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LongbridgeLongbridge is an area of Birmingham, England , most notable for the car factory there. It is also on the Cross-City railway line. Berkshire born Herbert Austin, learnt his trade in Australia and whilst working for Birmingham owned Wolseley he was asked to return to the UK to supervise the manufacture of sheep shearing equipment. He accepted, and the firm prospered. In 1895 he built, as an experiment, a tiller-steered three wheeler car. A second followed in 1896] and this was exhibited at the Crystal Palace. The experiments continued and in 1900 he built and entered for the Automobile Club of Great Britain 1,000 Mile Trial, a four wheeler, with a horizontal single cylinder engine. It won first prize. In 1901 the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company was founded at Adderley Park, Birmingham, and Herbert Austin was installed as Manager. Under his direction Wolseley cars of the next few years won international renown, but in the early summer of 1905 he resigned and looked around for somewhere to start on his own. After numerous exploratory cycle rides all round Birmingham, he came to Longbridge, seven miles out of the city. There he found a small derelict printing works, which proved to be just what he wanted. Friends came forward with financial help and the Austin Motor Company was born. On November 17th, 1905, the Motor Show opened at Olympia, and there Herbert Austin, complete with blue-prints, high hopes and enthusiasm, sought orders and got them. On paper the first Austin was described as a 25-30 h.p. high class touring model with a 4 inch bore and a 5 inch stroke, magneto and coil ignition, a four speed gearbox, and a chain driven rear axle. Only the highest class of materials would be used in its construction and the supervision during manufacture would be such as to secure the best results. It was expected that the first model would be delivered at the end of March, 1906, at a list price of 650. Before March, 1906, the car was ready for trial and, driven by Herbert Austin himself, left the assembly shop, reached the road and made a very successful run. Skilled workmen soon found their way to Longbridge and in the first full year 270 of them turned out 120 cars in the original 212 acre factory. Expansion and extensions followed and other cars were added to the range. Austin coachwork, with its large selection of Phaetons, Limousines and Landaulets, came to be admired and respected as much as the dependability of the chassis. Herbert Austin was thorough in everything. It is said of him at this time that he could do any job in his works, and that he knew the position of every machine. In 1908 three special 100 h.p. racers were built and entered for the French Automobile Grand Prix. Two of the cars driven by J. T. C. Moore-Brabazon (now Lord Brabazon) and Dario Resta, came in fifteenth and sixteenth respectively, having put up a very creditable performance. At Brooklands a private sportsman, O. S. Thompson, driving a modified 25-30 h.p. Austin named Pobble, achieved consistent success. Other models did well in reliability trials and in the hands of the private motorists at home and overseas and the Austin reputation for dependability steadily grew. By 1908 nearly 1,000 workers were employed and a night shift was found necessary. A single cylinder 7 h.p. car and a 15 h.p. Town Carriage were added to a range that now included 10, 15-24, 40 and 50 h.p. models and a 15-cwt. van. More additions were made to the factory and an output of 1,000 cars a year was planned. In February, 1914, the Company changed from private to public ownership and the capital was increased to 50,000. All seemed to be set fair and then the situation changed almost overnight. In August The Great War began. Within a few weeks the machines that had been building Austin cars began to turn out munitions, and all the resources of the factory were harnessed to serve the country. As the appetite of the armed services for weapons and equipment of every kind continued to increase, the rapid expansion of the Longbridge factory became inevitable, until by 1917 it had trebled its size and in addition had its own flying ground on a flat-topped hill south of the main works. The employees, many of them women, rose to over 22,000 during the peak years. During the four war years over 8,000,000 shells were produced along with 650 guns, 2,000 aeroplanes, 2,500 aero engines and 2,000 trucks, plus a host of other items. Before the end of the war, plans were announced for concentrating, when peace returned, on the production of a 20 h.p. car only. It had a monobloc, four-cylinder, side-valve engine of 3 inch bore by 5 inch stroke, and a four-speed gearbox with a central change. The body was of much smoother and cleaner lines than pre-war and the car was available as either a four seater tourer, five seater colonial car or as a landaulet. The price created a sensation, the tourer being only 495, compared with 700 for its pre-war counterpart, and this despite the loss in value of the pound between 1914 and 1919. The engine used for the 20 h.p. model was also