Austin
Ten Four
With
Rover and Standard having l0 hp cars, it was important that Austin
should follow. In April 1932 Chris Buckley the new Sales Manager
arranged for about five hundred agents to hear a speech by Sir
Herbert, who was not well at the time, that the general public were
demanding cars that were at a lower price bracket. This meant that
Austin would be introducing a range of models rated a 10 hp. There
were fourteen demonstration cars for the agents to try, which were
all fixed head saloons. The price of the new car was £168. A
sunshine roof was an option soon after, but this was dropped in
July when the Saloon de-luxe was announced when the sunshine was
standard.
It is interesting that the chassis although designed by Austin were
actual made by Projectile & Engineering Co. Ltd. With 21 hp
available and a low weight of 15 cwt gave it a good power to weight
ratio. It had a top speed of 53 mph with a fuel consumption of up
to 35 mpg. It was considered to be the ideal family car which gave
four adults generous accommodation. A road test at the time stated
it was well made, comfortable, solid vehicle, and if the outline is
somewhat square it is due to the fact that practicable
considerations such as headroom, body space and passenger comfort
were regarded as of more importance than the streamlining contours
of a sports car. A sports car the Austin does not pretend to be,
but it admirable fills the gap between the 7 and the 12/6.
Production of the 10 for 1923 was as follows:
Fixed saloon - 14
Sunshine saloon - 1549
Saloon de luxe - 19241
Standard saloon - 667
Tourer - 165
Two – seater - 52
Van - 313
Gordon - 16
Cabriolet - 4
Chassis - 389
As
you can see from the above figures customers were willing to pay
the extra £20 to get a de luxe model.
At the Motor Show in October 1932 other versions of the Ten were
announced, a Standard Saloon at just £155. With a four-door tourer
and a two-seater tourer with dickey seat at £148. Then in March
1933 along came the Cabriolet version at just £168. In August the
sports car version came out using a smaller version of the l2-16
Sports tourer body at a cost of £215, but only four were made that
year. In 1934 - 76 were produced but the following year it dropped
back to 48, so because of the poor sales even though the price had
stayed at £215, it was discontinued.
In
1934 there was some styling changes, with the radiator surround in
body colour and sloping slightly backwards. The Saloon model was
now called the 'Lichfield' with its protruding boot which housed
the spare wheel. Another change was in 1936 when a new body style
was added called the six light (3 windows down the sides) and named
the 'Sherbourne'. 1937 came the very streamlined 'Cambridge' and
'Conway cabriolet', at the same time the Ripley sports was
dropped.
In September 1934 the following were now available
Colwyn Cabriolet - £178
Lichfield Saloon - £172
Lichfield Fixed Head Saloon - £158
Open Road Tourer - £152
Clifton 2-seater - £152
Ripley Sports Tourer - £215
6-8 cwt Van - £148
Colours available on the Ten were, Royal Blue, Maroon, Black,
Westminster Green, Dove Grey, Cherry Red, Turquoise Blue,
Primrose.
The choice of colour depended on the model ordered, with the last
three colours only available on the Ripley Sports Tourer.
On the Colwyn Cabriolet and Lichfield Saloon you had an interior
visor.
The choose of upholstery material was dependent on the model, with
a large range, Vaumol Hide, Bedford Cord or Moquette, Best Selected
Hide, Leather, Leather Cloth, Mohair.
In
1935 the Austin l0 range was updated with the Lichfield having
hydraulic shock-absorbers instead of the friction type. The price
of the Lichfield went up by just £3, although the fixed-head saloon
was kept at its old price. went up slightly to £175 for the
sliding-roof version but the, while the tourer version was
increased by £6 to £158, Sports and cabriolet versions were
unaffected. Lichfield and the Colwyn cabriolet did have small
changes by the adoption of a swept roof line in conjunction with a
new design of windscreen.
In
January 1936 along came the Sherborne which only stayed in
production to August it incorporated a rear body line that at the
time, was called modern streamlining. It was felt that the upright
front and streamline back just did not work. It was 7 in longer
that the Lichfield and with an extra window on the side must have
made it light inside. Some of the features were liked, one been the
flush sunshine roof which could be locked at any position from
closed to a maximum opening. Interior trim was improved with the
rear seat being flanked by arm rests. The seat was slightly deeper
than in the Lichfield and the front seats were larger. Rear
headroom was not reduced by the sloping rear roof, doors were
provided with built-in door locks. The new car cost £178 in this
form and the equivalent Lichfield was reduced to £168. You could
obtain a Fixed head version for £162 10s, having leathercloth seats
and lacking bumpers and interior visor. At the same time the
Lichfield version was reduced to £152 l0s.
