A hearse for your holidays?

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Although these pictures have come from the Crayford Convertible Car Club, this is clearly not a convertible car. It is a Crayford conversion nevertheless and a very rare one, too: the extraordinary Austin Three-Litre Estate. According to the club’s Barry Priestman, just 11 of these barges are known to have been built in 1970 or thereabouts, although he has only ever found out more about five of these. Sadly, just two are believed to survive today after another two were destroyed in demolition derbies in recent years.

The Austin Three-Litre saloon was the non plus ultra of BMC’s range at the time, with its most powerful engine, a 118bhp inline six, coupled with its most sophisticated engineering, including the signature Hydrolastic suspension, and a very luxurious interior. Although it was based on the BMC 1800 floorpan, it was rear-wheel driven and considerably longer, too, which earned it the nickname ‘Land Lobster’, since the 1800 had been dubbed the Landcrab... That didn’t help its popularity and when BMC became British Leyland after its takeover of Jaguar Cars, the Three-Litre became a bit of a misfit in BL’s portfolio. According to Wikipedia, ‘The model was discontinued in May 1971, after fewer than 10,000 had been produced.’

Still, the Estate variant seemed a good idea to Crayford. Believed to have been inspired by a hearse, it was certainly roomy, and these pictures were made to demonstrate that. Crayford directors Jeffrey Smith and David McMullan both commandeered their wives and children to star in these promotional shots, suggesting – possibly misleadingly – that these massive cars could comfortably accommodate two whole families and their luggage.

Words: Jeroen Booij; pictures: Crayford Convertible Car Club

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