I absolutely loved my A55 Cambridge, mine was black with rare manumatic gears. Always wanted a two tone one but that came later when I owned a two tone blue A95 Westminster similar styling. I was so upset when an Austin Maxi drove into the back of my Cambridge, that's when she went to the scrapyard in the sky.
Lovely colours inside this car. Cars WERE nice in that respect, unlike TODAY'S dull interiors AND cars did have a spare wheel then, too! For such reasons, I wouldn't buy today's cars!
A Friend of mine in year 11 inherited a 58 A55 to drive to school from his Mum. It was two tone blue, and so different , he actually scored a couple of girlfriends with it in Canada ( Left hand drive of course) taught both girls to drive in it,....
In the mid to late sixties, an order came from the top (Mum). Dad was not to buy any more American Tanks, as mum put it. My father and I loved cars, specially American. So dad and I started car hunting. We came up with a 1958 Austin A105 Vanden Plas. I started reading about it in magazines etc. I said to dad, this is a special and rare car. An I was 12 at the time. The 105 looked like a big version of the A55. Ever since, I've had a real soft spot for whole Austin range 1957 - 59. I'm now a 65 year old Great Granddad. But it's strange, Dad's been gone nearly 45 years, and I still miss him so much, and of course mum. But dad and I were so similar, mum would say "your a mirror of your dad, including personality". A positive message by mum, because they were married almost 61 years. God bless and Kind Regards
She is saying, " rest yourself against my Bonnet," unlike some modern cars, you know who you are out there, that look like they will bite your leg off if you get too close.
Lovely old thing. Back in 1967 I was a trainee mechanic for a Alpha Coaches in Patcham, Brighton, I bought an A50 from the head fitter for £8.00, I will write it so you dont think its a typo, Eight Pounds, Good old days
The ANGLE of the windscreen is very pleasant. It doesn't seem too close to you, and is easy to see out of you. And the Speedo right in front of you, is EXACTLY where it SHOULD be! A car among cars.
When these were launched the old 1200cc A40 was discontinued, except in Ireland where the A55 body was available with the 1200cc engine and called the A45
I remember the driver of an A60 (6 cylinder version) helping to tow my Dad’s later Austin Cambridge estate plus caravan up a rather too steep hill in Cornwall back in the sixties.
1970 In the RN I used to drive one flat out from Oxford to HMS Raleigh. Torpoint. East Cornwall, a 5 hour trip at 33 mpg the handling was brilliant. Mine had quite a high mileage but I am sure she was quieter than that...
My second car - when I was fifteen - the first being a Morris 1000 bought for £5 on becoming a teenager. Lucky enough to live next to a disused aerodrome. Yes, those big, comfortable seats are real leather and tanned in a much better way than modern car leather which will sag rather than age as well as these have done. Lovely to hear the familiar BMC engine and transmission sounds, mine had the floor mounted gear lever - and I was so impressed that it was possible to spin the wheels in second - on a bit of gravel! Thanks for such an informative video of an often overlooked British family car. (You could do such a better job of Top Gear than the two and a half clowns that ruin it nowadays!)
So, this car was sold in the US as the Austin Cambria? My father drove one of these in 1963. I was five at the time. It was black, with a red interior... leatherette, I think. The one thing I remember was how the directional arm had a flashing light at the end of the arm. I loved it.
Brings back memories of learning/passing, to drive all those years ago. The spare was stored underneath the boot, cover being let down using the starting handle. Enabling the spare to be removed without unloading the boot and lowering the plate, using the starting handle, holding the spare without clearing the boot.
My dad’s friend had one of these in the 70’s He absolutely cherished it and would give it a new coat of paint (same two tones) every year just to keep it looking new.
I bought one of these in about 1968, for the sum of £5.00. I had just passed my driving test and had recently sold my Tiger Cub motorcycle. The car was better than my motorcycle because you could kiss and cuddle girls in comfort. Believe this or not, the rust in the passenger footwell was so bad I placed roof slates over the hole in its floor in an attempt to stop the elements from entering the car. When the winter arrived I fashioned a timber duckboard above the slates to keep feet dry. No, this car was not illegal, it had a legal MOT. One dark, windy and raining night returning from Manchester, the car skidded and left the road. It ploughed through a dry stone wall, then flew 30 feet into a farmers field before hitting a tree. The impact was lessened because the rear axle had engaged a large stone block in the field, so it had acted as an arrestor wire on an aircraft carrier. We both lived to tell this modest tale.
Perhaps the Manu-Matic control was placed in the left hand side for the Left Hand Drive markets for the USA & Canadian markets. Those markets an "automatic" option was a desirable feature.
As a child of the 60s I remember these cars well. My father was a car mechanic and would work on the cars of family and friends. You hitting your head the bonnet of the A55 brought back memories of my father doing the same thing on some cars back, he also used a few choice words at the time😂. A college of my father had an A55. I remember once going out with my father and his college in the A55. His son was driving and was honing along some twisting country lanes with me and my father sat on the back seat. You’d be surprised how hard those cars could be driven and of course no seat belts so you had to hang on. Different times.
Nobody wore them when they were fitted. I remember about 1979 my Dad said pull on your seat belt Son till we see what she can do. He proceeded to wind our 950cc Ford Fiesta up to a maximum of 86 mph. My Wee Brother was in the back with no seat belt and his head was stuck between the seats watching the speedo.
@@seancooke4127 yeah times change, life was different back then. I actually started my first driving lesson in a Mk1 Fiesta and went on to pass my driving test in a Mini back in 79.
@@nick2203 great stuff. I passed mine in 1985 in an 81 Fiesta. Minis and Fiestas had to be properly driven. No power steering or dual mass flywheels or ABS. Your parking sensors were your eyes too. 😂
This type of lovely little four-pot BMC saloons are the first cars that spring to mind for me once I think of English motoring. Prim and proper as well as full of charm, with enough restraint to be characteristically British. It's also worth mentioning that Smiths was the main supplier of instrumentation in English autos since 1915 and was their only true 20th century watchmaker. I recently tracked down a 15-jewel Astral with a secondhand subdial from 1960 and hope it lives up to expectations.
