1934 Austin 10/4 Cabriolet

For those seeking a little more space and refinement than the popular ‘baby’ Seven, Austin offered the Ten from 1932 to 1947. The Ten had a four cylinder side valve engine of 1125cc, driving through a four speed gearbox with synchro-mesh on all but the first gear. Initially, there were just two saloon styles, but the range widened in 1933 with a van, an ‘Open Road’ tourer and a ‘Colwyn’ Cabriolet, followed by further models such as the Clifton, Cambridge and Lichfield.

This 1934 Cabriolet was purchased new for £178 by a Mr L D Smith, the owner of Farlington Garage, near Portsmouth. On delivery, the odometer reading was thirteen miles and five gallons of Shell petrol was put into the tank for just over seven shillings. Nick-named ‘Bonnie’, the Austin was mainly used for a weekly wage collection and touring holidays; with a tow bar fitted, the little car ferried a caravan or trailer and visited amongst others Ripon in Yorkshire, Ffestiniog, Snowdonia, and Cornwall by way of Porlock Hill. All these journeys were carefully documented, from 12^th April 1934 until early September 1949, noting average speed and MPG, number of stops and time taken, and whether or not the caravan or trailer accompanied the Austin. Ace wheel discs and a spare wheel cover were fitted to the Ten, and all running repairs were also recorded during this first ownership and by the time Mr Smith parted with RV 4807 in 1968, 65182 miles had been covered. Bonnie was purchased for just £75 by Mr John Gates, who used the motor car regularly for five years before passing ownership onto his daughter and son-in-law, who enjoyed the Austin on rallies and runs. In January 1977, Mr John Harrison bought the car for £850 and in 1982, Bonnie was taken off the road for sixteen years for a comprehensive restoration. With the intention of retaining as much originality as possible, Mr Harrison carefully used refurbished original parts and repairing the leather interior. The hood did require replacement, but all carpets and running board rubbers were original. When the restoration was completed, the Austin toured France twice and won six first place awards at the Austin Ten Driver’s Club national rally.

Ownership changed in 2015, and we are now privileged to offer this pristine example for sale; not only is the Austin a very rare model, but the comprehensive documentation detailed above charts an extraordinary social history.

Supplied with RV 4807 are six winner’s rosettes from the ATDC national rally, and a Motorine log book with the aforesaid records dating from 13.3.1934 until 1968 (which include petrol consumption (41mpg), oil consumption, oil changes, tyre records, chassis lubrication and a schedule of repairs). Also in the history file is correspondence, some images of the restoration and photographs of the Austin on holidays with a variety of caravans, together with two handbooks, an original sales leaflet, the warranty, a list of spare parts, a schedule of charges for repairs, a Castrol lubrication chart, a large quantity of invoices, MOT test certificates, two RF60 registration books, an RF60A, and two V5C registration certificates. 

Auction Date: Wednesday 23 November 2016