Austin 8

Austin 8
Green Austin 8
Owerview
Manufacturer	Austin
Cried an aw	Austin Wasp (Australia)
Production	1939–1948 56,103 produced
Assembly	United Kingdom Australia
Bouk an chassis
Body style	2-door saloon 4-door saloon 2-door 2 -seat tourer 2-door 4-seat tourer 2-door van
Powertrain
Ingine	900 cc 4-cylinder side-valve
Transmission	4-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase	88 in (2,235 mm)
Lenth	149 in (3,785 mm)
Weenth	56 in (1,422 mm)
Chronology
Predecessor	Austin Big 7
Successor	Austin A30

The Austin 8 wis a smaw caur made bi the Austin Motor Company. Launched in 1939 an produced intae the war (at least until 1942), aboot 9,000 o the wartime Austin 8 models wur twa-seater tourers produced for the military an govrenment, an the rest wur saloons. Efter Warld War II, the model wis made frae 1945 tae 1947.

Bi the late 1930s, sales o Austin's big seller, the Austin 7, wur declinin an the 1938 addition tae the range o the 900 cc "Big 7" did little tae fill the demand for in spite o its lairger ingine its suspension an handling wur still rooted in its early 1920s origins. A restyled an re-engineered range o caurs haed stairtit tae appear in 1937 wi the Cambridge 10 wi its much mair streamlined leuk an wi the shake up follaein the arrival o Leonard Lord development o a proper 8 hp caur wis accelerated.

The new caur, thit wis shawn tae dealers in Februar 1939, kept the 900 cc, fower cylinder, side valve ingine frae the Big 7, nou wi a higher 6.5:1 compression ratio, but haed a completely new chassis. This wis halfway tae full unitary construction in that the main member wis a pressed steel floor pan wi a box section welded doun each side o the caur wi three ithers going across the floor. The body wis then bolted tae this structur. Suspension wis bi semi elliptic leaf springs wi hydraulic dampers.

Twa an fower door saloon bodies wur made as well as twa an fower seat tourers an aboot 20,000 wur made afore war closed production. In 1945, production restarted, but thare wur no mair tourers or twa door saloons.

References

• "The Austin Eight". Paul Skilleter. "The Automobile" Februar 1984.