Austin Atlantic
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
car produced by the Austin Motor Company
Austin Motor Company
The Austin Motor Company was a British manufacturer of automobiles. The company was founded in 1905 and merged in 1952 into the British Motor Corporation Ltd. The marque Austin was used until 1987...
, launched initially as a sporting four seat convertible
Convertible
A convertible is a type of automobile in which the roof can retract and fold away having windows which wind-down inside the doors, converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle...
. It made its début at the 1948 Earls Court
Earls Court Exhibition Centre
The Earls Court Exhibition Centre is an exhibition centre, conference and event venue located in west London, United Kingdom in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea . It is the largest exhibition venue in central London. It is served by two underground stations, Earl's Court and West...
Motor Show in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, with production models built between spring 1949 and late 1950. The two-door sports coupé
Coupé
A coupé or coupe is a closed car body style , the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time...
followed a year later; it had been previewed at the 1949 Motor Show and was in production at Longbridge
Longbridge plant
The Longbridge plant is an industrial complex situated in the Longbridge area of Birmingham, United Kingdom. It is currently owned by SAIC Group and is a manufacturing and research and development facility for its MG Motor subsidiary....
between 1950 and 1952.
The Atlantic should not be confused with Austin's next "A90" model, the Austin Westminster
Austin Westminster
The Westminster series were large saloon and estate cars sold by the British Austin Motor Company from 1954, replacing the A70 Hereford. The Westminster line was produced as the A90, A95, A99, A105, and A110 until 1968 when the new Austin 3-Litre took its place...
of 1954.
Development
The Atlantic was one of the first post-warWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
cars engineered from scratch by Austin, and was said to be styled from a thumbnail sketch by Leonard Lord
Leonard Lord
Leonard Percy Lord, 1st Baron Lambury KBE was a captain of the British motor industry.-Background and education:...
, then Chairman of Austin and later the British Motor Corporation
British Motor Corporation
The British Motor Corporation, or commonly known as BMC was a vehicle manufacturer from United Kingdom, formed by the merger of the Austin Motor Company and the Nuffield Organisation in 1952...
(BMC) — though in truth the styling was more likely the work of resident Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Austin stylist Dick Burzi. The car was almost certainly influenced by a 1946 Pininfarina
Pininfarina
Pininfarina S.p.A. is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder in Cambiano, Italy.Founded as Società anonima Carrozzeria Pinin Farina in 1930 by automobile designer and builder Battista "Pinin" Farina, Pininfarina has been employed by a wide variety of high-end automobile manufacturers,...
-bodied Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...
cabriolet, which just happened to end up at the Longbridge factory in mid 1947, a few months before the light blue 16 hp sports prototype made its first appearance in the experimental department and on nearby roads around the factory. A rare edition was a coachbuilt estate car, regularly seen in the 1950s used by a convent in Leith, Scotland. The car had a lifting rear door, and sported then unusual curved perspex roof panels.
Export pressure and influence on design
With the then Government edict of "Export or die" and steel allocated only to those who generated much needed dollarUnited States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
revenue, the Atlantic was designed specifically to appeal to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n tastes (certain aspects look like a 1949 Mercury and the hood brightwork looks similar to the Pontiac Chieftain
Pontiac Chieftain
The Pontiac Chieftain was an automobile produced by the Pontiac Motors Division of General Motors from 1949 to 1958. Chieftains were one of the first all new car designs to come to Pontiac in the post World War II years...
s of this era). The car featured up-to-the-minute detailing, with front wings that swept down to a rounded tail with enclosed rear wheels, a centrally mounted fog light
Automotive lighting
The lighting system of a motor vehicle consists of lighting and signalling devices mounted or integrated to the front, sides, rear, and in some cases the top of the motor vehicle...
built into the letter-box style air intake, and then unheard of luxury in the form of hydraulically powered windows and hood (roof), "flashing indicators" (rather than trafficators
Trafficators
Trafficators are semaphore signals which, when operated, protrude from the bodywork of a motor vehicle to indicate its intention to turn in the direction indicated by the pointing signal. Trafficators are often located at the door pillar.-History:...
, for the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
market at least) and the option of EKCO
EKCO
EKCO from Eric Kirkham Cole Limited was a British electronics company producing radio and television sets from 1924.Expanding into plastic production for its own use, Ekco Plastics produced both radio cases and later domestic plastic products; the plastics company became Lin Pac Mouldings...
or HMV Autocrat radios. The range-topping Austin was offered in a variety of "jewelescent" colours. Few people in the car's native Britain would have ever seen anything like the futuristically-styled Atlantic before, and certainly not from a conservative mainstream manufacturer like Austin.
