Author Topic: Whatisthiscar #9 Solved 1954 Austin A20 - Lightweight 7  (Read 2803 times)

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Offline neilshouse

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Re: Whatisthiscar #9
« Reply #25 on: May 14, 2009, 12:42:32 PM »
Max has got it spot on, the Austin A20 otherwise known as the 'Lightweight 7' prototype, built in 1954.

Jimjarron, your answer was so close I am awarding a point to you, your information about the 2 cylinder 2 stroke engine is correct, it was rejected on the grounds of smoothness, and economy. The Dr Joe Ehrlich designed engine was first put into an A30 Convertible prototype before being used in the A20. It was unusual in that it had 2 pistons per cylinder and 2 bores per cylinder, the pistons sharing a Y shaped con rod, as far as I can work out one piston operated the inlet and exhaust ports and another provided the crankcase pressure, I may have this wrong, if anyone has a diagram of how it all fitted together I would be very interested to see it.

The pictures came from the book  'Post-War Baby Austins' by Barney Sharratt, well worth a read if you are interested in the A30, A35 and A40 Farina.