At the beginning of WW2, the smallest car in service with the British Army was the Austin Eight, a military version of the tourer that had previously been sold to the public, supplied as two-seaters with a load space behind the seats.
These were used by junior officers and NCOs as general runabouts, the sort of jobs the Willys Jeep would later take on. As a result, military Austin Eights tended to lead very hard lives.
The Austin 8AP army tourers were manufactured under several war contracts. Even though about 9500 were ordered by the military, only 50 remain today, of which half are in running condition. Many were destroyed during the battle of Dunkirk and others were captured by the German army as Beutewagen, which is why there are period photographs of German soldiers using the little tourer.
One example, delivered as one of 1840 vehicles under war contract V3744 of 29 November 1939 for the Royal Army Service Corps, has recently been retrieved from a ruined tin shed in Surrey, where it had been resting for 54 years.
“It was sold and first registered post-war in 1947 as HPX 867, by West Sussex County Council,” explains Hermann Egges, who runs the Austin Eight Register and is the Austin Eight lead within the Austin Counties Car Club. “Nothing is known of its history after that until it was rescued from the shed earlier this year.”
There was a huge selection of parts for the car stored alongside, as well as a large number of old jerry cans still filled with petrol. HPX 867 has probably spent most of its civilian life in the Surrey/ Sussex area. Can anyone help fill in the gaps in its history?
MORGANS MUST MOVE ON
Enthusiast David Byers has had a lifelong love for Morgans. In 1970 he bought a 1954 Plus 4 four-seater, registered 424 AMX, to rebuild. Then, in 1972 a 1955 Plus 4, PWX 694, followed, and in the same year he ordered a new Plus 8. In those days, Morgan had a waiting list of several years, and in this case it took four. Upon delivery he put in another order, this time for a Plus 4 four-seater. Also in 1972 he acquired a much-loved 1931 Super Sports three-wheeler, JH 1341, which had a JAP water-cooled 1090cc engine.
In 1975, the factory allowed him to take his new Plus 8 chassis to a local firm, where it was shot-blasted and hot zinc sprayed. When the ash frame was complete, he was allowed into the factory to treat the woodwork with Cuprinol. He took delivery of