Smith's watches were good value,I was a services man, I think they used all kinds of movements including Smith's...still have my 1965 services marine which I got as a young lad although it was a man's watch.
I owned a 57 A55 deluxe from Jan 1987 until July 1989 and it became my daily driver in June 87 when I wrote my then-current daily off. I bought it off my father, who had bought it from the bloke who had owned it from new and brought it with him from Birmingham when he emigrated to New Zealand (where I am) in 1970. The car had done all of 50340 miles, having basically sat except to get its 6 monthly Warrant of Fitness (WoF.....or MoT as you blokes know it). She had a few spots of minor rust, but otherwise was a straight and original car. It was Old English white on the roof, boot and bottom half of the doors and dark blue on the bonnet, top of the front wings and down the sides between the door windows and the swage line and between the swage line and the seal on the top of the guards at the rear. She had nearly every extra they offered - the twin wing mirrors, leather upholstery (blue) with a set of factory seat covers that were of the same colour but framed with vinyl and with a woven cloth piece on the seat and seat back, monogrammed blue Austin rubber floor mats, windscreen washers, front fog light, bumper over-riders, heater, clock and valve Austin-monogrammed radio.....but sadly no overdrive. The A55 was a beautiful car to drive, but as you say, she was no race horse. However, in the time I drive her as my main vehicle, I clocked up 27,000 miles and they were pretty much trouble free except for the exhaust pipe, brake master and slave being re-kitted, a couple of front bushes and getting the rear springs re-tensioned due to their sag. She had a range of around 210 miles (averaging about 26mpg), but her reserve tank could be engaged in an emergency.....and I should have tested this before I ran out in the middle of nowhere and tried to use it! I loved the car and there are many times when I have looked to replace it with another one since then, but sadly I have yet to come across one that does not need a power of work to get it up to WoF standard. By the way - under the lower parcel shelf under the dash, the knobs that read H / B / A are for Heater fan, Bonnet (as you know) and Air. Pull that last one and it opened a flap in the firewall behind the dash and fed air scooped up by the huge air vent under the chrome bonnet emblem ornamentation and fed it straight into the cabin - fantastic for wet days to keep air flowing around the car without windows being open.....although the front quarterlights were perfect to aid demisting at any time too!
Very 1950's. As an American, I've always liked Austin products as my grandparents owned an Austin built Nash Metropolitan. If you can locate one in the UK, a video of a UK Metropolitan would be wonderful.
Nice. I had a1957 Morris Oxford for a while. I bought it in 1980 as a one owner car from a guy who had stopped driving a few months before. He was 86 at the time. Unfortunately it was far too rotten to restore. It still drove well though.
My Dad was an Austin man thru' and thru' (he had 5) and his '58 was identical to the car shown. His next was an A60 but he always said the A55 was his favourite. He sometimes let me use it and although my style of driving was very different to his (oops!) I loved it too! He did all his own mechanical repairs but the bodywork finally defeated him, which was typical of most cars at the time 😢. Thanx for the post - and the memories! The featured car is unbelievably immaculate. If I could afford it I'd park it next to my Passat just to look at and love.
Philip became Duke of Edinburgh on the eve of his wedding to the Queen as a present from King George VI. They stripped him of all his Danish and Greek titles and he was effectively a commoner so the King decided to make him a Royal Highness. In 1957, the Queen finally made him a Prince of the United Kingdom and therefore fully royal which he was all along. Funny people.
Very sweet and solid. I always liked the styling. The only thing that annoys me was that the steering wheel is on upside down. It's a common mistake. The spokes should point slightly downwards and the horn button can be rotated to any position. Oh dear, that's a very 'anorak' thing to say but what the heck. 😊👍
One of our teachers a Mr Wilkshire had one in the early seventies that had well faded light blue paint that had no visible rust but had obviously seen better days.
Furious takes a bang on the head 🤕to demonstrate for us a potential hazard of 50s cars. Very relaxing and enjoyable. How could anyone with a hint of soul be annoyed when they get held up for a few miles by something so beautiful. I love the Farina Cambridge but I am really warming to these. A neighbour of ours had an A50 van which he ran everyday until 1978 /1979.
My Father had a two tone green A55 back in the early 60's. Replaced an old Morris Minor so felt like a palace to an 8 year old. Unfortunately written off when hit black ice one night and left the road, Father got a broken leg. Odd the memories a video can bring back.
My dad had a lovely 1958 a55 in the late 60s. It had a sunvisor, ace wheel trims and a built in record player( nightmare!). He abandoned it a seized engine. He just didn't service it . If anyone knows where JCB 703 is you could post it here. JJ
Beautiful classic 1950s design. Looks good from every angle and I love all the small styling details. The two-tone paint scheme is fabulous. I also love the interior and dashboard. You never mentioned that the bonnet scoop actually feeds air to the carburettor.
We got those in Argentina in pick up version only, known as the Siam Argenta. Only for little time that was, then we got the Farina model as sedan, estate and also pick up, known as the Siam Di Tella 1500, Traveller and Argenta, respectively
This is truly beautiful and has to be one of my all time favourite cars along side the Ford Anglia and Consul. I'm 17 and I'm hoping to have a Austin Cambridge as my first car just like my grandfather :)
The car that featured in Michael Palin's ' East Of Ipswich ' set in the late 50s , and ' himself ' as a boy.His engineer dad overtakes a portly Rover P4 very swiftly, and remarks " all bodywork those Rovers " !.
We had both, an A55 and a Rover 90. And i can assure you. If it was a 6 cyl Rover 90 100 or 110! And the driver said no you won't! Then you wouldn't!! That aside i like the A55!
