1960 TR Ausca
The History
In 1955, a man by the name of Paul England introduced a vehicle, known as ‘Ausca’. Its resemblance to the1955 Maserati A6GCS was immediately striking, and so credited as a leading design influence.
It’s said that England was spurred on seeing the leaps and bounds his colleague, Charlie Dean, had been making with his creation, ‘Maybach’.
Both England and Dean were employed at Repco’s Research facility, a sub section of the Repco engineering/development group formerly located on Sydney Road, in Coburg.
England designed and built his Ausca with exposure through his work to some ground-breaking engineering and design concepts. Many of these it’s theorized were accommodated into his ‘Ausca’.
After advertising for expressions of interest, he also produced an estimated 14-16 bodies, akin to that of his Ausca, which he sold on privately.
One of those bodies adorns this TR Ausca.
After this body was produced, records are scant tracing its development to a vehicle.
The first registered owner of the vehicle not recorded until 1964, one Mr O’Brien. 1964 is also the year in which the first CAMS logbook entry appears. Recorded drivers include, from 1964-1977, John Lawton, Roger James from 1977-1984, and John Caffin from 2000-2004.
For much of the following two decades, this TR Ausca intermingled periods of storage, body and mechanical works, road use and historic race meets.
The Project
In 2019, this TR Ausca was purchased by the present owners and custodians, Simon & Anna Purcell. In 2021, they approached us, with a view to re-imagining the vehicle. They supplied a vision board from which three important themes resonated: minimalism, elegance, and a 50’s-era fusion of a road & race-going vehicle.
There ensued a restoration bound by 50’s period-correctness, and unleashed by creativity and improvements in material qualities. Body works were voluminous, with repairs owing to its time on the race track, and adjustments for characteristics inherent to the foundational mould set. Further incorporated into the body were a number of features to enhance the road-going experience, including a headrest, and indicator & instrument bulges.
The restoration of this Ausca culminated in October 2024, bearing some 75 years later, its original registration number.
The Present
And its journey continues, with concours entries at:
2024 Motors & Masterpieces (VIC)
2025 Ripponlea Concours D’Elegance (VIC)
2025 Noosa Concours D’Elegance (QLD; Application Pending)