Following on from Jim Stringer’s first book ‘An Austin Anthology,’ this second volume features 22 more stories relating to the Austin Motor Company, its products and the people who purchased them.
The author takes a look at the very first Austin to be built, and discovers why it was able to be offered to the public so quickly after the Company’s formation only a few month’s earlier. He also uncovers how the single-cylinder Austin Seven, whilst designed at Longbridge, was actually built at the Swift Motor Car factory in Coventry, and offered as a Swift or an Austin. In 1908 Herbert Austin produced four 100hp racing cars to compete at the French Grand Prix in Dieppe. But what happened to them afterwards? And is the only survivor, now on display at the British Heritage Museum, Gaydon as genuine as it would appear?
And then there is the story of Daisy Fearon, whose only means of transport was a 1928 Austin which she’d owned since 1931. As Daisy aged, her driving became less and less predictable, causing those who knew her to run for cover when she was seen at the wheel.
An amusing and nostalgic collection of stories, illustrated with original period photographs, An Austin Anthology II is bound to entertain and delight all Austin enthusiasts.
Jim was born in Shepherd’s Bush in January 1943. After leaving school in 1958, he took up a Mechanical Engineering Apprenticeship with London Transport. Around this time he bought a vintage Austin car, and became a member of the Vintage Austin Register. He very soon became involved in the running of the Register, from initially helping with the first Newsletter, to becoming the Hon. Sec, and then Chairman. Although retiring from this role after 16 years, two years later he took on the job of producing the Register’s glossy quarterly magazine as its Editor.
Jim also had a fascination with the steam locomotives of the London Underground system, so when they were being withdrawn for scrap, Jim managed to purchase one that had been built at Neasden in 1898. That locomotive, ‘Metropolitan No.1’ is now frequently seen operating on preserved lines throughout the UK, and also back on London Underground metals. Jim retired in 2008 after attaining the position of Safety, Quality and Environment Manager for the Central Line. Since then he has turned his attentions to compiling and writing the “Austin Anthologies.”