@@davidtaylor351 I know that David, you're missing the context of his dad's comment as a meagrely paid engineer and thinking he had a more powerful car which clearly he didn't !
@@Roger.Coleman1949 Fair enough! However many of us haven't seen the TV series/movie you referred to! And the context, wasn't conveyed in your comment. So it's easy to miss it.
Ps i wasn't unduly upset by your comment. And i appreciate your explanation! It was simply, that as a family. We had both cars. So your comment caught my interest! The A55 was the car i learnt to drive on. And got my licence with.
You can get it on DVD for less than a fiver and if you knew , or didn't live through the late 1950s , it is a very amusing account of a bygone era and the way people have changed in just over 60 years .Michael Palin brilliantly portrayed his own formative years and growing upin fast rapidly changing times.
This Austin reminds me of a 1950's Ford Fairlane, but in a very compact package. Something about British cars, especially classics like this, that I like a lot! Very nice review!
It's interesting to see how big the boot opening is in those 50s and early 60s cars, and that car producers later decided that having a flat lid was enough in the 70s and 80s, only to come back to their senses in the 90s.
@@onesandzeroes really? Based on what cars? Half the cars have swoopy rear ends that might be marginally more aero but not practical. The other half have nice attractive light clusters, but no thought as to how you fit things in around them.
@@benholroyd5221 What I meant is that the part between the rear lights lifts up while earlier only the top did, which made it a lot harder to load things. Now the opening may be a bit narrow in some cars, but the loading sill is still quite low.
Somebody apparently loved this little car for it to look so tidy sixty-odd years after leaving the factory. They must have sold reasonably well in Australia because I can clearly remember seeing them, as a car-crazed teenager, in the 1970s, usually piloted by the elderly. I think they must have been a hard sell against the larger, roomier and more powerful six-cylinder Holden. Holden held fifty percent of the market in the 1950s. Who would have thought back then that by the early 21st century that both Holden and Austin (Morris, Hillman, Humber, Singer, Wolseley, Riley, etc.) would be just memories.
The keys get in the way of the ashtray. The 1/2 ton truck/van version of this was still being made in 1973. They can't have sold many, because I was alive then, and they were quite a rare sight.
Great stuff, I remember these well from my childhood. My dad had a 1957 Morris Oxford, which was very similar, especially inside. My mother hated it as she always suffered from travel sickness in it. Eventually, he replaced it with a Triumph 2000.
In 1962 my parents bought a brand new semi-detached house, in the north east, for £2300 (now worth about £150,000) So this A55 was about one third of the price of a new house. No wonder nobody I knew had a car on the drive. Excellent video of the first car I ever drove - my older brother had one in around 1970.
A55? I guess BMC didn’t expect to be exported to the states? 😬 At least it’s on the rear end. Edit: the name was changed it seems to avoid being the butt of a few jokes. Sorry. I’ll see myself out.
Love this lil car! you do realize that it does have inner body panels in the boot so no worries to the rear wings should you be thrashing about inside :)
You said it was a Manumatic but they didn't have a clutch pedal. Would I have preferred this to a slightly larger Ford Consul? Don't think so. You also forgot to mention THE highlight of 1957, the arrival of the Vauxhall Victor!
Fixed in my memory is my father doing the same thing when picking up his grey A55 Farina from a garage on the old A3 in Hinchley Wood (Surrey). The horn didn't work so he made the mistake of fiddling with the connection while the dealer pressed the horn button. He said a word I'd not heard before...
Very few cars with overdrive on the A55. And the manumatic never had a clutch pedal or overdrive together. The clutch was actuated by electrics, pneumatics and hydraulics. The action of grabbing the knob end of gear lever sent an electric signal to a servo, which told the system that the clutch was disengaged- put it in gear or change gear when moving, finally releasing the gear lever end which re engaged the drive.
I had one of these in 1974, it was a really good car, really comfy, reliable. It was slow, but all cars were slow back then. It would sit on 70mph all day no problem. Everything worked had a great heater, electric wipers rather than vacuum ones which I was used to. I put one if the first sanyo cassette stereos in it, had to change from positive earth to negative, made it a cruise mobile. It would have been heaps better with radials rather than the standard cross ply tyres, but in those days, that's all I could afford. Great cars.
A bus company I drove for in the 1970's had one of these with a column stick semi-automatic gearbox. Selecting first could leave you in reverse. Definitely designed for a one-legged man with a good since of humour!
Brilliant talk on all your cars and I like the way you mention the Events of History that were taking place when the car was manufactured. It puts its age in perspective. Please keep up the great videos and your narrations. Cheers, John (Australia)
I've gotta workshop manual for that car in my collection of many car-related books & memorabilia, it's handbook #95 in the Piet Olyslager Motor Manuals series, I've also got more info about the car in the Graham Robson book about the Cars of BMC, and in Michael G.D. Allen's book about British Family Cars of the 50s, I've had these books since between 1986 and 1988. I just love that car, especially the duotone colour shade of white over grey, and that red interior goes perfectly with that exterior colour shade which as well as fits with a car that is as old as I am no less!!
That's pretty impressive for a car from 50's. I wouldn't say 51 HP is that bad, since for example Cinquecento 0.7 had 30 horses in the 90's. Edit: oh, its 1.5, but still, i'm impressed
Brand new cutting edge 1957 British car boldly going right into 1950 American style. With outside chrome boot hinges last seen in the US on the 1949 Ford.
10:12 I got temporarily confused with that perspective initially thinking we were looking at the rear wheel and briefly thinking 'rear steering!?', then wondering if you were reversing, and why, but that doesn't work either :)
My gfather bought one of these new, his last car. When he retired, he used to lend it to his local GP, as the doctor didn't possess a car (@1961) Nice looking for the time
My grandfather replaced his fuel hungry P4 Rover 90 with an Austin A 55 IN THE 1970S. I never liked the look of these. Ok from the front end. But both the A50 and A55 were awkward from the rear end. Thank Zeus that Farina sorted it out with the next model.
