The Austin 8 register cars

We bought this 1939 Austin Eight Tourer in 2012. The car was bought new in 1939 by a district nurse. This lady drove the car until 1973. So almost 35 years. During the war the car was parked on blocks, where the wheels were disassembled.

The car's list price in 1939 was GBP 139.00. In 1973 the car was sold for GBP 135.00, which was almost the price as paid in 1939. The car came into the hands of the local pump attendant, where the lady always refueled her car. The lady thought that after almost 35 years she had earned a car with heating. She gave up the car with pain in her heart and the car still received a Christmas card from her every year. These cards are still with the car today.

In 1994 the car was sold to the then Austin 8 registrar Ian Pinniger and the car was completely restored in the original colour scheme. Since then there has been very little driving. 

After I took over the Austin 8 register in 2012 from Ian, we also took over the Austin 8 Tourer and imported it from Jersey, Chanel Islands, to The Netherlands. The first female owner called the car DOT and she still carries this name today.  The car owes this name to her original license plate DOT 891. The English registration is reserved for the car. The car is still registered in United Kingdom, so it will get its original registration back as soon as it will be sold to UK in future.

Our 1939 Austin Eight Four Light Saloon is in our ownership since 2010. The car was imported into the Netherlands in 1975, after a Dutch family inherited it from their family living in England. 

The car was originally blue with black fenders. In the 1990's the car was completely restored and painted in a light grey color. Shortly after the restoration the man who completed the restoration past away and the car was therefore sold.

After that the car had several owners. The exterior of the car was not perfect and therefore the exterior of the car was tackled again in 2008-2009. Since then this car has its beige colour with black fenders. In total this car had 8 owners before us and was owned by one and the same family till 1975.The car is often used in rallies and tours. Since we own the car the car is named "Aussie"

We bought our genuine military tourer in 2017. The car is from war contract number V3927 25-05-1940 These were vehicles with military number M221432-M222041, delivered to the RASC. This car is numbered M221780, and is manufactured 6 june 1940. The first private owner was a Mr. H. Gilbert of Great Missenden, Bucks, who acquired it in 1946 before taking it off the road in 1953. It then passed briefly to a Mr. P. Oakford of Princes Risborough in early 1987, from whom Dick purchased in April of the same year.

The restoration started in 1991 and was finished 2005, by Mr. Keith King of Redhill 31 Oct 2005. During the restoration original patterns were found such as the original military number M221780 and the 40MPH indication on the back of the car. The car was SORN (statutory off road notified) 2006 - 2010

Peter Wright became the custodian of the car in 2012, after Dick Pettmann passed away in 2011. We took over the car in 2017.

This car was purchased new in 1946 by a serving soldier who took the car to Germany. It then changed hands several times, each time to army personnel, before being brought back to this country (UK) in 1958, by a friend of mr. Sharp. Mr. Sharp then purchased the car and used it for many years and eventually sold it in rather dilapidated state in 1978 to Mr. Keith Denman, who did most of the chassis up restoration. Then purchased by Derek Roberts who finished the restoration, using it for about 2 years, before exchanging it for an Austin Tourer with Mr. Vogl, from which Mr. Rolf Federer purchased it in 1981.

Alan Vogl swapped the saloon with Derek Roberts with a military tourer and some cash. In 1986 Marcel de Beys purchased the car after it went to Belgium. In 2016 Jean Pierre Istasse contacted the Austin 8 Register since he was in need for an engine for the car. This was the first time the Austin was known to the register. Previous registered VUU 85, which is a London 1958-1959 registration. In 2023 the car was bought by us and is now part of the Austin 8 Register collection.

This Austin van was delivered new in 1947 to the Porém family in Alenquer Portugal. That is just below Lisbon. It is not entirely known until when the car was used exactly, but probably until the mid 70s, after which the car came to a standstill. The car was owned by the Porém family until about 2013. First owner Maria da Conceição Porém and second owner Francisco dos Santos Porém, a tax inspector. These data were found in the form of a small bronze plate in the car engraved with the name and address of Maria Porém and a business card of Francisco Porém, who was pinned over it.

Around 2013 the car was sold together with a few other historical vehicles and has been in storage in Porto, Portugal since our purchase in 2017. The car still has the original Portuguese license plate and papers with only two registered owners. The car was GBP 120.00 in 1947. The car is very original and authentic. This 1947 Austin Van is the only known left-hand drive version of this model in existence and therefore extremely rare. The car was named "Pedro", the name of the intermediary who made it possible for the car to be part of the Austin Eight Register.