(Redirected from Austin (car))
The 'Austin Motor Company' was a
British manufacturer of automobiles that rose to be a major motorcar brand, the dominant partner after merger with
Morris in 1952 but declining after absorption into the
British Leyland Motor Corporation, and its subsequent troubles.
History
1905 - 1918: Formation and development
Herbert Austin (1866–1941), later Sir Herbert, the former manager of the
Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company founded The Austin Motor Company in 1905, at
Longbridge, which was then in
Worcestershire (Longbridge became part of
Birmingham in 1911 when its boundaries were expanded). The first car was a conventional 5 litre four cylinder model with chain drive with about 200 being made in the first five years. In
World War I Austin grew enormously with government contracts for everything from artillery to aircraft and the workforce expanded from around 2,500 to 22,000.
1919 - 1939: Interwar success
After the war Herbert Austin decided on a one model policy based around the 3620 cc 20 hp engine and versions included cars, commercials and even a tractor but sales volumes were never enough to fill the vast factory built during war time and the company went into
receivership in 1921 but rose again after financial restructuring. To expand the market smaller cars were introduced with the 1661 cc Twelve in 1922 and later the same year the
Austin 7, an inexpensive, small and simple car and one of the earliest to be directed at a mass market. At one point it was built under licence by the fledgling
BMW of
Germany (as the
Dixi);
Japanese Datsun; as Bantam in the
United States; and as the
Rosengart in France.
A largely independent U.S. subsidiary operated under the name
American Austin Car Company from 1929 to 1934; it was revived under the name "
American Bantam" from 1937 to 1941.
With the help of the Seven, Austin weathered the worst of the depression and remained profitable through the 1930s producing a wider range of cars which were steadily updated with the introduction of all-steel bodies,
Girling brakes, and
synchromesh gearboxes but all the engines remained as
side valve units. In 1938
Leonard Lord joined the company board and became chairman in 1941 on the death of Herbert (now Lord) Austin.
1939 - 1958: The war years and afterwards
During the
Second World War Austin continued building cars but also made trucks and aircraft. The post war car range was announced in 1944 and production of it started in 1945.
The immediate post war range was mainly similar to that of the late 1930s but did include the 16 hp significant for having the companies first
overhead valve engine.
In 1952 Austin merged with the
Nuffield Organisation (parent company of
Morris) to form the
British Motor Corporation (later
British Leyland) with Leonard Lord in charge. Austin were the dominant partner and their engines were adopted for most of the cars; various models amongst the marques would soon be
badge-engineered versions of each other.
Legal agreement with Nissan
In 1952 Austin entered into a legal agreement with
Nissan Motor Company of Japan, for that company to assemble 2000 imported Austins from partially assembled sets and sell them in Japan under the Austin trademark. The agreement called for Nissan to make all Austin parts locally within three years, a goal Nissan met. Nissan produced and marketed Austins for seven years. The agreement also gave Nissan rights to use Austin patents, which Nissan used in developing its own engines for its Datsun line of cars. In 1953 British-built Austins were assembled and sold, but by 1955, the Austin A50 – completely built by Nissan and featuring a slightly larger body with 1489cc engine – was on the market in Japan. Nissan produced 20,855 Austins from 1953-59.
[1]
1959 - 1969: An era of revolution
With the threat to fuel supplies resulting from the 1956
Suez Crisis Lord asked
Alec Issigonis to design a new small car and the result was the revolutionary
Mini launched in 1959. The principle of a transverse engine with gearbox in the sump and driving the front wheels was carried on to larger cars with the
1100 of 1963, the
1800 of 1964 and the
Maxi of
1969. This meant that Austin had spent 10 years developing a new range which entirely consisted of front-drive, transverse-engined models, while the vast majority of their competitors had only just started to make such changes. They were the first British manufacturer to make this transition.
Ford did not launch their first front-drive model until
1976, while
Vauxhall's first front-drive model was launched in
1979 and
Chrysler UK's first such car was launched in
1975.
