What car is this?
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Topic author - Posts: 759
- Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2022 6:23 pm
- First Name: Austin
- Last Name: Farmer
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- Location: N.W. Illinois
What car is this?
One of my coworkers saw this at a show somewhere. Any ideas on what it is?
Just a 20 year old who listens to 40 year old music, works on 75 year old airplanes and drives 100 year old cars.
The past is only simple because hindsight is 20/20.
The past is only simple because hindsight is 20/20.
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- First Name: Tom
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Re: What car is this?
I think it says Austin.
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- First Name: Jeff
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Re: What car is this?
I will go out on a limb and say its a 1911 Austin, based in Illinois.
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- First Name: Bryant
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Re: What car is this?
Now we are just down to what Model. Anybody?
Bryant
Bryant
“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t-you’re right.”
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Topic author - Posts: 759
- Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2022 6:23 pm
- First Name: Austin
- Last Name: Farmer
- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1922 Touring
- Location: N.W. Illinois
Re: What car is this?
Someday i'll have to get one, just because my name is Austin. 

Just a 20 year old who listens to 40 year old music, works on 75 year old airplanes and drives 100 year old cars.
The past is only simple because hindsight is 20/20.
The past is only simple because hindsight is 20/20.
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- Posts: 6262
- Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2019 4:56 pm
- First Name: Frank
- Last Name: Brandi
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- Location: Moline IL
- Board Member Since: 2018
Re: What car is this?
https://www.timescolonist.com/driving/b ... ng-4852480
The Austin Automobile Co. idea evolved when Grand Rapids lumber dealer James E. Austin invested in the Michigan Iron Works in 1900. His mechanically talented son Walter took over the operation with the intention of developing a motor car. He set to work on his idea and had his first running prototype ready by the end of 1902.
It had a 25 horsepower two cylinder engine and was a sound enough design that Austin built and sold 13 of them in 1903. Encouraged by this success he got serious about the automobile business. For 1904 he added 35 and 50 horsepower fours and phased out the two cylinder version.
Since most customers who were buying cars in those early days of the automobile were well-to-do, Austin concentrated on the upscale market. The size of the cars was increased from a wheelbase of 2286 mm (90 in.) in 1903 to 2743 mm (108 in.) in ‘05. It would ultimately go to a very substantial 3607 mm (142 in.)
As well as increasing their size, Austin added a 90 horsepower six cylinder engine in 1907, moving it ahead of such respected marques as Cadillac, Packard, Pierce-Arrow and Peerless. --
Looks like a 1907 Austin Model LX https://www.conceptcarz.com/z29718/austin-model-lx.aspx
The Austin Automobile Co. idea evolved when Grand Rapids lumber dealer James E. Austin invested in the Michigan Iron Works in 1900. His mechanically talented son Walter took over the operation with the intention of developing a motor car. He set to work on his idea and had his first running prototype ready by the end of 1902.
It had a 25 horsepower two cylinder engine and was a sound enough design that Austin built and sold 13 of them in 1903. Encouraged by this success he got serious about the automobile business. For 1904 he added 35 and 50 horsepower fours and phased out the two cylinder version.
Since most customers who were buying cars in those early days of the automobile were well-to-do, Austin concentrated on the upscale market. The size of the cars was increased from a wheelbase of 2286 mm (90 in.) in 1903 to 2743 mm (108 in.) in ‘05. It would ultimately go to a very substantial 3607 mm (142 in.)
As well as increasing their size, Austin added a 90 horsepower six cylinder engine in 1907, moving it ahead of such respected marques as Cadillac, Packard, Pierce-Arrow and Peerless. --
Looks like a 1907 Austin Model LX https://www.conceptcarz.com/z29718/austin-model-lx.aspx
The past is a great place and I don't want to erase it or to regret it, but I don't want to be its prisoner either.
Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
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- First Name: Allan
- Last Name: Bennett
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Re: What car is this?
Austin, a cheaper option would be to import an English Austin. Lots of different models and years of manufacture. An Austin 7 next to that behemoth would be a real contrast.
Allan from down under.
