Did you own one of these?
- Thread starter Alan Slade
- Start date
I owned the last one. almost the same color. mine was a 1965 that was converted over from 6volt to 12 volt , thank God. 6 volt headlights are like candles behind glass
I'm pleased to say that I am too young to have owned one 
Back in the day one of my mates owned an Austin A40 and I owned the A35 only mine was the panel van version
My Grandad had a black A35 complete with Semaphore arm indicators. In fact I found his spare one in with some of the other tools he gave me a good few years ago.
Cosy car to be in.
Cosy car to be in.
Yup, I had an A40 Farina. Bought it off an old lady, very low mileage, but it soon became apparent that was a problem. Everything seemed to have seized up. It sounded like a boat when I went round corners.King pins . Then I had to put new shells in the big ends. I soon decided to get rid!
Never actually owned any of them but a good friend in my early days in the RAF at Colerne had an A35 which we travelled many happy miles in. We went to London one weekend and 3 off us ended up sleeping in it.
Grandad had an A35 van brand new in 1965. He passed it on to my uncle who swapped it for an A40. Uncle Len used to take me and my brother to air shows at RAF Cosford in it. Got loads of good memories from those days. We used to pretend we were in a Curtis P40E, which was my favourite aeroplane back then
My dad had an a35 many years ago and my godfather the a40
Great looking cars....
1958 My dad had a black Austin Bumbly, as we called it, and I even remember the reg FMF484
Part X’d it in 1959 for one of the first Minis in Slough !!
A mate in college was given an A40 when he passed his driving test. ( it was his mums)
I bought a rolled beetle in 1976....6 volt 1200......ended up as a 12v 1600 beach buggy in 1977
1958 My dad had a black Austin Bumbly, as we called it, and I even remember the reg FMF484
Part X’d it in 1959 for one of the first Minis in Slough !!
A mate in college was given an A40 when he passed his driving test. ( it was his mums)
I bought a rolled beetle in 1976....6 volt 1200......ended up as a 12v 1600 beach buggy in 1977
I am not familiar with the first two cars but I had 3 VWs over the years. The first one that I bought had a cracked crankcase. I got an estimate for repair which was expensive. I had the money but chose to repair it myself. I bought the new crankcase and main, rod and camshaft bearings. With the rest of the money I saved on labor of having it done, I bought high performance parts: a Crane Fireball Camshaft, headers, a Holley 2 bbl carb, a high ignition system and new intake manifolf along with 88mm bored out cyls. and pistons. It was a major thrill to crank it over for the first time and have it fire up. It was a screamer. I used to take the Pennsylvania Turnpike from US Highway 1 out to Norristown. At that time we all had CB's in our cars and I always got people calling me to ask if I had a Porsche engine in the car....Frankie
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Yep A40 farina, and A35 van in voluptuous green. Brakes were so bad when a policeman put his hand up and walked into the road I could only stop with two feet on the brake peddle, about a foot from his legs, he told me to park it on the grass and would deal with me in a few minutes. He was letting traffic out from an event so it was about half hr when he came over to me. Sure he was about to give me a telling off when a car ran into another and he ran off down the road. I waited about 30sec then went back in opposite direction. Sold said van week later for £15. Hired Beetle number of times whilst serving in Germany 65-70. Came back to Brit and bought a cheap Riley 1.5.
From this Riley to a Triumph spitfire mk1 then Mini Cooper s. As the money got better with promotion in the Army so did the cars.
Miss em, naaaaar not a bit, but the Riley has a special place in my memory, twin 1.1/2in SUs and nippy for its weight, solid little car with leather interior walnut dash. Ha ha those were the days.
RHA, Roy.
PS; No the van didn’t have seats in the back just a spare Army mattress.
God I feel old My dad's first car was a A 30 then we had a aA35 and when that was scrapped the engine was put into a A40
First car I every worked on in my grandads garage making shins with him for the kingpins out of bean tins !I think I was about 8
First car I every worked on in my grandads garage making shins with him for the kingpins out of bean tins !I think I was about 8
I think it's sad that all the young people out there don't have cars like to cut there teeth on how many off us got our first job then saved up to buy our first car then spent the next 6 months making it roadworthy but giving an excellent grounding in engineering that stay with you
My Dad had an A35 as one of his last cars. His was grey with a red interior and it was incredibly reliable. In the winter he thought he would spare the battery the task of starting the engine and would go out every morning, pull the choke out, switch on the ignition then with a single pull on the starting handle off it would go. First time every time.
When I learned to drive, Dad had an A40 Somerset just like this one. It had the column mounted gear change which was a pig to use. I passed my test in that car in 1966.
When I learned to drive, Dad had an A40 Somerset just like this one. It had the column mounted gear change which was a pig to use. I passed my test in that car in 1966.
I owned a dark green A35 van, but it was very old and I was very young when I got it!
Had an A35 pass me one night, going like hell, turned out he had an MG 1275 engine in it.
Mike
Mike