Description

1938 Austin 12/6 Goodwood Cabriolet

No Reserve

Owned by our vendor since 1975 - at the same address as it was first registered in 1938; unusual cabriolet body; in need of restoration but surprisingly clean underneath

This Goodwood bodied Austin was first registered to Miss Mary Melliar Betton-Foster of Overton Grange, near Ludlow in 1938. Until the early 1960s, Miss Betton-Foster continued to own the car, registering it at subsequent addresses in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, Somerset, Weymouth, Kent, Central London and Essex so it has certainly travelled some miles over the years.

One of the three buff logbooks that accompany the car, document its second recorded owner as returning the car to Shropshire before passing it to our vendor in 1975, who by a fabulous quirk of coincidence resides at the original home of the car in Overton, Ludlow! This Austin has truly gone full circle back to its roots and is reluctantly being put up for sale, due to ill health.

We understand that our vendor started to tinker with the car in the early 1980s and although no stranger to unusual vehicles, time and space led the Austin to take a back seat to other cars being worked on in the same shed.

Known as ‘Matilda,’ she was worked on every so often, the engine being turned and fired up, the brakes being released and the tyres being inflated and in 2002 it seems our vendor put a proper budget together to get her back on the road for the cost of approximately £1,000. Although some of this was spent on materials and labour, the project never really took off and their remains plenty of work to be done. Structurally it is not as bad as it might look to some and we understand that it has been kept inside since the 1970s.

The original registration MG 6046 is no longer recognized by the DVLA, but it is not assigned to any other vehicle either and there is a 1984 letter on file from Swansea implying that once restoration is finished, this registration could be put back on the car. This would of course need some more contemporary confirmation from them now but it’s a good start on what could be made into a very presentable and rare motorcar with relative ease.

Further information - toby.service@brightwells.com