1970 - 1979: An era of turbulence
By
1970, Austin was part of the
British Leyland combine which produced some of the most maligned cars ever to roll off
British production lines. Austin's most notorious model of this era was the
1973 Allegro, successor to the 1100/1300 ranges, which was criticised for its bulbous styling, doubtful build quality, indifferent reliability and rust-proneness. It was still a strong seller in Britain, though not quite as successful as its predecessor.
The larger
Princess was a wedge-shaped large saloon that began life as a
Wolseley in
1975, but adopted the Austin badge a year later. It wasn't quite as notorious as the Allegro, and in fact earned some praise thanks to its practical wedge shape, spacious interior and decent ride and handling, but build quality was suspect and the curious lack of a hatchback (which would have ideally suited its body shape) cost it valuable sales. It was upgraded at the end of
1981 to become the
Ambassador (and gaining a hatchback) but by this time there was little that could be done to disguise the age of the design, and it was too late to make much of an impact on sales.
By the end of the
1970s, the future of Austin and the rest of British Leyland was looking very bleak.
1980 - 1989: The Austin Rover era
The
Austin Metro - launched in
October 1980 - was heralded as the saviour of
Austin Motor Company and the whole
British Leyland combine. 21 years after the launch of the Mini, it gave British Leyland a much-needed modern supermini to compete with the recently-launched likes of the
Ford Fiesta,
Vauxhall Chevette and
Renault 5. It was in instant hit with buyers and was one of the most popular British cars of the
1980s.
In 1982, the car division of the by now somewhat shrunken British Leyland company was rebranded as
Austin Rover Group, with Austin acting as the "budget" and mainstream brand to Rover's more luxurious models. The
MG badge was revived for sporty versions of the Austin models, with the 'MG Metro 1300' being the first of these.
Austin revitalised its entry into the small family car market in
March 1983 on the launch of its all-new
Maestro, a spacious five-door hatchback which replaced the elderly
Allegro and was very popular in the early years of its production life, though sales had started to dip dramatically by the end of the decade.
April 1984 saw the introduction of the Maestro-derived
Montego saloon, successor to the
Morris Ital. The new car received praise for its interior space and comfort, but early build quality problems took time to overcome. The spacious estate version - launched in early
1985 - was one of the most popular load carriers of its era.
In
1989, the Austin badge was discontinued and 'Austin Rover' became the 'Rover Group'. The Metro (facelifted in
1990), Maestro and Montego continued in production until
1994 with Rover badges.
Possible revival
The rights to the Austin badge passed to
British Aerospace and later to BMW when each bought the Rover Group. The rights were subsequently sold to
MG Rover, created once BMW had tired of the business. Following MG Rover's collapse and sale, the Austin name is now owned by
Nanjing Automobile Group — along with Austin's historic assembly plant in Longbridge. At the Nanjing International Exhibition in May 2006, Nanjing announced that the Austin name might be used on some of the revived MG Rover models, at least on the Chinese market. However, Nanjing are for the moment concentrating on reviving the MG brand.
Models
Cars
Main articles: List of Austin motor cars
★
Small cars
★
★ 1910–11
Austin 7 hp
★
★ 1922–39
Austin 7
★
★ 1959-2000
Seven (Mini), as BMC
★
★ 1980–90
Metro, as Austin Rover
★
Small family cars
★
★ 1911–15
Austin 10
★
★ 1932–47
Austin 10 hp
★
★ 1939–47
Austin 8 hp
★
★ 1937–39
Austin 14 hp
★
★ 1951–56
A30
★
★ 1956–59
A35
★
★ 1956–62
A35 Countryman
★
★ 1954-61
Nash Metropolitan/
Austin Metropolitan
★
★ 1958–61
A40 Farina Mk I
★
★ 1961–67
A40 Farina Mk II
★
★ 1963–74
1100
★
★ 1967–74
1300
★
★ 1973–83
Allegro
★
Large family cars
★
★ 1906–07
Austin 25/30
★
★ 1907–10
Austin 18/24
★
★ 1908–11
Austin 40 hp
★
★ 1908–10
Austin 60 hp
★
★ 1913–14
Austin 15/20
★
★ 1914–16
Austin 30 hp
★
★ 1919–30
Austin 20 hp
★
★ 1922–47
Austin 12 hp
★
★ 1927–35
16/18 hp
★
★ 1938–39
Austin 18 hp
★
★ 1945–49
Austin 16 hp
★
★ 1947–52
A40 Devon/Dorset
★
★ 1948–50
A70 Hampshire
★
★ 1950–54
A70 Hereford
★
★ 1952–54
A40 Somerset
★
★ 1954–58
A40/A50/A55 Cambridge
★
★ 1954–59
A90/A95/A105 Westminster
★
★ 1956–59
A95 Westminster Station wagon.