Great review Matt. We had a 1958 model back in the sixties. with overdrive. Unfortunately reverse gear would sometimes not engage. Very comfortable car though and I think wing mirrors look cool although deadly for Pedestrians!!
I owned this car for 37 years. Original reg 315 ADE was sold after me. Shame. Afraid there's a few incorrect comments in this clip. Also if you cannot see out the wing mirror - adjust it! Car did not originally have over drive works - on third and top - 6 gears. I fitted from scrap donor car. Had to cut out and weld in gearbox tunnel as the overdrive cars had different floor pan. I did over 100,000 miles on two engines.
I bought this car in the 1970's and owned for 37 years and did over 100,000 miles on 2 engines in it. Original reg 315 ADE (sold after me) There's a few facts not right. Also originally was not an over drive car - I fitted it from a wreck, had to cut out and swop gearbox tunnel to accommodate. The overdrive operated on 3rd & top - 6 gears! - relaxed cruising . I could gone on a lot about this car!
Bet you enjoyed driving the Austin my first car was a triumph herald not a million miles away from the Cambridge 39bhp low compression engine 🤣 like a little sowing machine it was so quiet I use to think it had stalled at traffic lights and try and start it again would of still had it now almost 40 years on if my brother hadn't of rolled it after a pub crawl
When I was a kid my dad bought one of these. Me and my brother hated it because it was fairly new and my dad would scream at us if we didn't sit totally still and we used to like to fight in the other cars he had.
Since you referred to the Tri-5 Chevies, perhaps we can use those in a comparison of vehicle width (since the postwar British cars always seem so narrow to us Yanks...and, yeah, I know about the narrow country lanes, town streets, etc. Got it.) The Austin A55 Cambridge measured 1570mm/61.8 inches in width. The 1955 Chevy measured 1880mm/74 inches. So, for those of us who still think in terms of inches and feet, the Austin was slightly more than a foot narrower. No wonder those proportions always seem like the UK cars are up on tippy-toes!
I'm very glad this charming old example of Britain's motoring past has survived somehow. I can't honestly say that I'm desperately keen to own it - but it is a good thing somebody will.
Thank you very much indeed, like jaguar, Peugeot, and Austin, like in hire, right hand drive , beautifully classic car Watching from apartment in west java java island Indonesia
B for Bentley, A for Austin, the "winged A" seems to say. I like these friendly-looking, once common 1950s cars. And 51 hp: well, it moves forward and you're sitting comfortably, what more would you want?
You just failed your driving test, releasing handbrake before engaging gear! The knob with the H is the heater fan, single speed or twist to regulate, the A fresh or recirculated air.
I drive a stick shift, and that's kinda rare where I live, but i have never drove a column shift. I would love to see what it's like. And the oldest car I've ever drove was a 1976 Datsun 210 wagon with a 5 speed. Car was older then me but I learned to drive a manual in it.
Its pretty easy once you've adjusted your head to think its a regular H pattern but on its side, and great as you dont have to move your hand far, but the linkages go out of adjustment easily
I absolutely loved my A55 Cambridge, mine was black with rare manumatic gears. Always wanted a two tone one but that came later when I owned a two tone blue A95 Westminster similar styling. I was so upset when an Austin Maxi drove into the back of my Cambridge, that's when she went to the scrapyard in the sky.
Lovely colours inside this car. Cars WERE nice in that respect, unlike TODAY'S dull interiors
AND cars did have a spare wheel then, too!
For such reasons, I wouldn't buy today's cars!
LOVELY CAR
A Friend of mine in year 11 inherited a 58 A55 to drive to school from his Mum. It was two tone blue, and so different , he actually scored a couple of girlfriends with it in Canada ( Left hand drive of course) taught both girls to drive in it,....
In the mid to late sixties, an order came from the top (Mum). Dad was not to buy any more American Tanks, as mum put it. My father and I loved cars, specially American. So dad and I started car hunting. We came up with a 1958 Austin A105 Vanden Plas. I started reading about it in magazines etc. I said to dad, this is a special and rare car. An I was 12 at the time. The 105 looked like a big version of the A55. Ever since, I've had a real soft spot for whole Austin range 1957 - 59. I'm now a 65 year old Great Granddad. But it's strange, Dad's been gone nearly 45 years, and I still miss him so much, and of course mum. But dad and I were so similar, mum would say "your a mirror of your dad, including personality". A positive message by mum, because they were married almost 61 years. God bless and Kind Regards
To Caspaabriel.
Lovely story!
It’s got such a happy face! Car styling was jolly and adventurous back then, not aggressive and samey as with modern cars. Great review Matt
She is saying, " rest yourself against my Bonnet," unlike some modern cars, you know who you are out there, that look like they will bite your leg off if you get too close.
Like something out of Thomas the Tank Engine! 🚂
Very true comment!
Lovely old thing. Back in 1967 I was a trainee mechanic for a Alpha Coaches in Patcham, Brighton, I bought an A50 from the head fitter for £8.00, I will write it so you dont think its a typo, Eight Pounds, Good old days
Eight quid was a week's wages back then though!
The ANGLE of the windscreen is very pleasant. It doesn't seem too close to you, and is easy to see out of you. And the Speedo right in front of you, is EXACTLY where it SHOULD be! A car among cars.
When these were launched the old 1200cc A40 was discontinued, except in Ireland where the A55 body was available with the 1200cc engine and called the A45
Jolly old days when driving was a pleasure and not a pressure.
I remember the driver of an A60 (6 cylinder version) helping to tow my Dad’s later Austin Cambridge estate plus caravan up a rather too steep hill in Cornwall back in the sixties.
