Austin A30

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Austin A30

Manufacturer:	Austin/BMC
Production:	1951-1956 223,264
Successor:	Austin A35
Body style:	4-door saloon 2-door saloon 2-door estate van
Engine:	803 cc A-Series I4
Transmission:	4 speed manual
Wheelbase:	79.5 inches (2019 mm)
Length:	136.5 inches (3467 mm)
Width:	55 inches (1397 mm)

The A30 was a compact car produced by Austin Motor Company in the 1950s. Introduced in 1951 as the "New Austin Seven", it was Austin's answer to the Morris Minor. At launch the car cost GBP507, undercutting the Minor by GBP62.

The bodywork, designed by an aeronautical engineer, was fully stressed monocoque construction, which made it both lighter and stiffer than more contemporary vehicles. Its newly-designed A-Series straight-4 engine was state of the art for the time and returned an average fuel consumption of 42 mpg / under 7L/100 km. Via a (relatively speaking) rapid one-two shift, followed by screaming it right out to hit third and then again rapidly hitting fourth, the A30 was able to attain a top speed of 70 mph (113 km/h). [Factory quoted]. In their road test The Motor magazine achieved a top speed of 67.2 mph and a 0-60 mph time of 42.3 seconds. Braking was effected by a hybrid system, with Lockheed fully hydraulic drum brakes at the front and a body mounted single cylinder operating rods to the wheels at the rear, which despite being heaviliy criticised as being archaic and old-fashioned, were reported as being quite acceptable. The rod system provided good handbrake efficiency and was applied by a lever in an unorthodox position to the right of the drivers seat (Right hand drive vehicles). Bumps were handled by independent coil springs at the front end and beam axle/semi-elliptic leaf springs at the back.

Inside there were individual seats at the front and a bench at the rear covered in PVC but evidence of economy was seen in only having a single windscreen wiper and sunvisor in front of the driver. A passenger side wiper and sunvisor, and a heater were available as extras.

Despite originally only being offered as a 4-door saloon, 2-door variants were introduced in 1953, and in 1954 a van and van-based "countryman" estate were made available, which would also later become the basis of a rather odd looking utility (pick-up). Despite having a smaller loading capacity than the equivalent BMC O-type Minor based vans (60 cu ft / 18.3 cm3 as opposed to 76 cu ft / 23 cm3) the Austin van offered the same payload. Being slightly lighter and stiffer, it was favoured by businessmen, and saw long service for many.

It was replaced by the A35 in 1956 after having sold nearly ¼ million units.

An A35 Van (with a number of inconsistencies) recently appeared in the big screen debut of Wallace and Gromit.