Steph, you are not ancient, you are younger than me so you are not allowed to be ancient! Loved the cheeky grin when you first revved her up, what a great car, battered, bruised, made of bits from someone's shed, it just oozes character.
I had the pleasure of having a ride in this car and it has so much character! I can’t remember the last time I was in a classic that put such a smile on my face! It reminded me why most of us have classics - to enjoy driving them and have fun.
The engine came from a banger that I was intending to race. My dad installed it along with the twin carbs. The engine had been stood for over 15 years and it fired up straight away with a bit of fresh fuel. The cup holders I made myself. They're BMW seats from a 3 series. I made the wiring loom myself as the original was is such poor condition. So using 5 core wiring throughout I managed to get everything working. I'm so glad it's ended up with Jake and Niamh.
I’ve never had an engine (touch wood) run that smoothly and reliably! Probably the best thing that’s happened to that car and glad that through the past couple of owners we’ve kept it alive
Wow! A car that's put the fun back into motoring, and continued the fun of watching this channel! We don't need bog standard cars all the time, just something that has been modified to suit the owner's taste and personality.
✨Love it! It looks good on camera and has a lot of character. Cars that are driven and used are the true heroes of the classic car world. Pampered showqueens with more money than love shoved into it and re-re-rechromed better than new condition are not what makes my ❤️ pump.
Best thing about this charming little bruiser is the exhaust note, which encapsulates its rough and ready to rumble personally. Wonderful to see your joyful enthusiasm behind the wheel, letting your hair down (figuratively, as the bee hive remained securely airborne) and having a great time. One of your very best episodes.
I love it. The car equivalent of one of those dogs with different coloured ears that point in different directions and proper character personalities. A car should be fun and make journeys into adventures. I feel this car would do that. I'm imagining Jake being the kind of man that would offer to sing to you instead when you pointed out the lack of a stereo and would work his way through some John Shuttleworth classics
Excellent. This reminds me of the sort of thing we did to cars in the late sixties and seventies. These were just old, cheap heaps at the time. You would buy the cheapest heap you could find and use whatever was around to make it work. Anyone who complains about anything you have done to the car doesn't know their history. Great stuff guys. More power to your elbows.
Love this, it's a real two fingers up to the norm car, and I love that. Really tidy job done to it too, so many details that just make it proper cool!! The side exhaust, the glovebox, the gearknob, this is a proper make you happy don't give a monkeys car, and I just love it!!
I think that this Cambridge looks a lot better for it customisation than a standard Cambridge. I love the sound of the engine it’s because it sounds like it’s been tuned and I think I could see 2. carburettors when there should only have been one as I would understand on this model. Great show Steph. Pete 🇬🇧
What a terrific video about a great car. Personally I love the TR-6 wheels. They suit the car perfectly. The whole car is simply terrific. Lovely to see her loved and and being driven. Well done both of you.
I think this is my favourite video yet! That car is insane and you can tell how much fun you were having with it. Really cheered the day up watching :)
I like it! At least the body was rescued rather than scrapped and the result is very stylish. From the hot rod looks it deserves something like Rover V8 running gear though!
Lets get my drink and sit and watch the gorgeous Steph. My dad, bless him, used to drive the van version of this i think???? at the butchers he worked at.
@@nygelmiller5293 You have just made me google A55 van, and yes thats what my dad drove when he worked at a butchers shop. I would go out with him on Saturday mornings to do meat delivery's to customers. I was about 8 at the time so this would be the late 70s. When they scrapped that van in 1982 they purchased a brand new Vauxhall Viva van in Green, memories ay.
Love it! Reminds me of the MkI Cortina GT I wrenched in the 70's (owned by a girlfriend). The previous owner had modified extensively. Lowered, seats out of an early Pinto. Wider tires and wheels. Bilstein shocks. Free-flow air cleaner. Blanked out door panels. Rear wing windows loaded with stickers. They had also installed a "Wink" rearview mirror. These are full length with five mirror panels. You won't miss what's behind you, but it makes the sun visors useless. The car was a lot of fun but louder, aftermarket muffler. Love the shifter knob! We preferred golf balls, 8 balls, bar taps, etc. But those were also the years of faux fur headliners, dingle balls, and random color carpets made from store samples and remnants. Oh, and cheap AM/FM/ 8-track radios with as many cheap speakers as you had room to install. Fun drive, though I remember the car details probably better than Vicki, my girlfriend at the time, but has been 45 years.
@@nygelmiller5293 It was fun, but I owned a Datsun (Nissan) 240Z (FairladyZ) at that time, which I also had started "decorating." The former owner of the Cortina later became my roommate, and he had a 1967 Sunbeam Tiger that was outrageously fast.
In the early 70's I hand-painted my 'Pride&Joy' - a Vauxhall Cresta PA with some lovely Crown Gloss - Looks like yer Man had the same idea here :-) ................ I bought a New 'Half-ton Van' in '68 based on this model - It was Soooooo comfortable, especially with the column change, making it a 3-seater - these were great old motors - Luvvly-Jubbly :-)
Well done to Jake and Niamh, what a fun little car, a million smiles per mile. Whatever it no longer is, its survived for 64 years when most of its contemporaries have long been turned into Gillette's (razor blades). Good fun video Steph, keep up the good work.
Thats a great car my dad had a friend who had the van version there is plenty of fun and miles left in that one best of all it hasnt had a modern engine transplant as ever great video and all the best you can grab a hot cuppa now
A car like that is a lot more fun as you just don't care as much. That's the thing that does make classic car ownership a bit stressful is trying to get original replacement parts, but with something like that you can just use whatever parts you can find!
@@nygelmiller5293 , Morris and Austin had pick up and van versions of the moggie ( Minor 1000 ) too , i learned to drive in a 1970 Morris Minor 1000 Pick up , after my uncle and i welded up the rear Chassis rail tops in 1978 , which had rusted away under an aftermarket wooden rear truck bed .
What a wonderful car! Great fun. As you say, cheap classics just don't exist any more in the way they used to. Love the period Ford horn push. And especially love your coat Steph!
Awesome car, looks like a lot of fun to drive! I've never seen an A55 in my life but this car reminds me so much of a Fiat 600 I used to see driving around Freeport NY when I was young. It had the same vintage COMP CAMS stickers and everything!
I would definitely use that as my daily, great vid steph. I started driving in the 70s and know all about double clutching but I usually have to stop before I can get my vw up into first.
I'm like you I started driving in the 70's. I've never known any manual trans car that wants to go into first while still rolling faster than I can push it. So I just don't force them. What's always worked for me is to drop them into second and let them walk through a stop sign. In every case a car is more willing to lug a little bit in doing that than be forced into first. In fact when my Dad got older he became a nervous driver forcing a little car he had into first gear before stopping. He destroyed first gear in less than a year.
The steering column shift was really sloppy but great fun on the van version my brother had . What a load carrier back in the day Great video Steph as always .
Back in the mid-80s, my Dad bought a 57 A55 Deluxe from an old fella who had brought it out from England when he emigrated in 1970. He'd owned it from new and had all the ex-UK and NZ documentation to prove it's authentic 50,042 miles. The beast sat on our lawn for about 18 months and I got to drive it on and off there every time I mowed the lawn. It had absolutely no foot brake (everything was there, but the pedal went to the floor), so you had to be careful. I loved the old car and so when my car got written off in a freak motorway accident, I convinced the old boy to sell it to me. This car had every conceivable option that 1957 had to offer - things that nowadays mostly come as standard. She had leather seats that had factory seat covers on (which were the same colour, but vinyl backed and some strange prickly material on the bit you sat and leaned on), factory Austin embossed rubber floor mats, a heater, clock, radio, windscreen washers, fog lights, over-riders, twin wing-mounted mirrors, twin-tone horns, two-tone paint (Old English white with dark blue on bonnet, nosecone and along between the side moulding and bottom of the windows / tops of the rear wings) and the chrome lightning strike on both front wings. She had a few rough bits around the place, but she was a solid old tank and all original and unmolested as you would expect. Being 17.5 when I got her back on the road and started driving her full time, I disconnected the radio and put a tape deck in place (but hidden). I drove that beast for 28,000 miles in just on two years and she put up with a heck of a lot of punishment during that time. I used to take her up over a lot of loose metal (unsealed) roads in the Coromandel ranges and she just ate them up like there was no difference to normal. She was big, spacious, comfortable, had a cavernous boot and could happily sit on 60mph all day. I replaced her exhaust system front to rear, re-kitted the entire brake fluidic system, got the rear springs retentioned, did a valve grind (after someone put unleaded fuel in it and she burnt a valve), replaced a heater hose when it blew out and back-flushed the cooling system (which made the heater work finally!) and replaced her thermostat......but for the rest of the time, I just drove it and clocked up mile after mile of smiles. My mates and I would always go out in the A55 because she could fit three across the front seats and three in the back comfortably and cruise with no effort at all. One issue which I never resolved was the leaks in the front lever-action dampers, so I had to top them up every couple of hundred miles. If I went on a trip over the Coromandel though, that dropped to around 120 miles and it was a very floaty and bouncy ride home! Got to the point I was putting heavy duty diff oil in the dampers to even get it to last that long, but I loved that old car and there were a few tears shed when I sold it on after buying my Alfa Sprint. For all the trouble the Alfa gave me, I should have stuck with the A55 for sure. I'd love to have another one. P.S. As one who has driven many vehicles with no synchro on first (and who was also told never to put it into that gear unless she was at a standstill), I can report that it IS indeed possible to change down into a straight cut non-synchro gear, having done it many times in a Formula Ford series single seater. However, in a classic car you risk breaking teeth off the cog or damaging the idler gear if you get it wrong....and let's face it - what are you gaining by getting it back into first before the car comes to a stop? First gear in vehicles before 1965 was known as the 'crawler' gear, meaning flat out you'd be doing about 10mph at the very most. I still do not change my cars back into first gear until I have stopped - classic or modern - mostly out of habit nowadays I think, but for me, it was too much of a risk to try in one. Listen to the old-school gearbox mechanics - they know what they are talking about.
Ok the engine is a 1622cc B series from A60 Cambridge or Oxford etc and were fitted to J4 vans in uk fitted one in a Riley 1.5 for a bit more power it was good with the twin carburettors on it. Jeff in uk
@@CathodeRayNipplez Have to confess i've built hotrods in the past and am currently building a slightly modified 120 Amazon. But i see modifying as improving a lot of the time,and just doing what the manufacture should have done in the first place!
@@davidbarlow350 often times it is more a case of doing what the manufacturer would have done with what is available now. Check out David Bello for ideas about the Amazon. He has some right beauties. I have a 1990 240 Estate that is a bit of a quandary. There are some things I want to change, but Arthur is an oddball. A 1990 without airbag and daytime running lights in a Canadian spec automatic. The running lights and air bag were required on 1990 Canadian market cars, but Arthur squeaks in without them as he was an early production example.
I'm a purist, but I clearly understand that sometimes locating missing parts and their cost can be prohibitive, so one does what they can with what they have. That's actually wonderful because their love is maintaining a car at a level far better than were it left to sit and rot. The bones are most important and because this car is loved it has a chance at becoming a show piece someday if one were inclined to do so.
I had an Austin A50 back in the sixties I replaced the engine for another 1500 one and put a MG 1500 cylinder on it with 10 thou skimmed off. It went like the clappers but could displace a push rod at a high speed . Just a 5 minute fix though ! It was as comfortable as a Jag which I had later. Those were the days !
@@discerningmind Would make sense, they used a lot of their American styling for the MK2, just look at the rear lights on a 55 Customline, or the front grill on a 55 Thunderbird. Then add the roof from a 54 Customline and you’ve pretty much got a MK2 Consul!
Thats my kind of classic when I was growing up many of our cars were like this bits stuck on to make it work nevermind if it fitted or looked a bit bodged
With most of those old cars with no syncro on first, you don't need to double declutch into first, because you don't need that gear once the car is moving. 2nd. gear will handle all slow driving except maybe going up steep hills. Just treat first gear as the pulling away gear then you only have to engage it when the car is stationary. Think of it as a 3 gear box with an additional low gear for getting up one in four hills.
My mom's first car was a 54 Hillman Minx. It had the "Granny gear" first. She told me she used it about 5 times in 4 years. The rest of the time, she treated 2nd as if it were 1st. That is what the owner's manual (handbook) recommended. On the flat, the car was about 2 seconds faster 0-60 doing so, as it eliminated the early 1st to 2nd gear change.
@@michaeltutty1540 Thanks for the back up. The nearest car I had to this A55 was a 1955 Morris Oxford which would have had the same engine and gearbox as the A55 originally had. Certainly, I did not feel a need to change down from 2nd. to 1st.which is the only time a syncro is needed.. However the car in this video has an engine and gearbox from an unknown source. Your mum's Minx had only 42bhp to pull such a heavy car, which is the reason such a low 1st. gear was needed to pull away uphill. My father had a '54 Minx but I did not have a driving licence at the time, so never got to drive it.
That is a hoot Ford Anglia where ignition keys are. Middle bit Clock or Austin if England badge. Steering wheel?? This is true motering my dad converted a early 50s Austin A40 van to a primative estate carpet felt painted white on roof to deaden noise windows cut out the back panels I remember going out for a test drive sitting on a box where the passenger seat was. We traveled from Scotland to Thorne in South Yorkshire in the mid 60s. He got a Farina Cambridge after (big fin one) he put a " new " engine in that.
Jake and Niamh should be rightly proud of the Cambridge, I remember the 80's cheap customs and this truly has that about it, I'd enjoy owning something like that because you don't have to panic about keeping it mint.
What a wonderful machine, I'd much rather enjoy it as is rather than have it cubed and turned into white goods. I'd also place good money on it drawing a crowd at a show.
The Austin Cambridge A55 is probably one of my most favourite cars ever. I'm 18 and I'm hoping to be able to have one of these for my first car just like my grandfather did back in 1959. I believe it cost him £750 at the time :)
In the 50's my father had an Austin A55 Cambridge YKA 586, it didn't look anything like this one! My Dad always kept his cars spotless and if I wanted to help him clean his car, he would only let me wash the wheels incase l scratched the paintwork.
well where to start steph awesome piece of british motoring.love it all the glovebox lock yes and the gearstick gives me the shivers as the last few days have been freezing in my poor little puma
I agree that this car may not be original but Jake and Eve have saved it from the scrapyard and have made this stand out from the rest. At the end of the day 1) people have been customising cars for years and 2) it's Jakes and Eves car so they can do what they want without. And it's still more interesting than a modern Euroblob
Love this! My first car was a Wolseley 1500 and this engine looks the same. I guess it must be out of a 16/60 which was used in the Austin A60. One of my friends back in those days had an A90, which did indeed look much like this in the inside. I can't remember if his had the original engine, but whatever he had done to it, it was fast and could give a corsair 2000 a run for its money. I thought the switch panel in the centre could be from a ford prefect 100E, but I've just spotted Chas Lee's comment.
Thanks Steph. At first I was thinking that this wasn't much of a car but when you drove it I could tell that it's surprisingly good. I loved the sound of the exhaust on the outside. I'm in the USA and I've never known what the "MK" designation means on European cars. Can someone tell me what that means?
From a distance the body is pretty cool, a classic BTCC job on it. Up close, you see he just painted over the rust oh lord. You're right about classic car prices... but I think Brits are still more sane than stateside where an empty body shell of a Plymouth "Cuda" will be like $30,000. Over here that thing would cost tens of thousands.
To be fair we did quite a lot of rust repair on it prior to painting but it was a cheap DIY paint job so there are still rust patches, but we’ve still prolonged it’s life to what it would’ve had :) funnily enough we own a Plymouth barracuda shell too (not a cuda though)
Steph, you are not ancient, you are younger than me so you are not allowed to be ancient! Loved the cheeky grin when you first revved her up, what a great car, battered, bruised, made of bits from someone's shed, it just oozes character.
The centre panel is off a later Austin Cambridge a60, had it laying around spare so I installed it. Glad you like the drinks holder I knocked up too.
Best test drive in a beehive ever!!! Love they way you shift those gears!
I had the pleasure of having a ride in this car and it has so much character! I can’t remember the last time I was in a classic that put such a smile on my face! It reminded me why most of us have classics - to enjoy driving them and have fun.
Aww! That’s cute xxx
The engine came from a banger that I was intending to race. My dad installed it along with the twin carbs. The engine had been stood for over 15 years and it fired up straight away with a bit of fresh fuel.
The cup holders I made myself. They're BMW seats from a 3 series. I made the wiring loom myself as the original was is such poor condition. So using 5 core wiring throughout I managed to get everything working. I'm so glad it's ended up with Jake and Niamh.
I’ve never had an engine (touch wood) run that smoothly and reliably! Probably the best thing that’s happened to that car and glad that through the past couple of owners we’ve kept it alive
It looks like a fifties NASCAR, I love it.
Thought it was a Goodwood classic racer…… my dad had the A45….. …… keep it going 😆💪🏼😎
I love it, it hurt me when classic cars get crushed at scrapyard.
Wow! A car that's put the fun back into motoring, and continued the fun of watching this channel! We don't need bog standard cars all the time, just something that has been modified to suit the owner's taste and personality.
Aw thanks John x
✨Love it! It looks good on camera and has a lot of character. Cars that are driven and used are the true heroes of the classic car world. Pampered showqueens with more money than love shoved into it and re-re-rechromed better than new condition are not what makes my ❤️ pump.
Best thing about this charming little bruiser is the exhaust note, which encapsulates its rough and ready to rumble personally. Wonderful to see your joyful enthusiasm behind the wheel, letting your hair down (figuratively, as the bee hive remained securely airborne) and having a great time. One of your very best episodes.
I love it. The car equivalent of one of those dogs with different coloured ears that point in different directions and proper character personalities. A car should be fun and make journeys into adventures. I feel this car would do that. I'm imagining Jake being the kind of man that would offer to sing to you instead when you pointed out the lack of a stereo and would work his way through some John Shuttleworth classics
Excellent. This reminds me of the sort of thing we did to cars in the late sixties and seventies. These were just old, cheap heaps at the time. You would buy the cheapest heap you could find and use whatever was around to make it work. Anyone who complains about anything you have done to the car doesn't know their history. Great stuff guys. More power to your elbows.
Love this, it's a real two fingers up to the norm car, and I love that. Really tidy job done to it too, so many details that just make it proper cool!! The side exhaust, the glovebox, the gearknob, this is a proper make you happy don't give a monkeys car, and I just love it!!
I think that this Cambridge looks a lot better for it customisation than a standard Cambridge. I love the sound of the engine it’s because it sounds like it’s been tuned and I think I could see 2. carburettors when there should only have been one as I would understand on this model. Great show Steph. Pete 🇬🇧
Oh gosh I forgot to mention those twin carbs 😩
What a terrific video about a great car. Personally I love the TR-6 wheels. They suit the car perfectly. The whole car is simply terrific. Lovely to see her loved and and being driven. Well done both of you.
Thank you x
"Bohemian" is the word that comes to my mind! Love it.
Fantastic! Love this car. Great review as always Steph.
I think this is my favourite video yet! That car is insane and you can tell how much fun you were having with it. Really cheered the day up watching :)
I like it! At least the body was rescued rather than scrapped and the result is very stylish. From the hot rod looks it deserves something like Rover V8 running gear though!
My grandad had an A55 !! Think I’ve still got a couple of childhood pics of it somewhere 😂
Lets get my drink and sit and watch the gorgeous Steph. My dad, bless him, used to drive the van version of this i think???? at the butchers he worked at.
@@nygelmiller5293 You have just made me google A55 van, and yes thats what my dad drove when he worked at a butchers shop. I would go out with him on Saturday mornings to do meat delivery's to customers. I was about 8 at the time so this would be the late 70s. When they scrapped that van in 1982 they purchased a brand new Vauxhall Viva van in Green, memories ay.
Love it! Reminds me of the MkI Cortina GT I wrenched in the 70's (owned by a girlfriend). The previous owner had modified extensively. Lowered, seats out of an early Pinto. Wider tires and wheels. Bilstein shocks. Free-flow air cleaner. Blanked out door panels. Rear wing windows loaded with stickers. They had also installed a "Wink" rearview mirror. These are full length with five mirror panels. You won't miss what's behind you, but it makes the sun visors useless. The car was a lot of fun but louder, aftermarket muffler. Love the shifter knob! We preferred golf balls, 8 balls, bar taps, etc. But those were also the years of faux fur headliners, dingle balls, and random color carpets made from store samples and remnants. Oh, and cheap AM/FM/ 8-track radios with as many cheap speakers as you had room to install. Fun drive, though I remember the car details probably better than Vicki, my girlfriend at the time, but has been 45 years.
Hahaha aww. I’m glad the car made a lasting impression x
@@idriveaclassic So much so that I still have the Haynes manual.
@@nygelmiller5293 It was fun, but I owned a Datsun (Nissan) 240Z (FairladyZ) at that time, which I also had started "decorating." The former owner of the Cortina later became my roommate, and he had a 1967 Sunbeam Tiger that was outrageously fast.
In the early 70's I hand-painted my 'Pride&Joy' - a Vauxhall Cresta PA with some lovely Crown Gloss - Looks like yer Man had the same idea here :-) ................
I bought a New 'Half-ton Van' in '68 based on this model - It was Soooooo comfortable, especially with the column change, making it a 3-seater - these were great old motors - Luvvly-Jubbly :-)
Wahey! A Sheffield lad!
It's nice being able to recognise some of the roads in one of your videos.
Wonderful video, and fabulous car. Loved every second of it, and the A55 (with all its foibles) is an absolute treasure. Thank you, Steph.
Well done to Jake and Niamh, what a fun little car, a million smiles per mile. Whatever it no longer is, its survived for 64 years when most of its contemporaries have long been turned into Gillette's (razor blades). Good fun video Steph, keep up the good work.
Thats a great car my dad had a friend who had the van version there is plenty of fun and miles left in that one best of all it hasnt had a modern engine transplant as ever great video and all the best you can grab a hot cuppa now
Great! Saved from the scrapper and used everyday, brilliant! Looks bloody good too. 😊👍
A car like that is a lot more fun as you just don't care as much. That's the thing that does make classic car ownership a bit stressful is trying to get original replacement parts, but with something like that you can just use whatever parts you can find!
My Grandad had a pick up version in the late 60s , i loved riding in it .
@@nygelmiller5293 , Morris and Austin had pick up and van versions of the moggie ( Minor 1000 ) too , i learned to drive in a 1970 Morris Minor 1000 Pick up , after my uncle and i welded up the rear Chassis rail tops in 1978 , which had rusted away under an aftermarket wooden rear truck bed .
What a wonderful car! Great fun. As you say, cheap classics just don't exist any more in the way they used to. Love the period Ford horn push. And especially love your coat Steph!
"that Vyvyan from The Young Ones vibe" ahahaha best description ever!
Great video Steph, I love it personally and nice to see someone stamping their own mark on it and use it as a daily.
Awesome car, looks like a lot of fun to drive! I've never seen an A55 in my life but this car reminds me so much of a Fiat 600 I used to see driving around Freeport NY when I was young. It had the same vintage COMP CAMS stickers and everything!
And this one wasn't originally column change. A rare 4 on the floor model which they produced towards the pre Farina Cambridge.
I would definitely use that as my daily, great vid steph. I started driving in the 70s and know all about double clutching but I usually have to stop before I can get my vw up into first.
I'm like you I started driving in the 70's. I've never known any manual trans car that wants to go into first while still rolling faster than I can push it. So I just don't force them. What's always worked for me is to drop them into second and let them walk through a stop sign. In every case a car is more willing to lug a little bit in doing that than be forced into first. In fact when my Dad got older he became a nervous driver forcing a little car he had into first gear before stopping. He destroyed first gear in less than a year.