Allan from down under.
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Re: What car is this?
I would never have thought that car would be an Austin. I thought they were very small cars. See picture of one my parents had when I was born. They called it an "American Austin". That picture is of my mother sitting on the Austin.
Norm
Norm
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Re: What car is this?
Read up on the Bantam 's history in Butler Pennsylvania. They created the very first jeep, no.1. but Willys and Ford took over production of army jeeps during the war and Bantam made jeep trailers.
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Re: What car is this?
Some history of the British Austin company for those that are interested
The Austin Motors Ltd was founded in 1905 in Longbridge England.
It was founded by Herbert Austin after disagreements while running the Woolsey company over engine design
They made large expensive cars in the beginning and had success until WWI changed Europe and drive them to bankruptcy.
This is not a Austin Motors Ltd car, the design is wrong.
At the critical edge of failure he was fighting with company management and against their desires secretly designed a new car in his own parlor using the pool table using a young draftsman (Stanley Edge) designed the Austin Seven
The 1922 Austin seven was built to be their answer to the Model T Ford.
It was smaller, lighter, less powerful , and cheaper than the Model T.
It was so simple the 4 cylinder engine only had 2 main bearings.
It was a success making almost 300,000 cars from 1922-1939 ending up all over the world
There were many spin offs of the Austin 7 as the American Austin (later the Bantam and Jeep), the BMW Dixi, the German Rosengart, the first Nissan cars and probably more. It also was the basis for many race cars including the first lotus cars, and builder Bruce McLaren,
Today it still has a huge following of owners and enthusiasts just like our beloved Model T's.
Austin made larger vehicles but none to the success of the smaller ones it made.
Later on they made the first Mini Cars, before Cooper and BMW
They also made the Austin Healey sports car.
Eventually bad designs, corporate mergers, and the downfall of the British Auto Industry killed Austin Motors.
For more information look it up on the internet.
The Austin Motors Ltd was founded in 1905 in Longbridge England.
It was founded by Herbert Austin after disagreements while running the Woolsey company over engine design
They made large expensive cars in the beginning and had success until WWI changed Europe and drive them to bankruptcy.
This is not a Austin Motors Ltd car, the design is wrong.
At the critical edge of failure he was fighting with company management and against their desires secretly designed a new car in his own parlor using the pool table using a young draftsman (Stanley Edge) designed the Austin Seven
The 1922 Austin seven was built to be their answer to the Model T Ford.
It was smaller, lighter, less powerful , and cheaper than the Model T.
It was so simple the 4 cylinder engine only had 2 main bearings.
It was a success making almost 300,000 cars from 1922-1939 ending up all over the world
There were many spin offs of the Austin 7 as the American Austin (later the Bantam and Jeep), the BMW Dixi, the German Rosengart, the first Nissan cars and probably more. It also was the basis for many race cars including the first lotus cars, and builder Bruce McLaren,
Today it still has a huge following of owners and enthusiasts just like our beloved Model T's.
Austin made larger vehicles but none to the success of the smaller ones it made.
Later on they made the first Mini Cars, before Cooper and BMW
They also made the Austin Healey sports car.
Eventually bad designs, corporate mergers, and the downfall of the British Auto Industry killed Austin Motors.
For more information look it up on the internet.
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- Posts: 6262
- Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2019 4:56 pm
- First Name: Frank
- Last Name: Brandi
- * REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: Speedsters (1919 w 1926 upgrades), 1926 (Ricardo Head)
- Location: Moline IL
- Board Member Since: 2018
Re: What car is this?
From my entry aboves viewtopic.php?f=2&t=37675#p291348
Americans mostly learned of the Austin automobile name from an Americanized version of the little English Austin Seven called the American Austin/Bantam built in Butler, Pensylvania, during the 1930s and early forties. They came to know it again after the Second World War when such imported English sedans as the Austin A40 and A50 and Austin-Healey sports car began arriving.
