1958 Austin Lancer
↑ The initial inspection went a lot better than I expected...
↑ ...so
within a few days I became the latest custodian of a lovely, lively 1958
Austin Lancer. These were, along with the Morris Major, only made by BMC
Australia, and were the most Australian car of the day, with 97% local
content. They were based on the Riley 1.5 (only made in the UK) and Wolseley
1500 (made both in the UK and Australia), and were a delightful car to
drive, with good handling, good power-to-weight ratio (for the day) and tall
gearing, allowing relaxed highway driving. These models all used the 1500 B
Series engine.
↑ Not only was the car fitted with a 1620 B-series engine (BMC
Australia Morris Major Elite) with period twin SU conversion, but reading
of the documentation that came with the car (unexpected) showed that the
engine had been carefully rebuilt and had the compression uprated to 8.8:1
by skimming of the head combined with reshaping of the combustion chambers.
Exactly what I would have done, with my plan to make this a spirited,
economic everyday driver...things are looking good!
↑ ...exactly!