Austin A30

Austin A30
Austin A30 4-door saloon
Overview
Manufacturer	Austin (BMC)
Production	1951–1956
Assembly	Longbridge, United Kingdom Melbourne, Australia
Body and chassis
Class	Compact car / Small family car (C)
Body style	4-door saloon 2-door saloon 2-door estate 2-door van
Powertrain
Engine	803 cc A-Series I4
Transmission	4-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase	79.5 in (2,019 mm)
Length	136.5 in (3,467 mm)
Width	55 in (1,397 mm)
Chronology
Successor	Austin A35

The Austin A30 is a small family car which was produced by Austin from May 1952 to September 1956. It was launched at the 1951 Earls Court Motor Show as the "New Austin Seven" and was Austin's competitor with the Morris Minor.

At launch the car cost £507, undercutting the Minor by £62.

Though Austin had previously contracted the American industrial designer, Raymond Loewy in the task, the designs of Holden 'Bob' Koto were discarded and the car we know was eventually styled in-house by Ricardo 'Dick' Burzi.

The body structure was designed by T.K. Garrett, who had been an aeronautical engineer before joining Austin. It was of fully stressed monocoque chassis-less construction, which made it lighter and stiffer than most contemporary vehicles, the first Austin to be made in this way. Inside there were individual seats at the front and a bench at the rear covered in PVC with an option of leather facings on the seats. Evidence of economy was seen in only having a single windscreen wiper, central combined stop/tail/numberplate lamp and a sun visor in front of the driver only. A passenger-side wiper and sun visor, and a heater were available as optional extras.

Originally only offered as a 4-door saloon, 2-door variants were introduced in late 1953, and in 1954 a van and van-based "Countryman" estate were made available. Despite having a smaller loading capacity than the equivalent BMC O-type Minor based vans (60 cu ft / 1.70 m³ as opposed to 76 cu ft / 2.15 m³) the Austin van offered the same payload. Being slightly lighter and stiffer, it was favoured by businessmen, and saw long service for many.

The A30 was replaced by the Austin A35 in 1956 with 223,264 examples having been built.

The A30 had a smaller rear window than the A35 and trafficators instead of modern indicators, which popped out from the B pillar when operated by a knob mounted on the centre of the dashboard.