The Austin Motor Company produced some exceptionally good, reliable motor cars in the 1920s, including the Twenty, the Twelve and the diminutive Seven. Austin devotee extraordinaire Jim Stringer tells us about The Vintage Austin Register, which caters for everyone with an interest in these full-of-character dependable models…
(All photographs copyright, and as individually credited).
Jim writes:
“The Register was founded in 1958, when Bob Wyatt, the owner of an early 12/4 ‘Clifton’ tourer, placed an advert in the Motor Sport Magazine, and one in the Manchester Guardian, inviting owners of similar Austin motor cars to come together to establish a Register which would record as many Austin Twelves as possible. He received two responses from this request and following a meeting with these two owners, The Austin Twelve-Four Register was formed.
Since then the Register, now with a name change to reflect the inclusion of the Light Sixteen-six, the Twenty-Four & Six, Taxicabs and of course the 7, has grown into a thriving club for owners of early vintage and Edwardian Austin motor cars, boasting a membership of over 640.
Members of the ‘Register’ can call upon knowledgeable people who can usually answer most questions relating to their cars, obtain spare including new cylinder heads and blocks re-manufactured to exacting standards. Members can also enjoy reading the quarterly glossy magazine and keep up to date with events and meeting from a fully packed newsletter.
The ‘Register’ is fortunate to have a dedicated team of committee members who will ensure that it continues to serve the needs of owners of Herbert Austin’s superb motor cars.”
The Vintage Austin Register’s website:
For more information about the Register, please go to: https://www.vintage-austin.co.uk/
On the website it is declared that the stated aims and objectives of The Register are today the same as they were in 1958, namely:
‘Encourage interest
Encourage restoration
Encourage preservation
Encourage use of vintage and pre-war Austins.’
Kim adds:
“Jim Stringer has enjoyed a number of old Austins over the years, including his 1929 Sixteen-Six fabric-bodied saloon, of which he has been custodian since 1962.
He has researched in-depth the Austin Motor Company and its products, and is a renowned authority on these early vehicles.
Jim has been involved with The Vintage Austin Register over many decades and in a variety of roles, and became a Life Member and Vice president of the organisation back in the 1990s.
In addition Jim has written several books about the Austins of the ‘Vintage’ era, including:
‘My Life With an Austin Sixteen-Six’.
‘An Austin Anthology’ (in three volumes, two of which so far have been reviewed by me on this website).
‘Herbert Austin’s Heavy Twelve-Four’, recently published by Herridge and Son. I am currently reading this beautifully-illustrated, comprehensive book, and I shall be reviewing it in due course (soon!) on Wheels-Alive. So far (and I am only a quarter of my way through it), it has been a highly enjoyable read, as have Jim’s previous books.
Readers may also be familiar with the Austin Clifton ‘Heavy’ Twelve-Four named ‘Gumdrop’, which was the subject of the delightful books written for children (and indeed enjoyed by my own) by the late Val Biro.”