Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Austin Motor Company
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The Austin Motor Company was founded in Longbridge, Birmingham by Herbert Austin, the former manager of the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company in 1905.
Around the 1920s the company produced 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 fledgeling BMW.
A largely independent United States 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.
Austin automobile and engine designs were copied by the fledgling Nissan of Japan. That company produced Austin-derived models into the early 1960s.
In 1952 Austin merged with the Nuffield Organisation (parent company of Morris) to form the British Motor Corporation (later British Leyland).
In 1982, the by now greatly shrunk British Leyland company was renamed Austin Rover Group, with Austin acting as the "budget" brand. However, the continuing bad publicity associated with build and rust problems on the Metro, Maestro and Montego meant that the badge was dropped, and the last Austin-badged car was built in 1987.
The rights to the Austin badge are owned by MG Rover, currently in administration, the heirs to the empire that was once BMC and BL. There are no plans to resurrect it. Austin's historic assembly plant in Longbridge was, until its collapse in April 2005, MG Rover's only remaining plant.
Models
- subcompact car
- 1959 7
- 1980-1990 Metro
- compact car
- 1951-1956 A30
- 1956-1959 A35
- 1958-1967 A40 Farina
- 1963-1974 1100/1300/1500
- 1973-1983 Allegro
- midsize car
- 1947-1952 A40 Devon/Dorset
- 1952-1954 A40 Somerset
- 1954-1969 A40/A50/A55/A60 Cambridge
- 1964-1975 1800/2200
- 1969-1981 Maxi
- 1983-1994 Maestro
- fullsize car
- 1923-1930s Berkeley
- 1948-1950 A70 Hampshire
- 1950-1954 A70 Hereford
- 1954-1959 A90/A95/A105 Westminster
- 1959-1961 A99/A110 Westminster
- 1967-1971 3-Litre
- 1975-1984 18-22/Princess/Ambassador
- 1984-1994 Montego
- limousine
- 1947-1954 A110/A125 Sheerline
- 1946-1956 A120/A135 Princess
- 1956-1959 Princess IV
- sports car
- 1948-1952 A90 Atlantic
- 1950-1953 A40 Sports
- 1953-1956 Austin-Healey 100
- 1958-1970 Austin-Healey Sprite
- 1959-1967 Austin-Healey 3000
- 1971 Austin Sprite
- Ascot
- FX4 - London Taxi
- Kimberley
See also
External links
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