61 Austin Gypsy!! Help!!

I have the chance to buy a 61 Austin Gypsy but I need to find a manual on it first. Does anyone know where to get one or happen to have one just laying around. It appears that very few were made and it was a prototype by Austin to take the Rover market. If anyone has any info on them could Thanks! Jesse C. McConnell

Quoted text (9 lines)

> I have the chance to buy a 61 Austin Gypsy but I need to find a manual on > it first. Does anyone know where to get one or happen to have one just > laying around. It appears that very few were made and it was a prototype > by Austin to take the Rover market. If anyone has any info on them could > Thanks! > Jesse C. McConnell

I'm putting my fire suit on now... -- ======================================================= = Famous last words: "...it's just a line of code..." = ======================================================= = Patrick O'Neal (PatOZone on hawaii) = = Shamrock Racing Enterprises, Brea, CA = = Owner/operator of the #57 ARCO/ampm Chevy = =======================================================

Quoted text (7 lines)

>I have the chance to buy a 61 Austin Gypsy but I need to find a manual on >it first. Does anyone know where to get one or happen to have one just >laying around. It appears that very few were made and it was a prototype >by Austin to take the Rover market. If anyone has any info on them could >Thanks! >Jesse C. McConnell

What a wonderful vehicle! Buy it soon, before it rusts away completely. Seriously, you could try the British Motor Heritage Museum, at Gaydon in the UK. They have a bookshop and have many reprints of old manuals, also Foyles boohshop in London also sometimes have a selection. This is probably not much help if you are based in Idaho! I once had a share of an Austin Gypsy, there are two distinct variations, models with a rather strange independent suspension system and more conventional solid axle versions. There was also two wheelbase options too. Quite a lot of the components came from Austin commercial vehicles of the time, and also turn up in FX3 and FX4 Taxis (the familiar London Black Cab). For the benefit of other readers, the Austin Gypsy was a designed by Austin (BMC) as a competitor to the Land-Rover in the days before the two companies merged. It has a separate chassis, part-time four wheel drive and a two ratio transfer box. The bodies were slightly lower that Land-Rovers, constructed of pressed steel panels, and more "styled" than a Land-Rover. The bonnet is shaped over the headlights, the wing fronts have a pronounced slope in towards the bottom and the body sides lack the tumble-home of the contemporary land-Rovers. The headlights are close together in the radiator panel like older Land-Rovers and there is a rounded grille below the radiator grille covering the steering box. Some models had fully independent suspension, with torsion bars and the chassis is formed from two pressings welded together. The one we had was OK to drive but seemed much noisier than a Land-Rover, it wasn't very economical and the fuel filler was big enough to get your arm into! I will ask around here if anyone knows about manuals, there was a Gypsy for sale in our village a couple of years ago, I think they were asking 100 pounds for it. Chris Hall. (1961 Land-Rover series 2 and 1990 Land Rover 110) (opinions are my own, not necessarily those of my employer)