Austin Twenty | |
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Twenty Allweather coupé 1919
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Overview | |
Manufacturer | Austin |
Also called | Austin 20/4 (from 1927) |
Production | April 1919–1930 15,287 produced |
Assembly | Longbridge plant, Birmingham |
Body and chassis | |
Body style | saloon, tourer, coupé, landaulette 16-cwt light van |
Powertrain | |
Engine | 3,610 cc (220 cu in) Straight-4 |
Transmission | Single-plate clutch; four-speed gearbox; propeller shaft to back axle with helical-bevel gearing |
Dimensions | |
Wheelbase | 130 in (3,300 mm) |
Chronology | |
Predecessor | new |
Successor | Austin 20/6 |
Austin Twenty engine 4 |
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Overview | |
Manufacturer | Austin |
Production | April 1919–1929 |
Combustion chamber | |
Configuration | Straight 4-cylinder |
Displacement | 3,610 cc (220 cu in) |
Cylinder bore | 95 mm (3.7 in) |
Piston stroke | 127 mm (5.0 in) |
Cylinder block alloy | Cast iron, alloy crankcase |
Cylinder head alloy | Detachable |
Combustion | |
Fuel system | Ignition by magneto |
Fuel type | Petrol |
Oil system | Lubrication by forced feed |
Cooling system | Cooling water is pump circulated |
Output | |
Power output | 45 bhp (34 kW; 46 PS) @2,000 rpm Tax horsepower 22.38 |
Chronology | |
Successor | Austin 20/6 |
Austin Twenty | |
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Twenty six-cylinder landaulette by Gordon c.1927 3.4-litre
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Overview | |
Production | May 1928—mid 1932 |
Body and chassis | |
Body style | saloon, limousine |
Powertrain | |
Engine | 3,397 cc (207 cu in) Straight-six or 3,610 cc (220 cu in) Straight-4 |
Transmission | single-plate clutch; four-speed and reverse gearbox; propellor shaft to back axle with helical-bevel gearing |
Dimensions | |
Wheelbase | Ranelagh 136 in (3,454 mm) Mayfair 130 in (3,302 mm) Whitehall 120 in (3,048 mm) Carlton 120 in (3,048 mm) Track 56 in (1,422 mm) |
Kerb weight | 36 long cwt (4,032 lb; 1,829 kg) |
Chronology | |
Predecessor | Austin 20 |
Successor | Austin 20/6 |
Austin Six engine 20 / 6 |
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Overview | |
Production | October 1926—mid 1938 |
Combustion chamber | |
Configuration | Straight 6-cylinder |
Displacement | 3,397 cc (207 cu in) |
Cylinder bore | 79.35 mm (3.124 in) |
Piston stroke | 114.5 mm (4.51 in) |
Cylinder block alloy | a separate casting from the head and crankcase. crankshaft is carried in 8 bearings |
Cylinder head alloy | detachable, pistons are aluminium |
Valvetrain | side-valves are on the nearside of the block. tappets are automatically lubricated. timing is as the back of the engine. |
Combustion | |
Fuel system | dual carburettor, fed by gravity from vacuum tank on dash. manifold provides heating for the mixture Fuel feed by Autovac |
Fuel type | petrol |
Oil system | forced feed |
Cooling system | Radiator is within an external shell, fan is operated by belt and there is a pump to force circulation of water There is an adjustable thermostat |
Output | |
Power output | 49 bhp (37 kW; 50 PS) @2,000 rpm 58 bhp (43 kW; 59 PS) @2,600 rpm Tax horsepower 23.42 |
Chronology | |
Predecessor | Austin 20/4 |
Successor | Austin 28 |
Austin Twenty | |
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Ranelagh 20/6 limousine 1935
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Overview | |
Production | August 1932—mid 1934 |
Body and chassis | |
Body style | saloon, limousine |
Powertrain | |
Engine | 3,397 cc (207 cu in) Straight-six |
Chronology | |
Predecessor | Austin 20/6 |
Successor | Austin 20/6 |
Austin Twenty | |
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Ranelagh 20/6 limousine 1936
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Overview | |
Production | August 1934—mid 1938 |
Body and chassis | |
Body style | saloon, limousine |
Powertrain | |
Engine | 3,397 cc (207 cu in) Straight-six |
Dimensions | |
Wheelbase | 136 in (3,500 mm) track 57.25 in (1,454 mm) |
Length | 199 in (5,100 mm) |