1970 In the RN I used to drive one flat out from Oxford to HMS Raleigh. Torpoint. East Cornwall, a 5 hour trip at 33 mpg the handling was brilliant. Mine had quite a high mileage but I am sure she was quieter than that...
My second car - when I was fifteen - the first being a Morris 1000 bought for £5 on becoming a teenager. Lucky enough to live next to a disused aerodrome. Yes, those big, comfortable seats are real leather and tanned in a much better way than modern car leather which will sag rather than age as well as these have done.
Lovely to hear the familiar BMC engine and transmission sounds, mine had the floor mounted gear lever - and I was so impressed that it was possible to spin the wheels in second - on a bit of gravel! Thanks for such an informative video of an often overlooked British family car. (You could do such a better job of Top Gear than the two and a half clowns that ruin it nowadays!)
To roberttp.wainman
The problem with Top Gear is the producers! Like Clarkson & co. They HAVE to be stupid to meet with the B.B.C.'s wishes!
That red leather interior screams;
I'm not German, French, Italian or American. I'm British!
So, this car was sold in the US as the Austin Cambria? My father drove one of these in 1963. I was five at the time. It was black, with a red interior... leatherette, I think.
The one thing I remember was how the directional arm had a flashing light at the end of the arm. I loved it.
Brings back memories of learning/passing, to drive all those years ago. The spare was stored underneath the boot, cover being let down using the starting handle. Enabling the spare to be removed without unloading the boot and lowering the plate, using the starting handle, holding the spare without clearing the boot.
My dad’s friend had one of these in the 70’s He absolutely cherished it and would give it a new coat of paint (same two tones) every year just to keep it looking new.
I bought one of these in about 1968, for the sum of £5.00. I had just passed my driving test and had recently sold my Tiger Cub motorcycle. The car was better than my motorcycle because you could kiss and cuddle girls in comfort. Believe this or not, the rust in the passenger footwell was so bad I placed roof slates over the hole in its floor in an attempt to stop the elements from entering the car. When the winter arrived I fashioned a timber duckboard above the slates to keep feet dry. No, this car was not illegal, it had a legal MOT. One dark, windy and raining night returning from Manchester, the car skidded and left the road. It ploughed through a dry stone wall, then flew 30 feet into a farmers field before hitting a tree. The impact was lessened because the rear axle had engaged a large stone block in the field, so it had acted as an arrestor wire on an aircraft carrier. We both lived to tell this modest tale.
Very very unlikely it's not gone round the clock, I would want to see proof !
But even 135k is still only just over 2 k per year.
Lovely old girl 😯
The switch to the left of the bonnet release is the heater fan switch, and the one to the right is cold air vent control.
Perhaps the Manu-Matic control was placed in the left hand side for the Left Hand Drive markets for the USA & Canadian markets. Those markets an "automatic" option was a desirable feature.
My father had it’s big brother the A90, an ultra smooth strait six. We felt like royalty riding in it.
As a child of the 60s I remember these cars well. My father was a car mechanic and would work on the cars of family and friends.
You hitting your head the bonnet of the A55 brought back memories of my father doing the same thing on some cars back, he also used a few choice words at the time😂.
A college of my father had an A55.
I remember once going out with my father and his college in the A55. His son was driving and was honing along some twisting country lanes with me and my father sat on the back seat. You’d be surprised how hard those cars could be driven and of course no seat belts so you had to hang on. Different times.
Nobody wore them when they were fitted. I remember about 1979 my Dad said pull on your seat belt Son till we see what she can do. He proceeded to wind our 950cc Ford Fiesta up to a maximum of 86 mph. My Wee Brother was in the back with no seat belt and his head was stuck between the seats watching the speedo.
@@seancooke4127 yeah times change, life was different back then. I actually started my first driving lesson in a Mk1 Fiesta and went on to pass my driving test in a Mini back in 79.
@@nick2203 great stuff. I passed mine in 1985 in an 81 Fiesta. Minis and Fiestas had to be properly driven. No power steering or dual mass flywheels or ABS. Your parking sensors were your eyes too. 😂
This type of lovely little four-pot BMC saloons are the first cars that spring to mind for me once I think of English motoring. Prim and proper as well as full of charm, with enough restraint to be characteristically British. It's also worth mentioning that Smiths was the main supplier of instrumentation in English autos since 1915 and was their only true 20th century watchmaker. I recently tracked down a 15-jewel Astral with a secondhand subdial from 1960 and hope it lives up to expectations.
Smith's watches were good value,I was a services man, I think they used all kinds of movements including Smith's...still have my 1965 services marine which I got as a young lad although it was a man's watch.
I owned a 57 A55 deluxe from Jan 1987 until July 1989 and it became my daily driver in June 87 when I wrote my then-current daily off. I bought it off my father, who had bought it from the bloke who had owned it from new and brought it with him from Birmingham when he emigrated to New Zealand (where I am) in 1970. The car had done all of 50340 miles, having basically sat except to get its 6 monthly Warrant of Fitness (WoF.....or MoT as you blokes know it).
She had a few spots of minor rust, but otherwise was a straight and original car. It was Old English white on the roof, boot and bottom half of the doors and dark blue on the bonnet, top of the front wings and down the sides between the door windows and the swage line and between the swage line and the seal on the top of the guards at the rear.
She had nearly every extra they offered - the twin wing mirrors, leather upholstery (blue) with a set of factory seat covers that were of the same colour but framed with vinyl and with a woven cloth piece on the seat and seat back, monogrammed blue Austin rubber floor mats, windscreen washers, front fog light, bumper over-riders, heater, clock and valve Austin-monogrammed radio.....but sadly no overdrive.
The A55 was a beautiful car to drive, but as you say, she was no race horse. However, in the time I drive her as my main vehicle, I clocked up 27,000 miles and they were pretty much trouble free except for the exhaust pipe, brake master and slave being re-kitted, a couple of front bushes and getting the rear springs re-tensioned due to their sag. She had a range of around 210 miles (averaging about 26mpg), but her reserve tank could be engaged in an emergency.....and I should have tested this before I ran out in the middle of nowhere and tried to use it!
