They are still out there!

[Ray White]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1936-Austin-S...OSwXOhad1J~

I hope this one finds a good home.

[David.H]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1936-Austin-S...OSwXOhad1J~

I hope this one finds a good home.

16 bids!

[Ray White]

Will the new DVLA rules make it any less likely that this could end up as a "special" of some kind?  

( I am not knocking specials; I am just asking the question)

[Ian Williams]

As someone who is very strongly against breaking up restorable cars I think the body on this one is beyond even me!

[Ray White]

As someone who is very strongly against breaking up restorable cars I think the body on this one is beyond even me!

Fair enough.  The trouble is in finding something to WELD TO.  I just wondered if it has been established yet if a different body could be fitted and still be a VHI for MoT exemption?  OR would you have to state that it had been substantially modified.

No one seems to have considered that nature has a habit of doing her own bit of substantially modifying a car. 

[Nick Lettington]

Of course if the chassis is ok, you could always one of the almost unbelievably perfect bodies that cropped up on ebay from time to time, listed by one of those fine gentlemen who strip a well sorted ruby for the chassis and V5

If anyone is thinking of restoring it, it may be worth contacting Arthur AKA merlinart. If memory serves, he felt his would be suitable fo a restorer with a poor shell... Though I dont remember if his was a mk1 or mk2?

[Zetomagneto]

Of course if the chassis is ok, you could always one of the almost unbelievably perfect bodies that cropped up on ebay from time to time, listed by one of those fine gentlemen who strip a well sorted ruby for the chassis and V5

If anyone is thinking of restoring it, it may be worth contacting Arthur AKA merlinart. If memory serves, he felt his would be suitable fo a restorer with a poor shell... Though I dont remember if his was a mk1 or mk2?

Register it with DVLA before you take it to bits?

[Colin Morgan]

The Ruby I have came out of a garden after 22 years under a tarpaulin and looked almost as bad as this - it needed sills, floor, seat support box, panel under the rear seats, the bottom of the A and B posts re-fabricating, replacement cowl, running boards, front floor panels, plus wing and spare wheel well repairs, a lot of replacement wood and repairs to the door bottoms and round the sunroof aperture, work behind the dashboard and inside the battery box - looking back it would perhaps have been easier to find a better body - something that is much easier now given the Internet.  But at least, once it was done, it was all solid and has lasted 20 years without further work and the chassis and mechanicals were all fine - the engine has never been out.  From the pictures, the main difference with this one might be the scuttle area - it looks very fragile.  For anyone wanting a Ruby, there should be other derelict ones about that would be a better start - another major area of work on a car like this is the interior...  

Always interesting to see them in untouched condition like this though.

Colin

[Ray White]

So for the benefit of someone who perhaps buys this Ruby with the intention of restoring it to good condition, what would be the most tricky part of the build. I know the interior would be hard to replicate exactly but in terms of the body, is the scuttle the most difficult bit to rebuild? It seems that without that in place there are few if any datum points to work from.

[merlinart]

Of course if the chassis is ok, you could always one of the almost unbelievably perfect bodies that cropped up on ebay from time to time, listed by one of those fine gentlemen who strip a well sorted ruby for the chassis and V5

If anyone is thinking of restoring it, it may be worth contacting Arthur AKA merlinart. If memory serves, he felt his would be suitable fo a restorer with a poor shell... Though I dont remember if his was a mk1 or mk2?

Yes, within the next couple of weeks, I'll drag the Ruby out, take some very detailed photos and post them as it might be helpful to know when is a shell practically beyond economic repair. Mine is a 1938 body so presumably a mk2? To be honest I don't know the difference between a mk1 and mk2, so willing to learn.

Arthur