teach me about Austin Cambridges..

[320touring]

These have popped up on the ole shyte radar(sonar?!)

 

Looking at the the early 60s version (a60 farina?!)

 

Tell me stuffs- what to look out for, common issues/nla parts etc

 

Kthnxbye

[mercrocker]

Look for rust....Outriggers (original "Crows foot" type under front floors will probably have been plated right over by now) and in chassis rails. Check front crossmember very carefully make sure its solid. Sills too, especially inside car. Engines will run under extreme wear conditions so as long as there is no excessive smoke or breathing or rattles should be OK and in any case are the cheapest part of the car to replace. Any worn interior parts will be a chase to find.

 

Earlpart and NTG are the main parts suppliers - check their web pages for availability/price of anything your potential purchase might require. Front wings are fairy godmother shite - unobtanium. Expect fibreglass wings - OK if fitted and painted well. Gearbox/diff shouldn't present problems, rear springs flatten out but if car sits straight don't fret too much. Check the stance of the car, though, it gives away structural problems too.

 

Shocks are pretty hopeless lever arm efforts but well worth renewing as its the biggest improvement you can make to handling (probably the only affordable one...)

 

Club is great, a good forum and the banger fraternity are well worth befriending for cheap/free parts they don't need.

 

Starting to get solid money for a good car, buy the best you can afford (really worthwhile advice on these cars above all else) and it will reward you with comfortable useable 60s motoring.

 

Get a rotter and you will be chasing it forever....

[MarvinsMom]

i would imagine that rust will  be an issue, plus there are not alot of panels around for them.

 

mechanically things are much better, as the engine is the ever green B-series, so MG-B, Morris Marina, Morris Ital will be good sources of bits, and i should imagine that service items won'y be an issue either due to BMC/BL parts been shared with other models.

 

did i mention rust?

 

in the olden days these were very, very popular as mini cabs, so that attests to how hardy they are. plus they are still popular with the banger boys, though they do generally use the ones which are beyond all hope.

 

they do rust, so careful examination will be required.

 

and there are not many new metal body panels to be had..

 

but the riley, vanden plas and wolseley versions are very, very swish inside. plus there is an mg, and the austin westminster versions to be had.

 

we've been out with the cambridge & oxford owners club, and they seem to be a very friendly bunch. i would suppose that these chaps will know where to get parts, and also where the best cars are for sale?

[eddyramrod]

RUST.

 

And then more rust.  These things are a minimum 45 years old, so you can guarantee you're going to get some somewhere.  Mechanically they couldn't be much simpler, it's all BMC B-series.  There's an owners' club, so it would make sense to join and see what the rarity issues are; I'm thinking they'll mostly be trim and interior, although I do have some brightwork if I can find it.  Badge engineering was rife, so they come with most of the BMC badges on, including MG.  Early engines were 1500, then went up to 1622, but I doubt it's unusual these days to find an 1800, most likely MGB spec.  I remember taxis with a diesel engine, that must have been dire!  Hopefully they've all gone now.

[Angrydicky]

Yup. As mercrocker says....they rot like a pear, everywhere. Inner and outer sills, floors, all outriggers. Look out for the two outriggers under the front floors having had a large triangular "outrigger" welded over the lot to pass the MoT, while the rot festers underneath. Also check the rear wheelarches, backs of the sills and all the door bottoms on Farinas. They're really simple mechanically.

[EssDeeWon]

Telling the bloke to check for rust on a 50 year old British car is like telling a train driver to watch out for platforms.

[320touring]

Telling the bloke to check for rust on a 50 year old British car is like telling a train driver to watch out for platforms.

Locations that rust is the key point:)

[MarvinsMom]

no at least one diesel cab survives!

 

we went off on a run over the moors last year, and it was with us. 

 

it is a black austin cambridge, complete with taxi meter still fastened to the floor!

 

and yes, it is no ball of fire on the road..

 

 

 

[eddyramrod]

I'm sort of glad one survives, but over the moon to know it isn't mine!

[MarvinsMom]

it was quiet comical at times, driving over the moors with the diesel cambridge up front.

 

we were travelling from Thirsk to Robin Hoods Bay via the proper back roads. 

 

there are some proper steep climbs on the way, 1 in 4 type steep, we would all stop at or near the bottom of said hill while the austin climbed the hill in first gear.

 

unbelievably in the 1960's my dad'd best friend who was the head honcho at blue bell garages, at that point a BMC dealer had a sting of diesel cambridge's as company cars.... in later years before his heart attack and retirement, he had moved onto an ADO71 Princess.

