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In 1969 I owned a 1948 Austin 16 reg.no: MPG 333. As a young bachelor my 5
> friends and I embarked on a European trip in the car carrying spare dynamo,
> starter etc. We got as far as East Germany and came back through Europe to
> Holland. Would any-one know if this car still exists? –
If you have any information on this car please send me a email at emperor.nardly@googlemail.com
Derek Bolton
Set off from Kings Langley to Dover and onto the ferry to Calais. Coming off the ferry owing to the low ground clearance of the over-laden Austin we ripped the exhaust apart on the acute angled ferry departure ramp. We pulled in at the side of the road as soon as possible and we were pleased we had the 2 axle hydraulic Jackall system available. Emptying a new tin of baked beans into a polythene bag for later consumption we crawled underneath and repaired it with the empty tin and some garden wire and clamps. We were applauded by the customers of the local café who watched the whole operation, and amazingly we never had any further problem with the exhaust!
Our journey took the five of us through Belgium and into West Germany where we were stopped by an officious policeman at the border control who walked around the Austin and pronounced ‘Do you sink zat zis car vill make it through Shermany?’, to which I replied ‘that as it had been around for the last 18 years another 2 weeks shouldn’t make any difference‘! and with that he let us through. After Germany we drove to Switzerland where we visited Neuchatel and Basel and on to Italy where we collected our petrol coupons at the border and visited Genoa and Varigotti. As I recall, when we bought fuel we were given sweets instead of small change as the currency was so worthless. Shortly after this we decided to do a U turn and try to go to West Berlin, but when we got to the American checkpoint at the border with East Germany we were informed that it would cost about £150 to travel along the road to West Berlin and that we could be shot at if we broke down. As we only had our £50 allowance each we decided against this and travelled north to Hamburg where we somehow got water in the fuel tank which we drained off, thanks to the petrol tank drain plug. This was the only mechanical problem we had with the car during the whole trip.
We completed our 3 week tour by visiting the Zeidesee in Holland before returning back through Belgium and France to embark at Calais and return to England. Our ‘accommodation’ consisted of the inside of the car and two 2 man tents and on warm nights the roof rack with a sleeping bag! I remember once sleeping in the furrows of a farmers potato field and woke up a little damp in the morning after it rained on us – we could not afford a B & B with our limited money.
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