CarBrandLogos archive · Austin · 1932

AustinAustin 10

Austin's best-seller of the 1930s, and later the army's light utility.

Photo: Jon's pics · CC BY 2.0

The story

A defining chapter in Austin history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Austin 10, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

One size up from the Seven, the Ten arrived in 1932 aimed at the salaried middle class that was expanding through the depression years in Britain, people who wanted a proper four-seat saloon and could not afford anything larger. A 1,125 cc side-valve four and a four-speed gearbox did the work; the bodies were named after English towns, Lichfield, Sherborne and Cambridge among them, which functioned as trim levels in all but name, alongside tourers and sports variants.

1932Austin Ten Open Road Tourer · Liftarn · Public domain

Design and engineering

Nothing about it was clever, and that was the point. It was conventional, solidly built and cheap to run under Britain's horsepower tax, and it became Austin's biggest seller of the decade.

Austin 10 pic2 · AlfvanBeem · CC0

In production

The war gave it a second career: the chassis underpinned the Austin Tilly light utility and staff cars in large numbers. Civilian production resumed afterwards and ran to 1947, when the A40 with an overhead-valve engine replaced it. Around 290,000 were built.

1939 Austin 10 GQC tourer · Jon's pics · CC BY 2.0

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1932–1947

Engine

1125 cc 4-cylinder side-valve

Technical specification

The Austin 10, in detail.

Production: 1932–1947; 290,000 made
Body style: Saloons:style=margin-left:1.5em; 4-door 1932–1935; Lichfield 1934–1937; Sherborne 1936–1937; Cambridge 1937–1947; Tourers:style=margin-left:1.5em; 2-seat 1933–1939; 4-seat 1933–1939; Sports:style=margin-left:1.5em; Riple
Engine: 1125 cc 4-cylinder side-valve
Transmission: a single plate clutch transmits the drive through a 4-speed manual gearbox with constant mesh gears controlled by a centrally placed speed lever to an open propeller shaft with metal universal joints and then to a spiral
Manufacturer: Austin

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