There was, however, another Austin built in the United States besides the American Austin/Bantam. It was from the Austin Automobile Co., totally unrelated to those revised small English cars, and is barely remembered now. Designed and built in Grand Rapids, Michigan, early in the twentieth century, it was at the opposite end of the automotive spectrum from the miniature Austin/Bantam.
While Austin/Bantams were tiny cars with four cylinder engines of less than one-litre, the Grand Rapids Austins were large and luxurious. They started with two and four cylinders for the first four years, and then went to sixes and eventually 12s.
The Austin Automobile Co. idea evolved when Grand Rapids lumber dealer James E. Austin invested in the Michigan Iron Works in 1900. His mechanically talented son Walter took over the operation with the intention of developing a motor car. He set to work on his idea and had his first running prototype ready by the end of 1902.
It had a 25 horsepower two cylinder engine and was a sound enough design that Austin built and sold 13 of them in 1903. Encouraged by this success he got serious about the automobile business. For 1904 he added 35 and 50 horsepower fours and phased out the two cylinder version.
Since most customers who were buying cars in those early days of the automobile were well-to-do, Austin concentrated on the upscale market. The size of the cars was increased from a wheelbase of 2286 mm (90 in.) in 1903 to 2743 mm (108 in.) in ‘05. It would ultimately go to a very substantial 3607 mm (142 in.)
As well as increasing their size, Austin added a 90 horsepower six cylinder engine in 1907, moving it ahead of such respected marques as Cadillac, Packard, Pierce-Arrow and Peerless.
Ironically, Henry Ford, also of Michigan and the champion of light basic cars, had brought out the luxurious six cylinder Ford Model K a year earlier. It was not Henry’s preference, but built at the insistence of his financier Detroit coal merchant Alexander Malcomson. It was to appeal to people like himself in the upscale market and Ford discontinued it when he got free of Malcomson.
The progressive Austin added electric lights in 1911 and moved the steering wheel to the left side. In 1913 Austin fitted an exclusive two-speed rear axle for more relaxed highway cruising, just beating out Cadillac with this feature.
With its wheelbase now up to 3581 mm (141 in.) for between-the-axles seating, an overdrive and its big six cylinder engine, Austin confidently adopted the motto “The Highway King.”
During the First World War (1914-1918) Austin began offering a lighter, less expensive model, but believed its future still lay in big luxury cars. Thus in 1917 it went exclusively to a V-12 engine a year after Packard introduced its famous V-12 “Twin Six.” It thus jumped ahead of Cadillac and Peerless who both had V-8s. Pierce-Arrow had a six.
The big luxurious twelve cylinder model attracted such celebrity customers as newspaper publisher William Randolf Hearst and boxer Jack Johnson, the black man who defeated white James Jeffries in 1910 for the world’s heavyweight championship in “The Fight of the Century.” The win caused race riots and murders.
The end of the First World War brought an economic recession that created hardship and cutbacks in the automobile industry. Even General Motors fell into the hands of the bankers for the second time, ousting founder Billy Durant for the second and last time.
With only luxury cars and no lower priced models to fall back on Austin went out of business in 1920. Production had never been high, probably no more than 1000 cars over 18 years. Another American luxury car had passed into history.
As a small footnote, in 1930 when Austin of England was planning for American production of its tiny Austin Seven it chose Butler, Pennsylvania for its plant. When Grand Rapids officials heard this they immediately set out to have them manufactured in their town based on its historic ties to the Austin name.
Although the Grand Rapids Austin had no connection with the English Austin, Grand Rapids worked hard to entice the new company. But the Butler people would have nothing to do with this and pledged some $450,000 to keep American Austin in Butler. Unable or unwilling to stay in the game, Grand Rapids quietly bowed out of the picture
Americans mostly learned of the Austin automobile name from an Americanized version of the little English Austin Seven called the American Austin/Bantam built in Butler, Pensylvania, during the 1930s and early forties. They came to know it again after the Second World War when such imported English sedans as the Austin A40 and A50 and Austin-Healey sports car began arriving.
