Launched on 24 February 1939,[3] production continued into the war until 1943. Approximately 9,000 - 9,500 of the wartime Austin models were two-seater military 8AP tourers produced for the armed services and government, and the rest were four light saloons, six light saloons, two and four seater tourers and vans. After World War II, the model was made from 1945 until 1948.
By the late 1930s, sales of Austin's big seller, the Austin 7, were declining and the 1938 addition to the range of the 900cc "Big 7" did little to fill the demand, as despite its larger engine its suspension and handling were still rooted in its early 1920s origins. A restyled and re-engineered range of cars had started to appear in 1937 with the Cambridge 10 with its much more streamlined look, and following the arrival of Leonard Lord development of a proper 8hp car was accelerated. First the "new" engine was advertised to be 27HP, but later it was corrected to the same rate as the Big 7, which was 24HP.
The new car, which was displayed to dealers in February 1939, kept the 900cc, four-cylinder, side-valve engine from the Big 7, now with a higher 6.5:1 compression ratio, but had a completely new chassis. This was halfway to full unitary construction in that the main member was a pressed steel floor pan with a box section welded down each side of the car with three others going across the floor. The body was then bolted to this structure. Suspension was by semi-elliptic leaf springs with hydraulic dampers.
Two- and four-door saloon bodies were made as well as two- and four-seat tourers, and vans. About 47,600 were made before war closed production in 1943. In 1945, production restarted, but there were no more tourers or two-door saloons produced in England. Post-war production of the tourer was however undertaken in Australia.
Pre war Austin 8
Initially there were four base models of the Austin 8. The model was unnamed and known simply by its RAC horsepower rating, plus the prosaic code that would not have been familiar to many outside the industry and trade.
AR = Austin 8 four door six light saloon.
ARA = Austin 8 two door four light saloon.
AP = Austin 8 tourer, available in two seater and four seater
AV = Austin 8 van
Military Austin 8AP Tourer
Just before and during the war a special Austin 8 "tilly" was manufactured, the Austin 8AP Military Tourer. Exact manufacturing numbers are not known but according to several sources the number would have been between 9000 and 9500 vehicles, most of them for Royal Army Service. The Military 8AP Tourer is recognised by, vertical louvres in the side bonnet plates of the car instead of horizontal ones, woodwork on the lower part of the windscreen, oil filled air filter, key-less ignition switch, closed wheels instead of pressed spoke wheels, pressed steel grille instead of sectioned cast grille.
Post war Austin 8
After the war the Austin 8 was manufactured in a slightly different way than the pre-war 8s. The main differences were: steering wheel, chrome plated head lights instead of spray painted ones, horizontal air filter instead of vertical air filter, over riders on the bumpers, full back bumper instead of quarter ones, trunk handle, moveable licence plate carrier on the trunk lid, cast steel gear box instead of aluminium one. Only two models were available after the war, the six light four door saloon and the van. The tourer and the four light two door saloon were no longer available.
AS1 = Austin 8 four door six light saloon
AV1 = Austin 8 van
Gallery
4-door Saloon 1939
4-door Saloon 1939
tourer 1939
2-door Saloon 1939
8AP tourer in military use, 9 May 1940
Australian Austin 8
In an attempt to establish an Australian motor industry after World War I, the Australian Government imposed a tax on imported cars. However, an imported chassis attracted minimal tax, and as a result Australian coach-builders imported rolling chassis to which they fitted custom-built bodies. The Austin chassis were reputedly shipped with guards (fenders), bonnet and grill surround pressings.
The largest and best of these companies known for the Austin 8 were: Ruskin, Larke Hoskins, General Motors-Holden's Ltd and TJ Richards & Sons. The Larke Hoskins Austin 8s were called Austin Wasp and were built both as tourer and saloon. There are even Austin 8 two door Doctor's Coupes know manufactured by Ruskin. The Richards-built Tourers can be recognised by a curved cease in the door panels. 8s were built by General Motors-Holden's Ltd at least in 1940/1941/1942 as Austin 8 saloon and Austin 8 saloon Melbourne model.[4]
A coach built Austin 8 tourer utility was discovered in Melbourne in the late eighties and was sold to South Australia for restoration.
Post war Australian Austin 8s were therefore manufactured also as tourer, where in UK this model was not manufactured anymore. The Australian Tourers are slightly different from the original. The front window and seats were changed and some were fitted with a trunk lid, a feature which was not present on the pre war UK tourers.
Other Austin 8 export models
Both post war and pre war Austin 8s export models were manufactured. The Austin 8s were available for the European market as LHD. All other details of the cars were un-changed. The pre war export models for the US market were delivered LHD as well. At least some of the US export models were provided with the closed pressed wheels instead of the pressed spoke wheels used for the cars for the home market. The pressed wheels were of the same model as fitted on the Austin 8AP tourer models and had the same wheel discs as the military ones, although the civilian US wheel discs were chrome plated.
Austin 8 production records
The following list shows the total which was manufactured in each production year (August–July):[5]
1938-1939: 17447
1939-1940: 24230
1940-1941: 5064
1941-1942: 707
1942-1943: 34
1943-1944: 0
1944-1945: 0
1945-1946: 15169
1946-1947: 31619
1947-1948: 9315
The last pre war chassis number was chassis 47600.[6]
The last chassis was 103585, manufactured in 1948, which suggests that 103,585 Austin 8s were produced. How many were manufactured of each model is not known, since more detailed production records have been destroyed.
