A-D memories

Author

admin

Browse pages
Current page

1

Current page

2

Current page

3

Current page

4

Current page

5

Current page

6

Current page

7

Current page

8

Current page

9

Current page

10

Current page

11

Current page

12

Current page

13

Current page

14

Current page

15

Current page

16

Current page

17

Current page

18

Current page

19

Current page

20

Current page

21

Current page

22

Current page

23

Current page

24

Current page

25

Current page

26

Current page

27

Current page

28

Current page

29

Current page

30

Current page

31

Current page

32

Current page

33

Current page

34

Current page

35

Current page

36

Current page

37

Current page

38

Current page

39

Current page

40

Current page

41

Current page

42

Current page

43

Current page

44

Current page

45

Current page

46

Current page

47

Current page

48

Current page

49

Current page

50

Current page

51

Current page

52

Current page

53

Current page

54

Current page

55

Current page

56

Current page

57

Current page

58

Current page

59

Current page

60

Current page

61

Current page

62

Current page

63

Current page

64

Current page

65

Current page

66

Current page

67

Current page

68

Current page

69

Current page

70

Current page

71

Current page

72

Current page

73

Current page

74

Current page

75

Current page

76

Current page

77

Current page

78

Current page

79

Current page

80

Current page

81

Current page

82

Current page

83

Current page

84

Current page

85

Current page

86

Current page

87

Current page

88

Current page

89

Current page

90

Current page

91

Current page

92

Current page

93

Current page

94

Current page

95

Current page

96

Current page

97

Current page

98

Current page

99

Current page

100

Current page

101

Current page

102

Current page

103

Current page

104

Current page

105

Current page

106

Current page

107

Current page

108

Current page

109

Current page

110

Current page

111

Current page

112

Current page

113

Current page

114

Current page

115

Current page

116

Sir,

I was most interested in reading Bill Little’s splendid account of his motoring adventures, to see references to the 19/90 Austro-Daimler that I bought off him in 1954.

I well remember this good looking car of enormous length and formidable appearance but rather pedestrian performance, chiefly due to it being desperately undergeared, as I think it had originally been endowed with the sort of coachwork more fitting to the transportation of elderly dowagers than to the quest for speed!

When first acquired, oil pressure was non-existant and there were potentially expensive rumbling noises from the power department, so much so that it was decided to investigate further before putting it to use. After stripping down this policy proved most wise, and the crank was duly ground, the journals proving to be visibly oval.

Once on the road it proved a reliable hack and a crowd drawer with its elegant and narrow four-seater body and long mudguards, all finished in BRGN, until the fateful occasion when I stopped the majority of Bristol’s rush hour traffic by engaging at least two gears simultaneously at the traffic lights in Old Market! Quite how we extricated ourselves from this impass I cannot clearly remember, but undoubtedly a little divine intervention came into the equation somewhere, plus some energetic rocking which eventually had the desired effect. After this episode my confidence was somewhat dented, and I soon found out that anything other than a genteel and chauffeur-like take off was not to be recommended. I found myself relying more and more on the less temperamental but even more pedestrian Renault Vivastellar six, which although endowed with a funny gallic back to front gear shift at least engaged only one gear at a time!

I eventually found a buyer for the A-D, well removed from Bristol I may say, and shortly afterwards I removed myself to the Island of Jersey so avoiding the chance of a reunion with the new owner!

Denys Axel-Berg

Bath, Somerset