I loved the car and there are many times when I have looked to replace it with another one since then, but sadly I have yet to come across one that does not need a power of work to get it up to WoF standard. By the way - under the lower parcel shelf under the dash, the knobs that read H / B / A are for Heater fan, Bonnet (as you know) and Air. Pull that last one and it opened a flap in the firewall behind the dash and fed air scooped up by the huge air vent under the chrome bonnet emblem ornamentation and fed it straight into the cabin - fantastic for wet days to keep air flowing around the car without windows being open.....although the front quarterlights were perfect to aid demisting at any time too!
Very 1950's. As an American, I've always liked Austin products as my grandparents owned an Austin built Nash Metropolitan. If you can locate one in the UK, a video of a UK Metropolitan would be wonderful.
Nice. I had a1957 Morris Oxford for a while. I bought it in 1980 as a one owner car from a guy who had stopped driving a few months before. He was 86 at the time. Unfortunately it was far too rotten to restore. It still drove well though.
...and it returned to the UK in the early nineties euphemistically called the Fullbore Mark 10 .
My Dad was an Austin man thru' and thru' (he had 5) and his '58 was identical to the car shown. His next was an A60 but he always said the A55 was his favourite. He sometimes let me use it and although my style of driving was very different to his (oops!) I loved it too! He did all his own mechanical repairs but the bodywork finally defeated him, which was typical of most cars at the time 😢. Thanx for the post - and the memories! The featured car is unbelievably immaculate. If I could afford it I'd park it next to my Passat just to look at and love.
I owned this car in the mid 1990s , the car had been recommissioned after storage and i brought it through a dealer in popular classics magazine
It looks like you can get it back if you’re of mind to do.
Had it been clocked when you bought it? Pity the interior hadn't been recommissioned to match the alleged mileage!
Lovely car we had one my parents bought it new year 1959 colour was a gray and off white really nice.thank you for featuring this car
Philip became Duke of Edinburgh on the eve of his wedding to the Queen as a present from King George VI. They stripped him of all his Danish and Greek titles and he was effectively a commoner so the King decided to make him a Royal Highness. In 1957, the Queen finally made him a Prince of the United Kingdom and therefore fully royal which he was all along. Funny people.
Very sweet and solid. I always liked the styling. The only thing that annoys me was that the steering wheel is on upside down. It's a common mistake. The spokes should point slightly downwards and the horn button can be rotated to any position. Oh dear, that's a very 'anorak' thing to say but what the heck. 😊👍
Anoraks are the best!
Wow!
@@GoldenCroc 😄 Also, a bit of OCD thrown in helps!
I thought it was on wrong!
One of our teachers a Mr Wilkshire had one in the early seventies that had well faded light blue paint that had no visible rust but had obviously seen better days.
What a beautiful example of the 50s stalwart! Great review as always.
Furious takes a bang on the head 🤕to demonstrate for us a potential hazard of 50s cars. Very relaxing and enjoyable.
How could anyone with a hint of soul be annoyed when they get held up for a few miles by something so beautiful.
I love the Farina Cambridge but I am really warming to these. A neighbour of ours had an A50 van which he ran everyday until 1978 /1979.
My Father had a two tone green A55 back in the early 60's. Replaced an old Morris Minor so felt like a palace to an 8 year old. Unfortunately written off when hit black ice one night and left the road, Father got a broken leg. Odd the memories a video can bring back.
My dad had a lovely 1958 a55 in the late 60s. It had a sunvisor, ace wheel trims and a built in record player( nightmare!). He abandoned it a seized engine. He just didn't service it . If anyone knows where JCB 703 is you could post it here. JJ
Beautiful classic 1950s design. Looks good from every angle and I love all the small styling details. The two-tone paint scheme is fabulous. I also love the interior and dashboard. You never mentioned that the bonnet scoop actually feeds air to the carburettor.
this actually looks a lot like an early 60s Datsun Bluebird. gorgeous
That's because in the 1950s. Datsun were building Austins under licence! The bluebird was developed from these Austins.
We got those in Argentina in pick up version only, known as the Siam Argenta. Only for little time that was, then we got the Farina model as sedan, estate and also pick up, known as the Siam Di Tella 1500, Traveller and Argenta, respectively
This is truly beautiful and has to be one of my all time favourite cars along side the Ford Anglia and Consul. I'm 17 and I'm hoping to have a Austin Cambridge as my first car just like my grandfather :)
The car that featured in Michael Palin's ' East Of Ipswich ' set in the late 50s , and ' himself ' as a boy.His engineer dad overtakes a portly Rover P4 very swiftly, and remarks " all bodywork those Rovers " !.
We had both, an A55 and a Rover 90. And i can assure you. If it was a 6 cyl Rover 90 100 or 110! And the driver said no you won't! Then you wouldn't!! That aside i like the A55!
@@davidtaylor351 I know that David, you're missing the context of his dad's comment as a meagrely paid engineer and thinking he had a more powerful car which clearly he didn't !
@@Roger.Coleman1949 Fair enough! However many of us haven't seen the TV series/movie you referred to! And the context, wasn't conveyed in your comment. So it's easy to miss it.
Ps i wasn't unduly upset by your comment. And i appreciate your explanation! It was simply, that as a family. We had both cars. So your comment caught my interest! The A55 was the car i learnt to drive on. And got my licence with.
You can get it on DVD for less than a fiver and if you knew , or didn't live through the late 1950s , it is a very amusing account of a bygone era and the way people have changed in just over 60 years .Michael Palin brilliantly portrayed his own formative years and growing upin fast rapidly changing times.
Never seen one before, looks both stylish and cute.
This Austin reminds me of a 1950's Ford Fairlane, but in a very compact package.