Austin 8 Register
Since 1990, there is an Austin Eight Register, started by Ian Pinniger and continued in 2012 by Hermann Egges. Slightly over 100,000 Austin 8s have been manufactured between 1939 and 1948. The register contains information about 400-500 Austin 8s in existence, of which most are post-war six light saloons. The actual number of Austin 8s in existence can be found here. More information about the history of the Austin 8 and the Austin 8 register, can be found on www.austin-eight.com
Related Research Articles
Reliant Motor Company was a British car manufacturer based in Tamworth, Staffordshire, England. It was founded in 1935 and ended car production in 2002, the company had been known as "Reliant Motor Company" until the 1990s when it became "Reliant Motors" and then finally became "Reliant cars LTD" after production had ended of the Robin as the company was restructured to be a car import business. It's now a dormant company and the only entity left is a separate parts company created called Reliant Partsworld who produce parts for Reliant vehicles.
The Morris Minor is a British economy family car that made its debut at the Earls Court Motor Show, London, on 20 September 1948. Designed under the leadership of Alec Issigonis, more than 1.6 million were manufactured between 1948 and 1972 in three series: the MM, the Series II, and the 1000 series.
The Triumph Acclaim is a front-wheel drive compact family saloon/sedan manufactured by British Leyland (BL) from 1981 to 1984. It is based on the Honda Ballade. It used a Honda-designed engine, was manufactured under licence from Honda, and met United Kingdom component-content requirements. It was the final model of the Triumph marque.
The Ford Model Y is an automobile that was produced by Ford Britain, Ford SAF and Ford Germany from 1932 to 1937. It was the first Ford automobile specifically designed for markets outside the United States, replacing the Model A in Europe.
The Austin Cambridge is a motor car range produced by the Austin Motor Company, in several generations, from September 1954 through to 1971 as cars and to 1973 as light commercials. It replaced the A40 Somerset and was entirely new, with modern unibody construction. The range had two basic body styles with the A40, A50, and early A55 using a traditional rounded shape and later A55 Mark IIs and A60s using Pininfarina styling.
The MG Y-Type is an automobile produced by MG in England from 1947 to 1953. It was offered in four-door saloon and limited production open four-seat tourer versions.
Morris Cowley was a name given to various cars produced by Morris from 1915 to 1958.
The Morris Eight is a small family car produced by Morris Motors from 1935 to 1948. It was inspired by the sales popularity of the Ford Model Y, styling of which the Eight closely followed. The success of the car enabled Morris to regain its position as Britain's largest motor manufacturer.
The Morris Minor is a small 4-seater car with an 850 cc engine manufactured by Morris Motors Limited from 1928 until 1934. The name was resurrected for another newer car for the same market in 1948.
The Austin Ten is a small car that was produced by Austin. It was launched on 19 April 1932 and was Austin's best-selling car in the 1930s and continued in production, with upgrades, until 1947. It fitted in between their "baby" Austin Seven which had been introduced in 1922 and their various Austin Twelves which had been updated in January 1931.
The Riley Nine was one of the most successful light sporting cars produced by the British motor industry in the inter war period. It was made by the Riley company of Coventry, England with a wide range of body styles between 1926 and 1938.
The Singer Bantam is a car which was produced by Singer from 1936 to 1939. It was the first model from Singer to have an all-steel body, by Pressed Steel Company. It was offered as a new economy model at the 1935 Motor Show in London, replacing the earlier Singer Nine series.
The Rover 10 was a small family car from the British Rover car company produced between 1927 and 1947.
The Standard Eight is a small car produced by the British Standard Motor Company from 1938 to 1959.
A Tilly is a utility vehicle produced during World War II based on existing car designs for use by the British armed forces during World War II.
The Austin Light Twelve-Six is a 14 tax horsepower car with a 1496 cc engine that was introduced by Austin in January 1931. It was named by Austin Light Twelve to separate it from the well-established Austin Twelve. The general public then dubbed the original Twelve Heavy Twelve but Austin never used that name. The Light Twelve-Six remained in production until 1936.
The Austin Light Twelve-Four is a car that was produced by Austin from 1933 until 1939. It was replaced in 1939 by a completely new car also called the Austin 12 which kept the same engine. The "12" in the name referred to the taxation horsepower, a British rating which controlled the annual taxation payable to use the car on the road.
Austin Twenty is a large car introduced by Austin after the end of the First World War, in April 1919 and continued in production until 1930. After the Austin 20/6 model was introduced in 1927, the first model was referred to as the Austin 20/4.
The Sunbeam-Talbot Ten is a compact executive car or small sports saloon manufactured by Rootes Group in their Clément-Talbot factory in North Kensington between 1938 and 1939, and then reintroduced after the Second World War and sold between 1945 and 1948. It was at first a two-door then a four-door sports saloon. A drophead coupé version and a sports tourer version were also available.
The original Škoda Superb is a full size luxury car that was made by the Czechoslovak car manufacturer ASAP, later AZNP from 1934 to 1949. It was the company's first car with a V8 engine and all-wheel drive.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
