Austin Sheerline
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The Austin Sheerline was a luxury car produced by Austin Motor Company from 1947 to 1954.
The Sheerline was designed by Austin before World War Two but production did not begin until 1947 because of the commitment to war production. It was a luxurious car in the style of the contemporary Rolls-Royce or Bentley but at a much lower price. There were about 8000 built but it is now becoming quite rare.
The first cars designated A110 had a 3460 cc straight 6 overhead valve engine but this was soon increased to 3995 cc with 125 bhp and the designation then became A125. Initially only a Saloon version on a 9 feet 11 1/4 inch wheelbase chassis was made but this was joined by a (rare) Limousine version in 1950 on a stretched 11 foot chassis. Later on there came more versions including a hearse and an ambulance. At 37 hundredweight (1850 kg) for the saloon and 2 tons (2000kg) for the limousine this was a heavy car and to maintain performance a low final drive ratio of 4.55:1 with 16 inch tyres was fitted. Suspension was by coil springs at the front and half elliptic leaf springs at the rear. The saloon version had a top speed of 82 mph.
In 1954 production ceased with the Austin luxury category passing to the similar A135 Princess Mk II which had also been in production since 1947 and would continue until 1956.
