Skip Downing isn’t one to boast, but he says there’s a car in his garage that gets 60 miles to the gallon.
Toyota Prius? Honda Civic? Chevy hybrid? Tandem bicycle?
Not even close.
It’s his 1931 Austin Seven.
“I know it gets 60 miles to the gallon,” he said. “I drove it up here.”
The British-made Austin five-passenger coupe (one of those passengers has to be a child) is Downing’s latest restoration project in a hobby that spans more then 20 years.
For now, the car is tucked in the back of his garage, which is filled with antique and classic vehicles, awaiting an assortment of authentic parts remaining to be collected or replicated. The garage itself is illuminated by dim florescent lights and nine colorful beer signs.
The car was made by the Austin Motor Co. Ltd. of Birmingham, England. Its handbook says it’s “particularly suitable for the woman driver. It requires little physical effort to drive and control, and for that reason its use enables her to do shopping calls without fatigue.”
The car is just short of 10 feet long and 4 feet wide, with a 7-foot wheelbase, and features a 4-cylinder, water-cooled engine that develops 7.8 horsepower, and a four-speed gearbox.
Then there are the leather bucket seats, the silver-colored hubcaps about the size of jar lids and a couple of petite bud vases.
“As 45 to 50 miles per gallon is the average petrol consumption, the cost of transit is below the cost of fares on any public conveyance,” the handbook adds.
Downing said he had no intention of buying another collectible car, but he found it in the back of a Tacoma used-car lot and couldn’t resist forking over about $2,000.
He said he also had no intention of restoring it, but changed his mind about that, too.
Downing hopes to have the Austin ready for a local car show in May.
“It’ll be my sunset car,” he said. “I really enjoy that Austin. It’s fun.”
Downing, 74, has been a car enthusiast since his mother taught him to drive her 1947 Buick Roadmaster around the island during summer visits.
His first restoration project was a 1934 Ford Roadster, which he drove to high school. Next came a 1954 Chevy Bel Air.
“From there, everything went zoooom,” Downing said.
Through the years, Downing and his wife, Dana Madison, have restored more than 15 cars, regularly buying and selling in the five-figure range.
The current collection in his garage includes a bamboo-and-black 1929 Ford Roadster pickup, a 1952 MG TD and, in a pile of parts in a corner, a 1928 Austin Swallow, which in reality is one of the first Jaguars ever made.
“They put a Jaguar body on an Austin chassis,” Downing said. “I picked it up in England. There’re only about 10 left in the world, and it’s all there.”
Also in his garage is a meticulously restored 1941 Series 61 Cadillac Fleetwood four-door sedan, with an original World War II Jeep six-cylinder engine. It was the first Caddy with headlights recessed in the front fenders, Downing said.
“My best friend worked on it for 20 years,” he said. “He died a week after he finished the car. I bought it from his widow.”
Downing speaks fondly of cars that have come and gone, including a 1948 Jaguar Mark IV, a 1967 Jaguar XKE “painted the same color plum as my wife’s favorite shoes,” and a 1992 Ferrari.
“I always wanted a Ferrari,” Downing said. “I bought it for $113,000, but sold it for about $85,000 because I needed the money for retirement.”
Downing said he has lived on Whidbey Island for 20 years, and in the Seattle neighborhood of Ballard before that. Two years ago, he and Dana moved from Greenbank to a smaller house they built outside Freeland. The basement rooms are filled with car posters and photos.
Downing spent years as an interior and industrial designer, and said the city of Seattle once awarded him an honorary architecture degree.
“One day you pick up the phone, and you’re an architect,” he said with a chuckle.
For now, Downing and his wife are focused on fending off recurring health problems and maintaining an active retirement. He’s a member of all the island’s car clubs.
Downing said the little Austin and its miserly fuel consumption is an important part of his current life plan. He says he won’t sell it.
“People always complain about retirees sitting around on the island and not doing anything to make things better,” he said. “When it comes to saving gas, I want to be the best.”
