Who built this car and when? What was its donor? A point is waiting for you!
DKW based ?
no
The number-plate was and is n o t German
indeed this is not from Germany
Experts?
Is that a British trade plate?
oh, yes
Thought it was.
It's a relatively new one as well.
Grille has the Austin ripples, so is there an Austin connection? Engine maybe?
so far so very good. Keep working on that Austin angle :)
Let me give you a 24-hour lock for to make it easier
Thanks but despite spending almost the entire day Googling, using every word I can possibly think of to describe this car, nothing at all has come up..
Is is anything to do with the fifties Jensen-built Austin 40 Sports? Or is it a much later evocation of a fifties-style roadster?
It has nothing to do with the A40. But it is from the fifties.
Reluctantly unlocked
Was it actually an Austin product or could it have been something to do with Rochdale?
It was an Austin product
Is it an early prototype for what became the Austin-Healey Sprite.
no
1958 A40-based?
Was it earlier? A projected Austin A90 Sports to complement the A40 Sports but dropped in favour of the Austin-Healey 100?
GRP-bodied A35?
earlier than 1958, and GRP-bodied. Sports is part of the name. So I am curious who will be the first to find it
Thanks.
I've Googled every possible combination of Austin, Sports, Roadster, Convertible, 2-seater, A30, A35, A40, A50, A55, A90, A100, A110, 2-seat, 2-seater etc etc etc and nothing at all has come up resembling this car. So it will have to be a matter of guesswork.
How about Austin Sports Roadster? Or does it contain an Austin model number like A35?
Is your picture actually availble on the Internet or is it from a magazine?
The info is from a certain museum :) But then I found a book which features this photo. And that part of the book is on the internet.
It is based on one of the models you listed :) And it was an in-house job
I'm not entirely surprised it's based on one of the models I listed since I listed all Austin's cars.. (or I meant to but I called the A105 the A100, which was a mistake).
There was the A40 Sports from the early 1950s, a fairly inoffensive little car based on the Austin Somerset and made for BMC by Jensen. Is your car a proposal to update this, a sort-of much uglier A40 Sport Mk2?
no, not A40 based
This is the Austin A30 Sports from 1953, designed by Dick Burzi and built in grp over a tubular spaceframe. Mechanically it was standard A30.
I knew the car but couldn't remember the exact name. I'm surprised there doesn't seem to be much info about it online.
here we go :)
A clay model and a rear view: