It all started in 1982 when I David Lyall was looking around for a Austin 7 I saw an advert for a Austin 10. It was owned by a 70s year old man who lived in Darvel in Ayrshire which was a few hundred miles from my home but I decided it was worth having a look.

I arrived in Darvel to find the Austin sitting in his driveway looking extremely rough and the initial impression being that I had wasted my time. The car had sat outside for many years with one side facing the prevailing weather and as a result one side of the car was rough with some paint left on it with the other side being rougher (pure red rust) with no paint on it. The interior was a mess with the headlining hanging down in strips and the seats being flattened and covered in white mildew. All chrome was green in colour, there were no carpets and the surface rust was on everything and the car in general looked fit for the scrap yard.

The owner explained he had bought the car in an auction many years before at Castle Douglas and had eventually abandoned restoring it after he had a heart attack. He believed had belonged to a teacher in the Castle Douglas area but had nothing which would allow me to trace it back in any way. The registration is original and may be traceable.

I apologised for wasting his time and suggested I would give it some thought as to whether I wanted to take on the car. At that point he said, would you not like a run in it, whereupon he proceeded to hand crank and start the engine which ran although holes in the exhaust made it interesting.

He then suggested a test run along the main road and when I suggested it was risky having no tax, no insurance, no MOT his answer was it’s all right they ken me oot here!

A few miles up the road and back convinced me the car was actually far better mechanically than first impressions suggested. A deal was done, car collected by trailer a few days later and restoration started.

Over a 2 year period the car was stripped completely but the body tub was left on the chassis. Surprisingly no welding was required due to the thickness of the original steel. A small brazed patch (coin sizes) was needed below the B post on the driver’s side. All removable panels and parts were blast cleaned, etch primed and cellulosed. Unfortunately a lot of the spraying was done in November/December and the damp conditions resulted in some micro-blistering appearing after a few years.

Mechanically it had all new brake parts, dynamo. starter, king pins and hub seals. Engine work was a full rebuild, gearbox and back axle cleaned, checked and necessary seals replaced. Radiator was flushed and repainted and seemed to have survived remarkably well.

Interior was a challenge to try and re-use as much as possible. All the original leather responded to treatment and after a lot of hand stitching all the leatherwork was re-used with new Vynide-leathercloth for the seat edgings and door panels. Headlining and all leather stitching was done on an old Singer Treadle sewing machine. Dashboard and window frames being steel were looking like pure red rust until washed in rust killer and cleaned down with fine steel wool when the woodgrain effect became clearly visible. Some clear varnish completed the revival of the woodgrained items. Re-chroming of bumpers and small parts were also done.

A new wiring loom, new rear lights, new control box were fitted with all other electrical items cleaned and checked. Reassembled and back on the road 2 years after purchase. The speedometer was reset to a round figure not zero. May have been 40,000 but I can’t remember. I sold the car to Peter Simpson in April 1996. Nine months later having not been used it was sold to Bob Archer who is the present owner. The car now resides in a carpeted garage and does an annual mileage of around 1,700 going to various events such as shows, rallies, runs along with trips at the weekend.

Thanks to Bob Archer for this article

Why not visit the following link to a Scottish Club that caters for all Austin owners with cars that were built between 1905 to 1950s