Something about British cars, especially classics like this, that I like a lot!
Very nice review!
I'd never thought of the resemblance to a Fairlane but you're right!
It's interesting to see how big the boot opening is in those 50s and early 60s cars, and that car producers later decided that having a flat lid was enough in the 70s and 80s, only to come back to their senses in the 90s.
so we have another 9 years to wait before we can buy practical cars again?
@@benholroyd5221 please 🙏. SUVs need the SHUV.
@@benholroyd5221 I think I see what you're trying to do here. Well, the cycle has not repeated, the boots have since then remained practical.
@@onesandzeroes really? Based on what cars?
Half the cars have swoopy rear ends that might be marginally more aero but not practical. The other half have nice attractive light clusters, but no thought as to how you fit things in around them.
@@benholroyd5221 What I meant is that the part between the rear lights lifts up while earlier only the top did, which made it a lot harder to load things. Now the opening may be a bit narrow in some cars, but the loading sill is still quite low.
I think the upholstery is likely Rexine, very common back then.. and the door handle material you mentioned is Mazak, also known as Zamak..
In mine from new it was leather with rexine door cards.
A virtually new car for six kay, looks like should be museum piece, can't really loose if kept in a fairly modern integrated garage in the warmth.
My grandfather had a red over cream one. Used to drive it down from Wisbech to visit us in Surrey once or twice a year.
That horn is just superb on this car. Much better than the toy-town style ones of most of today's models.
3:25 proves that the secret of great comedy is most definitely timing.
Somebody apparently loved this little car for it to look so tidy sixty-odd years after leaving the factory. They must have sold reasonably well in Australia because I can clearly remember seeing them, as a car-crazed teenager, in the 1970s, usually piloted by the elderly. I think they must have been a hard sell against the larger, roomier and more powerful six-cylinder Holden. Holden held fifty percent of the market in the 1950s. Who would have thought back then that by the early 21st century that both Holden and Austin (Morris, Hillman, Humber, Singer, Wolseley, Riley, etc.) would be just memories.
The keys get in the way of the ashtray.
The 1/2 ton truck/van version of this was still being made in 1973. They can't have sold many, because I was alive then, and they were quite a rare sight.
I remember seeing them in the early 70's but yes, new ones weren't common by then.
Great stuff, I remember these well from my childhood. My dad had a 1957 Morris Oxford, which was very similar, especially inside. My mother hated it as she always suffered from travel sickness in it. Eventually, he replaced it with a Triumph 2000.
my Dad had a new one of these - he used to let me park it up when he came home from work! Two tone cream and red!
In 1962 my parents bought a brand new semi-detached house, in the north east, for £2300 (now worth about £150,000) So this A55 was about one third of the price of a new house. No wonder nobody I knew had a car on the drive. Excellent video of the first car I ever drove - my older brother had one in around 1970.
A55? I guess BMC didn’t expect to be exported to the states? 😬
At least it’s on the rear end.
Edit: the name was changed it seems to avoid being the butt of a few jokes.
Sorry. I’ll see myself out.
Outstanding! :)
Love this lil car! you do realize that it does have inner body panels in the boot so no worries to the rear wings should you be thrashing about inside :)
You said it was a Manumatic but they didn't have a clutch pedal. Would I have preferred this to a slightly larger Ford Consul? Don't think so. You also forgot to mention THE highlight of 1957, the arrival of the Vauxhall Victor!
Pure comedy gold at 3:28 😆 health & safety good job you had your woolly hat on!
Fixed in my memory is my father doing the same thing when picking up his grey A55 Farina from a garage on the old A3 in Hinchley Wood (Surrey). The horn didn't work so he made the mistake of fiddling with the connection while the dealer pressed the horn button. He said a word I'd not heard before...
@@Graham_Langley Aaaoowh?
@@seancooke4127 Too many letters.
@@Graham_Langley Aaao?
@@seancooke4127 You know which one.
Very few cars with overdrive on the A55. And the manumatic never had a clutch pedal or overdrive together. The clutch was actuated by electrics, pneumatics and hydraulics. The action of grabbing the knob end of gear lever sent an electric signal to a servo, which told the system that the clutch was disengaged- put it in gear or change gear when moving, finally releasing the gear lever end which re engaged the drive.
Sounds very much like my first car. a Wolseley 1500 Mk3 1963, for good reason!
I had one of these in 1974, it was a really good car, really comfy, reliable. It was slow, but all cars were slow back then. It would sit on 70mph all day no problem. Everything worked had a great heater, electric wipers rather than vacuum ones which I was used to. I put one if the first sanyo cassette stereos in it, had to change from positive earth to negative, made it a cruise mobile. It would have been heaps better with radials rather than the standard cross ply tyres, but in those days, that's all I could afford. Great cars.
With the exception of the mascot the front end seems to be a car that's quite pedestrian friendly.
A bus company I drove for in the 1970's had one of these with a column stick semi-automatic gearbox. Selecting first could leave you in reverse. Definitely designed for a one-legged man with a good since of humour!
Brilliant talk on all your cars and I like the way you mention the Events of History that were taking place when the car was manufactured. It puts its age in perspective. Please keep up the great videos and your narrations. Cheers, John (Australia)
Lovely little car but that rear badge is hilarious :D
For that year it's select gear first, then handbrake. Nice car. 26 mpg.
I've gotta workshop manual for that car in my collection of many car-related books & memorabilia, it's handbook #95 in the Piet Olyslager Motor Manuals series, I've also got more info about the car in the Graham Robson book about the Cars of BMC, and in Michael G.D. Allen's book about British Family Cars of the 50s, I've had these books since between 1986 and 1988. I just love that car, especially the duotone colour shade of white over grey, and that red interior goes perfectly with that exterior colour shade which as well as fits with a car that is as old as I am no less!!
I'm getting one from a pal of mine in the new year. Fantastic !
Thanks for the video. Colin ( Wakefield ).