The steering column shift was really sloppy but great fun on the van version my brother had . What a load carrier back in the day Great video Steph as always .
when I was a young lad, I did a paper round, the boss had 1 of these in Black, so it was probably less than 10 years old then.
What a great car. Much better on the road in all its glorious imperfection. Thanks for another fun video. 👍
Thank you
You never cease to amaze me Steph. Look forward to seeing your next video.
Thanks Allan!!!! X
Fantastic! I always suspected that you were a secret hoon 😄 Love, love, love the pre-Farina shape Austins, even though I own a Farina shape Austin 😄👍✨
Love the Austin, very cool looking car and also love your look in the fake fur coat. 😍
Thank youuuuu x
That has to be the coolest A55 I’ve seen 👌🏻😎
Back in the mid-80s, my Dad bought a 57 A55 Deluxe from an old fella who had brought it out from England when he emigrated in 1970. He'd owned it from new and had all the ex-UK and NZ documentation to prove it's authentic 50,042 miles. The beast sat on our lawn for about 18 months and I got to drive it on and off there every time I mowed the lawn. It had absolutely no foot brake (everything was there, but the pedal went to the floor), so you had to be careful.
I loved the old car and so when my car got written off in a freak motorway accident, I convinced the old boy to sell it to me. This car had every conceivable option that 1957 had to offer - things that nowadays mostly come as standard. She had leather seats that had factory seat covers on (which were the same colour, but vinyl backed and some strange prickly material on the bit you sat and leaned on), factory Austin embossed rubber floor mats, a heater, clock, radio, windscreen washers, fog lights, over-riders, twin wing-mounted mirrors, twin-tone horns, two-tone paint (Old English white with dark blue on bonnet, nosecone and along between the side moulding and bottom of the windows / tops of the rear wings) and the chrome lightning strike on both front wings. She had a few rough bits around the place, but she was a solid old tank and all original and unmolested as you would expect.
Being 17.5 when I got her back on the road and started driving her full time, I disconnected the radio and put a tape deck in place (but hidden). I drove that beast for 28,000 miles in just on two years and she put up with a heck of a lot of punishment during that time. I used to take her up over a lot of loose metal (unsealed) roads in the Coromandel ranges and she just ate them up like there was no difference to normal. She was big, spacious, comfortable, had a cavernous boot and could happily sit on 60mph all day. I replaced her exhaust system front to rear, re-kitted the entire brake fluidic system, got the rear springs retentioned, did a valve grind (after someone put unleaded fuel in it and she burnt a valve), replaced a heater hose when it blew out and back-flushed the cooling system (which made the heater work finally!) and replaced her thermostat......but for the rest of the time, I just drove it and clocked up mile after mile of smiles.
My mates and I would always go out in the A55 because she could fit three across the front seats and three in the back comfortably and cruise with no effort at all. One issue which I never resolved was the leaks in the front lever-action dampers, so I had to top them up every couple of hundred miles. If I went on a trip over the Coromandel though, that dropped to around 120 miles and it was a very floaty and bouncy ride home! Got to the point I was putting heavy duty diff oil in the dampers to even get it to last that long, but I loved that old car and there were a few tears shed when I sold it on after buying my Alfa Sprint. For all the trouble the Alfa gave me, I should have stuck with the A55 for sure. I'd love to have another one.
P.S. As one who has driven many vehicles with no synchro on first (and who was also told never to put it into that gear unless she was at a standstill), I can report that it IS indeed possible to change down into a straight cut non-synchro gear, having done it many times in a Formula Ford series single seater. However, in a classic car you risk breaking teeth off the cog or damaging the idler gear if you get it wrong....and let's face it - what are you gaining by getting it back into first before the car comes to a stop? First gear in vehicles before 1965 was known as the 'crawler' gear, meaning flat out you'd be doing about 10mph at the very most. I still do not change my cars back into first gear until I have stopped - classic or modern - mostly out of habit nowadays I think, but for me, it was too much of a risk to try in one. Listen to the old-school gearbox mechanics - they know what they are talking about.
Ok the engine is a 1622cc B series from A60 Cambridge or Oxford etc and were fitted to J4 vans in uk fitted one in a Riley 1.5 for a bit more power it was good with the twin carburettors on it. Jeff in uk
Yes yes yes resto-mod us awesome
Loving the 55,great video Steph 👍
Looks Great - from a distance!
Nothing wrong in modifying a car that would have ended up on the scrap heap.
Sick of purists and their concourse bollocks.
Nailed it! Oh but does it have matching numbers blah blah blah 🤣🤣🤣
I’m sick of people who go after people who own cars like this and belittle them. I’d sooner see a car saved and enjoyed 😊
@@CathodeRayNipplez
Have to confess i've built hotrods in the past and am currently building a slightly modified 120 Amazon.
