Jim Stringer bought his first Austin, a 1935 10hp Lichfield, as a teenager, but once he passed his driving test he paid £35 for a 1929 six-cylinder 16-horsepower fabric bodied saloon - a car he still owns today. He quickly became a member of the Vintage Austin Register and has been a member for nearly 60 years. He has served on the committee in various roles including Honorary Secretary, Chairman and Editor of the Register's quarterly magazine for 17 years, after which he was made a Life Member and Vice President back in the late 1990s. He has spent his retirement researching the history of the Austin Motor Company and has written several books, including the Austin Anthology series and Herbert Austin's Heavy Twelve-Four. The late Mike Worthington-Williams said, "No one is more qualified to write this book than Jim Stringer. I doubt if any living person knows more about the Austin Heavy 12/4 than he does.".