "winter bed".

But with the 40,000 target within 40 miles or so now and having had a few nice drives, ACCC club meet tonight in Pirbright, I am also coming to terms with selling her. I wasn't really ready on Sunday - I had an offer which, with hindsight, was good and from a club member which would keep her in the fold so to speak.

Just wasn't ready to commit. I think I am now..

Maybe one last visit to the renewed White Lion Classic Car meet at the end of the month too??!!!!.... Mar 26th..

What a difference a day makes!

There's a song that goes like that isn't there? But come on.. just ONE day earlier for this weather wouldn't have hurt, would it?.. Sheesh...

Lovely day for a lunchtime jaunt though. Only a little 5 mile round trip for no reason whatsoever.

Glorious, this is what it's all about, but having this YESTERDAY would have been perfect.

Oh well!

Brooklands Austin Morris Day 2017 - Other Shots - Group and Cavalcade

Group shot, embedded from source, taken by one of the professional photographers from the members bridge.

Embed from Getty Images

And a shot taken by my parents at roughly the same time taken from ground level:

And this was the only shot I have seen anywhere on the internet of me driving around in the Cavalcade. Main subject of the picture is of course the Mini, but at least shows that we did it!

Brooklands Austin Morris Day 2017

Worst weather ever! It was only because this would be my last Brooklands with Amy that I went. It was tipping down pretty much all the way there and the weather report said that was going to continue all day pretty much until early afternoon. But, despite the miserable journey, (not fun doing 50 mph in wet & spray with cars shooting past at 90mph!) it was an uneventful drive.

Had a really good day as it happens though, coincidentally, the only other Somerset attending arrived 2 minute after I did, so we were parked up together, what were the odds?!!

The bad weather meant that the day wasnt as well attended as previous years, no other club members had their cars there, although I briefly saw the guy that I had bought Amy from.

I decided that I should register and take part in the Cavalcade, and after walking around, having a cup of coffee and a chat with my parents, who had decided to come and see me, I was briefed and on the Mercedes Benz World circuit with around 40 other cars, pootling around!

Whilst waiting around for the group shot, I realised I was parked under Concorde and in front of the old Brooklands sign, another photo opp!!













And finally, luck meant that I was in the front row of the group photo on the banking! Cool day all around! Oh and Amy is now officially for sale, except for 60 miles left to do before 40,000 clicks over on the speedo.

First outing of 2017 - Pinewood Cafe Car Meet

Pinewood's just around the corner and this meet has been running for a fair few months, just that this is the first visit. A pre-amble to Brooklands in a couple of weeks time, just to air the cobwebs out and give Amy a little run. Only a 5 or so mile round trip, but was a nice few hours, without committing a whole day.

She ran fine, started up a dream after over a month layoff. Back to bed afterwards though. Wont get her out properly until Brooklands.

A few nice pics - next to a lovely Riley and a rather smart Mini!

Nice day when the Google van went past!

Across the year it's always been 50/50 whether Amy would be under cover or not. For this occasion when the Street view camera went past, she was out on this day. Stored for posterity on Google Street view!

"Painting"

Played around with an early picture with an App today. Trying to get a painting effect. I quite like it, enough to get it printed onto a canvas to go on the wall!

It's also going on a mug as there was a special offer!! Wait to see if the real thing looks ok! It might look rubbish. But will serve as a permanent reminder after Amy is sold later this year.

It was from our first visit to the Camberley Car Show in 2014. I did a few edits like removing the yellow lines and the skylight on next door's roof, just to make it seem "dateless". It could easily have been a painting from 1954 as 2014...

Nb It arrived two days later which was really good. It's printed onto canvas and, although the colours turned out a bit more "orangey" than they appeared in the  picture, the size/quality was spot on. Very happy with it for only £30! It does look like a print of a painting.