Width | 70.5 in (1,790 mm) |
Height | 76 in (1,900 mm) |
Chronology | |
Predecessor | Austin 20 |
Successor | Austin 28 |
Austin Twenty-Eight | |
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Ranelagh 28 limousine 1939
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Overview | |
Production | July 1938 – September 1939 Quantity 300 (sold) 1938—138 1939—152 1940—10 |
Body and chassis | |
Body style | saloon, limousine |
Powertrain | |
Engine | 4,016 cc (245 cu in) Straight-six |
Dimensions | |
Wheelbase | 136 in (3,454 mm) Track front: 58 in (1,473 mm) Track rear: 60 in (1,524 mm) |
Kerb weight |
39 long cwt (4,368 lb; 1,981 kg) |
Chronology | |
Predecessor | Austin 20 |
Successor | Austin Sheerline |
Austin 28 engine | |
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Combustion chamber | |
Configuration | Straight 6-cylinder |
Displacement | 4,016 cc (245 cu in) |
Cylinder bore | 86.36 mm (3.400 in) |
Piston stroke | 114.3 mm (4.50 in) |
Cylinder block alloy | Cast iron. Aluminium pistons with anodised surfaces. Four-bearing crankshaft with a vibration damper. |
Cylinder head alloy | aluminium, detachable |
Valvetrain | inclined side valves, inlet larger than exhaust, pressure lubrication for the tappets |
Combustion | |
Fuel system | downdraught carburettor, coil ignition with automatic advance |
Oil system | floating filter pick up for the oil pump and anti-surge valve |
Cooling system | forced water circulation thermostatically controlled |
Output | |
Power output | 90 bhp (67 kW; 91 PS) @3,200 rpm Tax horsepower 27.75 |
Chronology | |
Predecessor | Austin 20/6 engine |
Successor | OHV Austin Sheerline 3460 cc and 3995 cc "100 hp engine" |
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.
Before 1919 Austins had been expensive prestige cars. In the 1920s there were people who believed the four-cylinder Twenty comparable with if not superior to the equivalent Rolls-Royce. If the coachwork were light enough the Twenty could also give a three-litre Bentley a run for its money. The final inter-war version was the enormous, extremely elegant fast and powerful side-valve Twenty-Eight of 1939. The overhead-valve (25) Sheerline and its companion Princess were to continue the line after the Second World War; however, by the 1930s Austin had lost its aristocratic cachet, having become well known for its Twelves and Sevens.
The deceptively potent four-cylinder Twenty found fame at Brooklands both in private hands and with works drivers Lou Kings and Arthur Waite (Herbert Austin's Australian son-in-law and competitions manager).
Before the First World War Austin had produced a range of expensive cars including a 3.6-litre 20-hp car but, influenced by the manufacturing philosophy of Henry Ford, Herbert Austin decided that the future was in mass-producing a single model and chose that size. The Longbridge plant had been considerably enlarged for wartime production, and it was there that the company had a base to put the theory into practice now with the capacity to manufacture 150 cars a week.
Hudson Super Six
Austin Twenty tourer
1919 Twenty tourer
considered by The Times rather ugly
During the war Austin had owned an American Hudson Super Six which he clearly admired. Its overall layout would form a basis for the design of the new one model car policy. The car would, however, prove to be too large for the home market, only about 3,000 Twenties had been sold by July 1920.
Perhaps hoping to help The Times published a long item at the beginning of June 1920 in which they professed admiration for Austin's enterprise in launching on the British market "a car made on American lines". The result, they said, "is good but not of the class of the old 20-hp. It would have been wiser to have given the new car a new name. The whole finish is poor. The engine vibrates at anything over moderate speeds and sometimes at low speeds. It is difficult to access the power unit and the whole car is difficult to associate with the 10-hp and 15-hp, the famous 18-hp and the 20-hp which did so well in the 1914 Alpine Trials.