Austin 1300 may be slower, but still stylish

Kids can have a certain persuasiveness with their parents and Dennis DeLap used it to his advantage. As an 18-year-old, he convinced Mom and Dad to buy a new 1967 Austin.

“My friends and I would go to Road America (racetrack in Wisconsin) during the summers,” the Barrington resident said. “We'd see all these little 1960s British cars being raced. It was pretty influential to a young kid.”

His parents settled on a cream-colored, four-door Austin, which his mother used to commute to work every day. It was purchased from Sawyer Imports, a dealership in DeKalb.

“I learned to drive a stick (shift) with it. Any chance I could, I'd try to get it to slide around,” DeLap said.

Longer trips were also part of its driving duties. “One summer, our family drove to North Dakota and back. Somehow my brother and I fit in the back seat for all those long hours on the road.”

The smallish vehicle didn't last long, mostly because of the two gearhead siblings. “My brother and I proceeded to ruin the car within two years. In our defense, they were somewhat fragile.”

Nevertheless, DeLap got a hankering for another Austin in 2009 after a “nostalgic attack.” He attempted to find the exact model his family owned, but after a fruitless search settled for a similar example. This 1970 Austin 1300 turned up in Evanston, being sold by the second owner.

The 1300 had been sitting in storage since 1996. The original owner had pulled it out of service in 1976 and had it stored in a garden shed for an unknown number of years. All that time had taken its toll on the sheet metal.

After taking ownership, DeLap welded on new inner and outer rocker panels, several floor panels and other structural braces underneath. Other metalwork was done along the body.

“The cars sold in the U.S. had a large piece of chrome running down the side. I removed it and filled in the holes to match how they would look when sold in the British market,” he said.

The body was coated in British Racing Green paint and, for an added touch of whimsy, a checkered flag was painted on the roof.

“I couldn't resist — I always wanted a car with a roof like this,” DeLap said.

While the previous owner had performed an overhaul on the 1,275-cubic-centimeter engine, a broken piston ring nearly spelled disaster. DeLap removed the petite powertrain again and repaired it himself.

“It's a thrill to drive! It pulls you down the road and with the beefed up exhaust, there's a good note to it.”

As for how this second Austin compares to the first, DeLap has found time has a funny way of changing his perception.

“I always imagined it (the car) way faster in the old days than how it is now.”