But i see modifying as improving a lot of the time,and just doing what the manufacture should have done in the first place!
@@davidbarlow350 often times it is more a case of doing what the manufacturer would have done with what is available now. Check out David Bello for ideas about the Amazon. He has some right beauties. I have a 1990 240 Estate that is a bit of a quandary. There are some things I want to change, but Arthur is an oddball. A 1990 without airbag and daytime running lights in a Canadian spec automatic. The running lights and air bag were required on 1990 Canadian market cars, but Arthur squeaks in without them as he was an early production example.
I'm a purist, but I clearly understand that sometimes locating missing parts and their cost can be prohibitive, so one does what they can with what they have. That's actually wonderful because their love is maintaining a car at a level far better than were it left to sit and rot. The bones are most important and because this car is loved it has a chance at becoming a show piece someday if one were inclined to do so.
That's certainly "very metal". Love it!
Is that a "Young Ones" reference?
Great fun Steph.😁😁😘
I had an Austin A50 back in the sixties I replaced the engine for another 1500 one and put a MG 1500 cylinder on it with 10 thou skimmed off. It went like the clappers but could displace a push rod at a high speed . Just a 5 minute fix though ! It was as comfortable as a Jag which I had later. Those were the days !
that's exactly the sort of car I want one day. (although probably a Citroen). I love the roughness of the interior.
What a great car ! A real survivor...absolutely love it 👍
The horn push looks like it`s off of a Ford 400E van, or possibly a Mk2 Consul / Zephyr.
That steering wheel badge is off a MK2 Consul! I could do with one of those myself!
We know each other on insta don’t we? Pop me a message and I’ll see if Jake will swap you for a proper austin one 😂
It looks remarkably like the USA version of the Ford badge of that era.
@@discerningmind Would make sense, they used a lot of their American styling for the MK2, just look at the rear lights on a 55 Customline, or the front grill on a 55 Thunderbird. Then add the roof from a 54 Customline and you’ve pretty much got a MK2 Consul!
Thats my kind of classic when I was growing up many of our cars were like this bits stuck on to make it work nevermind if it fitted or looked a bit bodged
With most of those old cars with no syncro on first, you don't need to double declutch into first, because you don't need that gear once the car is moving. 2nd. gear will handle all slow driving except maybe going up steep hills. Just treat first gear as the pulling away gear then you only have to engage it when the car is stationary. Think of it as a 3 gear box with an additional low gear for getting up one in four hills.
My mom's first car was a 54 Hillman Minx. It had the "Granny gear" first. She told me she used it about 5 times in 4 years. The rest of the time, she treated 2nd as if it were 1st. That is what the owner's manual (handbook) recommended. On the flat, the car was about 2 seconds faster 0-60 doing so, as it eliminated the early 1st to 2nd gear change.
@@michaeltutty1540 Thanks for the back up. The nearest car I had to this A55 was a 1955 Morris Oxford which would have had the same engine and gearbox as the A55 originally had. Certainly, I did not feel a need to change down from 2nd. to 1st.which is the only time a syncro is needed.. However the car in this video has an engine and gearbox from an unknown source. Your mum's Minx had only 42bhp to pull such a heavy car, which is the reason such a low 1st. gear was needed to pull away uphill. My father had a '54 Minx but I did not have a driving licence at the time, so never got to drive it.
I like it, reminds me of going banger racing in the 70’s!
Nice one Steph. What a fun looking car. Superb :-)
That is a hoot Ford Anglia where ignition keys are. Middle bit Clock or Austin if England badge. Steering wheel?? This is true motering my dad converted a early 50s Austin A40 van to a primative estate carpet felt painted white on roof to deaden noise windows cut out the back panels I remember going out for a test drive sitting on a box where the passenger seat was. We traveled from Scotland to Thorne in South Yorkshire in the mid 60s. He got a Farina Cambridge after (big fin one) he put a " new " engine in that.
Well this is a gorgeously northern video. Love it. “It’s just a bit ropey”. 🤗🚙💙
Good to see you wearing a coat, young lady! 😂🥶
Hahaha I know. Must be cold to get me in a coat xxx
Even with more complete classics, you have to improvise quite a bit with parts - so it's fine! 😁
I like it ,be nice when finished !
So cool! Love the tin top racer-look! 😍👍 great job !
That modified Austin has the best fun to dollar ratio.😀
the sadness of the old car paradox; as they become more known, they become more expensive....
Scrapyard ? What absolute plonker would do that ? No class no clue boganites. Keep em coming Steph .....
Looks like a fifties or early sixties NASCAR racer. I can imagine this on a banked oval in the Deep South, chasing Fireball Roberts.
Dont know why you keep apologising for it. Cars like these are excellent and you should show more of them.
