Austin Cambridge A60 - the bargain 60s classic car you'll love!

Austin A60 Cambridge

BMC made a lot of facelifts and revisions at the end of the 50s and the Austin A55 Mk2 was no exception. The car was replaced with the new A60 as we’re testing here today and was judged to offer a far better driving experience than the outgoing model.

Whilst the same basic body shell and mechanical layout was carried over from the A55 MK2, the new car had a longer wheelbase at an increase of 1.1 inches which was achieved by moving the rear axle back on its springs, wider tracks, better roadholding, anti roll bars to front and rear and of course - that bigger engine.

The outgoing model had sported a 1,489cc engine but this new A60 was fitted with a 1622cc engine which gave a reasonable 61bhp and a 0-60 of 21.4 seconds.

There was a diesel option on the car, for the export market only at first, and that was a lot slower - making 0-60 in around 40 seconds - which makes it slower than most 50s wheezy saloons. It’s worth mentioning at this point, this diesel wasn’t based on the 1622 engine, but the outgoing 1489cc petrol as seen in the A55.

It was offered to the UK market late on in 1962 but didn’t set the market alight and in fact, ended up being popular with taxi drivers instead of domestic users.

The fuel consumption on the 1622cc was a slightly thirstier than you might anticipate 26mpg - but that’s an overall with all types of driving considered including motorway and around town.

Plus for the motorist who was planning on some miles, there was also the option of the Borg-Warner Type 35 automatic transmission - which I’ll show you later isn’t as refined as you might expect.

Britain was still quite conservative in its tastes and the BMC team were slightly surprised at the devotion to these, because they naturally expected the 1800 to mop up this customer base but instead, found them still hankering after an A60.

Which probably explains why this car stayed in production for longer than you might’ve anticipated - the A60 didn’t come to an end on the production line until 1969.

It’s also worth mentioning at this point, you’ll see some of these are Longbridge built such as this one, where they were built until 65 and then Cowley built until end of production in 1969. Overall, there were around 275,000 cars made. The numbers are not exact because Cowley’s records are not available.

The thing I like most about this example, is the fact the current owner Dan knows all the history.

This A60 Cambridge was supplied by the Hendon branch of the Car-Mart Austin Distributors to Buntings Motor Exchange in Harrow, Middlesex.

A De-Luxe model finished in duotone Grampian Grey with Cumulus Grey side flash and Cardinal Red leather trim, it is fitted with the Borg-Warner 35 3-Speed Automatic Transmission. The Automatic version of the A60 would have cost about £850 when new in 1964- the manual version costing £756.

Purchased new by a Mr. Francis Hundley of St. Catherines Road, Ruislip on 26th August 1964, it was used as regular transport by him until the 1970's when it was then taken on by his older sister Edna who lived at the same address.

Edna used the car sparingly, and by the early 1990's it was only brought out of their garage to take to its annual MOT test. It was eventually laid up in 2003 having covered 39, 322 miles.

Upon her death in 2006, the car was inherited by Francis- so once again he became the owner over 40 years after he bought it brand new! However, it remained in the garage until his death, where along with the contents of the house it was taken to be sold at Tring Market Auctions in Hertfordshire where Dan purchased it from in December 2010.

Today, many of these remain on the road throughout the world and with a decent owners club who actively look after members, the numbers remain buoyant and they can be seen at car shows up and down the country every summer - with many seemingly living on the south coast where there appears to be quite the loyal following of the A60 and it’s badge engineered siblings.