★
★ 1956–59
A105 Westminster
★
★ 1959–61
A55 Cambridge
★
★ 1959–61
A99 Westminster
★
★ 1961–69
A60 Cambridge
★
★ 1961–68
A110 Westminster
★
★ 1964–75
1800/2200
★
★ 1967–71
3-Litre
★
★ 1969–81
Maxi 1500
★
★ 1975–84
18-22/Princess/Ambassador
★
★ 1983–94
Maestro
★
★ 1984–94
Montego
★
Limousines
★
★ 1939
Austin 28 hp
★
★ 1947–54
A110/A125 Sheerline
★
★ 1946–56
A120 Princess
★
★ 1947–56
A135 Princess
★
★ 1956–59
Princess IV
★
★ 1958–59
A105 Westminster Vanden Plas
★
Sports cars
★
★ 1948–50
A90 Atlantic Convertible
★
★ 1949–52
A90 Atlantic Saloon
★
★ 1950–53
A40 Sports
★
★ 1953–56
Austin-Healey 100
★
★ 1958–70
Austin-Healey Sprite
★
★ 1959–67
Austin-Healey 3000
★
★ 1971
Austin Sprite
★
Australian Austin cars
★
★ 1962-66
Austin Freeway
★
★ 1970–73
Austin Kimberley
★
★ 1958-62
Austin Lancer
★
★ 1970–73
Austin Tasman
Military vehicles
★ WWI
Austin Armoured Car
★ WWII
Austin Ten Utility Truck
★ WWII
Austin K2
★ 1958-67
Austin Gipsy
★ c. 1968
Austin Ant
Taxis
★ 1929-34 High Lot
★ 1934-39 Lowloader
★ 1948-58 FX3
★ 1958-
FX4 —
London Taxi
Ambulances
★ LD3
★ WWII
Austin K2
Commercial vehicles
★ Austin also made a range of commercial vehicles, one of which was the FG, previously the Morris FG. Known for its "thrupenny bit" cabs, the FG was the everyday workhorse that kept Britain running in the 60's. These Austin FGs and later the Leyland FGs all had petrol or diesel longstroke engines, producing masses of torque, but very little in the way of speed. Forty mph was a good speed out of these vehicles. Leyland were to take over the FG, but before they did, in 1964, the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) commissioned six rolling chassis FGs to be coach built by a Middlesex company, Palmer Coachbuilders. These six vehicles, registration 660 GYE to 666 GYE, were outdoor broadcast scenery vehicles.
Aircraft
During
World War I Austin built aircraft under licence, including the
SE.5a, but also produced a number of its own designs. None of these progressed past the prototype stage. They included:
★
Austin-Ball A.F.B.1 (fighter)
★
Austin A.F.T.3 (fighter)
★
Austin Greyhound (fighter)
★
Austin Whippet (post-war civil aircraft)
See also
★
List of automobile manufacturers
References
1. Cusumano, pp 90-92
★
Men and Motors of "The Austin": The Intriguing Inside Story, Sharratt, Barney, , , Haynes Group, , ISBN 1-85960-671-7
★
The Japanese Automobile Industry, Cusumano, Michael A., , , Havard University Press, , ISBN 0-674-47255-1
External links
★
Photos of Austin Pickup Van
★
The Unofficial Austin-Rover Web Resource
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