It has been 19 days since the last post and a few cars and parts have sold without much fanfare here.  However, there are a few things which have recently come up which will be posted and there is a seller who may soon be listing a large collection of Austin and Bantam parts.  Keep your eyes open for them and keep checking back here to be among the first to know!

American Austin Car Carrier

Click here to see: American Austin Toy Car Carrier

American Austin Toy

Click here to see: American Austin Toy Car

Through quite a coincidence, four days after I posted about one of our upcoming projects.  To read about our quest to reproduce Bantam headlight lenses, click here.  The seller has had some of these lenses in the past and had asked a good deal less at that point then they are now.  I think I had actually purchased one from them at the time.  Now, they are asking $224.99 for each lens.  One other vendor asks $180 for these lenses, and there are rumors that another vendor asks routinely over $300 for each lens (I have not verified this price but am just echoing comments people have made in the past).

When these lenses have ended up on ebay in the past, they have been at the center of bidding wars reflecting the adage that Bantam parts change hands at the price a buyer is willing to pay and a seller is willing to receive.  All of our cars need two lenses, which today could cost $500.  It never hurts to have a spare as they are only held into the headlight housing by pressure exerted on the glass from the internal assembly.  As there are no screws or protective trim rings, these have been known to sake loose and fall out.  At $250 each, you may want to drive without lenses and put them in the car only when you are showing it.

This is why we are embarking upon a journey that will hopefully result in the ability to manufacture new lenses for Bantam headlights.  To get the project rolling, we need to have 100 lenses sold, that’s enough headlight lenses for 50 cars.  Currently, the price point is under $100.  Once we have enough commitments, a final price will be determinable.  Finally, after over 70 years, a steady supply of newly minted headlight lenses will be available at a set price that will not be driven up by demand.  In fact, the price of lenses may be driven down by higher demand.  Think of the possibilities!

Click here to see the: Bantam Headlight Lenses

Excellent news has finally come regarding headlight lenses.  I have found a company in the United States with the capability of forming correct reproduction glass Stabilite 3930 lenses.  This is a project that can be taken on if we can find orders for at least 100 lenses.  Over the next few months, I will be putting out feelers to see who is interested in being part of this exciting project.  Remember, 100 is the magic number.

As you have probably seen, correct headlight lenses can be quite difficult to source.  Even original glass lenses may have numerous visible imperfections that detract from their beauty.  Although yellowed lenses may be frustrating, the price to replace them with better ones is more so.  People have paid exorbitant amounts for NOS lenses just to make sure their headlights look fantastic.

So, if we get this project off the ground, beautiful glass replacement lenses will be available at a fraction of the price of NOS pieces and you can easily keep a spare or two around.  Generally, new lenses are only available to people with cars that were produced in greater numbers.  Now we can have a shot at seeing the road again too!

Please go to the contact us page to secure your place on the waiting list.

There is a photo of the Bantam 60 line being introduced at the factory with several executives standing in front of the cars. Here is the photo:

One of the photos that usually surfaces from this photo shoot is:

However, from the dark color and angle, a lot of details are difficult to see.  It almost looks like the car has numerous custom touches compared with a stock standard roadster.  This car is clearly visible at the left side of the line up above.  Toward the center of the panoramic photo, six men are blocking the bulk of a Panel truck and what looks to be a light colored roadster.  Perhaps the photo of the light colored car is well know, however, I have never seen it.  It’s a shame that the auction ended before I found it, but I am glad I found it among the completed items.

Given the light color of this roadster in this factory photo, you can see a lot of original details which are very difficult to see in the photos of the darker colored car.  How many details can you spot?

Click here to see the: Factory Roadster Photo

An Original American Austin Dealership Sign:

Click here to see the: American Austin Dealer Sign

New Austin sign:

There was company reproducing the above signs in a smaller size which I cannot find anywhere.  However, for a similarly styled sign click here.  This is what their sign looks like:

Bantam Truck Photo:

Click here to see the: Bantam Truck Period Photo

I believe this is this truck that is in these photos as well:

Austin/Greyhound Postcard

Click here to see the link: Austin Greyhound

Austin autographed photo

Click here to see the link: Austin Photo

Austin Drawing

Click here to see the link: Austin Drawing

Austin Drawing

Click here to see the link: Austin Drawing

Austin Drawing

Click here to see the link: Austin Drawing

Austin Dealer Photo

Click here to see the link: New Austin Photo

According to WordPress, yesterday marked the third anniversary of this website, or at least its predecessor.  It has been an interesting few years and I am thankful for all of your support while this endeavor grows.  What started as a blog talking about Betsy, my T-5, became a place where I used to merely post vehicle leads which I came across while looking for parts for my project.  At the time, my thought was to merely create a place where good leads for cars would live on and could help a person fulfill their dream of owning a particular type of car.  Now, this site is a place where enthusiasts of Bantams and T-5’s can routinely explore new content.  TrustInRust now boasts several categories of advertised cars in multiple conditions, a growing index of vintage literature, a virtual parts warehouse, and an active blog tracking these small niches of the hobby.  We’re even on eBay, Twitter, and Facebook.

The deluge of emails that comes through this site and knowing that I am helping people find what they need makes this fun.  In the coming months there will be some changes coming which I think you’ll enjoy.  I don’t want to spoil the surprise, so you’ll need to keep checking back.  In the mean time, thank you for your support and patronage.  So long as you keep coming back, I’ll make sure that no good lead dies.

You’ve spent countless hours searching for the perfect car and you just borrowed your friend’s utility trailer to bring it home.  That’s right, a Bantam will fit in a fairly small trailer, or even the bed of a pickup truck.  However, there is one thing you may have forgotten about, tie downs.

When you are planning to move your car, make sure you have it tied down safely so it won’t move in the trailer or the bed of your truck.  You don’t want it to move enough that it gets damaged by rubbing the trailer and you certainly don’t want to have it fall off the trailer.  For the next few days, eBay has a promotion available where you can earn up to 10% back in eBay bucks.  It looks as though this promotion will cap your earnings at $100, but it is still great.

For years, you could not earn eBay bucks on eBay Motors items, but that has now changed for the better.  Please check to see if you have this promotion on your home page or in with your email:

I just used this promotion to buy a set of Tie Downs with wheel straps.  When I brought my Austin Coupe home, I had to rely on the best straps available at Lowes.  Thankfully these cars are fairly light, but the light weight nature of those straps overall really made me wish I had something better and an American made product.  Another reason I went for these, they are black.  You really don’t want to know what an orange or black strap looks like after it spends 10 hours soaking in 40 years worth of grease.

Click here to see the auction: Black Ratcheting Tie Downs

Beginning in the late 40’s, with the disappearance of numerous independent brands, more cars began using wholly proprietary parts.  One thing to keep in mind when restoring an American Austin or Bantam is that their parts bin was not confined to what was built in their Butler factory.  You would be surprised at how many of those parts could be obtained at a local hardware store or which were common with obsolete Fords.

Despite the fact that all American Austins utilized a similar headlight housing, there were a surprising number of differences over the six year production run (depending how you add them up).  One static attribute of the lights was their inclusion of a single socket assembly that is remarkably similar to the ones used in 1928-1929 Ford Model A headlights.

Here is a photo of an original pair of headlights:

Click here to see the listing: American Austin Parabeam Headlights

Here is a photo of a new reproduction Model A socket assembly:

Click here to see the listing: Headligt socket

They do look quite close, the only way to know for sure is to pick up a set and see how they fit.  I believe MACs has a decent return policy if the parts do not meet your expectations.