The United States was, is, and probably will be all about big cars.Sure some cars made in the US may be smaller these days, and there are some imports, but over in other parts of the world, small was usually the way to go.That is no different for this little 1961 Austin A40 Farina Mark I.That is quite a mouthful.Regardless, that is what we have here in the group of cars known as the Gabel Collection.
This car was purchased by the owner from a lawyer, sight unseen.After he purchased it, he realized there was quite a bit of rust in and on the car.For that reason, and other poor condition reasons, he parked the car and laughed at it for three straight months.After that, he began to drive it and like it.While the car seems small on the outside, there was quite a bit a storage space on the inside, and that was useful for the owner.
It wasn’t all that bad; this was a small car with a small 948cc engine.Sure it made only about 28 horsepower, but small car plus small engine equals good gas millage.The current owner described it as “terrific”.Back in the day, this car was said to get 38 imperial miles per gallon, which equals about 32 miles per gallon in the US.
After a while, this car began to sit.The original rust problem definitely did not get better.As you can see, the front and sides of the hood is pretty much nonexistent.There is rust under the car, inside, and in quite a few other locations.You can even see daylight through the driver side floor/wall.That is not something you want to see.
Even after all this neglect, all this sitting, all this rust, deterioration, and all this abandonment, she still fired right up.It probably would even be able to go for a drive.With the current state of the rust and flaking paint, you may not come back with as much of the car as you left with, but you could still go for a drive none the less.For now, it’s not going for a drive.It just sits here rotting in style.
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