Austin 10 GS1 1945 colours

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Stvwebb9@gmail.com
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Austin 10 GS1 1945 colours

Post by Stvwebb9@gmail.com » Fri Oct 14, 2022 12:39 pm

I am restoring one of these vehicles in Western Australia. Many of the books I have indicate that in the years 1945-1948 these vehicles were only released in three colours with varying colours for upholstery. None say what those colours were. Can anyone educate me please.
Also, I would like to know if the motors for this model was painted, and if so what colour.

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peter_winney
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Re: Austin 10 GS1 1945 colours

Post by peter_winney » Fri Oct 14, 2022 1:51 pm

Certainly black, but colours may have been blue, maroon and green.
https://www.automobile-catalog.com/make ... /1947.html

Most of these cars were sent for export. In the UK if you wanted a new car you had to get on a waiting list, or pay well over the list price. Even main dealers were selling "used" models at a premium.

My father bought a new Austin 8 which was delivered in reasonable time (1946 - about a year or so after his order was placed) and it came in black with brown leather seats & brown carpets. This combination was typical of other makers too e.g. Bentley

If you specified a colour chances are you would have a very long wait. Allegedly, a friend of my father ordered a 10 in a colour other than black and when it eventually arrived it was a Somerset! But my father had a dry sense of humour so this story may be a stretch.

Pre-war Austins often had upholstery in a colour that was similar to the body colour or contrasted with it. E.G. Maroon seats and carpet with a maroon body, or black car with green seats and carpets.

Let us know if you find any brochures in Oz. Probably they did not need them here as they could sell every car several times over!
PeterW
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Stvwebb9@gmail.com
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Re: Austin 10 GS1 1945 colours

Post by Stvwebb9@gmail.com » Sat Oct 15, 2022 5:23 am

Thanks for your assistance. I looked at the website you included in your reply, and they show what appears to be a grey model. Could this be right?

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peter_winney
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Re: Austin 10 GS1 1945 colours

Post by peter_winney » Sun Oct 16, 2022 9:09 am

Grey is possible. On my browser & screen it looks pale blue. On-screen colours are notoriously variable - even more so than printed material. It certainly looks like an extract from a period brochure.
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peter_christie
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Re: Austin 10 GS1 1945 colours

Post by peter_christie » Sun Oct 16, 2022 5:09 pm

Like the other Peter, my father bought an Austin in 1945, a Ten which was black with brown upholstery, although registered in Glasgow as EGA 116, the manager of the southern branch of our family business (owing to war damage, then based at De Havilland Airfield at Hatfield) had to go and collect the car from Longbridge and I understand he was told if he wanted it immediately, he'd have to arrange to purchase tyres and have them fitted before he could take it away. We also got a new Austin Sixteen [EGB 543] in 1946. At that time you had to obtain a licence from the Board of Trade if you were classed as an essential user before a supplier could accept your order for a new car. I did most of my driver training in A40 vans, but passed my test in EGB 543 shortly before it was replaced by a Sixteen Countryman [GGD 174] in 1948.
The side valve engines were black, but from the earliest 1200cc A40s all the OHV engines were painted a Moss Green colour.
To revert to colours, most of the new Austins were Black with Brown leather and carpets, but there were pale Sage Green, pale Blue, Blue, Maroon and Grey cars delivered. I don't know whether there was an extra charge for the colours. What was noticeable was that the wings of these post war cars were not black, as had been the practice pre-war, but were painted in the body colour.
Peter C. [6515]

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Re: Austin 10 GS1 1945 colours

Post by Stvwebb9@gmail.com » Mon Oct 17, 2022 11:40 am

Many thanks. It is great to read these snippets of information, which combined give me a firm direction as to what I will do. I am also chasing replacement boot hinges for the 10 GSI if anyone knows where I can get them. Rare as hens teeth here in Oz.

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