Austin A40 Sports Register

According to a count made by BMIHT a total of 4011 Austin A40 Sports were produced. Jensen factory data indicate an accounting record of 4242 bodies between November 1950 and January 1953 (quite a few more than cars. Thanks to Jensen historian Richard Calver for this information).

 

There were two production series. An earlier GD2 model built from November 1950 and the later GD3 model built from August 1951 to sometime in 1953. The most obvious difference between the models is the gear change mechanism and fascia: The GD2 uses a floor change Austin Devon gearbox and dashboard, whereas the GD3 uses an A40 Somerset column change mechanism and a redesigned type of fascia (more see production changes for additional changes). According to information from "Mr. Austin" aka Rob Stuart (source: www.austinworks.com), there were 552 Sports produced in the 1950/51 model year, 2610 in 1951/52, and 849 in the final 1952/53 model year. The modell change happened early in the 1951/52 year, so my guess is that ca. 750 GD2 and ca. 3250 GD3 were built in the total 2,5-year production run. 

There have been some attempts already to form a register of surviving Austin A40 Sports. The most comprehensive I know of is that created and been kept by Alan Waller of Australia and Mr. Austin" Rob Stuart of California. However, I'm not sure if it is still being updated. The Austin Counties Car Club in the UK has a database since 1975, but only members cars can be found there their aim is not to track cars in general. So I decided to do some research on my own and to add a form of unofficial register here as well. I tried to follow old entries in the journal of the Austin Counties Car Club, added personal communication with owners and sellers who advertised cars, and finally used a older variant of Alan's and Rob's list as well.

 

The total database now has around 250 entries, however, many records are incomplete and some might be duplicates, or records of cars that do no longer exist.

Any help and cooperation are welcomed! I encourage all owners to share information with me to get a better understanding of the whole production process, Austin's export activities, and surviving cars.

Please get in touch with me if you want to participate. The data and information gathered by me will never be shared online.

 

Ideally, a dataset should include:

 

chassis number,

 

engine number,

 

and Jensen body number (see identification).

 

The original body colour if known and trim details again if known.

 

In return for the information, I will be sharing my knowledge about how your car fits into the database and you can be part of this hopefully growing project.