AUSTIN AMERICA

History of 1100/1300 line:

Already famous for his designs of the Morris Minor and Mini, BMC automotive design genius Sir Alec Issigonis, with assistance from PininFarina in Italy, based the 1100 on his previous design for the Mini ("ADO-15"). The 1100, designated "ADO-16," for Austin Design Office Project No.16, was first introduced by the British Motor Corporation as the Morris 1100 Mk1 and was available as a four door model.

The Morris 1100, like the Mini, was designed with a transverse engine and front wheel drive. This ingenious powerplant placed the engine block directly over the transmission. Therefore, the transmission also served as the oil pan. Power was transfered to the front wheels by axles with inboard U-joints at the transmission and outboard constant velocity (CV) joints at the wheels. This allowed approximately 80% of the car's length to be used for passengers and their luggage. The design was also the debut of Dr. Alex Moulton's revolutionary new Moulton Hydrolastic pressurized liquid and rubber suspension system. It was Moulton who had designed and developed the first truely successfull constant velocity (CV) joint that ultimately allowed the Mini to be front wheel drive.

Following introduction, the 1100/1300's became a "Badge Engineered" line of cars similar to General Motors vehicles in the U.S.A. today. Many variations and improvements were made throughout the production history to suite consumer's needs. From basic Austin and Morris models to the luxurious Vanden Plas Princess and the sporty MG's, and even wagon versions, there was a model to suite nearly everyone. They soon became Britain's best selling car. Due to their success, popularity and high demand, the cars were built in several other countries, including Italy(producing the Morris Innocenti IM3), South Africa(producing the Austin Apache), Spain(producing the Authi Victoria), and Australia (producing the Morris 1100 Mk1, Morris 1500 and Nomad wagon versions). Over 3 million were produced!

The production timeline:

*Special thanks to the following contributors:

My friends in the UK, Michael Turner, Peter Williams and Declan Berridge.
My friend in Greece, Demetris Bouras.
My friend in the USA, Jim Cumberland.
The 1100 Club magazine, "Idle Chatter".

The Austin America:

The Austin America was a special version of the two-door Austin 1300. Approximately 59,500 of them were made exclusively for export to the U.S.A. and were sold from 1968 to 1972. The Americas were intended to compete directly with the highly successful VW Beetle and throughout the sales, the marketing campaign advertised them as, "The perfect second car." One ad compared the road holding stability of the two by showing an image of the Beetle as a kite and the America as a brick.

The Austin America was available with either a 4 speed all synchromesh, manual transmission or with a 4 speed automatic transmission. The automatic transmission could be shifted manually, or left in "Drive" to shift on its own.

Year model variations:

There were only subtle differences between the different year models:

1968-1969

1970

1970 models were negative ground, had short rectangular sidemarker lights on the front and rear fenders, and wide stainless body side mouldings. The bumper over-riders had wide rubber pads in the faces. The headrests were short and rounded, like the MG Midgets and MGB's. The steering wheel was 3 spoke sport model with a wide black rubber grip area. Later 1970 cars had an alternator with internal voltage regulator, and the ignition switch was mounted to the steering column instead of in the dash. This allowed for the steering to be locked when the key was removed.

1971

1971 was the same as late 1970, but had thin body side trim and long rectangular sidemarker lights. They had dash faces that were covered with a fake woodgrain look. The grill was changed to the more open looking "1300 GT" grill. The trunk badge was changed to a mod 70's looking script that was all chrome and said "America." The rear license plate light was moved from the bumper up onto the trunk. It was mounted under a wide plastic housing that stuck out from the trunk lid and had a dual role as an opening handle. The tail lights were two-tone and had amber upper turnsignal areas. The front parking/turnsignal lenses were two-tone with a clear lens over the parking light and an amber lens over the turnsignal. The front seats were mounted on sliding tracks and the seat backs folded forward to make it easier for passengers to get in and out of the back seat. This was also the first year that the interior upholstery was available in colors other than black. The decorative tin trim rings were not used on the wheels of this year model.

A sad reputation:

Unfortunately, most of the cars were plagued with numerous mechanical problems and in damp climates, severe rust. In the U.S.A., they suffered from being underpowered and not able to withstand the fast freeway driving to which the American consumer was accustomed. Since the automatic transmission version was heavily advertised and sold, it subsequently failed most often. Like the manual transmission, the automatic, also being the oil pan, ran in the engine oil. This made it extremely succeptable to failure and many of the automatics were in for transmission repairs while still under warranty.

Since the engine and transmission shared the same oil, and sat one on top of the other, when one failed, it often caused problems and damage to the other. The cars gained a reputation for being unreliable and they soon paled in comparison to the VW's, Hondas, Datsuns and Toyotas of the time. With an original sales price of between $1,900.00 to $2,200.00, it was probably difficult to justify the expense of rebuilding an engine or transmission after a serious failure, when the car was only a few years old. A testiment to this is the number of Americas that used to be in the wrecking yards with less than 50,000 miles on the odometers.

Fate of a great car:

The final fate of many Americas was as engine donors for the Mini enthusiasts who were looking to replace their smaller engines with a 1275cc engine. The bodies which didn't share anything in common with their little brother Minis were then scrapped at the wrecking yard.

Today, very few Americas remain. Of those that are left, even fewer are still on the road and fewer still are driven regularly. A sad fate for a car that, along with the Mini, is credited with being the first mass produced front wheel drive passenger car. And, a car that ultimately set a design standard by which "economy" cars still follow.