Austin 12/4 Burnham Saloon

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Launched in late 1921, the 12 was dubbed 'The Salesman's Joy' due to the way it fairly flew out of the showroom, some 70,000 examples being sold by 1927, the peak year of production.

In combination with the 7, it secured Austin's long term future and remained on sale until 1935 although a taxi version was still available as late as 1939. During this time the 12 became a by-word for indestructability thanks to its superb build quality and fundamentally sound design.

The engine was a five-bearing magneto ignition side-valve four, displacing 1,861cc (from 1927) for which the factory claimed 27bhp at just 2,000rpm. This was sufficient for 40-45mph cruising, at which speed the 12 returned around 26mpg. Effective four-wheel brakes meant that the car coped with sudden emergencies better than many of its contemporary rivals. Enduringly popular and beautifully designed, the 12 remains a favourite with Austin enthusiasts to this day.

This particular 12/4 has the handsome and spacious factory-built Burnham six-light saloon coachwork and was bought new by Ernest Fardon of Birmingham in June 1929. A wealthy businessman, Fardon owned a large vinegar works in Glover Street, Bordesley Green, and had a second home in Malvern. Ernest kept the Austin right up until 1970 when ownership transferred to his nephew, John Fardon, who was to keep it until his death in 1982.

The next owner was a Dr AR Thomas who bought it when the Fardon estate was sold at auction in Birmingham in June 1982, as the auction catalogue in the history file attests. The current owner acquired the car from Dr Thomas in 2006 and promptly drove it 120 miles back to his home in Wales. During Thomas’s 24-year ownership the engine had been rebuilt by Austin expert Bob James of Oswestry and the vendor has continued to have the car maintained by James ever since.

An exceptionally correct and original example, the car still retains its original engine, gearbox and back axle along with its highly distinctive OF 1111 number plate. Indeed the car was featured in an article in the November 1982 issue of ‘Classic & Sportscar’ magazine where Mike Worthington-Williams states that “there can be few more original Heavy Twelves in captivity”, a copy of this magazine being retained in the history file.

However the interior of the car was looking fairly shabby in places so the current owner had the front and rear seats retrimmed to the correct pattern in Bridge of Weir leather in 2008, even going to the lengths of having the cloth trim around the edges specially remanufactured to match the original by Trimmers of Design of Derby. The backs of the front seats remain original, as do the door cards. The vendor also had the West of England cloth headlining replaced, a process which revealed the names of the original Austin craftsmen still chalked on the ash frame underneath.

Said to be in excellent running order and due to be driven 50 miles to the sale, the car has been in regular light use during the current eight years’ ownership, being MOTd until August 2014 and taxed until the end of April (the tax disc being displayed in the original holder still attached to the lamp on the left-hand side of the scuttle).

The car comes with a fascinating history file including a photograph of the vehicle in Malvern in the 1940s when it was painted with white outlines to comply with the blackout regulations, plus a photograph of the original owner, Ernest Fardon. There is also some 1980s correspondence between Dr Thomas and a certain gentleman in Malvern who had apparently played in the car when he was a youngster and taken some leather cushions, documents and a calorimeter from the vehicle. This had so preyed on his conscience over the next the next few decades that he actually sent the items back to Dr Thomas some 40 years later! He also revealed that the car had always been affectionately known as Octavia Flavia, or Olly Folly, after its distinctive OF registration number.

Other documents include: a buff log book from 1945; a green log book from 1970; an original owner’s handbook; three spares catalogues; a Schedule of Repairs and Charges; an original 36-page sales brochure illustrating the entire Austin range; various bills for routine maintenance back to the early 1980s plus a Pitman’s ‘Book of the Austin 12’ with handwritten notes in the back detailing more recent maintenance. The leather cushions once taken from the car are also included in the sale.

Altogether a wonderfully original car, with few owners and a known history from new, which is sure to bring a great deal of pleasure to the new custodian as they add their own chapter to its fascinating life to date.