30-09-2023, 03:08 PM
Indeed, the 'patina' appears nice in photos but you are correct in saying that real patina of careful use is long gone. This poor car was garaged & locked up in the 1970s or 80s and probably wasn't cared for since then. It may also have gone to a roadside shop before being locked up where the fabricated bumpers etc were put perhaps in an attempt to cope with Calcutta traffic & modern cars.
A wonderful story how I got the little Austin. The house it was in belonged to a doctor who was well known in the area. It was his car. After he passed, the car was not used but his daughter wouldn't let go off the car nor let anyone touch it. Very recently, the daughter who lived in the same house and is now in her 70s and suffering from dementia, sold the house with everything still in it. She didn't tell the buyers what was in the house. That's the only history I know of the car.
The builders who bought the house opened the garage & saw the car. They had no idea beforehand. So they put it on the market & I got to know within a day and made an offer after seeing a few photos. We reached a deal on my birthday (10th September) and I was told to take the car the very next day because they had to start demolishing the house. And all this just a 10 minute drive from my own house!
Thank you Tony & Howard for the help & links. I will keep researching for now.
Regards,
Prithvi
A wonderful story how I got the little Austin. The house it was in belonged to a doctor who was well known in the area. It was his car. After he passed, the car was not used but his daughter wouldn't let go off the car nor let anyone touch it. Very recently, the daughter who lived in the same house and is now in her 70s and suffering from dementia, sold the house with everything still in it. She didn't tell the buyers what was in the house. That's the only history I know of the car.
The builders who bought the house opened the garage & saw the car. They had no idea beforehand. So they put it on the market & I got to know within a day and made an offer after seeing a few photos. We reached a deal on my birthday (10th September) and I was told to take the car the very next day because they had to start demolishing the house. And all this just a 10 minute drive from my own house!
Thank you Tony & Howard for the help & links. I will keep researching for now.
Regards,
Prithvi