1954 Austin Somerset A40

1954 Austin Somerset Description

For your consideration is a 1954 Austin Somerset. This is the A 40 Model, which I believe is so named after it's 40 horsepower. Overall this car is in very good condition. It runs, drives, starts, and stops! Not bad for a 65 year old car.
I have had this car now going on about 2 years. When I got the car it was not running. I had to go through a bunch to get it to go on it's own power. I completely went through the fuel system. The original fuel tank was a mess and full of rust. (I still have it and it can go with the car.) But I installed a early Midget/Sprite fuel tank in it. It almost fits. But no real modifications were done to the body to make this happen. Aside from the fuel tank, I rebuilt the original cam driven fuel pump and rebuilt the carburetor. The car runs good and idles smooth. But for the sake of full disclosure when driving the car there is a bit of clutch judder when starting from 1st gear. I have not gone into diagnosing this yet. It may be an adjustment, bad transmission mount, who knows???? The car is a 4 speed, and column shift. The shift pattern is quite odd as it is backwards from what American column shifts are. 1st gear is where you would expect 3rd gear to be, and vice versa. That is the way it is supposed to be. Takes a little getting used to.
I have gone through the brakes, installing a new master cylinder and put rebuild kits in all of the wheel cylinders. The wheel cylinders were sleeved in brass by a previous owner. I changed all brake hoses and remade some of the pipes out of British made cunifer tubing. The new pipes were made with new fittings and everything was filled with silicone fluid.
All of the electrical components work except for the horns. I guess they may work if the car had horns. The horn push is there as is the wiring, but for some reason the horns are missing. They were not there when I got the car. The trafficators (turn signals) work. The signals are on small arms that come out of the side of the car when signaling. I was tempted to hook these to a hazard flasher just to see these arms flapping as I went down the street. Of course I never did that. Yet.
The inside of the car presents very well as there are no rips or tears in the upholstery. The carpet that is in the car is a bit faded from age, but the car comes with a brand new carpet kit. The new carpet kit is still in the box. The headliner is in good shape with no rips or tears.
The chrome on the car presents ok, I guess. Some spots on the bumpers the chrome is flaking off. They could use a re-chrome, but the bumpers are straight and all of the stainless trim is in place. The stainless trim could use a good polishing. The grille looks decent, but the chrome on it is original. But the grille fits well. There is no evidence of accidents. The body panels look good.
Overall the body isn't too bad, with minimal rust. There is no rust in the floors or rocker panels. There is a rust hole under the rear seat that could use a patch welded in. There is also some obvious bubbling on the bottom outer skins of the rear doors as can be seen in the pictures. But the door bottoms are just fine. I tried to take pictures of the underside, but I don't have a lift. What you seen in the pictures of the underside is just surface rust. The car was probably last painted in the 80's, from the looks of it. The car is quite faded and I have not tried to buff it any. The car is painted with Dupont Centari Acrylic Enamel as there is a sticker inside the glove box with the color code.
Don't expect to drive this car home. It has very skinny, very dry rotted, bias ply tires. I would guess they are quite old. They hold air, but I wouldn't trust them.
The car has a clear Louisiana title in my name. Any questions, just ask!
You know, the usual disclaimers here. No Warranty. You are responsible for shipping.