Austin 10 owner's original number plate DRL 685 is missing

Brian Evans bought his 1937 Austin 10 Cambridge about a year ago “in a pretty sorry state and needing a full restoration.”

“I chose to buy this Austin 10 Cambridge because my father used to own one in the fifties,” Mr Evans said. The Austin 10 was launched on April 19, 1932, and became the automotive company’s best-selling car of the 1930s.

Brian's newly-restored Austin 10 still needs its original numberplate (Image: Brian Evans)

The previous owner of Mr Evans’ Austin sold the car’s original plate, and the historical icon of a car was issued with a new, age-related one. Wanting to sympathetically restore and do the car justice, Mr Evans set about retrieving the original plate of “DRL 685” as he feels the new plate “strips some of the car’s history and identity” away.

Mr Evans has a passion for classic cars, with a further three timeless automobiles also in the process of restoration – a 1937 Austin 12, a 1962 Austin A35 van and a 1968 Jaguar 340. But as the same type of car his dad once owned, the Austin 10 holds a special place in his heart.

The Austin was lovingly restored to its former glory (Image: Brian Evans)

He has no intentions of selling the charming, 87-year-old Austin; instead, it will remain in the family. Mr Evans has even decided to call the Austin ‘Josie’ after his wife, even though “she doesn’t know it yet”!

The missing plate of Mr Evans’ beloved Austin is currently registered to a black Peugeot 3008, owned by someone in the Herefordshire area.

Mr Evans very much hopes the Peugeot owner could get in touch via his phone number of 07802 661334, and he wishes to talk to them about coming to an agreement which both parties will be more than happy with. Not only would Mr Evans’ car see its precious history restored, but the family’s history of Austin ownership can be continued and remembered for generations to come.