"I own a 1969 Austin America, with very low mileage. I bought it in 1993, with 30,000 miles on the odometer. It had sat in a garage most of it's life, after the illness of the original owner. Apparently, he maintained the car at the selling dealer up to the 24,000 mile service, then parked it just before the 30,000 was due. I bought it after a 10 year sit, at an auction. I actually was the second highest bidder, but th ehigh bid refused to wait until the title could be signed to retreive the car. The owner had died, and the title work was confused. I offered to pay my bid, although if rebid I probably could have purchased it cheaper. I paid $500. The car was almost perfect, except for a deflated displacer on the off-side front, and a slight dent in the same fender. The interior and exterior were tremendous. the engine ran beautifully. I drove the car from the auction the next day, to the selling dealer. I had called to see about getting the suspension pumped up. One old timer said he was sure they had the fluid and tools still hanging around. Sure enough, they did. I also asked them to check the car for Pennsylvania state inspection. It passed and they put on a sticker! I had not even put gas in the car yet. I began to drive the car daily. Within a month, all the hydraulics, brake and clutch had failed. I located parts at "Seven Enterprises," and did the repairs and replacements. Next were the U-joints, the motor mounts, and then the brake hoses, followed by the brake lines. The suspension has never let me down ( no pun intended ). I had a few mismatched wheels, and located a few extras on the net. I also got a spare subframe ( F&R ) delivered from New Mexico. The exhaust flange cracked off one night while transporting my daughter to the hospital with a high fever. It worked better than a siren to warn people we were coming! I replaced it with a header system and had to also buy a custom intake, again from "Seven Enterprizes." I had a 1-3/4" exhaust system bent and welded up, with a glasspack bullet welded in place. It made the car sound great, and added a little pep with the header and intake flowing better. I have yet to re-jet, I run rich idle and it works ok on the highway. I replaced the speedo cable after about a year of no odometer, so the current 42,000 miles is shy a few thousand actual miles.

I took the car to AAA shop who specialized in foreign cars to have the transmission repaired. It would pop out of first gear. He claimed expertise, and quote $400 for the fix. When we picked the car up he had sent it out to someone else, who rebuilt the entire trans and wanted $1,300. He also moved once and never let us know where he had gone. We found him by accident. He had been offered a great sum to vacate his location by a pharmacy that wanted to locate there. He moved in less than a week to an available garage. He had not had new cards printed up and hadn't notified his customers.

We settled on a dead '79 Porsche 924 in exchange for the bill, drove the car home, stopping for gas on the way. Never got out of the gas station, car stalled, would not turn over to restart, hen the car door was opened to inspect the engine bay we found a LARGE puddle of oil, and no oil drain plug in place. The trans guy had assumed the engine guy would tighten it, the engine guy assumed the trans guy had; it fell out and the oil followed.

New bearings, Main and rod, and a quick hone were all that they did, and the engine and oil pressure has been fine since. I put Antique plates on in 1998, and drive it very little, except for nice days and weekends, or when my other cars are in the shop. It Always starts, even on the coldest days. The Wiper motor has frozen up twice, and the fuse block corrodes regularly, making the electrics fail.

My car has a dealer installed painted on black textured roof, including the side panels, over a pumpkin color body. The rockers are starting to disappear, but the floor is all there. There are some cracks in the inner front fenders that need attention. The rear subframe looks like swiss cheese, but I have the other to put in if I get the time."

Dick Nepon brnstorm@ptd.net