Vintage Thing No.171 - Austin 10 Ripley
The Austin 10 Ripley. That radiator reminds me of an Austin 7 Grasshopper but chromed or nickel plated This rare survivor of an Austin Ten Ripley Sports appears at shows around the west country following a comprehensive restoration. I had a close look at it at Boconnoc last summer and it especially intrigued me because, years ago, I read about how the great rivals in the UK motoring market place – Austin and Morris – faced each other off with cheap sporty cars. In simplest terms, Austin had the Austin 7 and Morris had Morris Garages. The MG brand included larger sports cars and even saloons but Austin remained happy to let the Austin 7 represent them in the “scurrying kindergarten” the Bentley Boys had to contend with. However, there were little glimmers of sportiness in other parts of the Austin range as represented by the Austin 10 Ripley Sports. The present owner of this particular restored it over a seven-year period after it was recovered from a scrapyard in Callington in the ...