1931 Austin 12/4 Heavy Burnham Saloon

Lot details
Registration No: OV 1355
Chassis No: OTC14348
Mot Expiry: Jan 2007

Herbert Austin formed his own company in 1906 and during World War I Austin expanded and prospered in the armaments industry. In peacetime however his reliance on the Austin 20 and his determination to be a one make company proved to be a mistake and by 1921 the company was in receivership. Realising that he needed to appeal to a wider market the Austin Seven, which really was the making of Austin as a major force in motor manufacturing, and the Austin 12/4 were developed. The Austin 12 came in two configurations - the 'Light' with the 1600cc engine and the 'Heavy' with the 1800cc engine which was developed in 1922. This appeared in various cars like the Burnham and the Berkeley but was specified by all London taxi cabs, for whom Austin made 90% of the total production, and that remained the engine of choice until 1939. It was a wonderful engine and models with this unit are highly prized today. Built in 1931 and registered in Birmingham on the 25th of May that year, the delightful Burnham Saloon we have on offer for you today would seem to have spent most of its time in the Midlands area until the 1960s when a Mr. Mike Ridley did a deal with a gun dealer for a revolver as part payment for the car. At that time the interior still had its original leather and the body had front and rear bumpers (although he does remember bending the front one on a concrete bollard at some point which may be why it is now not fitted to the car. The car ended up in the 1990s in the hands of Mr and Mrs Barker of Morecambe who had a new interior fitted to the car in the Royal Air Force blue Bedford cord you see today and they replaced the headlining and carpets at the same time. In 1999 it passed into the hands of a Mr. Harvey from Huddersfield who used it locally for weddings and rallies and it would always seem to have resided locally and been a well looked after vehicle. Finished in blue over black paintwork, which is extremely presentable, and with the 1800cc four cylinder engine that we are informed by the owner is in very good order indeed this rare and desirable car's odometer is showing 928 miles. It is tested until January 2007 and is being sold with the cherished registration number OV 1355.