My cars: a short guide. Part III - My Austin 1300 and how I graduate from dodgy 'good runners' to something a little more respectable

In October 1975, I joined the South Wales Argus as one of its district reporters and was based in Ebbw Vale. I was still running the Ford Corsair, but by early 1978 it was obvious the car was rapidly running out of steam, so I looked in the classified ads and spotted a white Austin 1300 for sale. The price was right - that is it was quite cheap and well within my price range - and the specifications were good. In many ways it seemed to good to be true and I was sure that by the time I was able to look it over, someone else would have pipped me to the post. But they didn't, and I bought it. It was a nice car, very tidy and in good condition. There's was nothing at all wrong with it and I had had a stroke of luck. That July, I applied for, and landed a job as a head office reporter on the Newcastle Journal, a morning paper, so I packed all my belongings into my Austin 1300 (there was not too much, just my clothes, a sound system and my guitar) and headed north. More follows