Austin 16hp Saloon

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Launched in 1945, the Austin 16hp was the first 'new' car to be produced by the Austin Motor Company following the Second World War. Apart from the name, it shared nothing with the pre-war Austin 16.

The body style was similar to the other smaller Austin saloons of the time featuring the American influenced front grille and high mounted headlamps. Unusually an estate car version was also available, although not many of these were built. The four-door body had a sliding sunshine roof and a split rear window giving an upmarket feel to an otherwise conservatively styled car.

Power came from a brand new 4-cylinder 2,199cc, overhead-valve engine – the first to be used in an Austin car. A commendably torquey unit that was excellent for towing, it produced 67bhp at 3800rpm and endowed the car with a healthy turn of speed for its day, topping out at 75mph. The car shared a number of features in common with the famed London Taxi, one of which was the built-in hydraulic jacking system operated from a pump located under the bonnet.

In the bitterly cold winter of 1947 Alan Hess and a team of drivers with three Austin 16hp cars undertook a publicity run on behalf of the Austin Motor Company to visit seven Northern European Capitals in seven days. Despite extraordinary travel difficulties caused by heavy snow, the vehicles completed the adventure successfully and the story is related in Alan Hess's book, Gullible's Travels. A very successful car, some 35,434 examples were sold before production came to an end in 1949.

Dating from 1948, this particular example was owned by just one family from the 1970s right up until earlier this year. The owners of a rural garage in Devon, they clearly loved the car to keep it for so long and it remains in remarkably original and well preserved condition throughout. The brown leather seats are in a particularly lovely state of preservation thanks to being protected by their original seat covers which are still with the car. In addition to a sunroof, it also has an opening front windscreen, a heater and both original belt driven fan and an electric fan for those long Alpine climbs!

Although the car still runs well and has good oil pressure, it was last used on the road in 2006 and will now need some precautionary recomissioning before being pressed back into use. Prior to that the car was in regular summer use and was a frequent participant in the Riviera Run through Devon and Cornwall to Penzance. It retains its original registration number on a V5, the original owner’s manual and Austin Tyre Care booklet and other rare documents, plus lots of old MOT certificates. Altogether a very original and sound car with a good history that just needs a small amount of TLC to restore it to its former glory.