Very Old Car Found In Tathcilek

[brahmburgers]

I found a very old car at the Burmese border town; Tatchilek (across from Mae Sai, northernmost Thailand)

It was up on blocks in an little garage - gathering dust.

4 cylinder, quite good condition, including the fold-away canvas top (convertible). Steering wheel and column is intact. motors in place, wheels and springs look pretty good. Has a rumble seat. seat is passably good condition.

As for a make, I couldn't figure it out. It had an emblem, but no lettering. I'll get a photo of it next time.

My wild guess is it's around WW I vintage ...or possibly earlier.

I'd like to make an offer to buy it, but honestly don't have any extra money. If someone reading this would like to take a chance on investing in getting hold of it, let me know. Perhaps I can strike a deal with the owner.

ok, I know the photo here is cr*p. blame it on my awful camera phone.

Am going over to Tatchilek in two weeks with a better camera.

[qualtrough]

I found a very old car at the Burmese border town; Tatchilek (across from Mae Sai, northernmost Thailand)

It was up on blocks in an little garage - gathering dust.

4 cylinder, quite good condition, including the fold-away canvas top (convertible). Steering wheel and column is intact. motors in place, wheels and springs look pretty good. Has a rumble seat. seat is passably good condition.

As for a make, I couldn't figure it out. It had an emblem, but no lettering. I'll get a photo of it next time.

My wild guess is it's around WW I vintage ...or possibly earlier.

I'd like to make an offer to buy it, but honestly don't have any extra money. If someone reading this would like to take a chance on investing in getting hold of it, let me know. Perhaps I can strike a deal with the owner.

ok, I know the photo here is cr*p. blame it on my awful camera phone.

Am going over to Tatchilek in two weeks with a better camera.

Hi Brahmburgers. Nice find. I would love to have an old car (1920s) like that to restore here. My best semi-informed guess is that it might be an Austin 7. I will post a pic I found on the Web next to yours. The radiator, headlight position, hood, etc. look almost identical. There were probably a number of different body styles available, so the difference in the windshield size may not be important. These were made from 1922 on up to the war so there would have been a lot of other changes too. I am no expect so will have to leave confirmation to someone with better knowledge.

Edited September 9, 2007 by qualtrough

[Niloc]

I met an Englishman in Kabul in 1966 who was driving an Austin 7 to India. I wondered what happened to him, now I know!

[mr_hippo]

Certainly looks like an Austin 7 but....it was also produced under licence by BMW, Austin America, Rosengart (France) and also copied by Nissan. Based on the fuzzy photo, I suggest either Austin or Nissan (Possibly left by the Imperial Japanese Army)

Centre top of the windscreen - could that be a taxi sign?

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Certainly looks like an Austin 7 but....it was also produced under licence by BMW, Austin America, Rosengart (France) and also copied by Nissan. Based on the fuzzy photo, I suggest either Austin or Nissan (Possibly left by the Imperial Japanese Army)

Centre top of the windscreen - could that be a taxi sign?

No ' funny business ' in the back if it is ( was )

[qualtrough]

Doing some more research shows that the Austin 7s of the late 20s had a two part windscreen. It is hard to make out from your photo, but it looks like the lower portion may have been replaced with metal at some point. If both sections were glass it would look exactly like the Austin 7 windscreen. I am feeling more and more confident that it is an Austin 7 due to the match between the radiator, hood, headlights and position, windscreen shape, front fenders, etc. While the rumble seat was probably not a factory option (I don't know) it certainly could have been added afterwards either in the UK or in Burma. I doubt it is a Nissan knockoff brought by the Japs as it would have already been somewhat old by then, and I think they had better things to do than bring old civilian cars to Burma during WWII. Austins certainly would have been imported to Burma. Another possibility is that it was exported from Thailand when its days were over there. I would guess that not a lot of cars survived WWII in Burma, so that is a definite possibility. Would be fascinating if the car could talk!

[Thehedonist]

I found a very old car at the Burmese border town; Tatchilek (across from Mae Sai, northernmost Thailand)

It was up on blocks in an little garage - gathering dust.

4 cylinder, quite good condition, including the fold-away canvas top (convertible). Steering wheel and column is intact. motors in place, wheels and springs look pretty good. Has a rumble seat. seat is passably good condition.

As for a make, I couldn't figure it out. It had an emblem, but no lettering. I'll get a photo of it next time.

My wild guess is it's around WW I vintage ...or possibly earlier.

I'd like to make an offer to buy it, but honestly don't have any extra money. If someone reading this would like to take a chance on investing in getting hold of it, let me know. Perhaps I can strike a deal with the owner.

ok, I know the photo here is cr*p. blame it on my awful camera phone.

Am going over to Tatchilek in two weeks with a better camera.

Your pic of car certainly looks like an Austin seven, or variant made under licence, and looks to be around early 1930 + Look underneath the ladder chassis should come to a triangle at the front.

Allso check if it has a Magneto, that would indicate it being earlier, also tell me where the petrol tank is situated, ie under the bonnet ?

All spares can easily be obtained here in Uk, but the engine may be different, the car may well be worth saving, they are very easy to restore.

Should you require any more help feel free to contact me !

