Russell Burns 1950 AUSTIN A40

A CAR - AND OWNER - WITH A PAST ONE HOME, TWO OWNERS. THIS AUSTIN IS LITERALLY A GENUINE STAY-AT-HOME

- CHRIS BEATTIE

Sometimes a story can be right in front of you for the taking. Like this one. Since the owner of this 1950 Austin A40 lives opposite me in the beautiful NSW border town of Kingscliff, I only had to stroll across the road to discover a piece of history lurking in local character and stalwart Russell Burns' garage. Our street is only a short distance from the mighty Pacific Ocean and the equally mighty Tweed River. So, it came as quite a surprise to discover that a fascinating story of a 75-year-old car and its owner lay under a fine layer of accumulated dust only metres from my front door.

Still sitting on the wooden blocks that he stored it on back in 1999, Russell's A40 Devon has accumulated a mere 26,000 miles (42,000km) in total. In fact, Russell is only a mere 12 years older than his pristine example of the UK's policy at the time of delivering affordable motoring to the masses in post-WII Britain.

Since it was first bought from UK and Dominion Motors in Brisbane in 1950, it's virtually done nearly all of those miles in the same area around Tweed Heads that Russell has lived in all his life.

To even begin to appreciate the history of the car, Russell's and his wife Margaret's own history provides an equally captivating window into that of one of Australia's most naturally diverse and beautiful areas. And coincidentally, one that boasts many car enthusiasts and events, especially the annual Coolie Rocks On rock 'n' roll and car festival, which was due to kick off on the Qld-NSW border at Coolangatta just 5km up the road at the time of writing.