Solved: PN #1157 -- Austin A30 Sports, 1953

[pnegyesi]

Who built this car and when? What was its donor? A point is waiting for you!

[smodmog]

DKW based ?

[pnegyesi]

no

[norberthanke]

The number-plate was and is  n o t  German

[pnegyesi]

indeed this is not from Germany

[pnegyesi]

Experts?

[tobytwirl]

Is that a British trade plate?

[pnegyesi]

oh, yes

[Carnut]

Thought it was.
It's a relatively new one as well.
Grille has the Austin ripples, so is there an Austin connection?  Engine maybe?

[pnegyesi]

so far so very good. Keep working on that Austin angle

Let me give you a 24-hour lock for to make it easier

[Carnut]

Thanks but despite spending almost the entire day Googling, using every word I can possibly think of to describe this car, nothing at all has come up..
Is is anything to do with the fifties Jensen-built Austin 40 Sports?  Or is it a much later evocation of a fifties-style roadster?

[pnegyesi]

It has nothing to do with the A40. But it is from the fifties.

Reluctantly unlocked

[Carnut]

Was it actually an Austin product or could it have been something to do with Rochdale?

[pnegyesi]

It was an Austin product

[D-type]

Is it an early prototype for what became the Austin-Healey Sprite.

[pnegyesi]

no

[Carnut]

1958 A40-based?

[D-type]

Was it earlier?  A projected Austin A90 Sports to complement the A40 Sports but dropped in favour of the Austin-Healey 100?

[max]

GRP-bodied A35?

[pnegyesi]

earlier than 1958, and GRP-bodied. Sports is part of the name. So I am curious who will be the first to find it

[Carnut]

Thanks.
I've Googled every possible combination of Austin, Sports, Roadster, Convertible, 2-seater, A30, A35, A40, A50, A55, A90, A100, A110, 2-seat, 2-seater etc etc etc and nothing at all has come up resembling this car.  So it will have to be a matter of guesswork.

How about Austin Sports Roadster?  Or does it contain an Austin model number like A35?
Is your picture actually availble on the Internet or is it from a magazine?

[pnegyesi]

The info is from a certain museum But then I found a book which features this photo. And that part of the book is on the internet.
It is based on one of the models you listed And it was an in-house job

[Carnut]

I'm not entirely surprised it's based on one of the models I listed since I listed all Austin's cars.. (or I meant to but I called the A105 the A100, which was a mistake).
There was the A40 Sports from the early 1950s, a fairly inoffensive little car based on the Austin Somerset and made for BMC by Jensen.  Is your car a proposal to update this, a sort-of much uglier A40 Sport Mk2?

[pnegyesi]

no, not A40 based

[barrett]

This is the Austin A30 Sports from 1953, designed by Dick Burzi and built in grp over a tubular spaceframe. Mechanically it was standard A30.

I knew the car but couldn't remember the exact name. I'm surprised there doesn't seem to be much info about it online.