Jake and Niamh should be rightly proud of the Cambridge, I remember the 80's cheap customs and this truly has that about it, I'd enjoy owning something like that because you don't have to panic about keeping it mint.
If feels like a time warp. I loved it.
Seams like a mad max inspired car although preserving a car to be a future donor to other A55s
This is probably my favorite car I've ever seen on this channel, I love how fucked up it is😂😂
Hahahaha I wouldn’t use those words but shes preloved for sure.
What a wonderful machine, I'd much rather enjoy it as is rather than have it cubed and turned into white goods. I'd also place good money on it drawing a crowd at a show.
Fabulous really enjoyed this upload
What a totally cool car, inspiring!
Cool little car. Love the story. Fix that heater! Cheers
The Austin Cambridge A55 is probably one of my most favourite cars ever. I'm 18 and I'm hoping to be able to have one of these for my first car just like my grandfather did back in 1959. I believe it cost him £750 at the time :)
In the 50's my father had an Austin A55 Cambridge YKA 586, it didn't look anything like this one! My Dad always kept his cars spotless and if I wanted to help him clean his car, he would only let me wash the wheels incase l scratched the paintwork.
I mean, this car probably looked that shiny back in the 50s 😊
well where to start steph awesome piece of british motoring.love it all the glovebox lock yes and the gearstick gives me the shivers as the last few days have been freezing in my poor little puma
Thanks Chris! Honestly when I touched it I was like...OMG 😂
Great review of a cool car!
That's beautiful. Have a wonderful valentine's day Steph.
You too x
The cup holder! I really love that interior and those gorgeous dials.
That cup holder looks like it could hold a stack of bricks! No worries about losing a drink out of that one.
I love it!
I agree that this car may not be original but Jake and Eve have saved it from the scrapyard and have made this stand out from the rest. At the end of the day 1) people have been customising cars for years and 2) it's Jakes and Eves car so they can do what they want without. And it's still more interesting than a modern Euroblob
The kind of classic you don't mind leaving in the supermarket car park. Love it. Let's see more like this.
Thank you! X
Loving those sounds! What an excellent video and car!
Love this!
My first car was a Wolseley 1500 and this engine looks the same. I guess it must be out of a 16/60 which was used in the Austin A60.
One of my friends back in those days had an A90, which did indeed look much like this in the inside. I can't remember if his had the original engine, but whatever he had done to it, it was fast and could give a corsair 2000 a run for its money.
I thought the switch panel in the centre could be from a ford prefect 100E, but I've just spotted Chas Lee's comment.
Nice car. Very impressed with the commentator. Beats Clarkson any day.
Ahh thank you! Don’t forget to subscribe 😍😍😍
@@idriveaclassic You're very welcome. I thought I had subscribed. I have now.
Looks like a ratrod that has been told to tidy itself up a bit and gave up partway :)
Lovely to see a car that is rough but ready :)
You're back!
Great fun - just needs a whippet on the back seat :-)
Hahaha. Well Jake won’t let Niamh get a cat, so whippet might be next best thing.
What a cool car love it.
hi steph just been thinking how is your marina running !
Thx for the video great one 👍🚗
Rally rod. Tasty.
The best mod on that car: The CUP HOLDER
I can confirm that cups do stay in there for a few minutes too before they rattle out so it’s half effective
I used to see a lot of them back in the day banger racing , it's certainly got something Steph what I couldn't say "just drive and enjoy good fun "👍
Exactly. Loved it.
Thanks Steph. At first I was thinking that this wasn't much of a car but when you drove it I could tell that it's surprisingly good. I loved the sound of the exhaust on the outside. I'm in the USA and I've never known what the "MK" designation means on European cars. Can someone tell me what that means?
Means ‘mark’ so mark 1, mark 2 etc is like first gen, second gen
@@nevfrancessmith Thank you very much. And thanks for allowing Steph to make a video of your car.
Great car. How come it has b plate reg no. ?.
From a distance the body is pretty cool, a classic BTCC job on it. Up close, you see he just painted over the rust oh lord. You're right about classic car prices... but I think Brits are still more sane than stateside where an empty body shell of a Plymouth "Cuda" will be like $30,000. Over here that thing would cost tens of thousands.
To be fair we did quite a lot of rust repair on it prior to painting but it was a cheap DIY paint job so there are still rust patches, but we’ve still prolonged it’s life to what it would’ve had :) funnily enough we own a Plymouth barracuda shell too (not a cuda though)
@@nevfrancessmith It's cool man I love the car! And the exhaust sounds sweet! That was my favorite part about it, how it sounds
love the colour scheme. love the car. hate the glovebox 🤔
Sheffield was this video filmed in Sheffield as I live there
It was!
@@idriveaclassic hope you don’t mind me asking but which area as I know quite a bit of Sheffield
@@danielpeters1911 the last bit looked like the ring road between Gleadless and Norton