The radical Atlantic suffered, however, from the dramatically new Jaguar XK120
Jaguar XK120
The Jaguar XK120 is a sports car which was manufactured by Jaguar between 1948 and 1954. It was Jaguar's first sports car since the SS 100, which ceased production in 1940.-History:...
, launched later that year.
Disappointing sales in North America
Despite huge focus by Austin in the US (including a successful attempt at breaking a series of stock car records at the IndianapolisIndianapolis Motor Speedway
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana in the United States, is the home of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race and the Brickyard 400....
"Brickyard" in April 1949 by Alan Hess, Charles Goodacre and Dennis Buckley), only about 350 of the 7981 produced were sold in the United States and even a US$1000 price reduction didn't see many owners trading in their Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
s or Packard
Packard
Packard was an American luxury-type automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana...
s as they felt the big four cylinder engine couldn't compare in power output to their native V8 engines — though for its time, performance was strong, with a top speed of 92 mi/h and a 0-50 mi/h time of 11.2 seconds. The 88 bhp engine later saw service in the Austin-Healey 100
Austin-Healey 100
The Austin-Healey 100 is a sports car built from 1953 until 1959. There were two models, the original four-cylinder Austin-Healey 100, built 1953-1956, and the six-cylinder Austin-Healey 100-6, built 1956-1959....
, which was a great success in the US. A few were also used in civilian versions of the Austin Champ
Austin Champ
The Austin Champ was the civilian version of a British Army vehicle made by the Austin Motor Company. The army version was officially known as "Truck, 1/4 ton, CT, 4x4, cargo & FFW, Austin Mk.1" however the civilian name "Champ" was universally, if unofficially, applied to it.- History :A British...
.
Other markets
The car did see more success in former British Colonies, EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
and Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
, where a number of cars were sold; of the total production run, roughly half were exported.
Performance
A convertible tested by the British magazine The MotorThe Motor (magazine)
The Motor was a British weekly car magazine founded on 28 January 1903....
in 1948 had a top speed of 91 mph (146.5 km/h) and could accelerate from 0-60 mph (96.6 km/h) in 16.6 seconds. A fuel consumption of 21.7 mpgimp was recorded. The test car which had the optional hydraulically powered hood and window operation (£40 extra) cost £824 including taxes.
Dynamics
The handling was poor, due to a combination of comparatively short wheelbase and rudimentary springing, coil (independent suspensionIndependent suspension
Independent suspension is a broad term for any automobile suspension system that allows each wheel on the same axle to move vertically independently of each other. This is contrasted with a beam axle, live axle or deDion axle system in which the wheels are linked – movement on one side affects...
at the front but leaf spring
Leaf spring
Originally called laminated or carriage spring, a leaf spring is a simple form of spring, commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles...
s at the rear). The underpinnings were somewhat less exotic than the all-enveloping bodywork: the chassis and running gear were based on that of the 1949 Austin Hampshire
Austin A70
The Austin A70 Hampshire and later Austin A70 Hereford are large cars which were produced by the Austin Motor Company of Britain from 1948 until 1954...
saloon, and that in turn had been based on the entry-level Austin A40 Devon
Austin A40 Devon
The A40 Devon were automobiles marketed by the Austin Motor Company from 1947 to 1952 – the first post-war saloons to be produced by Austin – featuring a mix of old and new technologies...
of 1947. Prototypes were afflicted with such terrible scuttle shake
Scuttle shake
Scuttle shake is the term used for the phenomenon experienced in many convertible or open top automobiles where, due to lower structural rigidity caused by the lack of a roof, the middle section of the chassis flexes, causing the bulkhead in front of the passenger compartment to move and vibrate...
that the car was almost pulled from production at the eleventh hour and only a last minute fix of a boxed chassis section resolved the situation.
Brakes were initially a mix of hydraulic (front) and mechanical (rear) with 11 in (279 mm) drums, replaced by a fully hydraulic brake
Hydraulic brake
The hydraulic brake is an arrangement of braking mechanism which uses brake fluid, typically containing ethylene glycol, to transfer pressure from the controlling unit, which is usually near the operator of the vehicle, to the actual brake mechanism, which is usually at or near the wheel of the...
setup from 1951 onwards.
Longevity
A combination of no rust proofing at the factory, and styling that included a multitude of mud traps led to the same rapid corrosion as beset many rushed post-war British designs. As a result, very few cars survived into the 1960s, let alone the next century, a fact not helped by many cars being broken up to provide spares for the Austin-Healey 100. In the UK today, it is estimated that less than 30 roadworthy examples survive, with possibly the same number being restored or awaiting restoration.External links
- Austin Counties Car Club
- Austin Memories—History of Austin and Longbridge
- Article on A90 Atlantic at Motorbase
- An A90-based one-off by JensenJensen MotorsJensen Motors Ltd was a British manufacturer of sports cars and commercial vehicles, based in the Lyng – West Bromwich...