British Leylands Black Sheep; the Austin 3-Litre

– Certain areas of the country are a ‘hotbed’ of classic car collections. The SouthCoast has dozens of clubs with thousands of members, my task is to seek out just some of them and bring a new story to classiccarmag.net each month. The London Motor Show in 1967 saw the introduction of a car that had been on the drawing boards since the beginning of the decade. It was not the greatest start for any new model with various last minute changes and production issues; some might say it was a sign of things to come for the BL brand. The first model had square headlights and was seen by some as just a larger version of the Austin 1800 ‘Landcrab’; as sales failed to materialise luxury offerings from Rover, Wolseley and the Vanden-Plas models were shelved. Even the basic version was discontinued by 1969 leaving the De-Luxe to soldier on for 3 years until 1971 when it too ran out of time, with less than 10000 built you can’t help thinking the 3-Litre was a disaster. So was the car that bad? Enthusiasts who have spent time with one of these full size saloons would totally disagree. At nearly 15.5 feet long and 5.5 feet wide the 3-Litre was no ‘Tinkerbell’; weighing in at 1500 kilos it needed all the 125bhp the 2912cc six cylinder engines produced. Negative details over, the ride was commended at the time and is still considered super smooth with the Hydrolastic suspension able to soak up the worse that even our current pot holed roads (farm tracks) can throw at it. Inside is a lovely place to travel, the seats are big and comfortable finished in what BL liked to refer to as quality vinyl. Plenty of wood and a well laid out dash make long distance comfort for the executive a relaxed pleasure, which is what it was designed for. In 1971 the 3-Litre was rather expensive new at £1592 for a manual, the average house price was £5032 and your weekly shop cost around £11.00. With the average annual wage at £2000 at the time a £400 saving could be obtained if the Rover 2000 was chosen instead of the 3-Litre. It goes without saying that you have to have a passion for the large Austin and there are not many more passionate about the model than Annie and Malcolm Stephens. One of the last built ‘Bessy’ as she is affectionately known has been around Annie since 1973. Purchased from a neighbour by her father in 1973 having covered few miles ‘Bessy’ was used quite sparingly around the family farm over the years. The car was never used in its executive transport mode more often loaded with animal feed and hay, over the years the limited usage slowed and finally stopped. Parked in a barn the family cat made the big seats its bed and small claw marks are still on the rear seat backrest. Annie needed to rescue the 3-Litre and took ownership in 1991, the car at this time had only 50k miles but ‘Bessy’ had been neglected for years, que Malcolm. A lifetime in and around the toxic fumes of a body-shop have taken their toll on Malcolms health but that doesn’t stop him. The classic car scene has plenty of characters, Malcolm is certainly one of them; he has repaired, re-sprayed and restored just about anything with wheels, always smiling and no job too big. Together the couple set about ‘Bessy’ and over the next 2 years returned her to show winning condition. Being kept under cover all this time meant no need to bring out the welder. Any filler was kept to a minimum and the paint finish benefits from this with dead straight panels and even panel gaps. The interior needed some TLC with a shortage of new parts professional help was required using a rear seat cover to replace the torn front driver’s seat. For me the mark of a good restoration is not to appear over restored, and ‘Bessy’ has a factory fresh appeal, not over-done, just right. Not content with just the one the couple have immersed themselves into the world of the Austin 3-Litre, their collection is heading towards double figures. Admittedly some are only useful for parts but no doubt enthusiasts like them will stop the model becoming just a memory. I personally think right car wrong time; the early 1970’s saw fashions change, not just the ridiculous flairs and platform shoes also fuel prices rose and so the demand for cheaper transport increased. Who knows had the big Austin got off the drawing boards and into production five years earlier the whole story may have been different. As Malcolm will testify the car on the whole is very well put together using some quality materials, it has a presence and is great to drive, that cannot be said of others that followed from the BL factories later in the 70’s. My thanks to Annie and Malcolm; it was a great morning and a pleasure to spend time with them and the Austin 3 Litre.Tags: Coastal Classics