[brahmburgers]

it's great to get some feedback - particularly some that are well-informed.

We see elder guys walking around in tourist areas and it's easy to lump them all in some sort of fuzzy category ('has-beens' 'lazy-old-farts' or worse). But nearly every guy has a wealth of trivia stored up in his gray matter. I see it in evidence when I read Military History magazine, where the letters column somtimes has guys writing in with the most intricate details of earlier campaigns and/or uniforms and/or regimental details.

I have a border run to Tatchilek near the end of this month (Sept) and will see about taking additional photos (post them here on TVisa) and talking with the owner. Bringing it in to Thailand would be a major challenge - I've got some ideas, revolving around hiring hiring porter(s) to clandestinely bring it over in parts. I suspect the border guards (on both sides) would be as agitated a nest of hornets if they saw the vehicle being taken across the bridge - whether towed or on the back of a flatbed.

[brahmburgers]

great photo of the Austin 7 - looks like a winner. Plus, it's great to get some feedback - particularly some that are well-informed.

We see elder guys walking around in tourist areas and it's easy to lump them all in some sort of fuzzy category ('has-beens' 'lazy-old-farts' or worse). But nearly every guy has a wealth of trivia stored up in his gray matter. I see it in evidence when I read Military History magazine, where the letters column somtimes has guys writing in with the most intricate details of earlier campaigns and/or uniforms and/or regimental details.

I have a border run to Tatchilek near the end of this month (Sept) and will see about taking additional photos (post them here on TVisa) and talking with the owner. Bringing it in to Thailand would be a major challenge - I've got some ideas, revolving around hiring hiring porter(s) to clandestinely bring it over in parts. I suspect the border guards (on both sides) would be as agitated a nest of hornets if they saw the vehicle being taken across the bridge - whether towed or on the back of a flatbed.

The insignia on top of the windshield is a metal medallion-looking thing with asian motif. I'll get a photo of it, and maybe also get a charcoal rubbing.

[sabaijai]

great photo of the Austin 7 - looks like a winner. Plus, it's great to get some feedback - particularly some that are well-informed.

We see elder guys walking around in tourist areas and it's easy to lump them all in some sort of fuzzy category ('has-beens' 'lazy-old-farts' or worse). But nearly every guy has a wealth of trivia stored up in his gray matter. I see it in evidence when I read Military History magazine, where the letters column somtimes has guys writing in with the most intricate details of earlier campaigns and/or uniforms and/or regimental details.

I have a border run to Tatchilek near the end of this month (Sept) and will see about taking additional photos (post them here on TVisa) and talking with the owner. Bringing it in to Thailand would be a major challenge - I've got some ideas, revolving around hiring hiring porter(s) to clandestinely bring it over in parts. I suspect the border guards (on both sides) would be as agitated a nest of hornets if they saw the vehicle being taken across the bridge - whether towed or on the back of a flatbed.

The insignia on top of the windshield is a metal medallion-looking thing with asian motif. I'll get a photo of it, and maybe also get a charcoal rubbing.

Any follow-up here? Fascinating story and vehicle.

[Flatouthruthefog]

I found a very old car at the Burmese border town; Tatchilek (across from Mae Sai, northernmost Thailand)

It was up on blocks in an little garage - gathering dust.

4 cylinder, quite good condition, including the fold-away canvas top (convertible). Steering wheel and column is intact. motors in place, wheels and springs look pretty good. Has a rumble seat. seat is passably good condition.

As for a make, I couldn't figure it out. It had an emblem, but no lettering. I'll get a photo of it next time.

My wild guess is it's around WW I vintage ...or possibly earlier.

I'd like to make an offer to buy it, but honestly don't have any extra money. If someone reading this would like to take a chance on investing in getting hold of it, let me know. Perhaps I can strike a deal with the owner.

ok, I know the photo here is cr*p. blame it on my awful camera phone.

Am going over to Tatchilek in two weeks with a better camera.

I think that it must be an Austin or the Datsun (pre-'Nissan' by decades!) copy. If it had the winged badge on the top of the rad (which I think was not a seperate and thus easily removable item) I think you would already have identified it as an Austin.

The odd and rather exciting thing is that it will be worth much more if it is a Datsun. Lots of old Aussies around but very few Datsun 'copies' left. But don't tell a soul!!

Some 12 years ago there was a genuine WW2 US Army Jeep in an overgrown field near a small school in Tachilek. That, plus a brace of BSA motorcycles, one with military panniers and a huge air cleaner on top of the tank, were brought to Chiang Mai by a Thai enthusiast/dealer. If he had not inconveniently died 2 years ago, I would have asked him to help.

Good luck!

[Thaicoon]

Nice find, Looks like an Austin 7 chummy, maybe late 20s, then in the 30s the ruby was intoduced, now this car when fully restored in the UK, is worth up to 10 gran, been a convertable, here is a link.

http://www.austinsevenownersclub.com/gallery/

Myself i have fully restored a ruby a few years back, simple little cars to work on.

Also if you could get the id numbers, the Austin 7 club could most likely identify the car and give some history on it, they would love to know about.

Edited October 8, 2007 by Thaicoon