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Austin Car Clubs
In 1901 the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company was formed and Austin became manager, however in 1905 he resigned and decided to set up business on his own. Later that year he bought a derelict tin printing works in Longbridge, Birmingham for £7750 and with £20,000 borrowed from friends Herbert Austin started the Austin Motor Company. Austin showed plans for their first car at the Olympia Motor Show and in 1906 the ‘Endcliffe Phaeton’ was produced costing £650. By 1914 the company employed 2,000 people and made about 1000 cars a year and was moved from private to public ownership. Later that same year, due to the start of the First World War, Austin’s factory began producing various military items including shells, armoured cars, ambulances and around 2,000 fighter aircraft which helped Austin gain a knighthood for services to the war effort in 1917. Such a large production of military items caused the factory workforce to swell to 20,000 and after the war ended the Austin Motor company reverted to car production, however they soon found sales of their two new models the ‘Austin 20’ and the smaller ‘Austin 12’ were insufficient to keep such a large production facility busy. It is said that at this time Sir Herbert Austin flipped a coin to decide the fate of his company, heads to stay or tails to close. The coin landed heads up and Austin offered his employees an ultimatum in person. He offered each and every one of his staff ‘A job for life’ while his factory was in production, in return for a months unpaid work in order to get the company back on its feet. Those that stayed helped Austin build the hugely popular ‘Austin 7’ in 1922 and the inevitable expansion caused by this models popularity enabled the introduction of conveyors and a flow-line production system to the factory. By 1936 Austin became Lord Austin of Longbridge and once again helped the war effort during WWII until his death in 1941. In 1945 Leonard Lord, who joined Austin from the Morris Wolseley and MG Company in 1938, became managing director. The ‘A40 Devon’ was introduced in 1947 and 1951 saw the ‘A30’ make its debut. 1952 saw the birth of the British Motor Company, a merger of the Austin and Nuffield motor companies and in 1959 Sir Alec Issigonis’ Mini was first built followed in 1963 by the ‘Austin 1100’ and later the ‘Austin 1800’ nicknamed the ‘Land Crab.’ The end of the 1960’s saw Austin change ownership and became Austin Morris with the ‘Maxi’ as their first car under British Leyland. The ‘Morris Marina’ and ‘Allegro’ models had links to Longbridge but in 1977 the ‘Maestro’ was built followed in 1980 by the ‘Mini Metro’ and in 1984 by the ‘Montego’. These would be the last cars to bear the Austin badge but there are several car clubs listed in this directory including, The Landcrab owners club car club and the Austin 7 owners club car club, which have fans who are dedicated to the Austin marque today. |
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| Just Car Clubs Great Hucklow
, Derbyshire, SK17 8RG, United Kingdom - Show map - Tel: 01433 639095 Email: justcarclubs@global7.co.uk Copyright �© Just Car Clubs 2012. Directory Software and Car Covers by global7.co.uk. |