.JPG/2000px-Austin_A40_reg_sep_1959_948_cc_(cropped).JPG)
Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Austin A40 Farina
The Austin A40 Farina is a small, economy car introduced by Austin in saloon (1958) and A40 Countryman (1959) estate versions. It has a two-box body configuration. It was badged, like many before it, as an A40, consistent with Austin's naming scheme at the time, based on the approximate engine output in horsepower; and to distinguish it from other A40 models, it was also given a suffix name – this one being the Farina, reflecting the all-new design by Italian Battista Farina's Pinin Farina Turin studio.
Austin had been merged into the British Motor Corporation (BMC) in 1952 and – unusually for BMC at the time – the A40 Farina was sold only as an Austin and not rebadged for sale under any other BMC brands. The Farina was the first Austin A40 not named after a county of England, and the last in the Austin A40 line.
The 1959 A40 Countryman version stands out by its layout as a small estate car with an upward (and downward) opening tailgate, and is therefore viewed as one of the earliest examples of a volume production hatchback.
Like its predecessors, the A40 Countryman version combined many of the virtues of a compact saloon and estate car in one body. But, unlike the 1954 A30 Countryman, a sub 11 feet (3.5 metres) estate version of the 1951 Austin A30, and its 1956 A35 Countryman evolution, the all new A40 Countryman had a split lifting and lowering tailgate. Sideways opening rear doors had been fitted to Austin estate cars since the 1948 A40 Devon Countryman. The new feature made the A40 Farina Countryman an early example of what later became popular as a hatchback.
The Pinin Farina body design also offered more shoulder and headroom for the rear passengers, through the angular instead of curved lines of the roof and upper-rear body, while as a two-seater (with the rear seat folded), it provided an exceptionally large luggage space. The original saloon version's luggage boot had a tail board that swung down, while the rear window remained fixed, and the space behind the rear seat was usually covered by a vinyl tonneau cover. This could be removed, and the rear seats folded to permit all of the back of the car to be used for luggage, though the loading floor achieved was far from flat.
Farina's design came at a time when the Turin automotive-design studios were, for the most part, consulted only by builders of expensive "exotic" cars, and BMC made much of the car's Italian styling, with both Battista and his son Sergio attending its UK launch. The car appeared as a scaled-down version of the Austin Cambridge and Morris Oxford, but without an extended boot. These cars were also designed by Pinin Farina.
The A40 designation had been used on a series of previous Austins, most recently the Cambridge, but the "Farina" suffix was new with this car, marketing the Pinin Farina design – contrary to all previous A40s, which had been named after counties of England. The Countryman name, on the other hand, had been used on several previous Austin (A40) estate models. Early examples including the somewhat larger 1948 Countryman estate of the 1947 A40 Devon / Dorset, and the more upscale 1948 A70 Countryman – but also on the estate versions of the A40 Farina's direct A30 and A35 predecessors.
The Farina name was not used in Sweden, where the car received the name "Futura" because a mix-up with a common type of brown sugar with a similar name was believed to be unavoidable.
Hub AI
Austin A40 Farina AI simulator
(@Austin A40 Farina_simulator)
Austin A40 Farina
The Austin A40 Farina is a small, economy car introduced by Austin in saloon (1958) and A40 Countryman (1959) estate versions. It has a two-box body configuration. It was badged, like many before it, as an A40, consistent with Austin's naming scheme at the time, based on the approximate engine output in horsepower; and to distinguish it from other A40 models, it was also given a suffix name – this one being the Farina, reflecting the all-new design by Italian Battista Farina's Pinin Farina Turin studio.
Austin had been merged into the British Motor Corporation (BMC) in 1952 and – unusually for BMC at the time – the A40 Farina was sold only as an Austin and not rebadged for sale under any other BMC brands. The Farina was the first Austin A40 not named after a county of England, and the last in the Austin A40 line.
The 1959 A40 Countryman version stands out by its layout as a small estate car with an upward (and downward) opening tailgate, and is therefore viewed as one of the earliest examples of a volume production hatchback.
Like its predecessors, the A40 Countryman version combined many of the virtues of a compact saloon and estate car in one body. But, unlike the 1954 A30 Countryman, a sub 11 feet (3.5 metres) estate version of the 1951 Austin A30, and its 1956 A35 Countryman evolution, the all new A40 Countryman had a split lifting and lowering tailgate. Sideways opening rear doors had been fitted to Austin estate cars since the 1948 A40 Devon Countryman. The new feature made the A40 Farina Countryman an early example of what later became popular as a hatchback.
The Pinin Farina body design also offered more shoulder and headroom for the rear passengers, through the angular instead of curved lines of the roof and upper-rear body, while as a two-seater (with the rear seat folded), it provided an exceptionally large luggage space. The original saloon version's luggage boot had a tail board that swung down, while the rear window remained fixed, and the space behind the rear seat was usually covered by a vinyl tonneau cover. This could be removed, and the rear seats folded to permit all of the back of the car to be used for luggage, though the loading floor achieved was far from flat.
Farina's design came at a time when the Turin automotive-design studios were, for the most part, consulted only by builders of expensive "exotic" cars, and BMC made much of the car's Italian styling, with both Battista and his son Sergio attending its UK launch. The car appeared as a scaled-down version of the Austin Cambridge and Morris Oxford, but without an extended boot. These cars were also designed by Pinin Farina.
The A40 designation had been used on a series of previous Austins, most recently the Cambridge, but the "Farina" suffix was new with this car, marketing the Pinin Farina design – contrary to all previous A40s, which had been named after counties of England. The Countryman name, on the other hand, had been used on several previous Austin (A40) estate models. Early examples including the somewhat larger 1948 Countryman estate of the 1947 A40 Devon / Dorset, and the more upscale 1948 A70 Countryman – but also on the estate versions of the A40 Farina's direct A30 and A35 predecessors.
The Farina name was not used in Sweden, where the car received the name "Futura" because a mix-up with a common type of brown sugar with a similar name was believed to be unavoidable.