Austin
10 - 4 1931 - 1948 Total produced 283,092
Saloon
Saloon
Fixed Head
Engine
1125 cc 20bhp at 2,600 rpm
Length 11ft 2ins Width 4ft 6ins Height 5ft 4ins
Wheel Base 7ft 9ins Track front 3ft 9ins rear 3ft 9ins
Road Tax £10.00s
Price ex Works 1934 £158
Saloon De Luxe,
Engine
1125 cc 20 bhp at 2,600 rpm
Length 11ft 7ins Width 4ft 6ins Height 5ft 4ins
Wheel Base 7ft 9ins Track front 3ft 9ins rear 3ft 9ins
Road Tax £10.00
Price ex Works 1934 £172.
Colwyn Cabriolet
Engine
1125 cc 20 bhp at 2,600 rpm
Length 11ft 10ins Width 4ft 5.8ins Height 5ft 4ins
Wheel Base 7ft 9ins Track front 3ft 9ins rear 3ft 9ins
Road Tax £10.00s
Price ex Works Aug 1935 £178
Tourer
2-Seater
Engine
1125 cc 20 bhp at 2,600 rpm
Length 11ft 10ins Width 4ft 6ins Height 5ft 3ins
Wheel Base 7ft 9ins Track front 3ft 9ins rear 3ft 9ins
Road Tax £10.00s
Price ex Works 1934 £152
Tourer 4-Seater,
Engine
1125 cc 20 bhp at 2,600 rpm
Length 11ft 7ins Width 4ft 6ins Height 5ft 5ins
Wheel Base 7ft 9ins Track front 3ft 9ins rear 3ft 9ins
Road Tax £10.00s
Price ex Works 1934 £152
Sports Tourer.
Engine
1125 cc 20 bhp at 2,600 rpm
Length 11ft 1.5ins Width 4ft 6.5ins Height 5ft 4ins
Wheel Base 7ft 9ins Track front 3ft 9ins rear 3ft 9ins
Road Tax £10.00s
Price ex Works 1934 £215.10s
6-8
cwt Van
Engine
1125 cc 20 bhp at 2,600 rpm
Length 11ft 11ins Width 4ft 6ins Height 5ft 10ins
Wheel Base 7ft 9ins Track front 3ft 9ins rear
Road Tax £10.00s
Price ex Works 1934 £148.00s
Lichfield Saloon,
Engine
1125 cc 20 bhp at 2,600 rpm
Length 11ft 7.5ins Width 4ft 6.8ins Height 5ft 4ins
Wheel Base 7ft 9ins Track front 3ft 9ins rear 3ft 9ins
Road Tax £7.10s
Price ex Works 1935 £172.10s
Lichfield Fixed Head Saloon,
Engine
1125 cc 20 bhp at 2,600 rpm
Length 11ft 7.5ins Width 4ft 68ins Height 5ft 4ins
Wheel Base 7ft 9ins Track front 3ft 9ins rear 3ft 9ins
Road Tax £7.10s
Price ex Works 1935 £158.00s
Open Road Tourer,
Engine
1125 cc 20 bhp at 2,600 rpm
Length 11ft 7.5ins Width 4ft 6.8ins Height 5ft 5ins
Wheel Base 7ft 9ins Track front 3ft 9ins rear 3ft 9ins
Road Tax £7.10s
Price ex Works 1935 £152.00s
Clifton 2 seater,
Engine
1125 cc 20 bhp at 2,600 rpm
Length 11ft 10ins Width 4ft 6.8ins Height 5ft 5ins
Wheel Base 7ft 9ins Track front 3ft 9ins rear 3ft 9ins
Road Tax £7.10s
Price ex Works 1935 £152.00s
Ripley Sports Tourer,
Engine
1125 cc 20 bhp at 2,600 rpm
Length 11ft 0ins Width 4ft 6.5ins Height 5ft 2ins
Wheel Base 7ft 9ins Track front 3ft 9ins rear 3ft 9ins
Road Tax £7.10s
Price ex Works 1935 £215.00s
Sherbourne
Will
be Continued with the Cambridge