As a child, I watched cars drive up and down our street. We lived on the steepest street in town, where they tested you for hill starts for your driver’s license. Many cars struggled up our street, especially old ones, except for one old fashioned car. It even did it pulling a trailer behind it loaded with timber and other building supplies. I asked my Dad about it, and he told me of the car.
It was an 1946 Austin 16. This car was the first to use the Austin BS1 engine, a new OHV four with 2199 cc. This engine would go on to power a wide range of Austins, including their 25cwt vans, the legendary London Taxi, the A70 and A90, and in its most powerful version, the famous Austin Healey 100. The one I saw constantly had been acquired from a family estate with very low mileage, I was later to meet the son of the owner at school he confirmed what my Dad had said: The Sixteen towed their entire house (in its component form) to the site where his father built it.
Over the ensuing years I regularly saw that Austin the people who owned it loved it little stainless steel plates had been riveted over rust at the lower extremities of the mudguards but the rest was pure Austin.
Fast forward to my return for my mothers funeral in 2000, and I see the same couple driving that same old Austin 16. It looked as it always had, but its owners were wearing out though. Turns out that Len, the owner, worked for another friend’s father as a boat builder and drove that car to work and back reliably for decades. They never replaced it because it just never wore out.
To the car in my photos: this is a very rare car. The Austin 16 was only just released when war broke out and production stopped in 1939. For this car to have made it here to New Zealand is remarkable in itself, given the complexities of importing cars at the time. That it is still an inspected commercial passenger service vehicle 74 years after it was made speaks of to me of its good quality.
Thanks Paul, I forgot to mention just how versatile that engine was I learned to drive in an Austin Gipsy 4WD pickup powered by the same engine that was produced in 1966, little wonder a car powered so would not wear out if maintained. this car shares tourist carting duties with a 39 Packard and a 36 Buick come to Napier NZ and go for a ride.
great write up! for those of us ‘mericans not familiar with the gipsy:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wooriegi/7869325970/in/pool-curbsideclassic/
A classic restored and still in revenue service. Great Find!
Labels on the windscreen left to right are Loading cert R,Certificate of fitness Centre, registration L it gets checked over every 6months as a commercial vehicle, same as a taxicab
Is interesting how much this looks like a baby 1937 Buick, right down to the grille and the parking lights, even the emblem looks like a Buick emblem.
All Austins of the era looked the same only the scale was different. A Austin 8hp is used by a local shop as a promotional vehicle it shares the design of the 16, the resemblance to a Buick is not unusual they are of the same era. All cars look the same its been the same throughout time.
Look at the grille and even the emblems, which also look like Buick emblems, If you cant see that perhaps you need a vision test….
Of course it looks like a Buick the owner has even stuck fake ventiports on it
I see the Buck resemblance too. I shot a ’39 Buick at a repair shop today and this reminded me of it–though the ’39 grille and nose is completely different.
Good to see something from you Bryce. Good job.
Nice find Bryce and another good read once again.Hard to believe that 40 years later Austin had become a joke and was making dross like Allegros and the wedge shaped Princess.
Welcome to the Contributariat KiwiBryce!
+1, Edward! Bravo, Bryce!
What a great car. I love the two tone colour scheme they have chosen for it too.
If these ever made it to the States, they were rare here. You have stated the case for this car very well. Now I wish they were more plentiful here. I enjoy your stuff from New Zealand.
Great to see you have posted, Bryce. Great article about a car of which I had zero knowledge. In eastern Canada as a child, Austin was not exactly known for its durability. Nice to see they made good products, too.
I love that car! I love the rugged simplicity of it and that Baby-Buick styling. Thanks for the write-up, Bryce.
Thank you, someone else sees it, I immediately thought of a late 30’s Buick when I saw this.
It’s got ventiport’s!Did Austin get them first?
Apparently so.
It should come as no big surprise that the Austin looks a lot like the ’37 Buick. GM was the first mass-producer to invest in a substantial in-house design department, and the work of Harley Earl’s Art and Colour Section was undoubtedly influential. It’s hardly like it was the first time someone cribbed the front end design of another car, especially from across the ocean.
I think those ventiports look added-on, no other Austin 16 pictures I could see on the web had them, plus they look to be stamped not cast metal and a different ‘color’ of chrome/stainless than the rest of the car.
Nice touch with the British spelling of kerb!
That was Paul he researches things, but thats how its spelt in NZ with a K not by me Ive been corrupted on that one.
“Gaol” is another example of an English word that is spelled very differently from its American counterpart. It’s probably due to Noah Webster. Folks in Commonwealth countries tend to reject such American peculiarities.
One automotive Anglicism I prefer is “damper” versus “shock absorber.” It seems a much more descriptive term. I learned this from my MGB shop manual.
I love that shot of the engine bay.
Good article Bryce, thanks for posting 🙂
It was there again today as I did a late load i drove past it yeah it looks a bit like a baby Buick thats not a bad thing really the brown Austin 8 looks like a Buick really shrunk in the wash.
It does resemble the Buick, but I prefer the Austin. To my eye the proportions are better, lighter and airier. Thank you, Bryce, fine write up!
Nice piece on a car that afaik I’ve never seen before.
Nicely done Bryce. 🙂
Nice find Bryce, thanks for sharing. I really like the blue on blue with black fenders. Very sharp car.
Great looking car! My Father and I used to own one of these. We lived in south florida and were in the middle of restoring it when sadly he passed away. Im currently trying to find the car again. We swapped out the engine, the original being unrestorable unfortunately, for a 4-cylinder planning on making it a daily driver. We had finished most if not all of the restoration, body/interior, but not paint. If anyone has any leads on this car please send an e-mail to baumphilip@yahoo.com. I’ve been looking for a long time ever since it was sold out from under me, thank you.
Nice pics but the car isn’t from 1939. Whilst the side valve 12hp which shared the same body was introduced in ’39, the 16hp didn’t go into production until 1945. In fact, the 2.2 litre ohv engine wasn’t designed until the mid 1940s. As for the Buick similarity, Dick Burzi, who designed the 8hp, 10hp,12hp and 16hp freely acknowledged that he took his design cues from the 1930s Buick.