adapted for an Austin tractor, running on paraffin, and having a drawbar pull of 3,000 lb. This tractor won many agricultural awards between 1919 and 1921. A 13 ton truck was also produced, using the same engine. The Company's post-war programme included, for a short time, a range of aeroplanes! The Austin Greyhound 2-seater fighter was one, and the Austin Ball single seater another. Then there was a single seater biplane with folding wings, which sold at 500, and a fourth called the Austin Whippet. In 1921 Came the 12 h.p. car which was literally a smaller version of the 20 h.p. model. This proved so successful that it stayed in production for nearly nineteen years and at one time was used by over go per cent of the taxicab drivers in London. The four seater touring version at 550 was described as "a car of moderate dimensions which would fulfil ideals of service previously only obtainable in high powered cars of 20 h.p. or over." In fact, so efficient was the design that it changed but little during its long life. And then, in 1922, Came the 7 h.p. infant prodigy. It was received with much laughter at first and few took it seriously. Not so Sir Herbert Austin (Knighted in 1917). He had designed it entirely on his own and despite all criticism, he knew it was a winner. The engine, with its 2 in. bore and 3 in, stroke, developed 10 h.p. at 2,400 r.p.m. and was one of the smallest four-cylinder power units yet made. In many ways the car was a large car in miniature, scaled down with that perfection of simplicity which is the hallmark of genius. It weighed only 9 cwt., had an overall length of 8 ft. 9 in., but still provided seating for four. When the first Seven was completed the mechanics of the Experimental Department watched Sir Herbert take his place in the driving seat to make the first run, just as he had done seventeen years ago, when the first Austin car was ready for its road christening. A new era in motoring had opened. Immediately upon the outbreak of The Second World War, the change-over from peace-time to war-time production began. The same machines and hands that a short time back had turned out highly finished cars, took in their stride the production of a whole miscellany of intricate parts for the nation's war machine. The variety and quantities of articles produced were staggering. Over one-and-a-quarter million rounds of 2, 6 and 17 pounder armour-piercing ammunition and twice as many ammunition boxes. Over half-a-million jerricans, nearly as many steel service helmets, and almost as many assemblies of one sort or another for mines and depth charges. A hundred thousand bogey suspension and driving gear units for Churchill tanks was considered almost a side-line. And all this against a steady output of wheeled vehicles of various types to a total of over thirty-six thousand. The shadow factory at Cofton Hackett, which started production with Fairey Battle light bombers and Mercury and Pegasus aero engines, ended by turning out Lancaster four engined heavy bombers. The latter were too big to be flown from the Longbridge flying ground and so they were assembled elsewhere, as were the Stirling bombers which preceded them. Nearly three thousand of these aircraft, along with Hurricane fighters, were ultimately produced, in addition to aero engines, Horsa Glider, Beaufighter and Miles Master fuselages. The impact of the new Chairman's drive and vision on the fortunes of the Company in the post-war years was to prove decisive. 1945 saw Britain victorious, triumphant and financially almost broke. Dreams and schemes of a higher than ever standard of living were many. Only the far-sighted realised it could only be earned by hard work and greater effort. L. P. Lord was one such man and he at once laid plans for a rapid expansion of Austin car production for overseas marketing. A new post-war range would be produced. Eight, Ten, Twelve and Sixteens were planned, the latter being powered with an entirely new four-cylinder overhead-valve engine. The first model away was the Ten and the Eight quickly followed. Then came the Twelve and the Sixteen. In June, 1946, the Millionth Austin was produced, and this car, painted in a matt cream, was signed by the Chairman and the workpeople at a special celebration . The winter of 1946-7 was one of the severest on record, which gave added lustre to an epic "Seven Capitals in Seven Days" run made by three Austin Sixteens from Oslo to Geneva, where, for the first time, two entirely new cars, the A110 Sheerline and the A120 Princess, were exhibited. Britain at this time badly needed dollars and L. P. Lord was determined to obtain them. He sailed for the U.S.A. in May, and after a close study of conditions, returned to Longbridge and prepared for a large-scale attack on this most difficult of all markets, with a new car then in forward stage of development. In August, accompanied by G. W. Harriman, his Works Director, the Chairman re-crossed the Atlantic, taking two of the first production A40 Devons with him. The cars were liked, dealers signed up and plans were made for shipping them. External link
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