A restored Austin 20 hp tractor at Bath and Southwest Tractor show 2009
A restored Austin 20hp tractor showing the rhs of the engine
The Austin Motor company made tractors for the period between the wars 1919-1939, both in England and in France.
History
1905 - 1918
Formation and development
Herbert Austin (1866–1941), later Sir Herbert, the former manager of the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company founded The Austin Motor Company in 1905, at Longbridge , which was then in Worcestershire (Longbridge became part of Birmingham in 1911 when its boundaries were expanded). The first car was a conventional 5 litre four cylinder model with chain drive with about 200 being made in the first five years. In World War I Austin grew enormously with government contracts for everything from artillery to aircraft and the workforce expanded from around 2,500 to 22,000.
To get round the problem Austin bought a farm and a factory in France, as there was tariffs protection in place he then imported them in to Britain. Production continued in the UK till 1927
1930-1939
At the 1933 Paris show Austin displayed a new range of large Kerosene tractors of up to 55hp. A 45/55 hp diesel model was also produced in France.
Austin's French tractor production ended with WWII as the German company Krupp took over the factory during the war.
Commercial vehicles
An Austin K2 reg BUJ 774 fitted with a dropside body
Austin also made commercial vehicles;
Austin K2
The Austin K2 was built from the pre war period through the 2nd World war and supplied to the forces and to allies like Russia. A lot were used in the North African campaign.
Austin K5
The Austin K5 was a truck built in the war for military use.
Austin FG
The FG was previously the Morris FG and was called (by some) the workhorse that kept Britain running in the 1960s. These Austin FGs and later the Leyland FGs all had petrol or diesel long-stroke engines, producing good torque, but very little in the way of speed (40 mph was a good speed out of these vehicles). Leyland were to take over the FG, but before they did, in 1964, the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) commissioned six rolling chassis FGs to be coach built by a Middlesex company, Palmer Coach-builders. These six vehicles, registration 660 GYE to 666 GYE, were outdoor broadcast scenery vehicles.
Models
Reference
Classic tractors of the World by Nick Baldwin
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