That's pretty impressive for a car from 50's. I wouldn't say 51 HP is that bad, since for example Cinquecento 0.7 had 30 horses in the 90's. Edit: oh, its 1.5, but still, i'm impressed
A few years later the twin-carb 875cc engine in the Imp Sport had 50/51bhp as standard.
yes cars then had nice square deep boots much more practical than modern cars
@@pauldavies6037 : I guess you loaded the small 1950’s suitcases upright rather than laying them down horizontally?
@@timonsolus maybe people had small suitcases in those days
Brand new cutting edge 1957 British car boldly going right into 1950 American style. With outside chrome boot hinges last seen in the US on the 1949 Ford.
Близко к " Москвичу" 402 , 407 , 403. симпатичный автомомобиль. Привет из Лондона
I didn't realise any Manumatic ones survived. On the vid. it shows how well it worked.
Yeah lovely cars. My uncle had a ute version here in Aussie land.
Awww what a delight of a car this is!!! Sweeeeet! Thanks for bringing us joy my friend!
10:12 I got temporarily confused with that perspective initially thinking we were looking at the rear wheel and briefly thinking 'rear steering!?', then wondering if you were reversing, and why, but that doesn't work either :)
Iconic 50’s motoring lovely car
My gfather bought one of these new, his last car. When he retired, he used to lend it to his local GP, as the doctor didn't possess a car (@1961) Nice looking for the time
I don't know if it's a sign of the times, but I read 'ass' on the rear or the car before I realised it was a55. Those two-tone looks are sublime too.
I thought it was Ass lol
My Dad drove us to Rome in one of these in 1961, no Mont Blanc tunnel and camping all the way of course😊
1957. Less than 2 years before the Mini came out. Amazing.
Great video, Matt. Lovely little motor
Small correction - this is not a manumatic. It is a manual gearbox with overdrive. I had an identical one.
My grandfather replaced his fuel hungry P4 Rover 90 with an Austin A 55 IN THE 1970S. I never liked the look of these. Ok from the front end. But both the A50 and A55 were awkward from the rear end. Thank Zeus that Farina sorted it out with the next model.
My Dad had one exactly like that ,same colour and interior. Happy days.
MY first car at 19 , but a 3 ltr 6 cylinder Austin Westminster .
My wife was born in 1957
And I wager,that A55 is in better nick than she is 😲🤣
😂😃😂😃😂😃😂😃😂😃😃😃
Hands you a little blue pill........
I'll wager you won't show her that comment! 😂😂
Probably a lot better shape than your little KPs will be in when she reads this Lad. 🤣
I had an A50 in about 1965 with the 1500cc engine . It was great it, would get up to just over 80 mph if the road was long enough !
Great review Matt. We had a 1958 model back in the sixties. with overdrive. Unfortunately reverse gear would sometimes not engage.
Very comfortable car though and I think wing mirrors look cool although deadly for Pedestrians!!
I thought the boot badge said ASS... but it acually says A55 😂
I loved the quarter windows now deffuncked should bring them back
I owned this car for 37 years. Original reg 315 ADE was sold after me. Shame. Afraid there's a few incorrect comments in this clip. Also if you cannot see out the wing mirror - adjust it! Car did not originally have over drive works - on third and top - 6 gears. I fitted from scrap donor car. Had to cut out and weld in gearbox tunnel as the overdrive cars had different floor pan. I did over 100,000 miles on two engines.
I bought this car in the 1970's and owned for 37 years and did over 100,000 miles on 2 engines in it. Original reg 315 ADE (sold after me) There's a few facts not right. Also originally was not an over drive car - I fitted it from a wreck, had to cut out and swop gearbox tunnel to accommodate. The overdrive operated on 3rd & top - 6 gears! - relaxed cruising . I could gone on a lot about this car!
Bet you enjoyed driving the Austin my first car was a triumph herald not a million miles away from the Cambridge 39bhp low compression engine 🤣 like a little sowing machine it was so quiet I use to think it had stalled at traffic lights and try and start it again would of still had it now almost 40 years on if my brother hadn't of rolled it after a pub crawl
When I was a kid my dad bought one of these. Me and my brother hated it because it was fairly new and my dad would scream at us if we didn't sit totally still and we used to like to fight in the other cars he had.
Since you referred to the Tri-5 Chevies, perhaps we can use those in a comparison of vehicle width (since the postwar British cars always seem so narrow to us Yanks...and, yeah, I know about the narrow country lanes, town streets, etc. Got it.) The Austin A55 Cambridge measured 1570mm/61.8 inches in width. The 1955 Chevy measured 1880mm/74 inches. So, for those of us who still think in terms of inches and feet, the Austin was slightly more than a foot narrower. No wonder those proportions always seem like the UK cars are up on tippy-toes!
I'm very glad this charming old example of Britain's motoring past has survived somehow. I can't honestly say that I'm desperately keen to own it - but it is a good thing somebody will.
Thank you very much indeed, like jaguar, Peugeot, and Austin, like in hire, right hand drive , beautifully classic car
Watching from apartment in west java java island Indonesia
The steering wheel is upside down
B for Bentley, A for Austin, the "winged A" seems to say. I like these friendly-looking, once common 1950s cars. And 51 hp: well, it moves forward and you're sitting comfortably, what more would you want?
It goes. It stops. It keeps the weather off.
You just failed your driving test, releasing handbrake before engaging gear! The knob with the H is the heater fan, single speed or twist to regulate, the A fresh or recirculated air.
I drive a stick shift, and that's kinda rare where I live, but i have never drove a column shift. I would love to see what it's like. And the oldest car I've ever drove was a 1976 Datsun 210 wagon with a 5 speed. Car was older then me but I learned to drive a manual in it.
Its pretty easy once you've adjusted your head to think its a regular H pattern but on its side, and great as you dont have to move your hand far, but the linkages go out of adjustment easily