There was, however, another Austin built in the United States besides the American Austin/Bantam. It was from the Austin Automobile Co., totally unrelated to those revised small English cars, and is barely remembered now. Designed and built in Grand Rapids, Michigan, early in the twentieth century, it was at the opposite end of the automotive spectrum from the miniature Austin/Bantam.
While Austin/Bantams were tiny cars with four cylinder engines of less than one-litre, the Grand Rapids Austins were large and luxurious. They started with two and four cylinders for the first four years, and then went to sixes and eventually 12s.
The Austin Automobile Co. idea evolved when Grand Rapids lumber dealer James E. Austin invested in the Michigan Iron Works in 1900. His mechanically talented son Walter took over the operation with the intention of developing a motor car. He set to work on his idea and had his first running prototype ready by the end of 1902.
It had a 25 horsepower two cylinder engine and was a sound enough design that Austin built and sold 13 of them in 1903. Encouraged by this success he got serious about the automobile business. For 1904 he added 35 and 50 horsepower fours and phased out the two cylinder version.
Since most customers who were buying cars in those early days of the automobile were well-to-do, Austin concentrated on the upscale market. The size of the cars was increased from a wheelbase of 2286 mm (90 in.) in 1903 to 2743 mm (108 in.) in ‘05. It would ultimately go to a very substantial 3607 mm (142 in.)
As well as increasing their size, Austin added a 90 horsepower six cylinder engine in 1907, moving it ahead of such respected marques as Cadillac, Packard, Pierce-Arrow and Peerless.
Ironically, Henry Ford, also of Michigan and the champion of light basic cars, had brought out the luxurious six cylinder Ford Model K a year earlier. It was not Henry’s preference, but built at the insistence of his financier Detroit coal merchant Alexander Malcomson. It was to appeal to people like himself in the upscale market and Ford discontinued it when he got free of Malcomson.
The progressive Austin added electric lights in 1911 and moved the steering wheel to the left side. In 1913 Austin fitted an exclusive two-speed rear axle for more relaxed highway cruising, just beating out Cadillac with this feature.
With its wheelbase now up to 3581 mm (141 in.) for between-the-axles seating, an overdrive and its big six cylinder engine, Austin confidently adopted the motto “The Highway King.”
During the First World War (1914-1918) Austin began offering a lighter, less expensive model, but believed its future still lay in big luxury cars. Thus in 1917 it went exclusively to a V-12 engine a year after Packard introduced its famous V-12 “Twin Six.” It thus jumped ahead of Cadillac and Peerless who both had V-8s. Pierce-Arrow had a six.
The big luxurious twelve cylinder model attracted such celebrity customers as newspaper publisher William Randolf Hearst and boxer Jack Johnson, the black man who defeated white James Jeffries in 1910 for the world’s heavyweight championship in “The Fight of the Century.” The win caused race riots and murders.
The end of the First World War brought an economic recession that created hardship and cutbacks in the automobile industry. Even General Motors fell into the hands of the bankers for the second time, ousting founder Billy Durant for the second and last time.
With only luxury cars and no lower priced models to fall back on Austin went out of business in 1920. Production had never been high, probably no more than 1000 cars over 18 years. Another American luxury car had passed into history.
As a small footnote, in 1930 when Austin of England was planning for American production of its tiny Austin Seven it chose Butler, Pennsylvania for its plant. When Grand Rapids officials heard this they immediately set out to have them manufactured in their town based on its historic ties to the Austin name.
Although the Grand Rapids Austin had no connection with the English Austin, Grand Rapids worked hard to entice the new company. But the Butler people would have nothing to do with this and pledged some $450,000 to keep American Austin in Butler. Unable or unwilling to stay in the game, Grand Rapids quietly bowed out of the picture
The past is a great place and I don't want to erase it or to regret it, but I don't want to be its prisoner either.
Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
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Re: What car is this?
Well, I can say I knew that car! All the way here in little old New Zealand, not 2 miles from where I live is an Austin V12. Looks every bit as impressive as the car at the top but with a massive V12 engine. A 'nice piece of kit' as we say.
And, se, it has nothing in common with Austin of England except the same surname.....
And, se, it has nothing in common with Austin of England except the same surname.....