1954 Austin A55 Cambridge Saloon

This A55 Cambridge was supplied by Milne & Russell of Croydon and first registered in June 1958 in the name of Mrs Vera Hope Anning (née Bingham). She kept the car until December 1973, when it passed to a Mr Henry Victor Bingham of Devon (presumably a relation) and a year later to Mr David Ettridge, also of Devon, who used it up to at least 1982.

On Mr Ettridge’s death in 2011, the A55 was discovered sealed away in the garage of his home in Sidmouth in a straight but rather neglected state. Alongside it were a Triumph TR3A Roadster and an Aston Martin DB5. The Austin and the Triumph were auctioned at Beaulieu that year for £1,725 and £10,580 respectively but the DB5 was hammered away at Bonhams’ Newport Pagnell sale a couple of years later for £320,700!

The A55 was bought by our vendor’s late grandfather - a classic car collector from County Wexford Ireland - where it gained its age-appropriate ZR prefix registration. It doesn’t look like it was given a full restoration but had a thorough recommissioning to replace the missing ancillaries, get the engine running and overhaul the other mechanicals. It also looks to have had a full repaint and spruce up.

The Cambridge has been repainted in what looks like its original two-tone colour scheme of Ivory over Grey - although in some lights the ivory looks creamier and the grey appears slightly greener. Either way, the finish looks good and a vast improvement on what was described as “some surface corrosion” back in 2011.

There is quite a lot of chrome brightwork on the car and whilst it still shines and appears undamaged, most of it shows the patina of age. More so on the hooded headlamp bezels which are heavily pitted.

At least the brightwork is all original and hasn’t been replaced with new pattern parts. Given the amount of trim we can understand that having it all rechromed would have been quite costly. What does appear to be something of a shortcut though, is not replacing the perished windscreen rubber whilst repainting the car.

The Austin sits on 13-inch steel wheels painted in cream (or ivory, depending on your chromatic tolerances). The wheels are in good condition and the hubcaps are original but like the other brightwork have some patina. The fronts are fitted with Parkway Javelin tyres and the rears with Henley Super 70s - brands we’ve not encountered previously. All are rather old and now show some cracking to the sidewalls.

The colour scheme inside is referred to as Burnt Orange and whilst the vinyl covered surfaces like the door cards and seat backs still look a rich red colour, the leather facings on the seats (a feature of the de luxe model trim) have faded to more of an orange. Creasing aside, there doesn’t look to be any damage however and with a mileage of only 51k, we imagine that the interior upholstery is still the original.

The “distinctive fascia styling” was a feature of the car’s interior that Austin were keen to call out in their brochure for the car - although it is quite basic by current standards. The Smiths multi-gauge instrument binnacle is easy to see through the original 17-inch steering wheel and the Smiths clock and “organ stop” controls sit centrally.

Also in the middle of the dashboard is an achingly-retro Ekco Envoy AM radio. These were made by EK Cole Ltd of Southend on Sea - who at the time also produced aircraft radios and radar units and later merged with Pye, eventually becoming part of Philips.

The carpeting is in a matching orange-red and looks in good condition throughout and the white headlining is also tidy and intact.

The engine bay is clean and tidy but many of the components and fittings are showing their age - such as the radiator hose being rather perished. Given how fresh the exterior looks, the mechanicals would benefit from a similar makeover and renewal. It is a spacious engine compartment so it shouldn’t be too difficult to accomplish without removing the engine.

The vendor reports that the car is sound underneath having been stored in a dry, warm garage and little used since purchase. However, it has been maintained and it runs and drives well.

There’s not a huge history file but there are some nice period documents retained with the car. The original style buff UK log book for one - listing all three of the car’s owners up to 2011.

There are also various period logs, manuals and paperwork from Milne & Russell, the supplying Austin dealership in Croydon, as well as later MOTs from the seventies and early eighties.

The icing on the cake though, is the usage and maintenance log - hand-written by the last owner prior to being stored away. He apparently kept such a ledger for all his cars and this one runs to six sheets of foolscap.

The other document shown in the gallery appears to be a reproduction Irish RF12 buff log book, although inexplicably it has been completed with incorrect information in relation to first registration, engine capacity and model name.

Everyday family saloon cars from this era have become incredibly scarce as so few have warranted the care and expenditure necessary to allow them to survive for 60+ years. The exceptions are examples like this that were cherished by successive owners before being tucked away in the dry and all but forgotten for a few decades.

This Austin A55 Cambridge may not have had the intrinsic value to justify a full restoration but it has at least been brought back to life and freshened up to bring its endearing presence back to road readiness.

An enthusiastic owner or collector can happily lavish their time and pocket money on incremental improvements to this lovely A55 Cambridge, whilst still enjoying its charms.

“Handsome it is… handsome it does” - so said the sales brochure. We’re not entirely sure what that means but we agree with the sentiment!

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with the vendor in New Ross, County Wexford, Ireland; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.