[chaseracer]

At least that one will never be raced - it would get followed in before the first bend... 

[406V6]

I remember these running around the great metropolis of Braintree when I was a child. Their rattling engines marked them out even to a child, admittedly car-mad.

[Squire_Dawson]

I like these cars myself, but who said these mass produced cars of the 1960s were 'grey porridge'? There is an element of truth in that, you know.

[dollywobbler]

I grew up in the 1980s with my Aunt owning a Morris Oxford estate. It was top grade autoshite back then (same age as my XM is now), with its plastic front wings and Halfords door mirrors. I was utterly distraught when it was finally sold in 1993. I imagine oval action was involved in its death as no bugger would have wanted to restore it back then. 

 

Annoyingly, I've never driven one. Only Big Farinas. Which are awesome in a more meaty way. I definitely would though. 

[320touring]

Mixed messages here chaps:)

 

Good knowledge though!

[eddyramrod]

The second car I ever drove (on a campsite in 1975) was 213 FUY, a grey A60 saloon.  It's long gone now of course.

[MarvinsMom]

they are i guess a marmite car,

 

i don't suppose that they are that great out on the road, certainly by modern standards they will be pretty crap?

 

but, what these lack in  dynamic prowess they more than make up in period charm. and they are very comfortable and stylish things to sit in

 

look at the black one above, i think it looks pretty fab, i would be happy love to have it sat in my garage.

[danthecapriman]

A mate of mine used to look after a fleet of taxis, early 80's sort of time, and they still had a Cambridge (petrol) in regular taxi use. It had a few drivers working shifts using it so it was only ever turned off for servicing and putting petrol in! The mileage apparently was mega, and it just kept going and going. What finally killed it in the end was rust. It was replaced by a new Cavelier diesel so that shows how long it lasted!

I've never had one personally but they are a car on my want list. Lovely looking, proper old British cars.

[plasticvandan]

They've all been sausages,those that are left are expensive or not for sale

[Asimo]

They are shite but they are honest. Rileys give you a rev counter. They look ace on Rostyles. Acres of leather and carpet to play with. Right hand handbrake. Petrol tank inside the boot. Always 30 mpg. Room between the radiator and the grille for a spare battery and a toolbox. Power oversteer in 3rd on cross plies in the wet. Lots of joints and gubbins to make the steering comically sloppy. Some have a remote servo for the brakes. More leg room than anyone could need, seat would go back so far I couldn't floor the clutch even with 35" inside leg.

[phil_lihp]

An A60 is one of the few pre-1970 cars I'd genuinely like to have, mainly for sentimental reasons and the little styling details like the rear fins.  My mother's parents had a couple brand new which featured heavily in the reels of cine films they made back in the 1960s, a white Cambridge and a rather shockingly pink Oxford - given the 'grey porridge' plethora of dreary, colourless post-war cars, that must have been pretty brave.  Never seen another one in that colour since.

[Asimo]

Lots for sale here, and cheap, except possibly for collection cost.

 

http://www.arcar.org/autosantiguos.aspx?qma=siam

[Junkman]

mechanically things are much better, as the engine is the ever green B-series, so [...], Morris Marina, Morris Ital will be good sources of bits,

 

Are you out of your mind???

[MarvinsMom]

well i see in the news papers that the 3 silly twerps are up to their old and hilarious tricks involving marinas and a piano

[seth]

"Does the younger reader need to be told that these Oxbridge names were given to contemporary rear-drive Morris and Austin cars of parlous quality and dubious manners?"

 

LJK Setreight.

[320touring]

I'm still more interested than not.

 

In summary:

 

RUSTY MCRUSTINGTONS

 

run well, mainly mendable by hammer

 

Decent mpg

 

Mechanical supplies/consumables readily available

 

Replcement body panels crafted from finest dung du chaval balancement

 

Highly unlikely to trouble any hillclimb special in the handling and accelleration stakes

 

Avoid teh deezil

[MarvinsMom]

in essence, yes.

[mercrocker]

And if you want to go any further it really is worth joining the Club. Farina Forum is available to prospective members on a trial basis - most decent cars move within the Club. Actual A60s seem a little more sought after than the Oxford variant which I feel are a slightly better car - nicer dash, rear seat armrest etc.

[Taff]

dreadful cars.

 

Get a Vauxhall PA Cresta or a Mk 2 Zeph/Zody instead